Stuck In The Box: The Seeds Of Love And Death

Chapter 2: I Knew You Were Waiting

The Wild Boys were about to head out of the classroom when the intercom began ringing. "Attention students, please gather at the auditorium now, we have an announcement," Mr Harrison said through the intercom. Bono used his enhanced sight to see what's going on in the auditorium only to have his heart beat faster than usual. "Bono, you alright? You seem a bit pale," Andy asked. "I'm alright," Bono said. That's when Larry went up to him. "He has POTS ever since his heart surgery but he hasn't been taking care of himself, he's just a bit stubborn when it comes to taking his medicine, I have cystic fibrosis so I can sort of relate to that, just a different illness," Larry explained. "I see, wait, I didn't know you have cystic fibrosis," Andy said. "Well, I'm supposed to be on oxygen but I don't like wearing it in public but I think I do now because of Curt, John, Roger, Nick, Richard and Tony," Larry said, giving a shoulder pat to Andy.

The Wild Boys were now seated in the auditorium, waiting for Mr Harrison to go on stage when Larry started coughing. "Curt, was that you?" Roland asked. "Nope, John?" Curt asked. "I took my steroids this morning, no," John (Taylor) said. "What are the steroids for?" Nick asked. "Reducing the inflammation," John (Taylor) said. "It certainly wasn't me, probably Nicky," Roger said, raising both of his hands up. "It wasn't me, I swear, maybe it's Richard," Nicky said. "Nope, probably Tony," Richard said. "Why do you guys blame me?" Tony asked. "It wasn't either of you guys, it's Larry," Bono said. Everyone looked in shock as the younger boy was coughing really hard. "What are we going to do?" Martin asked. "Do you guys have any spare oxygen tanks and maybe an oxygen mask? I suspect you have," Adam asked.

"I'm on it," Andy said, teleporting himself out of the auditorium and to his dorms. Bono then took out Larry's inhaler and tried to get him to calm down, but the sticky mucus won't leave him alone. "You're okay, hold on for me, Larry," Bono said. Andy arrived at the dorms and quickly ran up to the storage closet where the spare oxygen tanks and oxygen tubings were. He grabbed a tank (with the cart of course), a nasal cannula for later and an oxygen mask before teleporting back to the auditorium. "Here," Andy said, ripping the bag containing the oxygen mask and connecting it to the oxygen tank before putting it on Larry's face. "Okay, calm down, we're gonna give you the nasal cannula after this, okay?" Bono asked. Larry nodded.

As soon as Larry switched from oxygen mask to nasal cannula, Mr Harrison finally went on stage. "Hey, you alright now?" Edge asked. "A bit better actually, my chest still hurts but I'm glad I got my oxygen back if I'm being honest, it hurts to breathe all the time," Larry said. "You should've listened to us," Adam said. "But at least I have tubie buddies now," Larry said. "Alright, so today is Valentine's day so you know what that means," Mr Harrison announced. "Loneliness for some people who can't even breathe on their own," Morrissey said. "Fuck you Morrissey!" Tony screamed out. Everyone else braced themselves in case another fight is going to happen. "Fuck you Tony!" Morrissey yelled out. After constant swearings and stuff, Mr Harrison then had to interrupt.

"Okay, that's enough you two, do that again and then I'll have to give you detention," Mr Harrison said. "But he started it!" Tony yelled out. "Tony, calm down, it'll just make it worse," Steve (Norman) said. "Fine, sorry Mr Harrison," Tony said before he sat down. Mr Harrison was surprised with how much Tony had changed after waking up from his coma. "Alright then, and tonight is also the Valentine's day dance, that's why everyone here is grabbing a partner, and then you'll get an award for best couple," Mr Harrison said. Everyone was excited, including the Wild Boys. "So, who do you think is going to win the best couple award?" Martin asked. "Probably me and Mart," Dave said. "I don't know for sure if homosexual couples can be candidates," Mart said.

"And for the sake of inclusivity and to stop gay oppression, homosexual couples can also be candidates," Mr Harrison announced. "Yes!" The Wild Boys said quietly in unison. "But which one of us though?" Kim asked. "No clue, but we'll think about it later in the music room," Paul said. "No fair, why would you let those dangerous gays and lesbians be candidates?" Morrissey asked. The Wild Boys face-palmed. "Morrissey, what is wrong with you?" Mr Harrison asked, starting to get angry. "They're gonna dominate the entire school, what will happen to the normal ones?" Morrissey asked. "And that is the root of racism and homophobia, fear of dominance," Sarah said. "There might be some other reasons though," Fletch said.