Kevin was with Mike and Anthony studying. He was scared that if he failed his next exam, his parents will let him have it. Kevin's eyes stayed glued to the book and when Mike or Anthony asked him a question, his eyes still stayed on the book. Anthony tapped his pencil on the desk, trying to figure out the math problem that was on his worksheet. He shouldn't have spaced out during class. He turned to Kevin, his eyes glued to the book. Kevin is smart, he would help him with this problem. "Hey, Kevin. Do you know how to do this problem?" Anthony asked, sliding the paper next to Kevin. Kevin, without even taking his eyes off his book, scribbled something on Anthony's work sheet. "Here. Use this formula. It will be easier." Mike's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He saw that the writing was neatly done! Is Kevin even human...? Anthony looked at the formula that Kevin wrote. "Oh, I see. Thanks Kevin." He then wrote down the answer using the formula that Kevin wrote. Fritz was checking out a few books for him to read because his father told him to. He then saw Mike, Kevin, and Anthony at the table studying. He walked up to him. "Hey guys. How's your studying?" Fritz asked. "Great." Kevin said, still not taking his eyes off the book. "Kevin, how long are you gonna keep your eyes on that book? It's like it has you under its spell unless-" "No Mike. No. I don't have a porn magazine you perv!" Kevin said, showing him the book, even flipping the pages. "...." Mike sat back down. 'Nerd' was what Mike mumbled under his breath. "Shut up." Kevin said. Mike flinched. Oh boy. Kevin had good hearing. What did his parents teach him?!

"That's great. Anyways, Scott's having this church party on Sunday. Do you want to come?" Fritz asked. "Heck yeah!" Mike said. Kevin shook his head. "I don't know if I will go... the test is this week and my parents want me to pass it." Mike got up and patted Kevin on the back. "Aw come on Kev! You have plenty of time to study! One party won't hurt you!" Kevin looked at Mike blinking. "I don't know...." "Come on, dude! It'll be fun! I'll tell you what, after the party, we can all go to Mike's house to study! Does that sound good?" Kevin still remained unsure. Anthony started poking Kevin's cheek. "Come on, Kevin! Come on, Kev! Pleeeeease? I won't stop poking you 'til you say yes!" Anthony continued to poke Kevin's cheek while Fritz face palmed. 'I don't think Kevin's gonna be happy with this.' Fritz thought. Kevin began to feel annoyed. The more Anthony poked at him, the louder he growled. It was like poking an angry animal with a stick. He stopped growling and pulled away. "Fine." He said. Anthony shot up from his chair. "YAY!! Thanks, dude!" He shouted. Fritz shushed him. "Shh! Will you be quiet? We're in the library!" Fritz whisper-shouted. Anthony covered his mouth. "Sorry." Anthony whispered. Anthony gathered up his books and put it in his bag. "Well, anyways, I gotta get back to class. Mr. Anderson might be expecting me. I mean, with all the time I spent in class spacing out, he might not be happy with me." Anthony picked up his bag and started heading out the door. Jeremy went into the library when Anthony ran into him. "Oh! Sorry, Jere-dude!" Anthony apologized before running out. "Ah, I-It's okay." Jeremy stuttered. Fritz ran to Jeremy. "Are you okay?" He asked. Jeremy nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." Jeremy walked up to Mike. "So Mike, how are you and Kevin's study session going?" Jeremy asked.

"It's going fine." Mike told Jeremy. Kevin still kept his eyes on his book. "Kevin, dude, will you look up for once?" Kevin chewed on his pencil. Jeremy sighed. "Same old Kevin, right?" Jeremy asked. "Right." Fritz replied. "Well, I'd better be going. See you later, guys." Fritz waved and left the library. "Bye." Jeremy waved back. Kevin waved, his eyes still on the book. Mike got annoyed. He literally took Kevin's book out of his hands and Kevin flinched. "Hey!!! Look when someone is talking to you!" Kevin frowned. "Mike! Gimme back the book!" "No! Kevin, what's with you? You weren't like this!" "....!!!" Kevin looked at Mike, eyes wide. He looked like Mike struck one of his nerves. Jeremy flinched and stepped back. "Uh guys, I think we should go." Jeremy said. "Jeremy, back me up here! Don't you think it's strange he's been like this?" Kevin had a look of shock on his face. Was he really....

Jeremy looked at Kevin and studied his face. It's true. Kevin never acts like this. Could it be that his parents...? Jeremy went up to Kevin, his legs shaking and placed a hand on Kevin's shoulder. "K-Kevin, a-are you okay?" Jeremy asked as he tensed up, bracing himself for any sort of violence that Kevin might commit. Kevin bit his lip trying hard to fight back the tears. In reality, he wanted to make his parents proud, but it seemed like he was ignoring his friends at the same time. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." He grabbed his bag and snatched his book back from Mike and ran out of the library. Mike felt stupid. "Kevin, wait!!!"

