FANFICTION LPS (Human AU)
"School sucks"
PART 9
Vinnie couldn't remember how long he'd been sitting in that damn bathroom crying, but he knew he was already very tired of all this torment. The tears did not have time to dry, as more and more of his lilac eyes flowed. Vinnie couldn't believe that Sunil had yelled at him and insulted him down. He didn't understand at all why his friend was so aggressive towards him.
"What did I do wrong...? He said he hates me..."
The green-haired guy buried his eyes in his knees and soaked them with his tears. He knew that sooner or later he would have to get out of the bathroom, but he couldn't do it yet... There was the sound of a door opening and someone entered. Vinnie fell silent, hoping that no one would hear his quiet sobs.
"Vinnie, are you there?" Russell's voice rang out.
Vinnie breathed a sigh of relief.
He exhaled and answered.
"Yes, I'm here... What do you want, Russell?" Vinnie sobbed.
"I just want to talk. Are you okay?" The red-haired guy asked in a soft tone.
Vinnie tried to lie.
"Yeah, of course I'm fine, I just... um.. I want to be alone for a while, huh, you know?" He said a little nervously.
Russell looked incredulously at the booth where Vinnie was sitting.
"Okay, then, can you get out of the booth?"
Vinnie got nervous. He didn't want Russell to see his red face and tear-stained eyes.
"Ah.. no! You'd better go, Russell..." Russell sighed.
"Vinnie... I can hear that you're not okay. I saw Sunil yelling at you." Vinnie was startled when he heard Sunil's name. His lips trembled.
"Really?"
Russell nodded.
"Yeah, actually, everyone saw it, and it was terrible of him" Russell said.
"terribly humiliating" Vinnie snapped.
The green-haired guy got up from the floor and left the booth. He looked at Russell with his dead gaze and lowered his gaze to the floor.
Russell stared at his friend's exhausted appearance for a second, and then carefully hugged Vinnie to himself and began slowly stroking his back. Vinnie hugged the redhead back and couldn't hold back the tears. He felt pain and relief at the same time.
"Shhh, you need to cry yourself out to make it easier." Russell said softly.
Vinnie sobbed.
"I just don't understand..." whispered Vinnie. He took a deep breath to make it easier to talk.
"What bad thing have I done to him?"
Russell continued to pat his friend on the back and comfort him.
"I don't know, to be honest. Either he is in a bad mood, or he is offended by something."
Vinnie gently pulled away from Russell.
"Offended by what? I didn't do anything to him!" the guy exclaimed.
Russell thought about it and remembered that Sunil had been acting strangely all week, staring at the mirror in the school lobby for a long time and casting envious glances at Vinnie, who didn't even notice it.
"It seems he's starting to get jealous of your looks..."
"Really? But... Sunil is very charming by himself, how can he be jealous of me?" Vinnie asked in shock.
"I have no idea... I think you should talk to him." Russell said, making Vinnie cough.
"Huh, what? No! I'm afraid to talk to him... He hates me, Russell..." Vinnie started crying again and immediately wiped it away with his hand.
"And anyway... maybe he was right about me..." Vinnie sadly looked away and cringed.
"No, Vinnie, don't think like that, Sunil was overreacting about you..." Russell put his hand on Vinnie's shoulder.
"Anyway, it's late, the disco is over and we have to go home."
Vinnie looked at Russell in shock.
"Wait, what time is it?" He asked. Russell glanced at his wristwatch.
"19:17" said the green-eyed guy.
"Oh, no! I need to get home right away, my parents are going to be furious...Bye Russell!"
Vinnie ran out of the bathroom and ran home as fast as he could.
***
Meanwhile, Sunil was lying on his bed at home and hated the whole world. He considered his theory that Vinnie was friends with him in order to appear more beautiful against his background to be true... He was so wrong. Piece of an idiot. "Why do I need a friend like him? Let him finally live up to his middle name and get himself a harem of girls.. And I will only be friends with Sharukh, by the way, I need to call him and invite him to go for a walk on the weekend."
Nevla took his phone and dialed Sharukh's number. The beeps started.
"Hey Nevla" came an enthusiastic voice from the receiver.
