Broken Wings (Troyler AU)

5 ~ Accidentally Snide Comments

**Please read the author's note at the end!**

Troye's Point of View

I stare hard at the desk in front of me, willing myself to stay awake. I hadn't gotten any sleep the previous night, and this time it wasn't by choice. My parents had kept me awake until four a.m. screaming at each other once again, and even when they finally quieted down, I still couldn't manage to drift off.

Why?

Because my father was trying to kick me out.

I can't really say I'm surprised; it was bound to happen sooner or later. The idea, however, still terrifies me. I haven't a clue where I would go if my parents threw me out; I don't have any relatives nearby, nor do I have any friends who's houses I could stay at.

The image of a boy with glasses and blonde hair flashes across my mind for a fleeting second, but I quickly push it away. There is no way in hell I'm staying with Tyler.

"Okay, today we're going to be talking about a bit of a dark subject." Ms. Kirk says, writing something on the chalkboard. When she takes a step back, I see the word "Suicide" scrawled in her neat handwriting and my stomach drops.

"How is suicide relevant to what we are currently reading?" She asks.

The girl to my left raises her hand. "Both Romeo and Juliet kill themselves." she says.

"Right." Ms. Kirk says. "What are some thoughts on that?"

A girl across the room raises her hand, waving it wildly. "I think it's beautiful." she says. "They love each other so much that they can't live without each other. It's so romantic."

"Okay," Ms. Kirk says agreeably. "What else?"

Justin sticks his hand in the air. "I think it's pathetic." he spits.

"That they ended their lives out of love for one another?" Ms. Kirk asks.

"That they ended their lives at all." he says. "Suicide is a coward's death. It makes me sick."

I roll my eyes, my face heating up in annoyance. I glance up and feel a spark of panic when I see Ms. Kirk staring at me with her arms crossed.

"And what do you think, Mr. Mellet?"

I press my lips together so hard they hurt. What I want to do is shrug my shoulders and get through the rest of the class without saying anything.

But I can't.

"I think that both answers are complete crap." I say before I can stop myself.

Ms. Kirk's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Is that so?" She asks. "Why?"

"B-because first of all, suicide is not cute, okay?" I snap, glancing at the girl who had said it was. "You can take your romanticized garbage and shove it right up your..." I pause and shake my head before turning to Justin. "And suicide is definitely not pathetic or cowardly. It's horrific. The thought that someone hates their life so much that they want to end it is not something we should be discussing so lightly, especially if we have no idea what it's like."

By the time I finish, the entire class is staring at me in shock. The room is so quiet that I can hear the tick of the clock as every second crawls by. I look down at my hands and pray that everyone will suddenly get amnesia and forget I said that.

Suddenly, the bell rings. I shoot up from my seat and am out the door before anyone else even realized what happened. I head for the bathroom, intent on doing one thing. Before I make it through the door, and hand grabs the back of my shirt and shoves me inside.