Never Too Late

The Hardest Side

Lance POV

    "How's that feel, Hopeless?"
They kick me again. And again. And again. After a little while they stop, and kick me again in the stomach, seemingly for good measure.  "See you later," They says with a cruel smile, then walk out of the bathroom.

I pick myself up, leaning against the wall for support, grabbing a hold on the sink closest to me before my wobbly legs gave out. I do my usual routine, taking off my shirt to see how bad it was this time. There was a giant bruise from yesterday just above my left hip. Today, they seemed to have aimed higher, right in the area of my belly button. I get an ice pack out of my bag that I pack everyday for this reason. I also get out a strap I use to keep the ice pack in place as I walk around. After I do that, I move up. My brown hair was a mess, sticking in every direction. My face is not as bad as yesterday, but it was still some damage. The swelling in my eye had gone down while they were focusing in my stomach, and was now just a dark blue and black, making my grey eyes more noticeable. My bottom lip was a little cut, but nothing to noticeable.

I get the makeup out of my bag, and apply it to my eye. After I'm done I stand in front of the mirror, making sure there are no traces left. I grab the Advil out of bag as well and take three, just in case, using the water from the sink to wash them down.

I clean up my mess, shoving everything into my bag. I walk out of the bathroom, only limping slightly. I'm used to this kind of thing by now, as you can tell. Ever since my 18th birthday, two months ago, this has been an everyday treatment. No one knows about it, not even my best friends. As I'm walking out of the bathroom the bell rings, signaling lunch. I walk to my locker, bumping into a few people on the way there. As soon as I see my locker, I start jogging to it, ignoring the pain in my gut. Before I can reach there however, I'm shoved to the floor, hard, by someone behind me.

"Watch it, Hopeless." Someone snaps. I don't know who, but I don't really care. My upper arm is throbbing slightly, just a slight pain, but noticeable. Suddenly I feel hands under my armpits, picking me up. They set me on my feet, grabbing my shoulders and turning me around to face them. I turn around to see my best friend, Hunk, with his usual orange bandana wrapped around his dark brown hair.

He looks at me with concern very apparent in his brown eyes, "Are you okay, Lance?"

I give him a small smile to reassure him, ignoring the throbbing in my shoulder.

"Watch where you're going, asshole!" I look to my right to see my other friend, Pidge, yelling at someone behind them, which I'm assuming was whoever shoved me. They weren't very scary looking, through. They're only 15, having been moved up a few grades. They're very short, and the glasses and short brown hair didn't make them look threatening at all. They walk over to me as well, anger burning in her brown eyes. "Are you okay? I will gladly beat his-"

"Pidge." I hear a soft yet demanding voice. I look back to see Allura, my other best friend. "You don't need to swear so much." She scolds Pidge, but her blue eyes showed a bit of amusement. Her white hair was tied up in a bun, probably because she hates it being in her face.

"You're not my mom." Pidge said, smirking slightly. Allura just glaring at her for a few seconds, before Pidge is forced to give in. "Sorry." They say, looking down at the floor.

Allura just giggles softly, pecking Pidge on the cheek. Oh, yeah, they're soulmates. Allura is 17, so it's not that much of an age difference. Hunk has met his as well, although Shay is quite shy, so she doesn't usually hang out with us. When she does, though, she's really sweet, just like Hunk.

I, on the other hand, have not. Which is why my nickname is "Hopeless", and why I get bullied and pushed around.

Hunk still has his grip on my shoulders, which he seems to just realize, and lets go, somewhat hesitantly. "What happened to your lip?" Allura says as she grabs my chin, examining my lip.

I lightly grab her wrist and move it away from my face, then let it go. "I'm fine, guys. I just... got hit in the face with the ball yesterday playing soccer with my family." Everyone looked suspicious, apparently not believing it fully. I look them all in the eyes, then whisper softly, "I promise."

They all seem to believe me now, looks of relief on their faces.

Hunk speaks up, "Okay, who's ready for lunch?", he says, with a grin on his face.

We all giggle because Hunk really enjoys lunch, no so much the school's food, but he'll take what he can get. We walk to lunch together sitting at our usual table, Shay sitting with us today.

Let's just hope I get through the rest of the day without any trouble.

~Time Skip~

"Mamá! I'm home!" I shout to the somewhat empty house. I take off my shoes and jacket, putting my shoes next to the door and my jacket on the coat rack.

"Estoy aquí mi hijo!" I hear from the kitchen.

I walk in to see my Mamá cooking something that smelled really good. I walk up to her and give her a peck on the cheek. "Smells amazing."

She giggles. "Garlic knots."

"Oh did you make some extra for-"

"Hunk? Yes I did." She said, putting her hair long brown hair up in a bun.

I chuckle. "I'm pretty sure he's gonna love that. Where's everyone else?"

"Veronica took Luis and Marco out to the park, since she got here earlier than you." She says, glaring playfully with her dark brown eyes.

"It's not my fault Mamá! I don't know how she gets here so fast!"

She rolls her eyes. "Go get ready for dinner."

"Okay." I say already running up the stairs to my room. My room is very messy, things thrown everywhere. Clothes on the floor, bed not made, and my things in random places. I had a few posters on my walls, things like Beyoncé, Drake, and silly things. I take off my shirt, also taking off the already melted ice pack. I change into a different one, then lay down on my bed.

Will I ever meet my soulmate? Or am I just going to be Hopeless forever? Will the beatings continue, even if I do meet my soulmate? What gender would they be?

Questions race through my mind, the same ones as always. They never seem to have an end.

I really hope I have an answer, soon.

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Okay so this chapter is a lot longer than the first. Hope you all liked it! And, again, feel free to fix any mistakes! Thanks!