Trauma-ridden and adopted by matpat

The date

We got through the music of Carrying the Banner and part of King of New York before the clock hit 4:30 and we were dismissed from rehearsal. I put my script back inside the front pocket of my backpack and zipped it shut. Birdseed came up to me with their backpack behind them. "Where are we going to go?" I asked. "There is a Starbucks nearby so we could get Starbucks and since it is such a nice day out, maybe we could go to a playground or something?" "Oh my god I love playgrounds!" I excitedly responded. "Me too! They are so much fun!" We left the auditorium and passed all of the buses. Zach was getting onto the bus as we walked by. "Aren't you guys taking the bus?" He curiously asked. "No, we are going on a date." "Ooh have fun!" We walked one block and found ourselves in the Starbucks.

"Do you have money? I can pay if you need." Birdseed offered. "No thanks, I always carry money on me." I fished a five dollar bill out of my phone case and got in line to order. "I'm going to get a pink drink, what about you?" I said. "Probably an iced mocha." "Coffee? It's a quarter to five!" "You know me. I am a caffeine-addicted gremlin." I laughed and then we ordered. While we waited for them to make the drinks, we sat at a table and talked for a bit. After a few minutes, the barista called out our names and we collected our drinks. Once we had them, Birdseed led me to the nearby playground.

"This is the elementary school that Zach, Raina, and Hailey went to." I looked around, there were so many good slides, climbing walls, and a huge structure in the middle. There were a few children playing tag but otherwise, it was empty. I ran up one of the tall, twisting slides that travelled from the rubbery ground to the top of the structure. Birdseed followed afterwards. We were the only ones there. The sun was getting lower in the sky, not deep enough for a full sunset, but there were twinges of pink and orange haze. "Y'know, this would be such a cute make-out spot." Birdseed hinted. "You're right." I put my hands on their shoulders, tilted my head to the right, and kissed them. The glimmering rays of the sun shined on us kissing, as if it were a spotlight. Once we finished, I felt a brief buzz from my hoodie pocket. I pulled out my phone and saw a text from an unfamiliar number. I opened it and it was just a picture of Birdseed and I kissing with no context. I stood up and through the barred sides of the structure, I saw a bit about our age running away from the playground. Even from behind him, I could tell who it was. Roddy.

I had many questions but I decided they could wait. I wasn't going to allow this to interfere with our date. I turned off my phone and put it away. After about 20 minutes of hanging out, the first stars of the evening appeared in between the fairytale-hued clouds. We thought it would probably be a good idea to get picked up now. I knew that Steph was probably cooking dinner so I called Mat. "Hey y/n, what's up?" He asked. "Can you please pick us up at the Starbucks near my school?" I requested. "Sure thing, I'll be there in about ten minutes." "Thanks, love you." "Love you too." I hung up. "My Dad is going to pick us up at the Starbucks." I informed Birdseed. We walked there and just as we got there, Mat pulled up to the curb.

He unlocked the car and we clambered into the backseat. "How'd it go?" He asked. "Good, we hung out at the playground for a bit and got Starbucks." I replied. "And how was rehearsal?" "It was actually kinda productive today." "That's good." We pulled up to where Mark and Birdseed lived and Mat stopped the car. "Thanks for driving me!" Birdseed said as he got out. "No problem!" Birdseed went inside and we drove off.

-after dinner-

Why wait for tonight to hurt myself if I could do it before then? I was getting sick of getting up at midnight to do it so I decided to do it early. Plus, nobody would be suspicious if I was in the bathroom in the middle of the day. I entered the bathroom and locked the door. I forgot to bring a knife in with me but I found a razor in the medicine cabinet. I took the cap off and looked for a new place. I looked down at my body, seeing a blank canvas. I looked between my left ribs and made three lines. Pomegranate-juice red appeared. Then I made three lines on the other side, to match. I slapped some bandaids on the cuts, wipes the razor head clean, and left the bathroom like nothing had happened. Just as I got in bed, Steph reminded me that I had chemotherapy the next day and that Mat would take me. I nodded and then went to bed.

-at school the next day-

"Y/N, a picture of you and Birdseed kissing got leaked yesterday! Hailey told me. "Awww that's so cute." Marco softly told me. "Yeah, it was on the top of the playground structure." "Literal couple goals." Nora added. "How did it get leaked, though?" I asked. "An anonymous user posted a picture on instagram yesterday." "Roddy..." I muttered to myself. "How do you know it was Roddy?" Ellis asked. "I got sent that picture from an unknown number and then saw him running away from the playground." I explained. "I'm going to have a F*CKING WORD with him after school." Nora threatened, protectively. "No, don't. The principal told me that if I insinuated another fight, then I might face suspension." "Okay fine." "Wait what if I follow him home after school, take a photo of his house and post it online!" "No! Are you insane!?" "Never mind, I will just beat him up after following him home." "Oh my god, you are so mean." "So I have permission?" "Fine...just this once."