SORRY GUYS!!! MY INTERNET WENT OUT AT MY HOUSE FOR AGES! IM SO SORRY! THANK YOU FOR WAITING! I HAVE BEEN WRITING MY LITTLE WRITERS BUTT OFF SO IM GONNA GIVE YOU LIKE 2 UPDATES WITHIN AN HOUR!!! LOVE U ALL! <3

Onto the story!

Alex POV

Karl left the house. He seemed so frantic and scared, almost as if he thought I was gonna make him stay here.

I wanted to, to be honest. But I knew it wasn't the right thing to do, right?

He was scared. Scared that I was gonna hurt him. But he knows I wouldn't...

I don't know what's going on with Karl. He's weird and all, but like, really weird...

He immediately tensed up when I asked him if he wasn't safe. Must be a sore topic...

But what if he wasn't okay? What if he wasn't safe?

I really need to stop worrying... right?

-

The next morning, I got ready and all, but I was still worried about Karl.

But that worrying got so much worse when Karl didn't show up on the bus.

I sat there, watching the bus doors close. No sign of Karl. Maybe he was just late...

I had forgotten how lonely it was, sitting on the bus alone. I had sat with Karl for the past couple of days, and without someone next to me, I felt...incomplete.

When I was younger, I always sat with Nick. Sure he's mean, but he wasn't always. He was my best friend. My safe place.

He even helped knock me out of my eating disorder. At least, he did for a while.

He ended up leaving me. Completely ditching me. All for a couple of friends.

Turns out I was the one who was stopping him from having friends. I was the one who was holding him back.

As soon as he got the offer of more friends, he left me in a heartbeat. Now I sit alone.

At least I did till Karl, but Karl wasn't here right now.

'I'm sure he's fine...'

'Did he leave me too...?'

I need to keep my mind off him.

Soon the bus came to a stop, shaking me out of my thoughts. I got up, by myself. I felt as if a small part of me was gone. I hate being alone.

I stepped off the bus, and onto the campus grounds.

My hands hit the ground, scratching against a rock. I yelped, and got up quickly, looking around.

"Where's your friend?" Schlatt asked, standing behind me. I turned around quickly.

I looked down at my hands, the scrape wasn't too bad, but I did have a little blood seeping through my slited skin.

"I didn't even push you that hard," Schlatt spat out. "This is why you don't have friends anymore."

I bit my lip to stop myself from saying something mean back. I held back tears, as he turned away.

Just like Nick, Schlatt had left me. I was so desperate for a friend after Nick left, I came to the only person who would ever pay attention to me. Schlatt.

Sure he wasn't really a good friend, he would beat me up if I ever did something he didn't like. But it was all I had.

Until I decided friends weren't worth it, I suffered for a couple months of getting beat up constantly by Schlatt.

I ran to school as fast as I could, not wanting to see Schlatt again, knowing I would burst into tears.

I was running so fast I hadn't even been paying attention to where I was going. I ran straight into Nick. Great.

I tumbled onto the ground, lifting my hand quickly, after it had dragged onto the ground, opening the cut even more.

Nick tripped, but caught his balance quickly.

"What is up with people running into me this week!" He yelled angrily, turning over to face me. "Oh, it's you..."

My eyes met with his, but our gaze didn't hold for long. His eyes ran down to my hand, which I had been holding close to my chest.

"Are you okay— I mean, what are you doing?" Nicked asked, quickly hiding the soft side of him with a tough mask.

I missed his soft side. That side is really the only reason I somehow get myself to eat something maybe once a week.

Nick glanced behind me, as if checking if someone was there.

He held his hand out, waiting for me to take it. I slowly reached my injured hand out, and he took it.

"What did you do to yourself," he asked calmly, his mask starting to fade.

"Schlatt..." I mumbled.

He looked up at me, sympathy flicked across his eyes for a moment, before receding back to his 'tough' side.

"I thought I told you to stay away from him," Nick warned.

"I did, he just...ow!" I tried to pull my hand away, but Nick had a tight grip on it.

He was carefully wrapping it in bandages.

When he finished, he let go of my hand, careful to not undo any of the bandages, or hurt me worse.

He started to turn away, and I felt a part of me break. It had been a while since I had seen Nick like this, and I didn't want it to be over.

"Nick?" I asked suddenly, as he turned back to me.

"What do you want," he asked, wanting to get to class.

"I—" I searched for a way to say that I missed him, but my brain wasn't working. "Have you seen Karl?" My mouth anxiously tumbled out.

Nick scoffed.

I knew he wouldn't care, but inside, I hoped he did. I was wrong of course. I usually was, after all.

"He's probably just sick or something," Nick said, rolling his eyes, and walked away.

I held back tears. I just wanted to be with someone. Hang out, or just talk.

I walked to class alone, wishing I had someone by my side.

Where was Karl? I missed him. I wanted to be with him. Or at least someone.

By the time lunch had rolled around, I was miserable. I hated this feeling of being alone.

After I had gotten my food, I sat down at an empty table, knowing no one would want to sit with me.

I stared down at my plate. It consisted of an apple, a milk, and a sandwich.

It had been over a week since my last meal, so I knew I would need to eat something at least.

I reached down towards my apple, and picked it up. With a shaky hand, I took a bite. I forced myself to swallow it, and immediately regretted it.

I was going to be sick. Why was I like this? Why was I so ugly?

I stood up quickly from my seat, and made my way out the door as fast as I could, without catching too much attention.

I turned to shut the door, but when I did, I was stopped.

"Alex," Nick warned, knowing what I was doing.

"I-I have to go," I answered, trying to hide the pain in my voice.

"Alex, you need to eat," he said, grabbing my wrists.

I struggled to get out of his grasp, but he was strong.

"Nick, what are you doing," someone with sandy blond hair and bright green eyes asked, coming up behind him. He had freckles that danced across his face, especially over his nose.

"None of your business," Nick said, dropping my wrists, so he could face the boy.

I took that as my chance to leave. I smiled at the boy, and booked it.

I'd have to remember to thank him later.

'Whoever that was...'

I love you all so much, and thank you as well for waiting!

What do you guys think so far?

Have a cupca—muffin! 🧁 (totally a muffin) :]