It was later that day during PE, that he was playing a game of rounders with his class.

He hated it. He remembered when he was younger playing rounders with his mother and some of the gardeners in his home. It had always been a lot of fun, and they had all smiled and laughed together, sitting down to rest afterwards to have drinks together. It was enjoyable, relaxing.

This is not like that Haru thought miserably to himself, standing at the edge of the game as a fielder. For a long time, he had stood there doing nothing. At first, he had tried to keep attention to the game, but after a while of nothing happening, his attention began to drift.

He stood there lacklustre, his mind in another place entirely, somewhere it was more beautiful.

As he stared at the ground a short distance away, his eyes began to water and a tear trickled down his cheek.

He bowed his head, wiping his eyes slowly with the back of his hand and gritting his teeth, angry at himself.

‘Dammit…’ he hissed.

‘HARU WAKE UP!’

Haru glanced up suddenly, seeing the ball shoot over his head.

‘Get the dam ball!’ one of the boys hollered.

Haru began to panic, turning and running in the direction of the ball.

He reached it too late, grabbing it and throwing it back to one of the boys on his team. He stood there uncertainly as several began to complain loudly at him, not knowing what he had done wrong.

‘Haru what are you doing?!’

‘I…I-I’m sorry!’ Haru called nervously back.

One of them began to berate him, but he couldn’t hear what the boy was saying.

Haru’s chest began to feel tight, and he clutched at his heart, beginning to breath rapidly.

He was suddenly unware of anything going on around him as he bowed his head again, blocking out the rest of the world from his mind.

He began to tremble as his breathing became more pained, his gasps deeper as he began to hyperventilate. His vision clouded over, and he sunk to his knees, body hunched.

‘He’s having a panic attack!’ someone called, as the teacher ran over to him.

The teacher knelt beside him, hand on his shoulder and speaking calmly into Haru’s ear, telling him to control his breathing, his words spoken firmly but gently.

But Haru did not hear him, that was when the teacher put Haru’s arm over his shoulders, lifting him to his feet and walking away supporting him.

Haru was taken to see the nurse, where he was eventually able to calm down.

He sat in the quiet room with the nurse before him. She was kind, and through her kind words, Haru was able to control himself.

‘Do you feel better now?’ she asked him softly after a time.

Haru glanced up at her, his eyes red. The box of tissues sat on his lap, several tissues clutched in his hand.

‘I’m sorry’ he whispered, not trusting his voice to speak, ‘I hate being so weak all the time.’

‘It’s ok’ she told him. ‘I understand.’

‘My heart hurts’ she told him.

‘You get heart palpitations?’

He raised his head, eyes teary as he watched her.

‘How often does this happen, when your heart feels like that I mean?

‘Quite a lot’ Haru mumbled to his lap. ‘Mostly when I’m around other people…’

‘It may just be stress’ she said to him, ‘I’ll take a blood test just in case.’

The nurse left the room for a few moments, returning a short while later with a small plastic box. From it she took a needle, cleaning a small area of Haru’s arm before lifting the needle.

He flinched as she touched him, turning his head away.

‘It’s ok’ she spoke soothingly, ‘you’ll just feel a slight sting.’

Haru made a slight sound as the needle went in, tensing his body and gritting his teeth.

He waited a few seconds as the nurse drew blood, sighing with relief when she took the needle out, but he didn’t look back at her, too scared of seeing the needle.

‘If you have any problems’ she said to him, ‘please don’t hesitate to come to me at any time.’

She dapped his arm with a cloth and put a small plaster on the spot the needle had gone in.

‘Do you feel better now?’

He at last looked back at her, his expression breaking into a smile.

‘Thank you so much’ he said to her, ‘I do feel better.’

‘Don’t let other people make you feel low’ she said to him, and his expression fell, watching her with worry now. ‘People who try to intimidate you or make you feel that way are not worth it.’ She smiled. ‘You should just ignore them, they’re only words.’

‘Words carry meaning’ he said to her. ‘Love….is just a word.’

She smiled wider at that.

‘Of course it is’ she said, ‘but people who want to hurt you are not worth listening to, do you understand?’

He closed his mouth, blinking at her.

‘Yes’ he breathed. ‘Th-thank you.’

She nodded. ‘You can stay here if you like, I have informed the teacher you won’t be attending next class.’

‘Oh no you don’t have to do that’ Haru fumbled.

‘It’s alright’ the nurse told him as she moved away, ‘I’ve already let your teacher know. He’s fine with it.’

Haru supressed a groan as she left the room, leaning forwards on his knees clasping his hands together. He stared at the floor beneath him.

He hated this. He didn’t want special treatment.

‘No doubt my father will hear about this’ he spoke glumly to himself, once the nurse had left the room.

He left shortly after, and sat in the grounds alone, upon a raised flowerbed in a secluded area, the tree in the centre of the flowerbed behind him casting a shadow upon him.

He was lost in thought now, and did not notice Aubrey approaching him.

‘What’s eating you?’

Haru glanced up, jumping slightly. He hadn’t heard him coming.

‘Oh, Aubrey…it’s you…’

Aubrey smirked. ‘You almost sound disappointed to see me.’

‘Oh no’ Haru spoke hastily. ‘It’s nothing like that!’

‘Have you been crying?’

Haru stared at him, thinking for a moment about objecting. But in the end, he just let out a sigh, slumping his shoulders.

‘I guess there’s no point denying it’ he mumbled.

‘What happened?’ Aubrey asked him seriously.

‘Aw just some kids’ Haru replied nonchalant. ‘It’s nothing…’

‘What did they say to you?’

Haru hesitated, before glancing up at Aubrey.

‘It doesn’t matter’ Haru said to him.

‘Please tell me…’

Haru let out a reluctant sigh.

‘They were calling me ‘rich kid’…’

‘Why?’

Haru kicked his feet, staring at the floor.

‘I don’t like to talk about it’ he grumbled, ‘but my family has a lot of money...and people often treat you differently because of it, either they are nice because they want something…or they hate you for having what they don’t…’ a sad expression crossed his face. ‘I don’t care about money…. truth be told I don’t really want any of it…I only care about…. about…’

‘About what?’ Aubrey asked.

‘About living’ Haru replied. ‘Being myself…making friends…. I have a dream that I can one day meet someone…have kids…. get a job….’

He bowed his head, putting his hands between his knees.

‘It’s stupid’ he mumbled.

‘If those guys bother you again just let me know’ Aubrey told him. ‘I’ll sort them out.’

‘Oh no I don’t want any violence’ Haru fumbled.

‘Its only violence if they fight back.’

‘Please’ Haru begged.

‘Alright’ Aubrey relented. ‘I won’t do anything.’

‘Thank you’ Haru sighed, relaxing now.

‘Do you want to come to the drama hall with us?’ he offered. ‘You can see what we’ve been up to so far.’

‘Sure’ Haru said rising. ‘I would love to.’

They walked side by side as they headed towards the buildings, Haru glancing tentatively towards Aubrey as they went.

‘Um…’ Haru began. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be in class right now?’

‘I skipped’ Aubrey replied with a wide grin. ‘I’m a delinquent remember? I have to keep up appearances.’

‘Oh’ Haru smiled awkwardly at that. ‘R-right. I forget.’

Haru began to smile then, letting out a relaxed sigh.

He felt happier now that Aubrey was with him.

‘What about the others?’ Haru asked. ‘Shouldn’t they be in class?’

‘They do what I tell them to’ Aubrey gleamed back.

Haru turned away with a scoff.

‘Yeah right…’