No Façade, No Mask.

Chapter Two - Am I Worth Saving?

TWs: Religious trauma, Derogatory language, Slurs, Bad actions excused by religion, Homophobia, Mentioned cannibalism, Child abuse.

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Travis was currently sitting in the cafeteria, eating a ham sandwich. - Not bologna, not after Sal had so kindly let him know it was made of human meat,

He only believed Sal because the food did make him feel sick.. it was just the food he could get the most of at school,

And his father usually wouldn't let him eat, so he was always really hungry when he got to school.

He had never mentioned that to anyone though, cause that was normal, right? His father was such a holy man, a man who could do no wrong.. if he hurt Travis, that meant Travis did something to deserve that.

After Travis ate his sandwich, he sat there at the table,

He had about 20 minutes until classes started back, and his head was already fuzzing,

Travis stood up, he took a deep breath and left the cafeteria.

He walked down the empty hallways, until he ducked into the music room. People often didn't come in here,

He walked over to the piano and sat down, letting his hands trail over it,

His mother used to play the piano, and she did it beautifully, not the same way his father did it.

When his father played for church, it felt forced and wrong, but when his mother played.. it was soft and smooth,

Travis had been taught to play his fathers way, and told not to let himself indulge in anything other then the holy music of the church,

But no one was around.. it couldn't hurt..

Travis softly put his hands down on the keys, his anxiety rising at the thought of deliberately going against his father's rules, I mean.. it was basically law!

With another quick look around, Travis let himself play in a way his mother would've,

The music filled his ears and he felt himself relaxing as he played.

His hands glided along the keyboard and he lost himself in the music, softly humming along.

He was so lost in the melody that he didn't even notice the footsteps behind him,

There was a cough and he instantly froze.

"That was pretty.. I've always loved the piano."

He turned around with a scowl, of course it was Sal.

He stood up, "I don't want your compliments."

Sal was wearing his prosthetic again, but it had a lot more tape.

"I know. But I still think you played nice."

Sal was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, his hair was back in pigtails.

Travis couldn't see his face, but he could hear the smile in Sal's voice,

It pissed him off.

"Leave me alone, fag." He pushed past Sal with a growl,

He stormed down the hallway, not looking back,

The bell rung, signalling it was now 3:00 and he had missed his last class, fuck.

He basically ran to his locker, grabbing his stuff in a panic.

He rushed home, not wanting to make it worse for himself by being late.