SAD = Social Anxiety Disorder
Definition: "A chronic mental health condition in which social interactions cause irrational anxiety."
WARNING: there will be blurred (**) out swear words (you guys know Dan XD) and possible depression stuff, so if you're sensitive, don't read!!
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Info:
-you and the others are 15 in 10th grade, Sophomores in high school
-you have one friend named Ariana Tayger (tay-j-er)
-you get teased a lot, and it's getting worse
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Your POV
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"Hey loser!"
"Watch it, nerd!"
"Ha! She can't even fight back! What a loser!"

They shove me, tease me, call me names, so on so forth, every day. It's hard to handle, but I'm still surviving..I only have one true friend by my side.

Maiya pushes me against the lockers; SKIP, Emir swipes her foot under my feet to trip me; SKIP, Logan punches me while Michael holds me down; SKIP, I'm lying on the school floor in agony.

It's getting worse. I know it is.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BE—

I sit up with a gasp, feeling cold, yet I'm sweating. I shut my alarm clock off and just sit in my bed for a few minutes, looking over my new bruises and cuts.

No, those cuts aren't from me. And no, those bruises are also not from me.

It's from them. Almost everyone at school.

Mainly Maiya, Emir, Logan, and Michael. Two girls and two boys.

Everybody else either ignores me, gives me looks of pity or sympathy, or bumps into me and laughs at random times or whatever.

Except those few people who don't laugh at my misfortune or try to hurt me.

I only found one person who actually cares about me.

Ariana Tayger.

She's been my best friend since first grade.

About ten years, maybe?

I'm wearing a white tank top and basketball shorts right now.

(AN: Sorry if it's not your style! I'm a tomboy, so I'm putting things here on what I'd probably wear or something. :P If you don't like it, then you're free to change it!~)

I gently run my fingertips across the new bruises and cuts before snapping out of it, standing up and getting dressed.

Gotta be ready for the first day of school.

I change into a clean white tank top with a white bra under that; darkish-light blue jeggings with a belt; tennis shoes with socks; and a dark FC jacket to cover my arms and such, zipping it up halfway.

I don't care if people see the bruises on my chest/collarbone/shoulders or whatever. I hide most of them, but that doesn't matter. I like to 'hide' myself with long sleeved clothing. It draws less attention to me.

I'm slightly sore from the beating I took yesterday.

I just had to actually go outside for once, didn't I?

I walk into my bathroom and do everything I need to in there, not bothering with makeup or whatever since I hate the stuff. (Sorry if you like makeup, but I don't like it too much, only for cosplay/Halloween purposes really.)

I exit my bathroom and grab my backpack, heading downstairs to eat breakfast before going to school, yelling bye to Mom.

As I'm walking not-so-gracefully to h*ll, I hear my best friend call out to me from behind.

"YN! Wait up!"

I stop and wait for her to catch up. Once she does, I immediately start walking again.

"Heyo YN!" Ariana greets.

"Hello, A-Ari," I reply, stuttering a bit.

She pauses and makes me stop with her. Once she turns me to face her and she faces me, she gasps as she takes in my appearance.

"YN! What happened to you?! Was it.." She trails off, I nod.

"Yep..it was them a-again. I'll e-explain during lunch, o-okay?"

"Fine..let's get to school," Ariana states, her mood slightly dampened at seeing me hurt.

"D-Don't be upset, A-Ariana..this h-happens all th-the time," I reassure her.

She nods and we walk in silence for a while, before she breaks the ice.

"I still find it kind of amusing that you can't form proper sentences without stuttering to me, despite us being friends for years," Ari teases, I playfully glare at her.

"H-Hey!" I lightly punch her arm, she chuckles.

I giggle too.

I'm not affected by her teasing me since I know she means no harm.

And it's true.

I can't say a sentence without stuttering a little very often. It's because of my disorder.

It's called Social Anxiety Disorder, or as I like to call it, S.A.D. // SAD.

A butt load of teasing and joking around later, we arrive to school.

I mutter something to Ari, "Welcome b-back to h*ll, w-we hope you e-enjoy your stay."

She laughs and I smile, chuckling and she responds, "Nice one."

"Th-Thanks."

We head inside and go to our lockers, hers first and then mine.

Ariana doesn't like me being left alone when the bullies could just come up to me at any point. She knows I don't protect myself and just let it happen, so she wants to help me as best as she can.

