(Anakin's POV)
i woke up feeling dizzy, sick, and just blantly horrible, i have no motivation to go to school and do anything. but i need to go.
i look over and see ben out cold, arm over my waist, head leaning on my chest.
i grab his wrist and slowly get it off my waist, and scoot his head onto the pillow next to him he clearly abandoned. i softly put his head on the pillow and get out of bed, i heard a slight noise of protest from ben, i turn my head and he has his hand reached towards me. "ani.." he said tiredly
"i have to go to school, are you coming or staying from what happened yesterday?" i asked now putting in some tight blue jeans. ben huffs "i'm staying here, but i'll go to school tomorrow. i just want to rest." i nod and lean over to give him a little kiss.
i stand up and go to grab a shirt, i hear a slight knock "enter" i said my back facing the door. "hey ben, hey ani, you guys coming?" i hear rex's soft tired voice echo the room.
"hey rex, ben is staying here for the day. he needs rest from the fight yesterday." i said finally finding a good black t-shirt to wear.
rex sighs "okay ben, well ani, ahsoka will be here soon we need to go." i turn around finally fitting the damned shirt over my head, i grab my boots and put them on tying the laces. before i leaves i go over to the bed and give ben a big kiss "i'll see you after school. i love you ben." i said with a sweet and kind smile
"i love you too."
i walk out of the room with rex, we grab our bookbags and wait outside for Ahsoka.
she arrives and rex gets in the passenger seat i get in the back. "Hi rex! hi skyguy! where's ben?" ahsoka asked looking back "he's staying here, he's tired and needs rest from yesterday." i replied now going on my phone. "oh okay, let's go" she said and started the car.
we arrive at school and i get out still on my phone, i text ben to make sure he's okay, and that there is plenty of food and drinks in the fridge he can help himself, i feel bad for the kid honestly, get accused of something he didn't even start? it's absurd. and i wanted nothing more than to tell the principal the truth, maybe get him to look at the cameras? that won't be possible, he won't listen to me.
i walk with my head down to my locker, i see barriss and her friends, they see me but they looked away, are they planning something? do they just want nothing to do with me? damn, ben has some damn bloody punches, her nose is crippled. bandage on it and dry blood on her face, are you that lazy to not wash off the damn dry blood? she's so gross sometimes.
i continue to work with my locker and it opens, i put my bag and unneeded stuff in there. i sigh and close the locker, i really wish my boyfriend was here right now. he knows how to cheer me up. when's he going back to his moms? he can't ignore her forever? she's gonna kill him. will she kill me too? i'm not scared of her, i'll fight for him and rex. i think of rex as my own little brother. and i don't want him nor my boyfriend to go back to that house.
i hear the bell ring and i think oh shit i'm late!! i forgot i was just sitting at my locker thinking, i dart my way to my class FUCK WHY IS IT TWO STORIES UPSTAIRS?! i think as i bump into other people and walls.
i finally get to class and sigh, i sit down and everyone is staring at me. "you're late Skywalker" i heard my teacher say "i know.. i'm sorry." i said softly. she sighed and went back to teaching about stupid triangles. like a triangle has THREE SIDES and they are pointy, what else do we need to know?
i put my head down, today isn't the day right now, headache, stomach ache, i'm still dizzy from this morning. but i need to make it through the day, just get through the day anakin you got this. ugh.
class ended and i rushed out of there, it was highly boring learning about the stupid sides of a damn triangle and all the different triangles.
i go to my locker and get my stuff for next class, i can't stop thinking about ben, what if he is on the phone with him mom? what if she came and got him? he won't be there when i get home i just know it. i worry so much about him, i know we have been dating for only a little bit, but he's a human too and doesn't deserve the kind of shit his parents put him through.
i ran to next class trying not to be late again, i walk in and sit down without a word to anyone not even the teacher, i immediately get out my notes, but i hide my phone in the notebook i try texting ben again asking if he is okay, no answers he probably fell asleep i think to myself.