"Hey Sharukh, how are you?" Sunil lay down in a sexy pose and pressed a pillow between his legs.
"Ah, I'm fine, I'm on set right now and I'm on a break, but it should be over by now..." said the superstar while makeup artists powdered his nose in parallel.
"Will you be back soon?" Sunil asked dejectedly.
"No, I will be gone for a month... Do not miss me, baby."
"Oh, no way! a whole month!" whined Sunil.
"Wait a minute... Did you call me a "baby"?" asked Sunil suddenly. Sharukh came to his senses.
"Aea, sorry Nevla, my break is over, bye!" Sharukh dropped the call. Sunil put down his phone and sighed.
"I feel so bad..."
Nevla picked up the phone again and the wallpaper on the phone immediately caught his eye, on which there was a joint photo of Vinnie and Sunil. The Indian boy frowned. It was a pretty old photo of him and Vinnie when they were just kids and hugging. Such lovely children. Sunil suddenly felt how heavy his heart was. He got out of bed and went to the closet, from which he pulled out his old, dusty guitar. He sat cross-legged on the bed and started trying to play something. His fingers were long enough for him to play well, and he decided it would be a good idea to take his mind off his problems by playing the guitar.
***
Vinnie quietly entered the house and saw his mother leaning against the wall in front of him. Startled, Vinnie dropped his keys and backed away.
"Where have you been for so long, Vincent?" she asked sternly.
Vinnie began to stutter with fear. "Mom, I'm sorry, I just....." The guy bit his lip and tried to come up with an excuse.
"Do you even know what time it is?" Vinnie's mother asked again.
“yeah... I was just at the disco at school and..." Vinnie lowered his voice.
"I didn't let you go to the disco! Why didn't you ask my permission? Am I nothing to you?" Vinnie swallowed.
"No, Mom, I just had a fight with my friend and was crying in the toilet all the time, so I lost track of time..." the guy said sadly.
"DON'T LIE TO ME, VINCENT," Vinnie's mother suddenly screamed. Vinnie cringed in fear.
"Mom, I'm not lying, really... I swear"
Vinnie's mother went up to her son and grabbed him by the collar like a puppy. The woman dragged her son into the kitchen and threw him into a corner.
"You're being punished, Vincent, for lying and for hanging around God knows where."
Vinnie cowered on the cold floor and looked pitifully into his mother's eyes.
"Mom... I'm really not lying" the lilac-eyed guy confessed in a trembling voice. This made Vinnie's mother lose her temper and she screamed.
"VICTOR, COME HERE" heavy footsteps were heard and Vinnie's father came into the kitchen.
"What happened? Where has our son been for so long?" Victor asked in a gruff voice.
Vinnie became even scarier because of his father's rude tone. His father was even tougher towards him than his mother.
"Vincent was late coming home because he was at the school disco, when he could have been studying instead" Vinnie's mother said.
His father frowned and looked at Vinnie from under his brows.
"It seems like someone needs a good lesson" Vinnie's father said.
He took a spanking belt from a hanger in the hallway and returned to the kitchen. Vinnie realized it was going to hurt.
"Mom, Dad, please don't hit me, it won't happen again, really!" pleaded Vinnie.
The mother looked at her son with her cold gaze and grimaced. For a second, she thought that Vinnie could be spared, but that thought evaporated as soon as she heard her husband's belt clap.
"If you were a normal child, we would never have beaten you. But you're just a terrible son, and I don't understand why God gave me such a punishment in the form of you..."
Vinnie's mother replied, leaning towards her son. Hot tears of resentment started coming out of the guy's eyes again.
Victor came closer to his son and made a belt clap again, which made the innocent Vinnie flinch.
"Please don't! Please!" the guy pleaded again, wiping the tears from his face.
"What are those tears? Are you a girl to cry?" Vinnie's father asked angrily, lowering his tone of voice. He slapped Vinnie's face with his belt with all his might, causing the guy to let out a loud cry of pain. Vinnie's father was relentless and once again slapped the poor guy in the face with a belt. Vinnie covered his face with his hands and trembled.
