Cold Lonely Nights

New School

The whole drive to school, Drew is secretly panicking. Having never really been to a school before since all education took place in the orphanage, he still knew one thing for certain. It would be brutal.

He fiddles anxiously with the skirt, beginning to feel a panic attack coming on. "How long until we get there?" He asks the driver, speaking in the way he has been coached to so that his secret is kept hidden.

"About two minutes." The driver replies.

"Right." He nods. "Of course." He mutters under his breath.

"Are you nervous?" The driver checks.

Drew fakes a smile. "I've never been great at meeting new people." He adds.

"You'll be fine, a cute girl like you, who would ever think to make you uncomfortable?" The driver tries to reassure, having been completely convinced that his passenger is a girl.

Drew plasters on a smile. "Thank you."

"Alright, we're here. I'll be in the same place to pick you up after school. Have a nice day." The driver smiles back at Drew.

"Thanks." He tries to smile, leaving the car. Just as Drew's about to enter the school, the car rolls down it's window.

"Good luck." The driver cheerfully chirps.

Drew only nods in reply, watching as the driver disappears before clutching tightly onto his bag, tugging down his skirt and loosening the tie before making his way to the school.

When he enters a woman at the reception spots him. "Hello dear, how can I help you?" She asks.

"H-hi, um, I was meant to be starting school today." He awkwardly tells her.

"Really, what's your name dear?" She checks.

Drew's just about to answer his name but the woman finds the name on the list.

"Oh, Jennie Baker. That's a lovely name. I've got your timetable right here." She tells him, printing something out and handing it to him. "If you get lost I'm sure you could ask any of the students to show you to the lesson." She tells him, guiding him to the busy corridor before returning to the reception.

Drew freezes up at the sight of all those people turning to the newcomer and staring at him. Already, he can see some of the venomous looks he's getting from the girls as well as the crude looks the guys are giving him. To his luck, none of them seems to suspect that he isn't what they think he is.

"Hey babe, woncha give me some of that?" One of the guys taunt, slapping Drew's behind hard.

Drew tenses up and closes his eyes with a squeal. This makes the other kids laugh at him so he does everything he can to get himself out of there.

He runs until he reaches a dead end with a broom closet. Knowing that there's absolutely no way that he can let them find him, he hides in the broom closet, putting things in front of the door to stop them from breaking in.

Drew whimpers when he hears all of the kids arriving at the corner. They laugh before trying the door, making Drew cower in the corner as the handle keeps moving.

Luckily enough, they don't manage to get in so they simply pound their fists against the door, yelling loudly to scare Drew. They stop, laughing a lot before locking the door and leaving.

Drew immediately pounds his fists against the door, crying for someone to open it. Because his voice hasn't broken yet, he still is able to keep the fact that he's actually a guy in a skirt.

They leave him there to tease him so he just slumps his shoulders, bursting into tears.

After a long time, the door opens again. Drew looks up hopefully, pulling down his skirt so that they can't see his underwear.

A tall boy looks down at Drew with a confident smirk. "Comfortable?" He checks.

Drew immediately gets up. "Th-thank you for opening the door." He tells the person.

"No problem. I've never seen you before, are you new here?" The boy asks.

"Yeah, I'm D-" Drew starts before remembering that he can't tell anyone about his true name. "Jennie Baker, you?" He checks.

"Laurence Beveridge, so Jennie, this is a funny place to hang out." He smirks.

Drew glares at him for a moment. "It wasn't by choice." He murmurs.

"Come on, people will think you're a vampire if you lock yourself in here all day." Laurence offers, holding out his hand welcomingly.

Drew takes it and gets guided out. "What time is it?"

"Half one, otherwise known as lunch time." Laurence replies.

Drew shifts his weight nervously. "Can I sit with you? I don't wanna be alone right now." He checks.

Laurence looks him up and down, mentally trying to work out if he can be worth anything. Drew trembles awkwardly but tries to keep calm.

Laurence seems to like what he sees so he nods. "Sure." He shrugs.

"Thank you." Drew tells him sincerely.

"One thing though..." Laurence warns, resting his hand on Drew's waist. "No one's going to believe that we're just friends, so would you be alright with going out with me?"

Drew looks Laurence carefully in the eyes. Despite knowing that Laurence won't at all be happy if he found out his secret, the idea of facing the rest of the school alone is too daunting so he feels like he has no other choice but to give him what he wants.

"Uh, okay." He quietly replies.

Laurence grins at the sound of this and tilts Drew's chin up with his finger. Drew's just about to ask what he is doing when their lips touch. He freezes up for a moment, remembering how mad his foster father was when he was still crying about Shane everyday, reassuring himself that he can really piss them off by having a boyfriend like Laurence.

Drew just hoped that Laurence would never find out his secret first. Drew forces himself to push all of his thoughts away and gently kissing back, stroking his hands down Laurence's shirt. Laurence grabs Drew's hands to pin him against the wall, forcing an opening in the kiss. Drew whimpers at the forcefulness of this, having never even kissed anyone before, he starts to be a little anxious to have been thrown in at the deep end. Drew gives Laurence a pleading look but the older boy doesn't pay attention. This makes Drew simply play along, believing that he can't break it off without Laurence getting suspicious.