People Like Us (Boy x Boy)

After

Xavier's POV

I woke up to a pounding headache. It felt like an ice pick was being driven through my brain over and over again every time I moved. Groaning, I sat up and rolled over, almost falling off the bed. I caught myself in time though. I squinted at the alarm clock. It was seven am. School started in forty minutes. I groaned again and flung my arm over my eyes. Something warm lay beside me, and judging from the fact that I could tell I was in Skylar's room, it had to be Skylar. I peeked at him.

His hair was all over the place and his mouth hung slightly open, but he looked cute, almost angelic while he slept. I snorted, wincing when another icepick hammered through my head. Skylar was sweet and angelic, but he had a bit of a temper, though he did a great job controlling it. If you didn't know Skylar well like I did, you would never be able to guess.

Sighing, I slowly got up from the bed, taking a few deep breaths before I stumbled into the bathroom. I closed the door, went to the sink and splashed myself with cold water. I grabbed the spare toothbrush that I always kept at Skylar's house and I brushed my teeth while looking in the mirror. My eyes were red and I had slight bags under them. I looked pale.

Realization dawned on me. I must have gotten hammered last night, though I barely remembered a thing. I know I'd walked to Brendan's house and there'd been a girl there. The rest, though,...I couldn't recall. I sighed and spit out the toothpaste and rinsed my mouth out. Then I stripped from my clothes, half noticing that I still had Brendan's shirt, and I stepped into the shower. The cold water hit my body, making me shudder. I let out a gasp of air and began to wash myself.

There were still bruises on my body but they had just started to fade. The pain had lessened considerably. Or maybe it was just that I'd gotten used to it. It wouldn't surprised me if I had gotten used to the abuse that my father put me through. It was norm. Abuse had been my reality ever since my sister had killed herself just months after our mother had died. Three years. I couldn't believe they'd been gone three years. I tried to think of the last time I'd been to see them, their graves. I cringed, feeling ashamed as I realized that I hadn't seen them since they'd been buried. The abuse had started almost immediately and I'd been to wrapped up in my own self to go visit their graves.

Tears stung my eyes and soon sobs began to rack my body. I began to shake, though from the cold water or my own tears, I didn't know. I wasn't sure how long I stood in under the water, but it was long enough for it not to feel cold any longer. I turned the shower off and stepped out. I grabbed a towel and dried myself off before wrapping the towel around my waist and stepping out of the bathroom, making my way back to Skylar's room.

I heard voices coming from his room. Frowning, I opened the door to find Skylar rummaging through his drawers for clothes and a girl who looked familiar sitting on his bed. Skylar turned around with a smile on his face. He looked happy. I felt my lips tug up, before the girl spoke.

"Morning."

I turned to look at her, still unsure of what her name was. "Morning," I said back, a frown still on my face.

"You don't remember my name, do you?" she asked, picking up on my hesitation easily. I cracked a small smile and shook my head. "Jenna," she said.

"Nice to meet you...again," I said, sure that this wasn't the first time she'd introduced herself to me. She nodded at me, then her eyes widened slightly. She looked me up and down. At first I thought she was checking me out and was about to tell her that I was gay, but then I realized that my bruises were on full display. I froze, unsure what to do. The only one who'd ever seen my bruises before was Skylar. I looked up at Skylar. He seemed to have realized what had happened and he also stood frozen in place.