Problems [Henriam]

[3]

-Third person POV-

"Hey look, it's the ፑȧ9ዖ๐t from freshman year. He hasn't grown much, has he?" The two boys laughed again, and Henry looked down, ashamed. They were probably confused with the use of the f-slur. The voices took over Henry however, when another interrupted them. "The hell is your problem? You got nothing better to do than pick on him?" Drew said He was a bit surprised, knowing his friend's reputation. He rolled his eyes before continuing. "Fuck off, before you get yourself into something you can't get out of."

It was silent for a while, and Henry was afraid the boys would continue with their snarky remarks. A scoff. "Whatever. He's a fuckin' nobody anyways- not worth our time." And in just a few minutes , they were out of their sight. Henry let out a sigh of relief, before he realized he was being stared at.

Drew looked like he was angry, but Liam... he looked like he was going to kill someone....

"Well?" Drew broke the silence. He realized the three would probably want an explanation, so he brought a hand to the back of his neck, pulling his hood up and putting it on. "It's nothing- I mean, it's not really important." He said and followed with a small chuckle, trying to rub the situation away. He knew that wouldn't work, but he supposed it was worth a try.

"Not important? Henry, they called you a ፑȧ9ዖ๐t. Do you know how offensive that is?" Jake raised an eyebrow questioning himself and Henry, and the green haired boy just nodded, arm drifting to his side. "I don't wanna talk about it right now. Can we just.. go to class? Please?" Drew, Liam and Jake knew something was up, but they all also knew not to push Henry into talking about something when he didn't want to. "Yeah, alright. Let's go, before we lose our seats to those freaks."

๐•⛤★⛤★⛤★⛤•๐

Hours passed, and eventually, lunch period came around. Classes were boring, as usual, full of bullshit that would barely be used in the future. Something was off, though. Henry was..!?! quiet. That itself was a BIG red flag, but he seemed sad. It was unnatural, especially due to his usual attitude. The first few minutes were quiet, but the silence grew too loud.

Liam needed to speak up. "Henry, are you... okay?" And just with that, his act had been broken. His eyes filled with tears, flooding his eyes as water started falling down his cheeks as he buried his face in his arms. His shoulders shook. Thankfully, nobody around them took notice or seemed to care. Liam sat up straight, worry etched across his face as he placed a hand on his friend's back, moving closer. He couldn't imagine how he must've been feeling, or the embarrassment that came with it. If he broke down at the mere mention of talking about it, it couldn't possibly be good. Drew and Jake looked at each other, both boys standing up and signaling for the other two to follow. Liam took notice of what they were trying to do, and he pulled Henry up by the arm, leaving the shortest of the bunch confused. He was too lost in his own head to care, following the three out of the cafeteria. The place was always packed and roaring with voices, so it wasn't the best place to be.

He was happy they going somewhere quieter. By the time they had reached the empty bathroom, Henry's sobs had subsided for the loud noise. Tears fell every now and again, and his cheeks were flushed. He was feeling a lot of things in the moment, embarrassment most of all. He couldn't bring himself to speak, not knowing what to say to his friends that would explain the situation. "Are you gonna tell us what's wrong, or not?" Drew's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to find Jake elbowing his side.

"Uh, what he meant was.. do you wanna talk about it?" A few more seconds of silence, and Henry just shrugged. In all truth, he wanted nothing to do with the way he was feeling- the thought of telling them about it made him sick to his stomach. "Was it those guys from earlier? Don't let them get to your head, they're insecure nobodies." He appreciated Drew's concern, knowing that he cared- even if he didn't have the best ways of showing it. "I guess that's a part of it. Just a bad day, is all."

(Quick Question: Do you know the muffin man?...)

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