Four Years Apart

Year 5 and 6 in Elementary School

~Shane's POV~

*Shane in Year 5 of elementary school*

New school year, new class, new people. Let's do it. I walked into my class on the first day of school, happy that school started again. I didn't have to be at home being suffocated by boredom. I saw who was in my new class, and I felt like puking out my breakfast. Derick, the infamous school bully was in my class. His eyes were on me the whole lesson. Immediately after that lesson ended, I rushed out of the classroom, avoiding him. I felt a tug on my sleeve. Before I knew it, Derick has me against a wall. "Oh hello, little fag." The words hurt. "I... I'm straig—" before I could finish, I felt his fist connect with my jaw. "I'm gonna make these two years a living hell. Just so you wait, queer ass." I whimpered. The pain was intensifying by the second. "I'm really straight," was all I could force out before plunging into darkness.

Darkness. That's how depression felt. You are thrown into an endless pit of darkness and you claw your way up but it's just darkness. You see no light no nothing. Just darkness. Everyday after school, I would put concealer and powder on my face to erase away all the bruises and cuts Derick gave me. He even got the whole cohort to turn against me. I was alone. I was broken. Just my luck, the teachers decided not to remove me from the class so I was stuck with him for my final year. By then, I was worn out. It did not take a scientist to figure out I was falling into the pit of depression. Hell, I already reached the bottom of that hellhole. Everyday was a struggle. The period of promotional exams were exceptionally bad. I've worked my ass off for these exams, I almost got hospitalised the day before the first paper.

I think even hell is a better place to be in than in the same class as Derick.

The two years of hell haunted my dreams and thoughts every single day without fail. You were never able to numb yourself to the painful memories. Till today, it hurts, so badly. Kerri turned my whole world around. As cliche as it sounds, she turned my stormy skies to glorious sunshines.

Durinf the holidays, I had a lot more time on my hands, and, these memories kept resurfacing, again and again, hurting me, again and again. Just as I was about to walk to my bathroom where I kept my pen knives, I stopped. The feeling of Kerri's warm arms came into my mind. I fell onto the bathroom floor, sobbing and shaking. I'm tired of these dark thoughts. They never disappear. I cried and cried till I fell asleep on my bathroom floor. For the first time in forever, I fell into a deep sleep, without the frightful dreams. Peace and, Kerri.

~Kerri's POV~

His sad face resurfaced in my mind. Why was he so sad? Why? Why was he in the park so early in the morning? Millions of questions relating back to Shane just overwhelmed me. I texted Shane:

Me: Hey Shane, uh, can you meet me at the park in 15?

Shane: Sure sure. What's the matter?

Me: Ummm, you'll see.

I changed into decent looking clothes and took the train. I half ran half jogged to the park. I saw him sitting on that same bench that morning. He looked up from his large glasses and smiled at me. "Look, the reason I called you here is just to see your face. I already miss you so much." Immediately after saying that, I crushed him in a hug. "I... Miss... You... Too... " he said in between sobs. I didn't care that he was staining my shirt with his tears. It was worth it. I got to meet the most special boy ever. It's a pity no one bothered to socialise with him, well except me.

We stayed in that embrace for several minutes. Shane's heartwrenching sobs sent tears down my face too. He seemed so fragile in my arms, as if he could break any second. He wasn't the skinniest guy ever, or rather the shortest guy, but emotionally and psychologically, he was fragile. I pulled him closer than ever, determined to protect this small bean of a human from anymore damage. After a while, his sobs started to subside. He lay in my arms, his eyes red and puffy. I reached out to wipe his tears away.

"Thank you for being you." I said.

"Thank you for accepting me." He replied.

~Shane's POV~

When she crashed into my arms, something snapped inside me. The emotions poured out at tremendous amounts. I cried and cried and cried. I could no longer control myself. Kerri works magic. She accepts me the way I am. She is a literal angel. She makes me so happy to the point where I feel like I would explode. She erased all the suicidal thought from my brain in an instant. She makes me whole again. She repairs me, a hopeless piece of shit that can never fit in, that could never accomplish anything. She is my angel, my guardian angel.

After my emotional breakdown, my eyelids felt heavy. I must've fallen asleep in her arms. When I woke, I realised that she was ruffling my hair slightly. "Morning princess." she said. My heart skipped a beat when she said the world princess. Indeed I was a feminine guy, a very feminine one at that. I didn't like to think of myself as female pronouns. But when that word escaped her lips, it felt so right.  Kerri and I continued to have a casual conversation until it was evening time. It was a Friday, which meant that I had to go back to school on Monday after a week-long holiday. "See you on Monday, Kerri."

"See you on Monday, princess."

~Kerri's POV~

The way his whole face lit up when I called him princess was simply adorable. I didn't even know where that word came from but it just simply escaped my lips. Saying that word felt so right. He made me so happy. As I walked to the train station after saying goodbye, I couldn't stop smiling the whole walk. Just was I was to enter the train station, I heard a voice I could recognise anywhere. "Where were you? Were we not meeting up?"

That sweet girl voice belonged to Shyan.