Vincent was walking to the library when Kevin ran past him. "Kevin?" Vincent turned around to see Kevin run down the hall. He turned back to see Jeremy and Mike run out of the library. "Guys, what's going on?" Vincent asked. "No time to explain. We need to get to Kevin, NOW!!" Jeremy shouted and ran in the direction that Kevin was going. Mike started to follow Jeremy when Vincent grabbed Mike's arm. "Mike, tell me, what's going on?" Vincent asked. Mike faced Vincent. "It's all my fault. I pressured Kevin." he said biting his lip. "Look I'll explain later! Right now, we need to get to Kevin before he does something bad to himself!" Vincent's eyes widened. He knew Kevin for a long time ever since he found him in elementary school. He knew Kevin's parents always pressure him to do good. He doesn't want Kevin to say that's he's a failure because it reminded him of his time in the orphanage. Shaking his head to clear the thought, he looked at Mike. "Okay." Vincent followed Mike and Jeremy as they ran after Kevin.

Kevin ran out and sat under a tree. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!! He thought as he threw his bag on the grass. He sat down and began to cry. Why was he always like this? Why? Luckily for him, he knew how to deal with the pain. He started cutting himself ever since they started high school. "I need a sharp object..." Kevin said looking around. Luckily he remember in the morning a girl dropped a glass jar. He spotted a glass shard and picked it up. He examined it then slashed it across his wrist. It hurt, but it made him feel better. He smiled. Then he laughed. Mike saw Kevin. He could not believe what he was seeing. "NO!!!" Mike, Jeremy and Vincent ran to Kevin. They saw Kevin slashing his wrists. Vincent remembered doing that when he was bullied at the orphanage. "Kevin, stop!!" Vincent screamed.

Kevin flinched. He saw them coming towards him. He tried to run, but Mike caught him. "No! Let go off me!!!!" Kevin said, whacking Mike in the head with his elbow. His hoodie was hanging from his arms since it was always unzipped. "Please... leave me alone!! I'm sorry if I ignored you. I'm giving myself pain because I'm a failure!!!" Kevin screamed crying. More blood came out of his wrists. Mike's eyes widened. Vincent gasped. He couldn't believe it. Kevin said that he was a failure. He got flashbacks of his time at the orphanage. The kids always telling him that he's weak. The nanny telling him that he was a failure. He clenched his fists tightly. He ran up to Kevin and slapped him. "KEVIN, STOP IT!!! YOU'RE NOT A FAILURE!! PLEASE DON'T SAY THAT!!" Vincent screamed as Jeremy put his hand over Kevin's wound. "Vincent, don't do that!! That'll make Kevin even more uncontrollable!" Jeremy shouted.

Kevin felt the slap. More pain. Kevin pulled away, blood staining his hoodie. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" Kevin said in a dark tone, his eyes getting darker. Vincent realized what he has done. "K-Kev... I-I'm so sorry!! I-I don't know what came over me. I-" "Kevin?!" Everyone turned around to see Anthony and Fritz run up to them. "Kevin, what are you doing?!" Fritz shouted. Anthony ran to Kevin and hugged him. "Please, Kevin. Whatever you're doing, please stop. You have a whole lot to live for. Please, be strong." Kevin's eyes widened. "A-Anthony?" He said. He then burst into tears. "I'm sorry!! I'm so sorry!!!!"

Anthony stroked Kevin's hair. "It's okay, Kevin. I'm here. It's okay." Anthony noticed the slits on Kevin's wrists. They were bleeding really bad. "Kevin! Your wrists!" Anthony let go of Kevin and put his hand over the wound. "H-Hold on! I-I'll go get the nurse right away!" Vincent said and he turned around to go get the nurse. "I... I'm just tired of being pressured by my parents to be perfect. Everyday I spend it studying not playing video games like I used to." Kevin felt dizzy and blacked out. Kevin fainted in Anthony's arms due to blood loss.