"I'm in a lot of pain... Please stop..." Vinnie sobbed. Vinnie's mother looked at all this and did not even think to stop her husband.
"Do you think it's enough for him, Mary, or should I add more?" Victor asked his wife.
Vinnie's mother looked down at her frightened, trembling son and something in her heart stabbed. She didn't pay attention to it and remained calm.
"Go on" she replied coldly.
Victor grabbed his son and turned him around. He slapped him on the back with a belt, which had just begun to heal from past wounds.
"NO!" Vinnie screamed, his voice cracking. Vinnie's mother felt a little sorry for her son, and the father struck his son three more powerful blows on the back. Vinnie was crying and shaking.
"That's enough" Mary said suddenly. Vinnie breathed a sigh of relief and sobbed. The parents left the kitchen and turned off the light, the mother turned around to look at her son.
"Go upstairs and go to bed, Vincent. We won't be out all day tomorrow, we won't be back until evening, so clean the house" she said coldly.
Then Mary left, leaving her son alone. Vinnie got up from the cold floor and felt weak all over, she barely climbed to the second floor and locked herself in the bathroom. His face and back hurt unbearably. He didn't understand why he was doing all this. In the moments when his parents beat him, he wanted to shoot himself like Kurt Cobain. Just to avoid experiencing all this pain. He had experienced too much pain today. He didn't want anything at all except to wash up and go to bed. The green-haired guy took off all his clothes and looked in the mirror. There were terrible belt marks on his face.The tears on his pale face had already dried. He touched his face with his hands and lightly ran his fingers over his cheekbones. Vinnie turned on the faucet and began to wash his face, foolishly hoping that the scars would disappear. The guy turned off the faucet and looked in the mirror again. It didn't help. Vinnie sighed and went to his room. He turned off the light and curled up on his bed.
He did not fall asleep immediately, and a lot of terrible thoughts crept into his head. The guy wasn't even happy that tomorrow was the day off. Vinnie had completely forgotten the concept of "joy"
"My best friend hates me. My parents hate me. Do I deserve all this? But why? Is it because I'm dumb or something? I always do things wrong..."
Vinnie started crying again. He couldn't sleep for a long time that night, but still, he managed to do it.
***
Saturday morning. Sunil woke up to the fact that his phone rang, the guy stretched sweetly in his bed and lazily picked up the phone from the bedside table and looked at the screen. Russell called him. Sunil answered the phone.
"Hello, Russell, why are you calling so early?" the guy with the accent asked and yawned. It was 10 a.m., but Sunil usually slept until lunch on weekends.
"Good morning Sunil, I wanted to have a serious talk with you about Vinnie" Russell said on the other end of the phone.
Sunil frowned and made a show of clicking his teeth.
"Why? Do you want to discuss Vinnie and his perfect dumb face?" asked Sunil rudely and took a sitting position.
"Sunil, why did you yell at him yesterday? He's been your best friend since kindergarten, and you've almost never quarreled, and if you did, it was over nothing. Why did you snap at him like that?" Russell asked.
Sunil looked down at his blanket and remembered his theory.
"Well, you know, I have been feeling lately that Vinnie is using me to make himself look prettier against my background."
Russell was taken aback by this answer. He obviously hadn't expected this.
"Really? Do you really think Vinnie would treat you like that? Why all of a sudden?" The red-haired guy asked in shock.
Sunil got out of bed and walked over to the mirror while talking to Russell.
"Because that's how it usually happens in movies. You know, two guys, one of whom looks like Apollo, and the other guy... like shit" Sunil touched his cheek and squeezed it.
"I think Vinnie and I are just like that... He's handsome, but I'm not..." said Nevla sadly.
Russell slapped his hand across his face. It was a facepalm.
"Sunil, are you serious right now? You do realize how stupid and illogical that is, don't you?" Russell asked on the other end of the phone.
"Why?" asked Sunil in disbelief.
"Because movies don't reflect reality. There are so many stereotypes in most American movies that you can drown in them."
Sunil thought about it.
"Well... You're probably right, Russell.. Oh, I do not know.."
Sunil sat down on the bed again and slipped his feet into his slippers.
