Piece of trash. Worthless. A waste of space. Idiot. These were things that Adrian Solace had heard for most of his life. There were, of course, more insults that were hurled at him when he got older. He never did anything to upset anyone and yet he was forced to endure daily verbal abuse and sometimes physical abuse. All he wanted was a friend. Now that he was in his final year of high school, he thought he could finally break free from everything. That was what he thought.

"Hey, imbecile! The hell you doing by yourself again?"

Stephen Pence. A guy in the same class who always took time to find a fault in what Adrian was doing. Adrian knew that if he ignored Stephen he would be ridiculed again but his mood had taken a plummet this morning. A few seconds after he looked away and down back at his book, he felt a punch to his head and his face slammed down on the table. His glasses pressed against his eyes and he heard the frame crack. A piece of glass sliced into his skin above his eye and a drop of blood splashed onto the table. He winced and felt his hair being grabbed and pulled back.

"Hey! Why didn't you answer me, you bastard? I asked you a question."

"L-let me go."

Stephen scoffed and shoved Adrian's head onto the table.

"Oh? Are you seriously crying? I didn't even hit you that hard."

Stephen let go of his hair and walked away.

"Useless fucker."

Adrian bit his lips. It wasn't the pain that was making him cry but the fact that he was being tortured and yet no one did anything to help. Even after everything he had gone through he always believed that maybe someday someone would stop the pain but no one. Not one person. He stood up and grabbed his bag while holding onto his broken glasses and covering his eye. He ran out of the class and into the restroom. Adrian lifted his hand off his eye. The cut wasn't deep but it was painful. The blood was still dripping down his face. He grabbed some towels and dabbed the blood away. His face looked horrible. Pale with streaks of tears and dried blood.

"Damn it."

He stuffed his broken glasses into his pocket and left the restroom. He used his black hair to cover his eye and rushed to the entrance of the school. Adrian needed to head home and clean himself up before he went to work at the cafe. He ran home, washed up, and left for work.

"Boss! I'm here!"

"Adrian! You're early today. What happened to your glasses?"

Adrian froze.

"They broke. I'll be fine without them. Don't worry boss."

"No. I just wanted to say you looked better without them. Are you sure you can see?"

"Yes. I'm fine."

Those glasses were fake after all. Adrian only used them to avoid attention.

"That's good. Go man the register today."

"Yes sir."

Adrian grabbed an apron and walked to the register.

"Welcome to Sunary Cafe. What would you like to order?"

The girl in line stared at him.

"Excuse me? What would you like to order?"

"S-sorry. Could I get an iced latte?"

"Will that be all?"

"Y-yes."

Adrian could feels several eyes on him. He didn't know why people were looking at him but he started to panic.

"Your order will be ready shortly."

He swirled around and walked over to the coffee maker. His hands shook as he poured the coffee. He could hear whispers behind him.

"Adrian?"

He flinched.

"B-boss. Did you need something?"

"Hmm. You don't look well. You can leave early today so just hang in there for a bit alright?"

"No it's fine. I don't need to leave early."

"Adrian. I said you could leave early did I not?"

"Ah. Yes. Okay. Thank you."

His boss, Jae Kindle, was a kind boss but strict. He was handsome but his temper was terrible which was why Adrian listened to him. Even so, he knew that Mr. Kindle was doing this for him because he was worried about Adrian. He smiled.

"What are you smiling for? Now get back to work."

"Yes sir."

The day went on and when Adrian's shift was over, he quickly ran home. He reached his house, slammed the door closed and threw his jacket on the sofa. He changed, f lpped onto his bed, and stared at the ceiling. The house that he had been living in felt even emptier than other days. He looked at the photo on hs desk.

"Today was really tiring. I hope nothing happens tomorrow."

Adrian closed his eyes and fell asleep thinking about how he needed to buy a new pair of glasses. Morning came and he got up as usual, changed and left for school. He had covered the wound above his eye with a bandage and tried to cover his face as best he could with his hair.The rest of the school day passed by quickly but throughout the day he could hear people whispering and staring at him. He waited for the bell to ring and when it did, before he got a chance to grab his things, he felt a hand grab his head.

"Alone again today aren't you? Where are your glasses huh? Too poor to buy new ones?"

Adrian grit his teeth.

"Hey! Aren't you going to answer me? You gonna ignore me today too? "

He didn't say anything and just sat there enduring the pain.

"Tch. Can't even say anything."

Stephen let go of his hair and walked out of the classroom. Adrian looked up from the corner of his eyes. He could see that all of his classmates were avoiding him and trying not to me his eyes. He got up and walked out of the classroom. As he headed for the school gates, he felt his shoulder hit something on his and glanced up. His eyes widened and he looked away.

"Sorry."

Adrian ran out as quickly as he could. He couldn't believe it. The one he bumped into was Luke Collins. The hot topic of the school that everyone admired. He was a sophomore and the complete opposite of Adrian. Popular, had money, and he wasn't afraid of other's opinions. That was why when Adrian felt a pull on his arm he was so taken aback that he almost tripped and fell.

"Ah! Sorry, sorry. I was calling out to you but you couldn't hear me. Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine. Sorry."

He looked away and clenched his teeth. Why did Luke of all people go after him? Was Adrian going to get abused by him as well? That was the one thing he didn't want to happen. Even if Adrian was older he was still afraid. He pulled his hand away and held onto his bag.

"Um. Did you need something?"

"No. I just wanted to ask. Are you Adrian from the senior year?"

"Yes? That's me but did you need anything? I'm a bit busy."

Why would someone as popular as Luke talk to an outcast like Adrian? The only thing Adrian wanted to do was to run home as quickly as possible and hide under his covers.

"If there's nothing then I'll go home."

"Wait! Sorry I didn't want to offend you or anything. I just wanted to ask you something. I fell in love with you so will you go out with me?"

"What?"