pastel boy

"Conan, think fast!"

His flimsy limbs failed to move fast enough and block the basketball coming towards him. The rest of the class began to laugh at the red mark appearing on his left cheek, mixing in with the blush creeping onto his face.

Conan let out a deep breath, dragging his feet to the boys' locker room as the bell rang. He grabbed his clothes and shuffled to a bathroom stall, carefully avoiding eye contact with the people he walked past. He made sure he took his time changing, wanting to wait until all of the hollering noises and laughter in the locker room died down completely before walking out.

He adjusted his tucked in pastel-colored sweater and looked at himself in the mirror one last time before heading to the parking lot, wanting to stop by his favorite cafe on his way home.

You're going to be okay. Everything will be fine.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

Maybe not.

Conan froze, internally groaning at the familiar husky voice behind him. It was Alex, a stereotypical jock and the complete opposite of Conan.

"I heard you singing behind the art room yesterday, you seem to really think you're good now, huh?" Alex teased, his muscular build towering over the younger boy. Conan cringed at the smell of Alex's jersey, wondering how long it's been since he last washed it.

"Instead of singing those cute sappy songs with your girly little voice, how about you hit up the gym for once? You know, get some meat on those bones?"

This was a daily routine for Conan. The constant teasing. Mocking. Laughing. It all went in one ear and out the other.

The boy sighed while Alex laughed and walked away, satisfied with all of the words he managed to spit out of his mouth. Conan mustered up all of his strength and decided he wouldn't let this incident ruin the rest of his day, proceeding to walk to his car and drive off.

The scent of coffee beans greeted Conan as he opened the door, ordering his usual drink and sitting at a table in the corner. He opened his laptop and clicked on his email, scrolling through his inbox. His legs began to shake as he spotted the one email left unread, unable to decide whether or not he should open it.

Don't do it, you're wasting your time.

He furrowed his eyebrows, unsure of what to think. he ended up going against his thoughts, clicking on the big bold letters and reading the message he had received.

See? Just do it, you got nothing to worry about.

Just as he was about to start typing a response, Conan remembered all of the comments said to him earlier in the week. His confidence immediately shut down, making him second guess his choice.

Why even bother? People are only going to make fun of you more if this doesn't work out.

"No..." Conan muttered, reassuring himself once more.

I'm doing this. Nothing's going to stop me this time.

Conan hurriedly typed up a response and attached his files, pausing a few seconds before clicking send.

Now, to wait.

The leaves on the trees were finally turning a bright green, the flowers on the front porch blooming into a beautiful shade of pink. Conan opened the door and kicked off his shoes, heading straight for his room upstairs. Nothing had changed since last season, the fragile boy still receiving insults and nudges in the hallway.

He decided he would check his email one last time before giving up, tired of staying hopeful and being let down.

Opening his internet browser, Conan logged on and signed into his account. His eye immediately spotted the unread message in his inbox, his heart beginning to pound as he read the subject. A shriek escaped his mouth the moment he clicked on the email and the boy practically jumped out of his bed, skipping around his room like a child high off of candy.

Conan's song had become a #1 hit on the charts only days later, making it one of the top viral songs in the country. His dream of becoming a singer-songwriter had finally come true, allowing him to express his identity however he wanted.

Despite the tremendous amount of support received after releasing his song, the harsh words had never stopped coming but the ability to overcome them quickly became Conan's strongest motivation to keep going and be himself.