Russell sighed.
"Vinnie would never use you like that, considering how much he values you" Russell said.
"Yesterday he was crying in the toilet... because of you" the red-haired guy said, lowering his tone.
Sunil felt guilty. He remembered how, in a fit of anger, he insulted his friend yesterday in front of everyone.
"Oh no..." thought Sunil.
"I'm so ashamed in front of him..." said the guy.
"Really. You behaved like... No offense, like a moral freak" Russell said.
"I'll get better, and I know how, I will come to his house today and apologize to him" Sunil said.
"Do that while you're at it" Russell said goodbye. Sunil hung up the phone and fell on the bed.
"What an idiot I am... I offended my best friend, a friend who appreciated me..."
Sunil picked up his phone and started browsing through photos of him and Vinnie together. There have been quite a lot of them over so many years of friendship. One photo caught his attention, in which they were little and seemed to be in elementary school.
"Wow... I remember this picture, it's us in the third grade..."
Sunil couldn't even believe that he and Vinnie had been friends for so long.
"We were so small and carefree... As if it had been quite recently. Vinnie used to dance so funny at recess when he was little... And I tried to repeat it, but I couldn't. He supported me back then, but I was still too shy to dance as vigorously as he did.. I was the most introverted person in the class, and Vinnie... he always managed to set me free, I felt comfortable with him, probably because he was always there in difficult times."
At this moment, Sunil recalled an awkward incident that happened to him in the 3rd grade.
***
Then Sunil's throat got very dry before class and he drank half a cooler of water. Somewhere in the middle of the lesson, the drunk water made itself felt. Little Sunil raised his hand.
"What is it, Sunil?" The teacher asked.
"Can I come out..?" the kid asked softly.
"What?" the teacher asked loudly. Sunil cringed and repeated it a little louder.
"Can I come out, please?"
The teacher looked at the boy over the top of her glasses.
"Where to go out?" She asked, as if she didn't understand what exactly Sunil wanted.
"To the bathroom" Sunil said, trying to speak louder.
The teacher clicked her tongue. "No, Nevla, they go to the bathroom during recess" she said sternly. Sunil was embarrassed.
"But I am.. I didn't want to then" the boy confessed awkwardly.
All the other kids in the class paid attention to Sunil. Vinnie was sitting next to me and was distracted from drawing. This made the boy tense.
"Don't argue with me! You can go after class" said the evil teacher. There were 35 minutes left until the end of the lesson, and Sunil knew it.
"I have to go now..." said the kid sadly.
The teacher went berserk.
"I said NO, so NO, you'll bear with it."
Vinnie, who was sitting next to Sunil, was indignant.
"That's not fair, you can't help but let him go to the bathroom!" said the green-haired boy.
Sunil clenched his legs together and tensed up.
"Yes, I really need to...get out," Nevla repeated. The art teacher rolled her eyes. This idiot sometimes allowed herself to talk on the phone during class and she would go to the staff room for a long time to drink tea with colleagues, but she would not let the child go to the toilet. Because she was a nasty goat. The children in the class started whispering and discussing Sunil. This confused the boy and he blushed noticeably. Vinnie put his hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Sunil, don't listen to her, if you have to go out, come out and don't ask permission" the boy said.
The teacher heard it.
"This is not respect for my person! How dare you behave like that? Stupid kids, you still have milk on your lips!"
Vinnie felt a surge of rage, and Sunil stared at the teacher in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, but I really need to!" said the little Indian.
"I said, after the lesson, what's not clear?"
Vinnie intervened again.
"And he said that he needed to do it right now, what is it that you don't understand?" Vinnie asked furiously.
He was aware of the unfairness of the situation, and that his friend needed help. Sunil couldn't hold back anymore. And a terrible thing happened. He did it in front of the whole class. Everyone stared at Sunil in shock.
After that, Sunil only remembered sitting on a bench in the hallway and waiting for his parents to come and take him home. He felt humiliated and cried. Vinnie came over to comfort him and sat down next to him.
"Don't cry, Sunil, this teacher is a dumb sheep!"
Sunil sobbed and looked at his friend with tear-stained eyes.