-time skip-
it's lunch time and i walk slowly towards Ahsoka's locker, i see rex there talking to her laughing about something. they can't know that i have been distracted all today over ben, i mean it wouldn't hurt to tell them, but i don't want them to worry either. so i will keep it to myself.
i arrive and Ahsoka hugs me "Hi Skyguy!" she said cheerfully, she's always so cheerful, like why? she could get hurt and still have a smile. and that's what i like about her. she loves everyone, she's very popular. and rex, he's a lady's guy, all the lady's want him. but he is Ahsoka's so i imagine a fight or two break out.
"hey snips." i said patting her back "let's go to lunch guys" ahsoka said and ran off to the cafe along with rex, i follow slowly behind. we arrive in the cafeteria and i sit down with my tiny lunch bag, i packed a peanut butter sandwich, grapes, a water, and some fruit snacks, nothing much. i wish ben was here, he knew how to cheer me up, and hopefully when i get home he will be there and not with his mom. his crazy ass mother. i wish there was something i could do, but ben doesn't want me making anything worse like after the party.
we began on talking about how our day went so far, like usual. and ahsoka talked about how she's excited to see Mr Opress during gym, honestly yes he was super attractive, no, REALLY attractive. and i would honestly probably, most likely do him, and ben. same time maybe? no get this thought OUT of my head...
"anakin? you okay?" rex asked and brought me back to reality shit, i was deep in thought again "yeah sorry what's up?" i replied, rex and ahsoka laughed "we asked you how ben was doing since yesterday. is he okay?" ahsoka asked and i nodded "he's fine, i texted him and he didn't respond, he's probably sleeping." i replied looking down. ahsoka nodded and went back to talking about her day with rex, man, third wheeling SUCKS.
after lunch we throw out our trash and say bye to rex, who doesn't have gym with us that period, and me and ahsoka make our way to gym. "i cant wait to see Mr Opress, he's so hot!" ahsoka said excitedly "i'm sure everyone thinks he is, even the straight boys and gay girls." ahsoka let out a big laugh and playfully punched my shoulder "yeah i'm sure" she replied.
we walk into gym and Mr Opress is talking to Mr Fisto. "everyone who just walked in, get dressed and start your laps!" Mr opress said and began to talk to Mr Fisto. i waved to ahsoka and walked into the boys locker room. i went into the corner, so no one could see my scars. and began to get changed, take off my shirt and put on my white "Republic High" shirt and black shorts with the schools logo on it. it was a circle with a "U" on it and a spike in the middle of the "U" the circle had stars around it.
i walk out and see ahsoka running her laps, she never runs, so i can tell she is trying to get Mr Opress's attention. "Good Job Ahsoka!" anddd it worked.
i started to run my laps, just a simple jog, not sprinting her anything, besides this is a warm up while the teachers plan for what we are going to do today. "alright everyone come sit in the middle!" Mr Opress yelled, we have a big version of the schools logo in the middle of the gym floor, and everyone sits there when the teacher is telling us what we will be doing for today.
"today, is going to be a fun competitive day! we will be playing dodge ball, and everytime you get hit, you have to do 5 push-ups. and good ones, no half ass ones where your butt is lifted in the air." i heard ahsoka giggle from behind me. "hmm skywalker is it? come up here real quick" great, now i'm the demonstration, time to embarrass myself. i walk up there and stand a couple feet away from Mr Opress. "so let's say i hit Skywalker." he said and threw the ball and hit me dead in the chest. "he would go down and do 5 push-ups." i go down and start my push-ups. "then.. wow, skywalker your push-ups are incredible, do you workout?" i stand up when i'm finished with my push-ups. "y-yes sir." before Mr Opress could even open his mouth barriss had to step did "lier! look at you! your so scrawny, like a stick! if you really work out then show us your abs!" everyone then started to cheer and tell me to take off my shirt, Mr Opress gave me a worried look, like he didn't want me to do it. oh god, i get to show my whole gym class that's at least 100 kids my scars, this can't be happening. i don't know what i was thinking, but my shirt was off, my abs, and my scars, are out in the open.