I appreciate it, too.

We have separate classes for first period, and I'm trying to convince her that I'll be fine heading to my class on my own; worried that she will be late to hers if she doesn't get going.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Ariana asks worriedly, I smile.

"Yes, I-I'll be fine. D-Don't worry," I assure her, and she reluctantly leaves and we go different ways.

Her, right; me, left.

By the way, I forgot to mention the bruises and cuts I have that others can see.

There is a cut in the upper left hand corner of my forehead (towards your hairline), a black eye on my right one, and a busted lip (you choose what side is split open a bit). There's also a bruise on the left side of my collarbone and another on the right side of my neck towards my back.

The ones that are covered are on my arms, legs, and torso I won't say where.

What an impression I'm gonna be leaving on my first day back to high school, ey? Heheh..

I hear Emir, Maiya, Logan, and Michael chatting behind me a few feet, so I speed up, hoping to get to class before they spot me as I dodge other students.

"Ay, loser!" Logan yells after me.

I sigh and mumble, "Great..them again."

I pay no mind to them, and other students look my way, knowing that Logan was yelling at me.

The newbies to this school just look confused, and the older kids tell them what's happening.

"Hey! Stop, you nerd!" Emir shouts my way.

"Whatever.." I mutter, breaking into a run when I hear them speeding up.

"Oh, you little!!" Maiya exclaims.

I shove past other students in my way to get out of the reach of my bullies, apologizing every time I did.

I luckily make it to my classroom before them and enter swiftly, in the line of sight of my teacher.

I'm safe...

I hurry over to my teacher and twist around in time to see the four bullies pile in through the door in an attempt to chase and catch me.

My teacher crosses her arms and stomps her foot on the ground repeatedly, realizing what's going on.

"Mrs. Kayge!" They proclaim in fake innocence.

"Were you four chasing this young lady, here?" Mrs. Kayge gestured to me as the four of them scramble to stand on their feet.

"No!"
"Why would we do that?"
"Of course not!"
"Not at all!"

I cross my arms too, just staring blankly at them.

Mrs. Kayge raises an eyebrow and turns towards me, "Were they chasing you?"

The bullies glare at me, but it doesn't faze me whatsoever. At least..I don't let it show.

"Y-Yes, they w-were.." I mutter, glancing at my teacher.

She nods and looks at them, pointing behind them out the door and growling, "Office. Now."

They nod and give me one last glare before leaving, Mrs. Kayge giving me a smile before following them.

I sigh in relief, uncrossing my arms and relaxing, not realizing that my muscles were so tense before.

I choose a seat in the very back, and thankfully, no other students have arrived here yet. I'm the first.

First pick on seats!

I should tell you something. My Social Anxiety Disorder isn't that severe, but it's a bit past medium intensity.

So, I stutter and don't talk well with others, except with my family. I barely stutter around Ariana, but sometimes my stuttering gets the best of me and...yeah.

I mostly do horribly with strangers.

I set my things on my desk and sit down. I chose a seat on the end by the window, only having one person that will have to sit next to me.

Because unfortunately, I can't sit alone.

Students start flooding into the classroom, but I don't pay any attention to them. I can feel their stares, but whatever.

It makes me feel very nervous and self-conscious, of course, but eh.

Dan's POV

Who was the girl those four students were running after?

Why were those students chasing that girl? Are they bullying her?

Poor girl..she had bruises and a few cuts visible on her body.

Despite that, she was kinda..cute, if I'm being completely honest here.

I walk into my first period class, and my eyes immediately find that very same girl sitting alone in the back, staring out of the window to her left.

I find myself staring for a moment before I jump at the chance to sit next to her.

Phil has a different class for first period than I do, so yeah.

And the girl seems a little lonely. She could probably use another friend or two.

I sit down next to her and glance a few times.

She has HL HC hair, EC eyes, and a shy-scared-nervous stature.

Your POV

Someone sits next to me, so I glance at them a couple of times to get a good look at them.

It's a boy.

I think I briefly saw him in the halls earlier before I broke out into a sprint in an attempt to get away from Maiya, Emir, Michael, and Logan.

He has chocolate brown eyes, curly brown hair, and a shy-nervous-confident stature.

He's actually really cute...I've gotta admit that.

Why is he sitting next to me, though?