"I am so ashamed... I should have held back..." the kid said with an accent. Vinnie hugged him and began gently stroking his back.
"No, she should have let you out. It's not your fault" Sunil buried his face in Vinnie's chest and felt a little better from hugging his best friend.
"And you're lucky, your parents are going to pick you up now, and I still have two lessons to sit here
." Vinnie said.
This pleased Sunil to some extent, Vinnie always knew how to cheer up a friend.
"Yes, maybe I was lucky, but it is uncomfortable to walk in wet pants..."
Vinnie and Sunil laughed at this situation, and then Sunil's parents took him home. They also comforted him and assured him that everything would be fine and that the teacher would be fired.
This childhood memory made Sunil realize how much Vinnie appreciated him. And this was not an isolated case when Vinnie supported and helped Sunil. He was always there for him and didn't let him get bored.
"How could I do this to him!? I'm a complete bastard... I have to go to him and beg for forgiveness on my knees. Although it's not a fact that he will forgive me at all..."
Sunil got out of bed and quickly changed out of his pajamas into dark brown jeans and a blue sweater. He put on his slippers and went to Vinnie's house.
***
Meanwhile, Vinnie had just woken up. The first thing he remembered was the incident with Sunil yesterday.
"It wasn't a dream..." the guy thought.
He allowed himself to think that it would be better if he didn't wake up. It would be better if he disappeared forever.
"Parents have probably already left... I have to clean the house before they arrive, otherwise they will beat me up." the guy thought and slowly got out of bed, which was soaked through with his sweat. He didn't have the energy to do anything. He wanted to lie down again and close his eyes forever, to disappear into nothingness. Vinnie suddenly realized. He doesn't want to live. He wants to put himself out of his misery, and the only way to do that is to commit suicide.
"My parents never loved me, but Sunil did... He will never see me as more than a friend. Yesterday he made it clear to me that he hates me, which means we're not even friends anymore... On the other hand, nothing is important anymore. Nothing matters." the guy thought.
Vinnie went to his closet. He put on a green and white jumper with black pants that showed off his ankles and gray socks. The guy went to the disc player and turned on the song "Lithium" by Nirvana. He took out a piece of paper and a pen from the dresser and wrote a suicide letter dedicated to his parents.
"Dear parents, I'm sorry that I'm such a terrible son. Forgive me. I am not what you would like me to be. I'm pathetic, insignificant, and dumb as a cork. I don't think I deserve to live, and I don't want to live anymore. Finally, I have to admit to you that I am gay and I like boys. I'm writing this in a letter because I was afraid to tell you directly. But now I won't see you anymore, because I'm going to another world. Goodbye, Mom and Dad.
Love,
your son, Vinnie"
The guy couldn't stand it and let out a tear, which fell on the letter. He couldn't believe that he was writing a suicide letter. Vinnie took the letter and went downstairs, he put the letter on the kitchen table, which was close to the front door and began rummaging through the upper cabinets.The guy found a first-aid kit and took out several cans of pills, went upstairs. They were heart pills that can't be taken without a doctor's prescription. Vinnie went into his room and sat on the floor, leaning on the bed. He was in no hurry to commit suicide and decided to think it over carefully. To remember the pleasant moments from his whole life and Sunil, whom he loved so much for many years, and still loves.
"I'm going to... die now. And the worst part is that the parents won't care... They don't need me. No one needs me in this world, especially Sunil... it was stupid to hope that he would love me as a guy. Maybe I'm just a dumb and naive idiot..." Vinnie looked at the audio player and decided not to turn it off after his death.
"Kurt Cobain from the band Nirvana also committed suicide... Only he shot himself. I wish I had a gun."
The guy looked at the pill jar and decided to take this step.
***
Sunil finally got to Vinnie's house and knocked on the door. No one answered him, so he pushed the door a little and it opened a crack. Sunil came into the house and called out to Vinnie.
"Vinnie... it's me, Sunil, I'm sorry that I came in uninvited, but I wanted to apologize."
