Trigger Warning: Bullying

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Point of View: Third Person
Timeline: Present Day

"I bet that I can beat you to that big tree," the boy said, pointing at a big, fat tree on the other side of the playground.

Virgil blinked stupidly up at the other boy in front of him, cautiously sucking on his thumb. In Virgil's other hand, he held tightly onto the swing. His small purple sneakers dangled in the air, far from the ground. Was he actually talking to me?

The other kid tilted his head to the side, brown bangs falling a little over his eyes. "You don't talk much do you?"

Virgil shook his head.

"Well, that's okay," the boy smiled so brightly at him and Virgil was taken back by surprise. "I can talk for both of us!"

Virgil just smiled in response, shyly blinking at the little boy from behind his bangs - curious.

The boy pointed at the tree again. "Ready... set... GO!" he squealed. Virgil smiled a little as the other boy giggled, racing towards the tree. He didn't look back to see if Virgil followed.

Without a second thought, Virgil jumped off the swing and was chasing after him the moment his little purple sneakers hit the ground.

And that's how Virgil made his first friend.

-----

Virgil hummed happily at the kitchen table, feet swinging as he waited patiently - well, as patient as a five-year-old can be anyway - for more food. "How was school today, Vee?" Dad asked, sliding some more dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets onto Virgil's plate.

For dinner, he'd made Virgil's favorite - mac and cheese with dinosaur chicken nuggets and ketchup.

"I made a friend!" Virgil cheered excitedly, running over towards his Dad and tugging at the bottom of his light blue polo shirt. "I made a friend and we had a race and I won! And then we drew pictures in the dirt with some cool lookin sticks and stuff and then we played some more but then he had to go back inside with his class but he said he'd see me tomorrow and I can't wait!!"

"Woah! That's awesome, kiddo!" Patton smiled and gently guided Virgil back into his seat. Virgil was so shy and different than the rest of his classmates that he didn't make many friends. "What's his name?"

"Uh," Virgil's mouth curved downwards into a frown as he thought long and hard, nose scrunching up in effort as he tried to remember. "Umm... I dunno," he said finally, carefully dipping another dinosaur into the ketchup.

Patton pretended to gasp, dramatically throwing his hand over his heart. "You played with him all that time and didn't ask for his name?"

But instead of giggling how silly Patton looked, Virgil pouted, starting to look worried. "Does that mean he won't wanna be my friend anymore?"

"Well, not if he's a good friend," Dad kneeled down to Virgil's level, smiling comfortingly. "It sounds like you guys had so much fun that you just forgot. Did you tell him your name?"

Virgil brightened a bit at that, giggling in realization. "I didn't!"

"See! He forgot too!" Patton smiled, poking Virgil lightly in the stomach, making Virgil giggle even more. "You can ask him tomorrow. I wanna know the name of your new friend!"

-----

Virgil waited impatiently at the swing the next day. Unlike usual, his eyes were wide and looking up, eying the school and hoping to spot his new friend.

"Whatcha doing there, Girly?"

Virgil sighed, recognizing the voice instantly. "I'm not a girl," he mumbled - voice barely loud enough to be heard, dark brown bangs falling over his eyes. He shifted on the swing and grabbed it tightly with both hands so he couldn't be pushed off again. "Leave me alone, Roman."

"If you're not a girl, then why do you have purple sneakers? Purple is a girl color," Roman sneered.

"Leave me alone."

"Well, why don't you leave then, Girly," Roman teased, just as another kid pushed Virgil from behind.

But because Virgil had been ready for it, instead of falling off and faceplanting into the dirt, he soared high in the air.

Almost... too high.

"Stop!" Virgil cried out suddenly, squeezing the swing as tight as he could - terrified. He was so high up! "Stop! I wanna get down!"

"I wanna get down," Roman mimicked cruelly. "Aww, is little Girly scared?" Roman mocked before rushing behind the swing to help push Virgil higher.

Virgil whimpered, helpless as the cruel kids pushed him even higher. He squeezed his eyes shut tight, quietly sobbing as he waited for it to all be over and hanging on for dear life.

"Hey, hey! Boys! Stop that!" A teacher had noticed thank goodness. The teacher stalked over, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning disapprovingly.

At that, all the boys scattered, all racing to different parts of the playground - not wanting to get in trouble.

But the teacher didn't pay them any attention, smiling softly at Virgil. "How about we get you down? Hang on for a couple more seconds, okay?"

Virgil nodded desperately, gasping a little as the teacher caught the swing from behind, slowly and gently easing him to a stop.

Virgil stumbled off the swing fast as he could, crying loudly and clearly having trouble breathing. Out of fear or because of Virgil's intense sobbing neither of them knew. The teacher kneeled down next to Virgil, quietly folding the crying child into his arms as he murmured hasty but genuine reassurances that Virgil was okay, everything was okay. Still, the teacher picked the small, crying child up into his arms, carrying him back inside.