Mr Opress noticed my scars and gasped, he ran in front of me and covered by from the other students. "you guys are pathetic! do you kids really think humiliating him makes you feel better?! cant you tell he didn't want to?!"all the kids shut up, they just stood there and stared at Mr Opress. he grabbed my arm and rushed me into the locker room with him.
he sat me down on a bench "hey hey it's okay i'm sorry about them." he signaled the shirt towards me to put it back on, i put the shirt back on and start to cry. i cant believe this, i'm crying in front of Mr Opress. i'm so embarrassed. "you can cry it's okay, don't be embarrassed. talking to me, i'm like a safe place. and i can keep secrets, you don't have to tell me, but how did you get those scars? i know that those scars didn't occur from self harm. they don't look like the type." Mr Opress assured me, i don't know if i should tell him. it hurts to much to even think about it. "i.. i was in a house fire when i was younger... i got these scars from trying to save my dad... i lost him, he was already gone.. my mom lived." Mr Opress frowned, he wrapped his arm around me bringing me in a tight embrace "i'm so sorry Anakin." i nodded and started to cry harder.
we heard footsteps into the locker room, a young kid with short black hair and a scar on his forehead, towards the left. he was taller than me. he walked in and ran over to us "hey! anakin right? i'm so sorry for what happened out there. i don't know if you heard me over the screams but i was trying to get everyone to stop. i know what it's like to be bullied. oh and i'm sorry i totally forgot to introduce myself! how rude of me, i'm Cody." he said putting his hand out, i shakily put out my hand and shake his.
Cody smiled and turns to leave, but he looks over his shoulder "you're awesome anakin! keep your head high, don't let them get to you, keep being you! hang in there." he said and ran out to join dodgeball. Mr Opress smiles at me, i grin "would you like to go join dodgeball now? like are you okay? i know you and ahsoka are good friends so i'll put you on her team" i smile and nod, Mr Opress is actually pretty cool guy. "thank you Mr Opress" i said walking towards the door, he stops me. "Call me Maul. i'm not an actual teacher i'm just a learner, i'm in collage. and if you know me, i do not tolerate bullying. My husband doesn't either, i used to go to this school which is where i met my Husband, and i used to get bullied, and as soon as i fought back, everyone became scared of me." Maul said, he.. he's gay?! he has a husband?! the things you find out everyday.. "you're gay?!" i asked and he started to laugh "yes anakin im gay." that's one thing i have in common with Maul, he's gay, i'm gay. "well i guess i'll be more comfortable to tell you this, but i have a boyfriend." his jaw dropped, he dragged me back over to a bench in the locker room.
"dodgeball can wait, tell me who it is. i'm so intrigued!" i laugh, i'd much rather talk to maul other than okay dodgeball to be honest. "well, he's in this class actually. he's not here today, he's at my house uh sleeping actually. but his name is ben, i'm sure you met him." Maul gasped, his eyes widened, i'm guessing he's shocked "you mean the ben that every girl wants to get their hands on? him?! and that ben in this class?! damn bro you did good" i laugh at his reaction, i did do good. i love ben so much, and i would hate to see him hurt, bullied, or even mistreated by his parents. "yeah, i did do good." i said confidently and Maul laughs. "well, you two make a cute couple, come on let's go out and play dodgeball. i'll even be on your team and we can just slam barriss and her friends" i stand up and smile "let's do it"
i walk out next to maul, we both have our heads high, like nothing can bother us. barriss yelled from her team "hey look! self harm boy! hey anishit!" me and maul look over and i flipped her off, maul saw and smiled, he nudged me and we started to laugh.
