Can You Just Not

Fucknut.

"I'm not even gay!"

"Bitch," Jim barked. "Who the fuck said I was?"

Nathan sighed and stared down at Jim's outfit. "You have doc martens on, baby blue skinny jeans, a light brown t-shirt that says 'Guys Suck It Better', and you have neon pink highlights," he explained, describing the outfit.

Jim's face dropped from anger to nervousness. He touched his hair. "I don't have pink highlights," he whispered, terrified. Nathan gulped and nodded. Jim gasped and ran out of the canteen.

Christian stood up to run after him. Jack grabbed his arm. "Christian, his story started, you can't help him anymore," he said.

Christian shook his head. "I'm not going to Nathan. I have to find out why Jim's hair started turning pink."

"You can't help them, Christian," Giovanni stated.

"I'm not trying to help either of them," Christian barked, startling the three boys. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you," Christian sighed. He sat down placing his face in his hands. "I have to know why his story started. This shouldn't have been possible."

"Maybe," Giovanni started. "Just maybe, the grace period really doesn't exist."

Jack frowned deeply. "Then that would mean we have nothing to look forward to."

Christian stood back up. "I can't let that happen. I'm going to the library to find anything I can," he stated before going to throw his food away and go to the library. Nathan was still standing by the trash, not moving, with a confused look on his face.

As Christian walked out of the canteen, the boys looked at each other. "That poor boy isn't going to find anything that will make him feel any better, will he?" Hayden asked. Giovanni shook his head.

"The only thing we can hope for now, is that he's not going to cause all of our stories to start," Giovanni mused. Jack whined and shoved his face into his hands. Giovanni stood up to move his best friend away from the smelly garbage.

Christian was walking down the hall to the library when he heard sobbing coming from the bathroom. Knowing exactly who it was, Christian went inside to console the boy. When he turned the corner, his mouth dropped.

Jim's hair was bright pink. The man was sitting on the ground, back against the wall, sobbing into his knees. Christian sat down next to him, the other boy oblivious to his new companion.

"Hey," Christian piped up. Jim sniffled a bit before looking at the younger. "Are you alright?" Jim shook his head. Christian slumped his shoulders. He didn't like seeing people upset.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Jim sobbed. Christian placed an arm around his impressively long shoulders.

"How did your hair turn pink?" Christian asked, getting right to the point. Jim looked ahead, wiping his tears on his sleeve. "I thought people were born with it."

Jim sighed deeply. "It's because of my mom," he explained. Christian tilted his head, confused; his orange hair bouncing slightly. "She was a Main but, she fell in love with someone who wasn't her starter. They got married and had me and were relieved when I came out normal."

"Then how did you turn into a Main and a starter?" Christian asked. Usually people were either Main's or starters, never both.

"Because my mother deferred from her story. That ends up either making a normie or a hybrid. We were hoping I was the former," Jim said, tears still running down his face.

"Yeah, my mother wasn't too happy about my fate either," Christian said. "My aunt was also a Main and something really bad happened to her, so they were begging to any god that would listen, hoping that I wouldn't be a main."

"What happened to your aunt?" Jim asked, now very curious.

"Jim!" a voice said as a body came barrelling through the door. "H-how could you do this to me?"