"KEVIN!" Anthony caught Kevin in his arms. Anthony shook Kevin to wake him up, but it didn't work. Anthony checked to see if Kevin's breathing. Good. He's still breathing. Anthony thought. Anthony laid Kevin down on the ground and applied pressure to Kevin's wound on his wrist. Meanwhile, a large group of people gathered around them. Jeremy, Mike, and Fritz served as crowd control. Vincent came back with the nurse. "What happened?" The nurse asked sternly. "One of our friends was..... trying to..... h-hurt himself...." Vincent stuttered. "What?!" She pushed Vincent out of the way. He regretted it. She was never nice. "What's going on over there?" Fritz turned around and saw their teacher running towards them. The teacher gasped. "Mr. Rodney?!" The students moved out of the way for the teacher. Vincent smiled slightly. At least they're more secure with her around. The teacher knelt down next to Kevin. "Mr. Rodney?! Mr. Rodney, can you hear me?! Mr. Rodney!" The teacher shouted at Kevin. Jeremy pulled out his cell phone and called 911. "Alright, everybody! Stay calm! The ambulance is on the way! Mr. Evans, you keep an eye on Mr. Rodney until the ambulance arrives." The teacher told Anthony. He nodded, still applying pressure on Kevin's wound. Vincent felt horrible. Why? He thought to himself. Why am I so stupid? He didn't mean to slap him. But he.... he reminded him of a bad memory. And he couldn't take it. He was jerked out of his thoughts when he heard the ambulance arrive. The paramedics got out a gurney and ran to Kevin. Anthony had managed to stop the bleeding, but Kevin was still knocked out. The paramedics got Kevin on the gurney and loaded him into the ambulance. The others watched as the ambulance drove off with Kevin inside. Vincent got out his phone and called Scott. Meanwhile, Jeremy started thinking to himself. If he had noticed something about Kevin sooner, he would have been able to help him. He started sobbing.

Mike held Jeremy. "Jeremy, it's okay... He's still alive... It's all my fault." "No. I should have realized that something was wrong with Kevin. I'm the one who should be sorry." Vincent walked up to them. "We're all at fault here. I shouldn't have slapped him. I don't deserve to be a good friend. After what I did to Kevin, he doesn't want to see my face ever again." Vincent said, tears falling down his face. "No Vince, you tried to snap him out of it." Mike told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure Kevin would forgive you. It's that right now, he was just confused and really wants his parents to be proud of him." Vincent sighed. "You're right. It's just.... I don't know how to deal with situations like this. I was scared. I didn't know what to do." Vincent said. Scott arrived and saw how Vincent was. "What happened?" He asked hugging Vincent. Vincent looked at Scott and hugged him back. They both pulled away. "Scott.... Well...." He twisted his fingers nervously. "Kevin.... He.... He tried to hurt himself." He stuttered.

"What?" Scott said as Mike and the others nodded. "But why...? He was just fine-" "No." Mike suddenly said. They all looked at him. "I... feel like this is not the first time he has done it." "What do you mean...?" Scott asked. "If you think of it closely, if it was his first time, he would've been scared. But looking at closely, he knew what he was doing. So that must mean he's done it several times before." "What?" Fritz said. "But if he has done it several times, then... he would have told us and we could have helped him." Vincent put a hand on Fritz's shoulder. "Well, think of it this way. Put yourself in Kevin's shoes. What if you were in that same situation that Kevin was in? You would be scared to tell us." Vincent said. "Yep. Vincent's right about that. He must be going though a lot. I could see he was begging for someone to help him. I saw it in his eyes." Mike said. "Say, Anthony, did you know about this? You and Kevin seem to be close."

"Yeah. I knew about this since his first time. I asked him why he did it and he said it was his parents. I used to go over to his house all the time. We would play our favorite video games together. His parents didn't really appreciate my behavior so they pushed Kevin to study more. His grades were fine as it is. But at first it went well. His grades started going up and I congratulated him. But over time, his appearance started to change. He looked more tired than usual, even falling asleep in class. I was really worried about him, but he told me he was fine. But I knew..." Anthony started to cry. "I knew that he was gonna do this. But I tried not to think about it. I told myself, that's silly. Kevin will be fine. He's a strong person. But, it seems like my hunch was right." Anthony sniffed, wiping the tears away from his face.

Mike hugged Anthony. "It's okay. Kevin's strong." "Guys, let's go back in. The last class is about to start." Scott said, then looked at Anthony. "After school, we should all go see Kevin at the hospital." Anthony sniffed and sighed "O-Okay..." They went to their next class, hoping that Kevin will be okay.

Kevin laid in the hospital bed. His parents got the call and they rushed over. What caused him to do it? They tried to wake him up by caressing his face or touching his hand. He didn't wake up. After school, Mike and the others got in Vincent's car and drove down to the hospital. They sat on one of the chairs in the waiting room, waiting for the doctor's permission. They waited for a long time, but they haven't got a response from the doctor. After 3 hours, the doctor finally came. "Mr. Schmidt, Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Smith, Mr. Cahan, Mr. Simmons, and Mr. Evans." Everyone looked up from their spots to see the doctor. "Yeah. It's us." Anthony said. "You can go in now. Mr. and Mrs. Rodney are leaving." Anthony clenched his fists. Them... Anthony thought. "Alright, where is he?" Vincent asked. "He's in room 104." The doctor said, pointing to the right hallway. Anthony and the others walked down the hallway, Anthony passing Kevin's parents. He whispered under his breath, 'I hope you realized what you've done. He's in the hospital because of you.'

