Chapter Text
Drew woke up to the sound of his alarm blaring. The small digital alarm clock read 7:13AM. Shit. Jumping out of bed, drew scrambled to get ready while trying but failing to ignore the pain that came with the rough movements he was making against the clothes he was shoving on. He knew he couldn’t afford to be gentle, to be gentle he would have to be slow and he knows he can’t afford to lose any more time than he already has.
Grabbing his backpack, he rushed out of his room and straight out the front door. He always skips breakfast in the mornings. He arrived at school barely on time and had to head straight to 1st period. At least the 1st period was 15 minutes of announcements and pointless activities, he could spend that time sleeping or daydreaming. The teacher side-eyed him as he entered seconds before the bell rang.
His friends were in different classes for the first few periods today. Drew sat down and immediately started daydreaming and tuning everything out. He didn’t need to hear about any stupid announcements about the broken canteen today. Next thing he knew, it was already the end of 1st period. It felt like a few seconds but also a few hours at the same time.
Heading to his next class he realised it was maths. Drew always found this subject boring as he felt it was too easy. His parents got him many tutors when he was younger, boosting his grades and making him know high school level material by the start of middle school. At the time, he hated it. He hated not being able to hang out with his friends. He hated the way people looked at him when he said something in class no one else knew. He hated being stared at like he was a show off. Well- he was but that’s not the point. He still hates it now in a way.
He daydreamed through maths too.
One more hour and it’s break. It’s only 20 minutes but it’s better than nothing. He just had to sit through an hour of some fatso yapping about atoms and pretend he was paying attention. Easy, right? No because this guy wouldn't stop asking people random questions to make sure they were paying attention, and if you couldn’t answer them? Detention. Even worse, he had to suffer through this while sitting next to the guy who never wears deodorant. Hell, literally hell.
Drew practically jumped up and ran to the door to leave when the bell rang. Only thing is, when he threw his bag on it hit a bruise from yesterday, making him wince and landing him a few glances from some of the music freaks. He glared at them until they looked away before leaving to find his friends.
Drew and Henry were already there by the time he got to their table. Jake is doing this weird thing where he only shows up some days, probably hanging out with those music freaks again. Drew was not jealous. Definitely not. Henry yelled enthusiastically when drew walked over, catching a few surrounding tables attention as they glanced over before looking away again after they realised it’s just Henry being Henry. Drew slid into his seat, a small whimper leaving his mouth as he came into contact with the hard cheap wood. Henry didn’t notice, already yapping enthusiastically about the anime he binge watched yesterday. Liam however, gave a suspicious almost pitying look in Drew’s direction. Liam knew something was up, drew would come in like this most days but today he seemed worse than usual. He never confronted him because drew would only push him away and do more to hide it. For now, he’s watching over him from afar while acting normal so drew doesn’t suspect anything.
They decided to get up and walk around. They got bored of sitting and now they’re talking about their plans for the weekend. That’s until the bell rang signifying them to go to class. All three of them were together for the next class, so were Jake and a couple of the music freaks. They got there together and rushed to sit at the back, drew leaned back in his chair to appear nonchalant but sat back up because he was pressing against a bruise on his back. Other students trailed in and drew made sure to give a disapproving look to Jake as he talked with the music freaks.
He was tired, but unfortunately he knew that next was PE. PE- shit. He’s have to get changed in PE and he couldn't risk anyone seeing the bruises and cuts that littered his body, he silently panicked in the back of class as he tried to think of a solution, he could get changed in the bathrooms but Henry and Liam would get suspicious. He could wait behind and get changed after everyone else already left- but the there would be a chance someone would come in. Shit shit shit. He decided he’d try the bathroom and tell Henry and Liam that he’s just using the bathroom at the same time and it’s not a big deal. Yeah.. that sounds like a good option.
He got pulled out of his thoughts as he heard his name being called. The teacher looked at him expectantly, drew guessed that he was asked a question so he asked the teacher to repeat it. After he answered, he looked around and saw the same music freaks that looked at him when he put his bag on earlier we’re looking at him again. He couldn’t be bothered to glare at them again so he just looked away, he was too tired to come up with any of his usual responses right now anyways.
He approached the changing rooms slowly as if he was trying to waste time, lazily opening the door and trudging inside while talking casually with his friends. He was about to go to the bathroom to change but stopped when he saw the ‘out of order’ sign on the door. Shit what now? He went for the risky plan B. He would wait it out and go really slowly until everyone left, then he would get changed as quickly as possible so there would be less of a window for anyone to walk in and see him. Deliberately slowing his breathing, he decided to lean against the wall while chatting and being as slow as possible. He sees some people already leaving, good. That means it’s probably working?
Even Henry was suspicious. They were confused as to why drew hasn’t started getting changed yet. They finished changing themselves and were even more confused when he told them to go ahead and not wait for him. This was weird. They left anyways, Liam sending him a suspicious glance before heading out.
After a couple more classmates left, he was alone. Finally. He pulled his hoodie off, then his shirt. He grimaced at the scars, some old, some new. His arms and back were where he had suffered the most. His body, littered with bruises and cuts and the occasional cigarette burn. He knew this wasn’t normal, but he was also in denial. He grabbed his other shirt, long sleeved, and was about to put it on when he heard the door click open.
(Luke POV)
Me and zander, who is looking gorgeous by the way were on the way to the gymnasium when I remembered I forgot my water bottle at the changing rooms. I was going to head back on my own but zander insisted on walking with me. We were strolling past what seems to be the last guys leaving and we approach the door. I open it expecting the room to be empty, but I wasn’t expecting this. I definitely wasn’t expecting this. Judging from the look on zanders face he wasn’t either. Our bully, was standing right there with his shirt off, he shoved it on roughly as soon as he saw us, but it was too late. We saw. His body- it was completely covered with bruises and cuts and something else I can’t quite tell what it is. Some of them looked fresh while others looked like they were older, some looking months old while others looked years old. This was concerning. When he shoved his shirt on he visibly flinched. Hard. I heard a quiet whimper as the fabric touched his skin.
(Back to drew POV)
I turned around as soon as I heard the door click open, shit- I don’t want anyone to see me like this especially them. I bullied them for years and now they’re going to take revenge aren’t they? I rush to put on my shirt hoping they haven’t seen much but I can already tell it was too late judging by the looks on their faces.
Luke- “Drew..”
Drew- “Shut up”
Luke- “Drew we only want to help..”
drew- “Bullshit”
Luke- “Drew if you’re being abused-“
Drew- “IM NOT!”
Zander- “Don’t talk to him like that”
Drew rolled his eyes, of course he’s defending his boyfriend.
Zander- “and.. he’s right. This is wrong. You should-”
Zander got cut off by the sound of drew leaving. Drew was going to skip this period, he didn’t care what his friends would say, he did care what his dad would do.. but it’s better than having ‘that’ talk both those freaks- they better not tell anyone. He went to the main bathrooms and shut himself in a cubicle. He changed back into his other shirt and hoodie before shooting a text to his friends. ‘Skipped this period, too lazy’ it was perfect because it made it seem like it was because he was too tired. This should make it less suspicious..
He starts thinking about what Luke and zander would do with that new information. Surely they would try and take revenge right? He thought back to what Luke said. ‘Abused’? No way. He wasn’t being abused. If he was, he’d know. He’s definitely not being abused.