He Left Sparkles in his Wake

Completely and Utterly Done

Richard didn't sleep well or long. He kept filtering between waking thoughts and sleeping for a few minutes at a time. The pain would ebb in as he would lose consciousness. Only two hours had passed since he was forced to make a fool of himself with Never Have I Ever.

"Richard...Richard!" A voice called out causing said male to awake and jump to his feet. His thighs ached from the bruises and gave out beneath him. He fell face first into the tree and felt his lip cut against the bark with his forearms. Jared appeared beside him and helped the smaller male to stand. "Are you okay? We have been looking for you and texting you for hours." He confided. Richard forced a smile despite the pain now radiating from his busted lip.

"Yeah, thanks. I decided to get some fresh air and I guess I fell asleep. And I accidently left my phone in my room." Richard stated and forced himself to step away from Jared. "I didn't want to make more of a fool of myself than I already am." He mumbled under his breath. Jared stepped closer to him and placed his hand on either side of Richard's face.

"There's something I want to tell you, but you need to promise me that you won't tell anyone else. Not a soul." Jared said seriously. Richard stared into the crystalline pools of blue that were Jared's eyes and nodded. He felt at ease with Jared and would keep his secret, if Jared would keep his.

"Yeah. Anything. I-if you'll let me confide in you afterwards." The smaller male reasoned. Jared smiled.

"Of course. Well, I....I play D&D. And I think that it was really admirable of you to be able to say that you play. Now, what would you like to tell me, oh sly thief?" Jared said addressing him by a D&D class. Richard swallowed and moved Jared's hands away from his face; he looked at the ground behind Jared's left shoulder. "Is this about getting bullied? I wouldn't think that anyone at Asagao would do that." He remarked and quirked one of his immaculate brows on his perfect, glittery face. An anger that rarely inhabited the small male welled up inside him and burst as he opened his mouth.

"You wouldn't think that people here were capable of bullying because you have a name for yourself! You're popular, and handsome, and have friends, all things I'm not and don't have! I'm done! I came to Asagao to try and find a place where I belong, but it's obvious that it's not here...All I experienced in America was verbal and emotional bullying, but Asagao has been worse...I tried to go back to Bluebell and I was harassed! They brought me here, held my arms and covered my mouth, and used me as a human punching bag! And I wish I could say that this was the first time that something like this had happened! These same guys were about to beat me to a pulp if it hadn't been for Cake. And I embarrassed myself in front of Ian, Luke, and Jimmy because I was shoved into a locker; I had a mental breakdown in front of them all because Luke moved to fast near me...and Ian demanded to check my arms to see if I was self harming...I want to have friends, but I feel like Normal Boots and Hidden Block only pity me. That's why you guys allow me anywhere near you. And why you wanted me to join the Karaoke Competition...I wanted to do it for me! Not to beat Hidden Block, or to prove my worth to Normal Boots, but to maybe make a name for myself....maybe then...people would say, 'That's Richard. He defied the odds and proved that nothing can keep a person from becoming popular except for themselves. He paved the way!' But they never will....I'm just going to do the competition and then I'll stay as far away from everyone as possible...I promise..." Richard trailed off. The anger had left him half-way through his rant. Jared placed his hand gently on the American's shoulders and used the other to force him to look at his perfect face that was contorted in anger.

"Who hurt you?!" He hissed out. Richard shrugged slightly and winced at the action. "None of that is true! We all like you for who you are and wanted you to do the competition because we thought you would be good for it. I...I never knew that you were being bullied so...severely! None of us did! I...come with me. We're going back to Bluebell to talk with some friends of mine. D&D....friends." Jared confessed, also losing his anger as he spoke. He carefully pulled Richard against his side and placed his arm around the smaller male's shoulders. "Lean on me if it hurts too much." He stated honestly and began walking. Richard limped along with him and smiled slightly for real. He felt, dare he say it, confident and proud; he had told Jared how he felt and confessed that he was being bullied. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, yet the I Don't Belong Here burden still loomed. The boys hurried, well, as fast as Richard could with as many bruises as he had, back to Bluebell. Jared led him to a room near PBG's.