'PSYCHO!'

That was the lovely spray-painted greeting Miles Hemming received on his locker on a lovely September morning. Damn, life out of the closet sure was going well for him. Of course, Miles was going to be subject to whatever harassment Midtown High deemed appropriate according to the rumors Flash Thompson had been spreading about him.

"This is ridiculous, I'll get them to let me look at the security tapes so I can murder whoever did this," his rambunctious best friend, Claudia Barker exclaimed as soon as she stepped up to where her friend stood at his open locker. She cracked her neck and knuckles as if the artist was in their vicinity, but the hallway was almost empty considering there was a decent amount of time before class started.

Miles simply shrugged, "I can't really blame them. The tale practically made the local news. I can see the headline now: Local Queer tries to Fuck Midtown's Pretty Rich Boy! I'm surprised it hasn't gone national yet."

The girl scoffed, tucking a piece of platinum hair behind her ear as she held the boy's books long enough for him to sling his backpack onto his shoulder and slam his locker shut. "Well, I'm glad you can have a sense of humor about it. Do you even know who started the rumors?"

"Who else besides Pretty Rich Boy himself? Duh. The lie was already coming out of his mouth the moment we got caught," he shrugged, explaining as they walked down the hallway. He deepened his voice as he spoke in order to imitate his ex-boyfriend, "No, no, it's not like that! He forced himself on me! I swear, I'm straight! I hate men."

"Amen," the girl mused before she tipped the coffee cup in her hand as much as she could in order to get her final sip. Sighing, she tossed it into the trash can as they passed the bathrooms and silently cheered when she made the throw. "Ay, Kobe."

"You're the worst," he laughed, shaking his head as he looked at his best friend, "Ugh, I hate being here. I feel like everyone is looking at me."

"That's because they are, keep your head up," a new voice joined the conversation. Surprisingly, it was Liz Allan who was not only a senior but probably the prettiest and nicest girl in the whole school. So, what was she doing talking to them? "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. Listen, Miles, I don't know you very well, but I think what Flash said is really shitty and honestly, I never believe a word that comes out of his mouth. I'm doing what I can to stifle the rumors, but some people aren't being that smart about it. There's nothing wrong with boys kissing boys so I don't know what Flash is so afraid of."

She offered a charming smile that set Miles back, mainly because he couldn't really believe she was talking to him. In the wake of his anxieties, he offered a small joke, "It's probably the daddy issues. Uh, thanks, that means a lot."

Liz laughed, before bidding them goodbye, "Not sure I'll be able to catch you later, but don't fret too much about this whole thing, there are some people on your side. See ya."

"I think I could hear the angels singing as she walked away," Claudia remarked as soon as she was gone, "I thought her being overwhelmingly nice was just an exaggeration. Oh, hey, Beth!"

"Hey, was that Liz talking to you guys? What was that about?" Beth Tju, loyal sidekick to the mean girl of their grade: Kaelyn Albright, greeted Claudia as they passed in the hallway.

Claudia shrugged, "Just talking about how she doesn't believe all the shit Flash is spreading. Please tell me you don't either?"

"I don't!" she defended, looking as if it were wild that Claudia would even ask, "Trust me, big dyke here, I don't care who's kissing who! And for the record, Kae doesn't believe it either. Can't speak for the rest of our grade, but... well, yeah. Anyway, speak of the devil I should probably go find her. See ya in math, Claudia. Bye, Miles!"

Finally, it was just the two of them again. Miles didn't mind Beth all that much, but he did not like the people she ran with. Those people, of course, being Kaelyn. However, he had to give her credit for being on his side in this silly game Flash was playing.

"The one thing I hate about this stupid rumor is the people coming up to me and talking to me," Miles sighed, "Don't get me wrong! Love Beth, love Liz! But do I care that you're on my side? Not much because the people who have access to spray-paint cans don't! Ugh, this whole thing is so stupid."

"Just be lucky we don't go to the school on 44th, dude, I'm sure that place is filled with gay-bashers. If I were you I'd take spray-paint over getting jumped," Claudia tried to assure him as they walked, but her words lacked comfort.

"I wouldn't mind the harassment if it was at least true, but it's not," the boy scoffed as he ran one hand through his dark hair anxiously. He needed to cut it again, once it gets too long he starts to pull it out whenever he gets worried or anxious and he does not need to wait for another bald spot to grow in. "This is so dumb I wish he hadn't dumped me so I could be the one to dump him."

Claudia furrowed her brow, "Wait, wait, so it wasn't just a one-time thing? Were you guys like, actually dating?"

He sighed and nodded, "Would have been four months this Thursday. That's dead and buried, though. That relationship is dead to me, just like Flash. I swear I'm gonna kill him next time I see him! I cannot believe he is too cowardly and repressed to just admit that he and I were together and I'm not some stupid would-be rapist! Can you believe?"

"Why didn't you tell me you guys were dating until it was already over?"

"Honey, you're focusing on all the wrong things," Miles huffed, "I didn't tell you because it was never my story to tell. Now, however, I don't give a shit because he decided to tell everyone that I attacked him so yeah, Flash Thompson was my boyfriend but now, he is my mortal fucking enemy. I swear, next time I see him, it's on sight! I'm decking him, no notice, just fist-to-nose contact."

"Cool, here's your chance," Claudia nodded towards the devil himself who was standing at his locker. However, when she turned to look for her best friend, he had already taken off running in the opposite direction.

He would punch Flash another day.

I just realized that imma have to include Kaelyn pre-Busted! character development and I'm low key excited to write her mean girl persona from someone else's perspective i missed my lil mean girl anyway this is super short, but it's really just Exposition: The Chapter I promise there will be Flash and Miles interaction soon anyway I hope you guys enjoyed!