-----

"Am I in trouble?" Virgil's voice was really quiet but clear. Virgil sniffled, teary eyes wide with fear. "Are you gonna call my Dad?"

"No, you're not in trouble, not at all. You've done nothing wrong," The teacher smiled encouragingly. "But I am going to call your parents to let them know what happened. Do you know either of their numbers?"

"It's just me and Dad," Virgil sniffled some more, shoving away the wetness on his cheeks with tear-stained fists. "And I don't remember," Virgil started crying again.

"Shhh, shhh, that's okay, hey... it's okay," He promised gently. "I can find it. What's your name?"

"...V-Virgil," Virgil hiccuped and the teacher handed him some more tissues.

"And what's your last name, Virgil?"

"Sanders."

The nice teacher laughed a little, still smiling. "Excellent," The nice teacher smiled before walking over to his computer, typing for a few seconds. After a few mouse clicks, he grabbed a pen and wrote something down on a blue sticky note.

Virgil hesitated. "... What's your name?" Virgil couldn't help asking. Why had he laughed at Virgil's last name? Most kids usually laughed at his first name.

The nice teacher glanced up at Virgil, pausing momentarily. "My name is, coincidently, also Mr. Sanders."

Virgil gasped, eyes going wide. "Oh no! How will anyone be able to tell us apart?!"

Mr. Sanders almost laughed, but immediately stopped when he noticed that the little boy was completely serious. "Well, if it would make you feel better, you can call me by my first name. Would that make you feel better?"

Virgil nodded rapidly.

"Well my first name is Logan," Logan smiled. "So if it makes you feel better then you can call me that."

"Yes please Mr. Logan," Virgil said sheepishly, voice unusually quiet again. Hmm.

Logan just smiled. "Excellent," Logan rose to his feet. "And also, I have a little something for you."

"Uh," Virgil looked baffled. "Okay."

Logan walked over and pulled out a funny-looking black cube from behind his back. "Do you know what this is?"

"No," Virgil admitted, but eyed the black-colored object curiously.

"This is a fidget cube," Logan explained. "I think that you would like it," he claimed, holding it up.

Virgil nodded quickly, reaching for the interesting little cube. He wanted to play with this new toy.

But Logan pulled his hand back, tutting a little. "You have to promise me that you won't let it distract you when your teacher is talking."

Virgil quickly held out his pinky finger. "I pinky promise, Mr. Logan," Virgil said quickly. Logan smiled, wrapping his own pinky around Virgil's.

Logan gently handed over the cube to the grabby five-year-old. "While you play with that, I will call your dad real quick, okay? If you need me, I'll be right outside."

Virgil nodded absently, curiously fiddling with the buttons on the fidget cube.

-----

"Yeah, you're such a good girl, yes you are, yes you are," Patton cooed, smiling almost impossibly wide at the sweet puppy in front of him. The dog licked Patton's face as a thank you, making Patton giggle.

"Mr. Sanders?" Another vet poked their head in the door. "Your phone is ringing."

"Oh, okay. I'll call them back when I'm done."

Patton's co-worker held his phone out to him. "It's from Gainesville Elementary."

"In the middle of the day?" Pattom mused aloud, hastily taking the phone. Oh, I hope nothing's happened...

"Tal, can you take care of this precious, sweet little angel for me while I take this?" Patton asked, gesturing to the small black German Sheppard puppy.

"Sure, Pat," The non-binary co-worker quickly smiled at the small dog. "Hey there, cutie. What's your name? Aww, why hello there Sparks..." Talyn's voice drifted off as Patton stepped outside the room and into the bland, empty white hallway. and answering the call.

"Hello?"

"Hello," A male voice returned. "Am I speaking with Mr. Patton Sanders, Virgil's dad?"

"Yes, that's me," Patton hesitated. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Virgil's okay," The other man reassured. "I am Mr. Logan Sanders, a teacher at Gainesville Elementary, one of the teachers who was watching the kids today. There was an incident on the playground this afternoon during recess. As I said, everyone's okay, but I thought you should be notified of the situation."

"What happened?" Patton closed his eyes, disappointedly waiting for Logan to break the news, saying Virgil was being bullied again...

"In short terms, Virgil was being bullied by some of the other students on the playground today during recess," Logan explained and Patton felt his heart drop.

Virgil was only five... how could kids be so cruel? Everywhere they went, every new school was the same routine over and over again. This was Virgil's third school in two years. Not because Virgil hinself was the problem, but school staff claimed that "they're just kids being kids" and "he shouldn't take it so personally."

Patton sighed, but before he could come up with a response, Logan was speaking again.