Upon entering the room Mike saw Kevin asleep. Wait... even with his parents around he didn't wake up?!! Mike looked at Anthony. Scott looked at Vincent and was ready to hug him just in case he was ready to cry.

Vincent went to Kevin's side and squeezed his hand gently. "Hey. Can you hear me?" Vincent whispered. Kevin didn't stir. "I-I don't know if you can hear me." Vincent whispered, tears starting to well up in his eyes. He closed his eyes, tears falling down his face. "I'm sorry." He said. "I'm sorry I slapped you earlier. I was only trying to snap you out of it. But it seems that I only caused you more pain. I'm sorry. I don't know if you can forgive me for that. But...." He squeezed Kevin's hand tightly, tears streaming down his face. "If by any chance you wouldn't wake up, I just wanted you to know that we're here for you. We'll never, ever leave you." Vincent sobbed. Kevin wanted to wake up but he couldn't. Why? Scott walked to Vincent and hugged him, wiping his tears. Mike had an idea. "Anthony... this may sound weird. Maybe you could wake Kevin up? You guys are very close friends. Maybe you calling out to him will wake him up." "Yeah, sure." Anthony walked over to Kevin's side and he grabbed his hand. "Hey dude, can you hear me? I really don't know if you can, but.... I just wanted you to know that, like Vincent said, we're all here for you. Hehe..." Anthony sniffed, feeling the tears that are welling up in his eyes. No. he thought, I must be strong. For Kevin. "I really hope you're hanging in there. I know you are, you're a strong person. I'll tell you what, maybe sometime, when you wake up, maybe we can all go to Mike's house together to, you know play some video games and take some time off from studying. And maybe we can go to that ice cream place downtown. You always like that banana split sundae. And maybe we can go out to that hill we used to go to when we were kids. Would it be fun? Would it?" Finally, that's it. He could no longer hold back the tears that would welling up in his eyes. He then burst into tears. "Kevin, please.... Please come back..... Come back to us, please!!!" At this point, he didn't care that his friends were standing near him. All he cared about was the one person who was laying in that bed right now.

Kevin heard everything. His eyes began to tear up at what Anthony said. He wanted to spend all that time with them, but ever since he started high school... Tears began to fall out of Kevin's eyes. Mike saw it. "Anthony, I think he heard you. Look! There's tears coming out of his eyes!" "He's right!!" Scott said. Anthony looked up. Mike is right. Maybe he's still here. "Kevin? Kevin, can you hear me? If you can, please... squeeze my hand." Anthony said, tears streaming down his face. Kevin squeezed Anthony's hand. "Yes, Anthony. I'm still here...."

Anthony smiled. Kevin's eyes were open. "Dude!" Anthony hugged Kevin. "Dude, thank God! Oh thank God you're okay!!" Anthony sobbed happily. Vincent was crying tears of happiness and hugging Scott. Same with Mike and Jeremy. Fritz was crying tears of joy too. Just then, the nurse came in. "Oh my goodness! Doctor!" The nurse called out. The doctor came in a few seconds later. "Mr. Rodney, how are you feeling?" The doctor asked. "I'm feeling... good sir." he turned to Anthony. "Thank you for putting up with me." "What are you saying, dude? We're your friends. We're always here to help you in every way." Anthony said. "Y-Yeah, we're always be here to make you smile." Jeremy said. Vincent ran over to Kevin and hugged him. "Kevin, I am SO sorry for slapping you! I didn't know what came over me! I-" "It's okay Vincent. You tried to snap me out of it. Thank you." He said hugging him back. He then hid his face on Vincent's shoulder. "Thank you guys. Please... I don't want to go home!! I don't wanna!! All I feel is pain and discomfort!!" He said, crying.

Anthony felt his heart break. Kevin is such an emotional wreck. I have to make sure he's not alone from here on out. He thought. Kevin needs to stay over at someone's house. But where? Scott's house? Eh, too close. Vince's house? Eh, they'll be concerned. Fritz turned to Mike. "Hey, Mike. How about Kevin stays over at your house for a while?" "It's okay. I want to help him out. But you have to be there for him too Anthony." Mike said. He got out his phone and called his parents. Usually they weren't home. "Okay. Bye. I love you." Mike put his phone up. "We got the house to ourselves, guys!" "Thank you... Mike." Kevin said wiping his tears.

Vincent marched to the door, twirling his car keys on his finger. "I'll be drivin'!" Everyone else followed Vincent. "I call shotgun!" Anthony shouted and ran after the others. Kevin followed suit after being discharged. He just did not want to go home. Luckily he had all he needed in his backpack. "Thanks again, guys. You are the best." "No problem, dude! Now let's go!" Anthony said as he got in the car. All seven of the friends piled into the car and drove off to Mike's house.