Kade, the new kid at Guest school, in just his first week of arriving had already earned detention 5 times. Fear quickly spread, rumors quickly spread through the halls, and bullying quickly appeared.

"I heard he was expelled from his previous school for hitting on 8 kids and 1 teacher!" What an exaggeration. "I heard he only cuts himself for attention, how disgusting." How insensitive. "I heard he's a friendless idiot, he's an aggressive dog." Would you like to be called that?

Everyone was scared of Kade, although the ones who bullied him did not seem scared at all, just disgusted. Kade had no friends, he did not talk to anyone, and Guest almost always saw him skipping class behind the school. No one approached him, and some even stared at the scars on his arms with judgment in their eyes.

Today, she decided to talk to him. What was the worst that could happen? Maybe he could send her to the hospital? Honestly, that seemed possible. Still, Guest walked behind the school. She found him sitting on a step, smoking a cigarette and writing in a notebook, his nose bleeding and his knuckles bloody, fresh from a fight. He felt her gaze on him and frowned. When he lifted his eyes to hers, she saw something unexpected. He looked tired, exhausted in a way that showed his real self for a second.