Christofer's P.O.V.

California's weather isn't always California weather. The walk to school today was brutal. I didn't drive to school despite the weather, nor did I take Alex up on his offer to drive me to school when he came by to pick up Tay. The day has been dragging on slowly and surrealy. I'm still a bit in shock about that guy practically saving my life yesterday. Apparently, it is noticeable, how put off I am by being saved, because my friends are way more interested in me than they usually are.

As I approach my locker, I recognize Derek leaning against the neighboring locker with his eyebrows glued together.

"Hey Christofer, there is some sort of word going around about you."

"Yeah, and what's this word saying?" I'm staying as neutral as I can though the sinking feeling in my gut is telling me that I know what he is going to say.

"I heard the Eli had you pinned against the wall in the West wing yesterday?" He takes my lack of response as permission to go on. "And I also heard that Andy Biersack showed up and told him to back off."

So his name is Andy Biersack? What a fitting name. Wait! Andy? [i] The[/i] Andy Biersack? The valedictorian? The student body president? The stuck up jerk? The guy who ruthlessly climbed to the top of the class with no regard to who he stepped on during the climb? What the hell did he help me for? I've only been going to school here for a few months, but it's still a bit of a shock to me that I had not seen him until yesterday. It is a little weird that he has started popping up everywhere since then. When I came out of history, he was leaning against a locker nearby. After Calculus, he was walking into the classroom as I was walking out. The strangest appearance by far was him at the locker next to mine this morning. Thinking back now, I realize that I had never seen my locker neighbor before today. The one thing in common with all of the times that I saw him was the smile that broke across his face when he saw me.

"Christofer? Is it true?" I have been staring off into space for several minutes, oops.

"Umm, yeah, it kind of is." I instantly feel guilty as I see the look of hurt and worry flash across Derek's face,

"Christofer, is something going on? I told you, you can trust us. If those dumb jocks are coming down on you again, I want to know." The guilt rises up again because I already know the lie I am about to tell.

"No Derek, I'm fine, it was just a one time misunderstanding. You really don't need to worry." I can see the worry flowing out of Derek like air from a punctured tire. "Can we go get some lunch now because I'm starving here."

"It's not like you ever eat anything anyway." Derek is chuckling so he is back to normal again.

"It's not my fault that all they serve here is crap. I'm not fond of eating dead cow-like meat mixtures either so... that leaves me with nothing." I grab my ukulele out of my locker and head toward the cafeteria with Derek so he can grab some food.

"I just remembered something. Travis ordered pizza, let's go outside."

I push open the door open and immediately head towards the table we have sat at everyday since I got here. It is the perfect table because there are no other tables near it which means no annoying people, and there is a huge tree a couple of feet away that I like to sit at. To top it all off, our are is on top of a hill that overlooks a small meadow and a forest.

The table is full as always. There's Tay and Alex practically sitting on the same chair. Josh and Hayley are sitting next to them, and then there's Ryan, Derek, Travis, and Kellin. They all greet me as I grab the pizza box labeled [i] vegan[/i] from the table with six other boxes on it, and go sit down at my spot against the tree.

I'm on my third slice of pizza and my second song when I am a little shocked out of my zen. I stare straight forward and let my eyes roam over the black combat boots in front of me, the long, tight black jean clad legs, across the slender chest hidden be a black tank top and all the way to the pale face surrounded by dark hair.

"Hey, can I sit?" Andy Biersack is asking to sit with me. I awkwardly nod my head and point to the space in front of where my bare fit dig into the dirt. I offer him the box of pizza and his face lights up even more.

"Really?"

"Yeah, go right ahead, I can't eat all of this pizza by myself."

"Thanks a lot. It's so hard to find anything to eat around here because everything is either from the garbage disposal, or it has meat in it." My fingers miss the strings because of his words.

"You're vegetarian?"

"Nope, I went all the way. I'm vegan."

"Cool, I am too." I can't help the smile on my face. It's out of my control entirely.

"By the way, I'm Andy, Andy Biersack." He stretches his clean hand out towards me.

"Uhh, I'm Christofer Drew Ingle." I shake his hand because I want to be polite, not because I want to know what his skin feels like with mine. The warmth where our hands meet is like fire.

"Hey, what are you doing in this area anyway?" His cheeks are turning red as he pauses before responding.

"I was uhh... looking for you."

"Okay, but why?" Now, I'm curious.

"I wanted to know that you are okay after what happened yesterday." It's weird to see the most popular and smartest guy yet so flustered. I'm so put off by his demeanor that I don't remember the lie I have practiced so often.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it happens, it's been worse. Thanks, by the way, for making Eli go away." My face is frozen in a look of shock and I know it. I've said too much. I start to rise to my feet but I feel warm fingers wrap around my wrist, pulling me back down. My friends are only a few feet away, but still far enough away that they can't hear me. When Andy first sat down, they were all staring, but now they have gone back to eating and laughing. My eyes are trained on the grass, but I am forced to look up when I hear the tone of his voice.

"Wait! What? Has this happened before?" I can't read his voice but I know there is some type of emotion there. When I don't respond, his eyes flash something that might have been anger.

"I-I don't want to talk about it." I don't mean to but I am up and heading into the forest to spend the rest of my lunch break. I hear Andy calling my name, but I don't turn around. I'm glad that he doesn't follow me because I really don't want to explain myself to anyone.

I find a comfortable tree in the forest and sit down again. I am far enough into the woods that I can't be seen, but not far enough in that I can get lost. I close my eyes and breathe in the heavy scent of nature. I fiddle with my uke. It's so nice to just take a second to breathe and enjoy life, but I don't get to do this often. The rush of water is faint because the river is over 30 yards away, but I can still hear it. My eyes are still closed but my mind is feeling heavy. I can afford to skip a class or two.

I did not mean to fall asleep, in a forest, all alone, for hours, but that is what I just did. You know, it's a very disorienting thing, waking up against a tree with no people around. I slowly sit up and pull myself to my feet. I stumble out of the trees and back towards where I came from. It is really quiet out here, but there is usually some sort of constant buzz of life coming from the school. I pull out my phone to check the time. Oh, school ended a half hour ago. Holy crap, I missed three hours of school? Well at least I feel well rested. I'm all alone, but there is the sound of grass crunching under a foot that isn't mine, I'm not wearing shoes. I look up the hill and see a familiar silhouette that reminds me what day it is. I don't run because I can't outrun an entire team.

"Hey boys, I found him!" Eli turns and yells to where I assume the entire team must be. He works his way down the hill with a sickening grin on his face and I know things are about to go from bad to way worse. As he gets closer, I become more and more resigned about the beating I'm about to suffer. He grabs me by the neck of my sweater and pulls me so close to his face that I can smell the spearmint gum mixed with onion rings on his breath.

"So, you got a little fag boyfriend now?" I have no clue what he is talking about, but he is mad. "Do you see my face?" I actually hadn't noticed his black and blue eye until he said that.

"Your faggot boyfriend walked up to me during lunch and punched me in the face. I can't get him back for it because he is like a king, but you, you I can take."

This is when I notice that all of the other jocks have arrived and they are forming a small crowd at the top of the hill. Oh, so this is a personal thing? The team isn't going to beat me up today, it's just Eli. No sooner have I finished my thoughts than I feel his meaty fist connect with my stomach. He rains down punches on my abdomen and occasionally, his fist strays to my face, that's new. The crowd of jocks is cheering in the distance as I bleed. I think I might be on my way out, or at least on my way to passing out entirely. The cheering stops and everything goes black.