How to survive Middle School (Sanders Sides Middle School AU)

Chapter 15: I guess I'm with the Lights now

I can't breathe. Too much running in general. I don't want to go to the nurse's office, they'll tell my parents and then my parents will tell me this is my own fault.

"Virgil, you need to go to the nurses," Logan says.

I shake my head. I don't want to.

"Kiddo, I will physically drag you there," Patton says.

The last thing I want is for Patton to drag me there. That might cause a big scene and I hate being the center of attention. Or in attention at all.

"C'mon, Hot Topic," Roman says.

He picks me up, which I can't fight as he is a lot stronger than me.

"Let- me- go-" I wheeze.

"Not a chance, emo nightmare," Roman says.

I stop trying to fight. There's no point. He runs me to the nurse's office and sets me down and the weird uncomfortable bed surface thing. No idea what it's actually called.

"What happened?" The nurse asks.

"We don't know. We found him in the bathroom and I suspect he's having an asthma attack," Logan says.

His powers of observation awe me. No kidding, I'm having an asthma attack. What else would it be?

"Where's his inhaler?" The nurse asks.

"I don't think he has one," Patton says.

I don't.

"Well, there's not too much I can do. Get him to sit upright and take some deep, slow breaths. Do you know what caused it?" The nurse asks.

"Not really," Roman says.

Meanwhile, I'm still laying down, gasping, and wheezing for breath. This is the reason I don't play sports.

"Well, I can't do much except get him upright and take deep breaths," The nurse says, "It doesn't seem too bad, he just needs to calm down a little,"

There's little chance of that happening. Still, Patton gets me to sit up and Logan guides me to take deep breaths. Roman kinda just stands there; I'm pretty sure he doesn't know what to do.

Once my panic wears off, I start to take in what happened. My old friends are now my enemies. If I want friends it has to be the Lights. Am I better off alone? No, I learned that at middle school number 3. I've been to a total of 13 middle schools. 6 different ones for the past two years. This is my 13th.

"Virgil?" Roman asks, "You ok, buddy?"

I nod feebly. He doesn't look convinced.

"He looks pretty pale," Patton says.

"I know you four are missing class right now, so here's a hall pass. Stay with him until lunch, then I can reach his parents," The nurse says.

I look at the time. It's only 10 o'clock. Our lunch break is in 2 hours. Of course, my parents are too busy for me, so they started telling the schools to only contact them during their lunch breaks. 

"C'mon, Virge. We still have class," Patton says.

Patton takes my hand and leads me through the hallway. I silently wish I could go fix my eyeshadow, but I'm too nervous to ask. Luckily, Roman speaks up.

"We can't have him going to class looking like this!" He says, "His makeup is completely ruined and you can tell from a mile away he was just crying,"

Well, there's no need to announce it. But he's right. I almost never cry, but when I do it's the most obvious thing in the world. It really kills my intimidation when anyone sees me.

"Come on, I have some spare eyeshadow in my bag," Roman says.

We make a quick stop to his locker and then to the bathroom. I had almost forgotten how good Roman is with makeup.

I mumble thanks and we go off to class. Patton is the only one with me in class right now, and the teacher accepted our hall pass. I'm glad I'm with Patton because he seems to just be the nicest in general.

"It's ok, kiddo. Only a little while longer," Patton says.

We're in science and working together on a project. Some stupid chemical reaction stuff.

"It's 40 more minutes," I say.

"Yeah, and that's like 4 10 minutes, and 10 minutes isn't that long. So it's not really that long," Patton says.

I both understand and completely don't get his logic here. But he's kinda right, in a way.

Once lunchtime rolls around I tell the nurse I'm feeling better. I don't want to go home and annoy my parents anyway. They still love me, they're just always busy.

---

I walk home alone now. I still see J-Dee and Remus, they walk together ahead of me. I don't try to talk to them, it won't end well. 

When I get home, I go straight up to my room and start my homework. It's the only thing that can both stress me out and keep my mind off my stress. I hate it.

After only a few minutes, I hear a knock on my window. Again. I lean back in my chair and see it's J-Dee. Hoping I can get a chance to explain everything, I open it.

"J-Dee, I-"

"Oh Virgil," He says, cutting me off, "You know I really thought we were going to be friends. But I guess not. Remus and I are going to tear down this school and build it up without you. Truly sorry, but you made your choice,"

"Well, I'm sorry," I say sarcastically, "I didn't know that them talking to me counted as an act of friendship. Although after you yelled at me I had both a panic and an asthma attack, not that you care,"

"Wait, wha-" J-Dee starts to say.

I shove him back out onto the roof and slam my window closed. I keep it locked from the inside ever since he snapped off the locks.

I'm done being with the Darks. Every school, it feels like I'm turning over a new leaf, starting fresh, but I make the same mistakes over and over again. This time will be different. I'll play nice with the Lights and try not to let my anxiety get in the way. I just need to forget about my past and focus on a brighter future.

Why does that feel like next to impossible?

Well, I'm not sure I'll ever reveal Virgil's full past, so this chapter is probably the most you'll get. I hope you enjoyed reading, and feel free to leave any thoughts or feedback in the comments. Have a wonderful day/night you magnificent peep!