we walk over to ahsoka and cody's team "hey guys! look who we have on our team!" i said and maul walks up "we will take down that other team, i coach football so i have some pretty good aim" ahsoka claps and jumps up and down "yay!" she exclaimed "so do i, i'm the leader of my football team" cody said and maul nodded "yeah i know you" he said and they smiled.
me and maul grab some stray dodgeballs, we aim at barriss and let it at her, me AND maul hit her, she fell over and screamed in anger. "awww boohoo you have to do push-ups and ruin your pwetty lwittle nails" i said talking in a baby voice towards her. maul laughed and high-fived me. "that's good anakin! don't let them push you around" he said and i smiled. i cant wait to tell ben. i grabbed another dodgeball, i saw barriss aim at me and throw the ball, i did a side shoulder roll going to the spot next to me and dodged it, she stomped her foot angerly and grabbed another ball, at this point my team backed up against the wall and same with her. right now, it was me, against her.
i still had the same ball in my hand, i was waiting for her to strike. she threw the ball and i jumped over it. she growled and grabbed another ball, damn she must be determined to get me to do a simple 5 push-ups "your aim sucks" i teased and she threw the ball again, i did a side shoulder roll again going to the spot next to me, my team started to cheer me on. i threw my ball and she tried to dodge but i hit her "LETS GO ANAKIN!" i heard maul, cody, and ahsoka yell at the same time.
once barriss was done with her push-ups she got up and grabbed a ball. "it's on anishit!" she said and i laughed "that name means nothing to me so keep trying sweetheart!" i yelled back and she glared at me. she threw the ball and i dodged jumped to the side. i threw my ball immediately as i landed and she got hit "it's called dodgeball for a reason! why do you keep getting hit?!" i asked as she went down to do push-ups, my team high-fived me and laughed.
she got back up "oh you're still going? wow" i said and grabbed a ball, she grabbed another ball, two balls. and i laughed "it's funny how you think two balls will be anymore effective" she growled and threw them at the same time, i jumped and shoulder rolled beside me to dodge both balls "how?!" she said and her whole team clapped. little did i know, ahsoka was recording the whole thing to send to ben, great. i threw a ball to her left and she jumped to her left and got hit, at least she tried. "that wasn't my fault, you jumped right into the ball." she glared at me "enough with the push-ups, i'll get you!" i walked forward "ah ah ah you have to go by the rules, get on the floor and start those push-ups, hey you should thank me, i'm getting you to work out" barriss snarled and started her push-ups, i go back and grab a ball.
"we have 10 minutes till class ends, whoever gets hit their team loses" maul said and barriss got up "you're going down anishit" i laugh and get my ball ready, she grabbed two balls again "havent you learned from last time? two balls mean nothing" i said and got in my stance, getting ready to dodge any balls coming my way. she throws the two balls at the same time and i hop over them, she quickly grabs more and chucks them, and i jump to my side "you have to be patient!" i said "i want you out!" she yelled, she threw more balls and i jumped and tumbled to my side.
she turned her back and as soon as she wasn't looking i threw my ball and hit her straight in the back as she was getting more balls "what?!" she yelled turning around, my teamed cheered and maul gave me a high five "good job! don't let anyone get to you, and that's what you did." i smile and look down "your father would be proud skywalker" i look up at him shocked, i smile and look to the ceiling "he would" i said and started to get teary eyed. maul brought me into a tight hug "it's gonna be okay kid, i promise, and just know, i'll always be here to talk, before school, after school, and you can even come get me between classes or during classes, i'll always be available kid" i hug him tighter and ahsoka comes up behind me and hugs me from behind. i turned around and hugged ahsoka and maul in a group hug.
