Invisible

I needed to see you.

Guys! I finally, finally wrote a new chapter! I'm sorry it took so long. I promise the next chapter wont take this long to upload.

I stand at the edge of his bed for a minute. He looks so helpless. I notice a piece of hair in his face. Without thinking, I lightly brush it away.

His eyes shoot open. He looks around the room,

Just as I turn to leave, Chris grabs my arm and rips me from the room. He continues pulling me through the hall as quickly as he can.

"Why are we running?" I ask.

He is already a bit out of breath. "Ethan's Mom," he whispered.

I look behind us and see her. She was talking to a nurse and pointing at us.

"Hey! You two! Stop!"

We turn the corner and sprint as fast we can until we burst out the front doors, into the parking lot.

I start walking quickly to the car, a bit out of breath. Chris doesn't follow me. He puts his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath.

"Dude, come on, they can still catch us. We have to go!" I jog back and grab his arm this time.

His breaths are long and deep. "I just need a second," he says in between gasps.

"We don't have a second. The car is right there. Let's go." I pull him up and drag him to the car.

He immediately starts the car, and we speed out of the lot.

~~~~~~~~time skip~~~~~~~~~

My hands are shaking in my pockets as I approach the big double doors of the school. I keep my head down, staring at the floor the way he usually does.

I shut my locker softly, and step into homeroom. I can feel the stares burrowing into my skin. I don't dare bring my gaze up from the tiles as I step to the empty table in the back. My jaw is clenched as the now familiar whispers and laughs begin. This time, the words "fag", "pussy", and "smear the queer" find their way out of the muffled whispers.

After what feels like an eternity of staring at the black lab table, the bell finally rings and I bolt for the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Another time skip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I linger behind in the classroom before lunch. Even the teacher steps out to lunch before I leave the room. When I finally walk out into the hallway, it's empty. Instead of going to the cafeteria, I go to the bathroom and sit in a stall. Pulling out my phone, I open Instagram and start scrolling through. I quickly realize how much of a mistake that was, because there are countless posts talking about the party. Some posts about it were even on the explore page. I can feel a lump forming in my throat, and it takes everything inside me not to throw my phone at the wall. Instead, I delete my account and the app.

I start to pull my headphones out of my pocket and untangle them when I hear the door burst open and tons of footsteps file in. It sounds like two or three guys. My heart stops, and I quickly pull my feet up to my chest so I can't be seen. But I wasn't fast enough. It seems to be a theme with me, I think.

The four feet quickly run over to my stall and start banging on the door and shouting. Their voices sound familiar, but I can't place exactly who they are.

When one of them climbs up and looks over the top of the stall, I see it's Aiden. Immediately I know who the other one is Jason.

"So I was right about you being a fag all along," he smirks.

I look down at the floor, but he snaps to look at him when he's talking to him.

"Get out of the stall," he commands, and I reluctantly do as he says. I step out and immediately shoved by Jason. 

"Can you just leave me alone?" I plead.

"You expect me to get punched by a fag and not get him back?" he shoves me this time. So I shove him back.

"I'm not a fag you dipshit!" I push him again.

He chuckles, "That's not what Ethan says." He and Jason both burst out laughing. I push past them and run through the halls. 

I open the doors and run into the cool fresh air. I sit on the top step and take deep breaths, trying to calm myself down, my head in my hands.

I feel my phone vibrate in my lap. I know it's probably Kayla or one of her friends, but I check it anyway. My heart skips a beat when I see who it's from.

Ethan: Connor

I respond immediately.

C: Ethan, hey

The text I receive shocks me.

E: I don't hate you.

C: Why not? I deserve it.

He doesn't read it, nor does he text back.