The bullied outcast girl, of all people?

I'm not complaining! I'm just..surprised at his choice.

He turns to me and smiles awkwardly, "Hey! Uh, my name's Dan. What's yours?"

I nervously turn towards him and give a tiny smile, "H-Hello, I-I'm YN..n-nice to meet y-you, D-Dan."

"You too, YN!"

"B-By the w-way, is your f-full name D-Daniel?" I ask.

"Yeah, why?"

"I j-just thought I-I'd ask s-since some people who h-have the name D-Daniel go b-by the nickname, D-Dan."

"Good point."

I chuckle, he does too.

My nerves are building up inside of me, but I swallow them down and try to have a normal-ish conversation with Dan.

"Hey, um..you don't have to tell me this if you don't want to, but...why were those kids chasing you in the halls earlier?" Dan inquires, seeming genuinely interested.

"Th-They...let's j-just say th-they aren't v-very kind t-to m-me."

"Okay..are they the ones who gave you those cuts and bruises?"

"Y-Yeah, yesterday...h-how'd you know?"

"Just a wild guess."

"W-Well it was a-a good one."

"Thanks."

I hum in response.

We talk until class starts, and it turns out that we have almost every class together.

He introduced me to his friend, Phil, and I introduced them to my friend, Ariana. I have a feeling that Phil and Ariana may end up getting together in the future...who knows?

It's lunch time, and Dan had invited me and Ariana to sit with him and Phil. We agreed.

As we're walking towards the lunch room, I spot my bullies and lower my head, my side bangs (If you have them) hiding my face.

Ariana noticed and wrapped her left arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to her and giving Dan and Phil looks that say 'help me hide her!'.

They seem to get the hint and walk in front of us until we pass them, and then they go back to our sides again.

I look up and Ari unwraps her arm from my shoulders. I smile at them and say gratefully, "Th-Thanks guys."

"No problem."
"It's our pleasure, YN!"
"Anything for my BFF!"

We enter the lunch room and sit down at an empty table together, the boys sitting across from Ari and I. Phil is in front of Ari while Dan is in front of me. Dan and I are on the end of the rectangular table.

"YN, did you want to explain what happened yesterday now or later in private?" Ariana inquires, and I glance at the boys, who have slightly confused looks on their faces.

I look back to Ariana and reply, "Now."

"Ooo, you didn't stutter for once!~" She teases, I smile a bit.

"Shut u-up."

"Hehehe, okay! Okayyy!"

"Th-Thank God."

"Oi!"

We all started laughing our a**es off at this, and when we calmed down, I began explaining everything.

BUT FIRST!! I explain what's happening to me currently with my bullies to Dan and Phil. I force myself to talk normally and not stutter, which proved to be difficult.

"Okay. Before I start explaining m-my story, I'm going to fill y-you two in. So, pretty much every d-day I get bullied by four people. Their names a-are Maiya, Michael, Logan, and Emir. That's most likely wh-where I get the new bruises and cuts from, if y-you're ever wondering by chance."

They nod and look a little bit sad and concerned, waiting for me to continue my story from yesterday.

(AN: bold italics means that this is what you're saying in reality. Italics are you having a flashback of what happened as you explain it.)