barriss walks up to me. "hey anishit. i know how you got your scars, pfft it's obvious." i look over at her dear god hoping she doesn't say it. "you were in a fire right? i was standing outside the boys locker room with my friends and you weren't quiet about it. lost your dad? poor anishit trying to get attention. lost your poor daddy." i let go of maul and ahsoka and back up "you need to shut up!" ahsoka yells "that is enough barris" maul chimed in. barriss laughed "is poor anishit gonna cry?" ahsoka walked up to her and pushed her to the ground "that's enough!" ahsoka yelled. i didn't realize i had tears streaming down my face. god do i really miss my father. i remember before the fire he would always throw me a football outside and i would catch it, it was so much fun. he would take me to the park and push me on the swings, it hurt to think about him. maul and ahsoka were yelling at barriss for how she acted, she would shrug it off and laugh, she didn't care. never has. "look, anishit is crying, how cute" she said and that, is when i lost my temper. "ya know what barriss? i'm and sick and tired of your bullshit, you think your cute messing with me. what? did your dad go to get milk 4 years ago and never come back? so you are messing with someone else who doesn't have a dad? because your dad never loved you? because you damn well deserve it. get the fuck out of my face. before i break it." barriss backed up, her jaw dropped, and she walked away with a huff crossing her arms. maul and ahsoka were shocked, ahsoka runs up to me and hugs me tightly, "you did it!" she said and maul smiled "nice job kid!" and he pats my back. i smiled, holy crap i did it! i actually defended myself.
after i was done getting changed i went to leave gym, and cody stopped me "hey Anakin, i saw what happened with barriss, you actually defended yourself, nice job! here, here's my number" and he handed me a piece of toilet paper with sharpie on it with his number. "thank you!" i said and walked away with ahsoka.
at the end of the day i meet up with ahsoka at her locker with rex. "hey guys" i said and leaned on the lockers next to hers, rex waved excitedly and ahsoka jumps up and down "I NEED TO SHOW YOU THIS VIDEO REX!" anddd that is when i found out she took a video. "oh jeez.." i said and hid my face in the locker. she showed him the video during dodgeball and rex gasped "you stood up for yourself! against barriss?! oh my god!!" he said and i rolled my eyes "nothing to special, come on let's go my boyfriend is waiting for me" ahsoka looks and cocks and eyebrow "speaking of that did he ever respond to you when you texted him?" she asked and i shook my head "let's hope his mom didn't come by and kidnap him" i joked and we all started to walk out of the building.
in the car rex and ahsoka couldn't stop talking about what happened at gym, ahsoka didn't leave ONE detail out, she explained to him from when i went to be the demonstration with maul, and when i told barriss to get out of my face. i just sat in the back laughing.
we get to my house, i get out, and rex kisses ahsoka goodbye before getting out. "let's go see if ben is still here" rex says and i nod walking up to my door. i get my keys and unlock it. we walk in and out our bookbags down on the couch. rex runs to his designated room, i go into my room and see ben sitting on my bed... crying? i run up to him "hey hey ben what's wrong? why are you crying? is everything alright?" ben looked up at me with tears streaming down his face, he hugged me tightly "thank god your back!" he said crying into my shoulder. "obi what happened?" i asked again, he was clenching fighting onto the front of my shirt, he looked up into my eyes, "m-my mom.. she.. she told me she doesn't... she doesn't want me anymore... t-that i'm a... disappointment..." ben said choking on his tears "oh ben, i'm so sorry, hey it's gonna be okay i promise. she's just upset, you and her need time apart, she will get over it babe i promise, it's gonna be okay." ben kept clenching into my shirt crying, rex walks in with his phone in his hand, i look over and he's crying too "m-mom" he said, ben stood up and they hugged each other crying. "she said the same thing to me rex, i'm so sorry!" ben said and they continued to cry. i walked up to them and hugged them. "it's going to be okay guys, like i told ben, you guys need time apart, she will get over it." i said trying to comfort them.
ben and rex let go, "go get some sleep rex" ben said sniffling. rex nodded and walked out. i grabbed ben's arm and pulled him on the bed, i got him under the covers and i under under with him. i wrapped my arm around him and pulled him close giving him a soft kiss on the cheek "i promise everything will be okay" i said and ben smiled "thank you" and we fell asleep, through dinner.