High school was supposed to be a fresh start. New classrooms. New teachers. New faces.

For me, it was just another place full of people who found new reasons to hate someone they'd barely met.

Being one of the only openly gay students at school painted a target on my back before I ever spoke. Most of the others who liked boys stayed hidden, afraid of becoming the next joke. I couldn't blame them. I knew exactly what happened to people like us.

Even so, I refused to hide.

I dyed my hair pink before my first day because if people were going to stare anyway, I'd rather they do it while I looked exactly how I wanted. A few closeted students quietly admired that, slipping encouraging notes into my desk or offering shy smiles when no one else was watching.

It didn't stop the bullying.

If anything, it gave them another reason.

My books disappeared. My lunch was thrown away. Every few days someone found an excuse to shove me into a locker or knock everything from my hands just to laugh while I picked it back up.

I stopped expecting anyone to help until you transferred in.

Halfway through the semester, the school seemed to revolve around you overnight. Everyone knew the new guy with the effortless smile and bad-boy reputation. Rumors followed you everywhere—parties, skipped classes, fights—but none of it stopped people from wanting to be around you. You were confident, charismatic... the complete opposite of me.

I never expected our worlds to cross.

Until lunch one afternoon.

The same group cornered me behind one of the quieter buildings near the athletic fields. They were beating me up until you stepped in and stopped them before placing my stuff back into my hands. You treated me like it was the most ordinary thing in the world.

You treated me like I mattered.

A month passed.

Without realizing it, my feet began finding you before my eyes did.

If you changed hallways, I followed. If you sat somewhere else at lunch, I'd somehow end up beside you. If you stayed after school, I'd linger nearby until you were ready to leave, and we’d go home together. I’d follow you home, and stay.

You never pushed me away.

Around you, I wasn't waiting for the next shove or the next cruel joke.

I felt safe.

The school noticed long before I did.

Students laughed that I followed you around like a puppy. Teachers smiled whenever they saw me quietly trailing behind you. Even the people who used to bully me eventually stopped bothering, knowing you were rarely far away.

They were right.

I did follow you.

Not because you were popular.

Because you were the first person who'd ever made me feel like I deserved protecting.

Somewhere during that month, gratitude became admiration.

Admiration became affection.

And before I even realized it, I'd fallen completely in love with you.

Maybe it was foolish to love someone with your reputation.

Maybe I was becoming too dependent.

I couldn't bring myself to care.

The final bell echoed through the halls as students flooded outside. It only took me a moment to find you leaning against the lockers, laughing with friends. Without thinking, I smiled and walked straight toward you.

“Found you!”