Vinnie was on the second floor and couldn't hear his friend because Nirvana was playing too loudly. Sunil walked a little further and saw Vinnie's letter on the table. The dark-skinned guy carefully picked up the letter and began to read it. When he read the letter, he broke into a cold sweat, and his hands began to tremble. He couldn't believe what he had just read. Sunil rushed to the second floor and burst into Vinnie's room screaming.
"VINNIE, DO NOT DO THIS!!!"
Vinnie was about to put the pills in his mouth at that moment, but because of the surprise he jumped up on the spot and dropped them from his hands. Sunil ran over to him and took the pill jar. Vinnie tried to take it away, but Sunil held up his hands.
"Give it back!"
Vinnie shouted, trying to take the pills from his friend, but the height difference prevented him from doing so.
"I won't let you commit suicide!" shouted Sunil.
Vinnie started scratching Sunil's arm, desperately trying to get his pills.
"GIVE ME MY DAMN PILLS NOW!" shouted Vinnie furiously.
Sunil put the pills on the cabinet so that Vinnie couldn't get them and pulled the guy to himself.
"Did you really want to do this, Vinnie? Did you want to commit suicide?"
Vinnie was caught off guard and didn't know what to do now. He looked into Sunil's golden eyes full of incomprehension and burst into tears right in front of him. Sunil hugged Vinnie lovingly and rested his chin in Vinnie's hair.
"I'm sorry, Vinnie. I was a terrible friend."
Vinnie sobbed against his friend's chest.
"Why are you saving me if you hate me?" The green-haired guy asked in a trembling voice.
"Vinnie... I don't hate you. I was so jealous of you when the girls stuck to you like a magnet. I have come up with a theory that you're using me to make yourself look prettier against my background... but in the end, I realized how crazy this idea is. And I apologize for what I said to you yesterday... You're my best friend and I don't want to lose you. I was a complete idiot." Sunil said.
Vinnie looked into his eyes and smiled faintly. He felt warmer. His head was spinning from everything that had happened and he lost consciousness. Sunil hugged Vinnie tightly so that he wouldn't fall. Sunil laid him on the bed and tried to revive him. Vinnie opened his eyes and looked at the worried Sunil.
"Damn it... My vision went dark for a second." said the guy.
Sunil sighed and gently ran his hand over Vinnie's wrist.
"But.. Sunil, you barged into my room like you knew what I was going to do. How did you figure that out?"
Sunil was silent for a while.
"Well... I read your letter to your parents that you left on the table" Sunil took Vinnie's letter out of his pocket and showed it to him. Vinnie took a sitting position.
"Oh no, no no no, you shouldn't have read that!"
Vinnie exclaimed and snatched his letter from Sunil's hand.
"This letter was dedicated only to my parents..." The guy said, blushing.
"I'm sorry, but... Why have you never told me what you are... You know, gay" Nevla asked with an accent. Vinnie blushed terribly and looked away, trying not to make eye contact with Sunil.
"Uh.. Well, I was... afraid you'd judge me."
Vinnie stammered. Sunil smiled warmly.
"Vinnie, I won't judge you for anything. We have been close since childhood, can you imagine how scared I was when I read this letter, I've never been so scared in my life as I was at that moment. I was afraid it was too late..." said Sunil sadly.
Vinnie moved closer to Sunil.
"You made it in the nick of time... Thank you for saving me"
Sunil held Vinnie tightly in his arms and then let go.
"By the way, how did you know you were gay?" asked Sunil.
Vinnie smiled sheepishly.
"Uh... I'm not ready to discuss this topic with you yet..."
Vinnie scratched his head and swallowed. Sunil raised one eyebrow slyly.
"Maybe you fell in love with a guy I know?" Nevla asked.
"No way! That is, I actually... eh..." Sunil was pleased with his friend's bright red face. He put his hand on his cheek and looked deep into his eyes. Vinnie was speechless and also looked into his friend's eyes.
"Vinnie, I get it."
Sunil moved a little closer to Vinnie's face.
"I love you, Vinnie."
Vinnie's heart skipped a beat. He put his hands on Sunil's face and pulled him towards him. Their lips met in a kiss. They were sucking gently and passion was boiling in their hearts.
***
To be continued...