"To the story now, I-I guess...so, yesterday I actually went outside f-for a walk."
I'm walking in town, the sun shining down on me and warming my being up immediately.
"I end up finding myself in an alleyway taking a s-shortcut back home o-once it was getting late."
As the sky falls from bright to dark, I start making my way back home. It was around six-thirty when I left home. I realize that a shortcut I could take is an alleyway near where I am walking, so I take it.
Once I enter the dark alleyway, I feel a hand tightly grabbing my upper arm and dragging me further into the alley.
"Someone g-grabbed my upper arm and forcefully pulled me deeper into the alley. Come to f-find out that it was Logan."
As I'm pinned to the wall by this person, before I can scream they cover my mouth with their hand.
I figure out that the person pinning me is Logan, from school!
"Behind Logan were the other three. Maiya, Emir, and Michael."
I glance behind Logan and spot my other three bullies strutting up behind him, all staring at me.
"They were s-staring at me with such an intensity that it made me feel s-small; like I was just a-a mouse for these four cats to play with and then get eaten a-alive by them. Prey for the predators. Anyway.."
Logan keeps me pinned to the wall as the other three come closer.
"The three of them start beating me up while Logan k-kept me pinned to the wall behind me. He w-was too strong for me to get him off, and it only made it harder from the b-beating I was taking."
A long while later, they stop beating me up and leave me here alone. I slide down the wall and bring my knees up to my chest, laying my head on my knees as I cry silently in pain.
"After what felt l-like hours, they finally stopped hurting me a-and left me there. I slid down the wall behind me with my knees up to my chest. I-I laid my head on my knees and w-wrapped my arms around my legs, sobbing quietly so nobody could hear my pain.."
I get up a few minutes later, sniffling and wiping my tears away. I stumble all the way back home and avoid my parents.
I make it to my room and shut the door behind me, locking it.
'Screw dinner,' I think as I flop onto my bed, falling into a painless sleep almost instantly.
"I stood up sh-shakily and walked home, stumbling. Once I did manage to reach my house, I entered a-and avoided my family like the p-plague. I go inside of my room, shut the door and locked it behind me. S-Skipping dinner, I fall onto my bed and g-go to sleep, being released from the p-pain I was dealing with until this m-morning."

"And that's what h-happened," I conclude, and they stare at me with wide eyes.

Ari wraps me in a bear hug, and the boys reach across the table to join in (so they're putting a lot of their weight on the table).

I accept the hug and lean into them.

The hug breaks seconds later, and where Dan's hand had been on the back of my left shoulder, it now feels cold. Odd..

"We're sorry to hear that happened to you.."
"Yeah.."
"At least you're okay now, right?"

"Right," I agree.

"And hey! I'm proud of you for not stuttering too much as you told us your story!" Ari suggested, and I smile at her.

She smiles back, and the guys also smile.

"Th-Thanks.."

"Yep!"

We all then start getting to know each other better. Well, us girls get to know the guys better, and vise versa.

TIMESKIP-Three months later..

Update time!!

So, Ariana and I have been getting closer to Dan and Phil these past few months.

I've noticed that Ari and Phil have been giving each other heart eyes for a while now, and Ari tells me that Dan and I do the same thing.

Do we?

I know I've stared at Dan a couple of times, but they can tell I like him? Or at least Ariana can?

I'm sure Phil can too.

I don't know about Dan, though..

Whatever.

Also, I've been getting better with stuttering! Well..at least I have around Dan. Just around Dan.

Ugh, what I mean is when Dan and I are hanging out by ourselves, I can speak normally.

But I have gotten better around Phil and Ari too! So that's a plus!

Still a mess around strangers and such, though. :/

Oh! And do you know what Dan calls my four bullies?

Four Times The B**ch Squad.

Basically since one b**ch times four gives you four b**ches. Basic math, I know, but whatever. Let me live mah life! XD

Which gives youuuu: Four Times The B**ch Squad.

Courtesy of Daniel James Howell, everybody!

Dan and Phil have also been helping me with my bullying problem ever since we met, and it's gotten a lot better!

I still get a punch or two every day, but that's way better than what I used to get! (It would be around ten to fifteen.)

I'm currently at school now and heading to my locker as my friends and I spilt to go to our lockers.

I open mine and a piece of paper floats down to the ground. I pick it up and read it to myself.

It says..

'Will you be my girlfriend? Turn around.'

I turn around and see Dan on one knee with a single rose in his hand, wearing a nervous smile and he cheekily asks, "Will you be mine?"

I blush and smile greatly, nodding and giving him a bear hug as I kneel to the ground in front of him. He laughs and I giggle.

Students around us cheer, and from the crowd, I notice Phil and Ariana watching. I also notice my four bullies watching, but the craziest thing is, they have smiles on their faces and are clapping and cheering at the moment Dan and I are having.

I go back to Dan and realize he was hugging me back.

We stand up together and pull apart. He hands me the rose and I take it with a smile and blush.

He's blushing too and has a big goofy grin spread across his adorable face.

Whenever I'm with Dan, all of my fears instantly wash away and are replaced with happiness and so many other emotions that I can't even begin to explain what I feel.

Having Social Anxiety Disorder isn't so bad as long as I have my lover, Dan, and my other pals, Ariana and Phil, by my side.

Extended Ending

I was right!

Phil and Ariana got together a week after Dan and I did!

"I KNEW IT!!!"

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-CastrarWolf