Chapter 1, The Beginning

(warning: yelling, homophobia)

Sal:

I sigh. Bright, L.E.D, lights shine in my face. Shining and shining with the minutes passing.

It's a dark night. November 16th, that's today I believe. My eyes hovered, almost shut. The pen I was using fell onto Gizmo's bed, Gizmo was sleeping on my bed so the ink wouldn't get to him. I'm finally falling asleep, yay.

Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz. My alarm is going off, I really would like to skip today but I already got a warning "sent home." I never give my dad those slips Mrs. Packerton sends home, even if it is because of good behavior. I know dad's going to find those one day, I swallow sharply and take a few deep breaths. I get dressed and I'm too tired to put my hair in pigtails. It's cold so I put on my grey sip up and gloves. I wish I could get a ride to school but at least Larry is walking with me. "Bye dad" I yell as I pick up my backpack and open the door to leave. I'm not even sure if he's up yet. Now that I think about it he's never really ever awake.

"Sal!" says Larry, running up to me while I walk to school. I have no idea why he's so excited, we see each other everyday. It's nice that someone cares though. "Hey Larry Face!" I say back smiling. "Get this! Get this!" Larry says just like the golden retriever in human form he is "In art we get to do portraits, I'm thinking about drawing' you Sally Face!"

"Really? Me? Cool! Hold on, hold on. With my mask or not?" Larry chuckles a little "Of course lil' bro! I was thinking without but totally up to you" He sticks out a thumbs up at Sal with his signature smile. I smile under my mask, it would be nice to take off my mask in front of someone. I know Larry wouldn't freak out because he saw my face before, on accident but it still counts. "Without is ok with me. I need to get more comfortable with my face anyways."

Travis:

"You're finally here Travis, please sit down." says Mrs. Packeton. She mutters something about telling my dad. Crap. I sit down and open the journal from my backpack. The teacher rambles about something. Do I care? Absolutely no. Should I care? Absolutely yes. I look engaged so the teacher won't call on me though. "Sal what do you think?" she asks. I look back.

"Sure, but I don't think it's true," he responds. Mrs. Packeton looks confused but moves the lesson on. I roll my eyes. Sally Face is as dumb as ever. It seems like this class is going to go on forever. I just copy the notes into my journal mindlessly. Hopefully it'll be lunch soon.

Sal:

"You know, you're really smart Sally Boy!" says Larry sitting down. "Mrs. P was all like" Larry made a surprised face. He laughed. "Thanks Larry." My mind was occupied staring at the boy who bullied me. Travis, the pastor's son. There are a lot of words that could describe Travis's outward personality but is any of that real? How bad can he be?

Travis:

I poke my food but it's not like I'm going to eat it. I get up and go to the bathroom with all my stuff. I don't want to be stared at in the lunchroom. I start to write, and I write, and I write. It's a way to get my feelings out. I always hide my notebook incase of my father but other than that it's a pretty open safe space. All I do is rip the page out at school and no one ever notices. What am I thinking about? When I write I'm not in control, just my thoughts. I glance at my paper and guilt washes over me. It's Sally Face. I can't stop thinking about him. It's not right. I start to cry

Sal:

"Uh. I have to go to the restroom. I'll be back" I say. I saw Travis leave and I feel the need to follow him for some reason. Curiosity, I guess. I trace his steps into the bathroom. There's this cry then a quiet sob. It's...Travis? "Hello? Travis?" I ask.

Travis:

I wipe my tears. No one can know. I am a strong man. A voice asks my name. It's Sally Face's? Why does he care. He probably hates me. No, no. He should hate me. I'm terrible to him. I bully him constantly. He deserves it. My dad thinks so. But I am not my father. I am different. But if I'm different then father gets mad. Mad is not something I want him to be. He is insufferable when mad. "We can talk if you need to.." the boy says.

"SHUT UP!" I say sobbing. I apologize silently. I can't take this. Ugh. This time something came out of his mouth. "I'm..I'm sorry. That was wrong of me. I shouldn't yell. I'm just...upset." I'm so weak.

Sal:

"It's alright. Being upset is okay. You don't have to hide your emotions from me. I'm nicer than you think, Travis." He always paints me as this villain that I'm not. "I know. It's just hard to be nice back." He says. I wish he'd let me in more. I know there's this kid, deep down, that's nice, has friends, loves to hang out, and has fun. He has to be much more than this bully. "We can be friends if you want."