Masked. (SLOW UPDATES)

Chapter One

Zzt! Zzt!

The purple-haired emo fumbled to deactivate his phone. With eyes bleary from sleep, his mind registered that it was not an alarm going off, but Remus Prince, his best friend since childhood, was calling him. "What?" he answered the phone. "If this is another prank, Remus, I swear-" He heard an exasperated sigh over the phone.

"Are you seriously not up yet? I had to call to make sure you weren't dead." Remus put an exaggeration on the word dead. He was a very dramatic person. "Or worse, expelled." He added in a deadpan voice, then giggled. "Anyway, me and Janjan are in the car waiting."

Virgil was still confused. "Why are you waiting for me?"

"Check the date, emo." Remus snickered. Virgil quickly switched to the calendar app on his 8s phone. An old brand, sure, but he was lucky to have one. His eyes widened at the date.

He said a quick, "I'll be out in five minutes." and hung up. He was about to be late. For the first day of school. Of his senior year.

Thoughts racing, he threw on his black jeans, MCR t-shirt, signature jacket, and makeup on. As he put on his makeup, he panicked a bit. What if they hate how I look? What if we are late, and everyone stares at me while I go to my seat? Now, you may think that these were normal first-day jitters, even if you had been going to the school for years, but you'd be wrong. Virgil had these thoughts, and many others, every day, even non-school days. Virgil had anxiety. Now that we've cleared that up, dear reader, let's back to our little anxious friend here, who was putting on his mask.

Now, with the mask being such a trigger word in 2020, I can tell you that the reason for him wearing a mask is not COVID 19. This au is set in an alternate universe where COVID does not exist. Virgil wears a mask to hide a certain thing that he was ashamed, even afraid, of. But, you'll find out what that is later.

Making sure that it was adjusted correctly, as to not slip off, even if he fell, he grabbed his backpack and ran downstairs, being careful not to wake his father up. Because if his father woke up, he would be even later to school. He unlocked the door and ran outside, welcoming the sight of his friends.

Janus Dragos, Remus Prince, and Virgil Black. That was how it had been since childhood. Met in kindergarten, which I can tell you is quite the story, and stayed friends all through now.

Janus being 6'2" and Remus being 6'1", Virgil was easily the shortest of the group, as he was 5'7". They were all known as emo but pulled it off in different ways.

Virgil was classic emo. The stereotype. Bad family, emo music, self-depreciation, the whole shebang. You already know what he's wearing, and can tell what he is at first glance.

Remus is chaotic emo. Dare him to do anything, he'll do it. His urge to win has outlawed all self-preservation. You challenge him to race down the stairs, he'll throw himself over the banister. He pulls off the eye makeup, using dark purple instead of black eyeshadow. A letterman as well, getting it customized in green and black, with Prince on the back in grey.

"You were one minute fasster than you ssaid you were going to be. I'd ssay congratss, but we may be sslightly late." Janus Dragos. He pulled off the emo look and pulled it off well. He brought classy to the table where the others couldn't. Usually, in variations of a yellow button-up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, with a vest over it. He usually pairs black jeans, dark boots, and sometimes a black earring with it. Sometimes a hat, usually a bowler. Janus also hissed his S's. Doctors called it a speech impediment, other kids called it a hiss and started calling him a snake. In defiance, as a teenager, he got a snake eye contact for his left eye and tattooed his left side of his face with scales, making him quite the scary opponent. Especially since he is not known to lose his temper loudly. He also has a black snake tattoo, which curls up his right forearm.