"I am going to speak to the parents of all those involved, as well as remind them to the school policy against bullying. And if this happens again, the other students could be at serious risk of being expelled."

Patton blinked, shocked. Huh. Maybe this school would really be different.

"Wow," he stammered. "Uh, thank you." See Patton? Everything is fine. No reason to be worried.

"You're very welcome. However, that is not the only reason why I called."

Patton tensed. You just had to jinx it, didn't you? "Did something else happen?"

"No, but - well, my husband is a therapist and I couldn't help noticing that Virgil tends to worry a lot, and rather frequently even in the short amount of time I've met your son. Would you consider that an accurate description of how he typically behaves?"

"Um, yeah, yeah I guess I'd say so."

"And during the incident today, although I cannot be entirely sure, I believe that Virgil had an anxiety attack."

"An anxiety attack?" Patton couldn't help worrying now. When had that started? And what was this incident that Logan kept referring to? What happened today?

"Once again, Mr. Sanders, I promise you that all the students involved are perfectly okay," Logan explained gently. Breathe. Just breathe. "Anyway, has Virgil been ever diagnosed with any sort of anxiety disorder? I glanced over his file, but I didn't see anything about it."

"Uh... no," Patton hoped that Logan couldn't tell how surprised he was. "I mean... Virgil's only five."

"Admittedly, Virgil is on the younger side of the spectrum for most anxiety disorders. But still," Logan acknowledged. "I can see many symptoms of various disorders in your son. Does your family have a history with depression or anxiety?"

"Virgil is my adopted son, no one knows much about his biological family," Patton explained. "But I wouldn't be surprised."

"Hmm. Well, if you want, I could give you my husband's number and you could make an appointment with him to make an official diagnosis. If he indeed suffers from anxiety, being diagnosed could really help him."

Patton started walking to the front desk, hastily pulling out a pen and searching frantically for a notepad. "Can you give me the number?"

"Of course. The number is 276-3837," Logan said clearly.

"276-3837?" Patton repeated.

"Correct. He works at the Gainesville Guidance Center. And he's great with kids. And although he tends to work with clients much older than Virgil, I don't think he'll mind."

"Alright, I'll look into it. Who should I ask for?"

"Emile Picani."

"Okay," Patton set the pen down. "Thank you so much."

"Pleasure. Oh, that reminds me. I am currently keeping Virgil in my classroom for the time being. Would you like to pick him up early? Or would you prefer that I take him back to class to finish out the day?"

"I'll come and pick him up," Patton grabbed his keys. And have to go back to those mean kids? I think not.

"Excellent, I prefer to explain what happened in greater detail in person. I look forward to meeting you shortly."

"I'll be there in ten minutes," Patton replied, mouthing an apology to the secretary before jogging out of the Animal Hospital parking lot to his car.

"Safe travels."

-----

Virgil was really trying to be good by being quiet and not squirming too much in his seat. He tried to just focus on the fun little box in front of him, but it proved to be an impossible task, as he thought about how much his Dad would be worried about him.

Would Dad be mad at him? Would he have to change schools again? And so soon after he made his first friend! Oh, he hoped that Dad would let him stay!

Virgil frowned at the little black box, fiddling with the fidget cube some more. He liked the one with the buttons...

"Virgil," Logan peered back into the classroom. "Time to go."

Virgil pouted, eyes dropping to the silly little toy.

Logan seemed amused. "No worries, we are not going far. You can keep the fidget cube out."

Virgil grinned brightly, jumping to his feet and making sure to wrap his hand around the cube.

-----

"Dad!" Virgil grinned widely, running down the hallway towards his Dad.

"Walk! Virgil, walk..." Logan called out from behind him, but it was too late as Virgil had already reached his Dad, who had scooped himself in his arms.

"Dad, look - look what Mr. Logan gave me," Virgil cheered, showing Patton the fidget cube. "This one has a bunch of little buttons and this one has a little spinny thingys and this one has a really big pushie thing and this side has a light switchy thing but I like the one with the buttons..."

Patton gasped. "Woah, that's so cool!" Patton glanced up at Logan, smiling. "What do you say, Virgil?"

Virgil's tiny cheeks flushed bright pink. "Thank you, Mr. Logan."

"You are very welcome, Virgil," Logan replied.

Patton set Virgil on the ground. "Can you please wait patiently while I talk to Mr. Logan?"

Virgil nodded, sitting criss-cross applesauce on the floor, absently - but carefully - playing with his fidget cube.

Logan held out his hand. "Salutations. I am Logan Sanders, the teacher that called you earlier."

Patton laughed a little. "Patton Sanders," he returned cheerfully, shaking his hand. He glanced over at Virgil, who at least didn't appear to notice them. Still, he lowered his voice. "What happened today?"

Logan lowered his voice as well. "Well, as you are more than aware, a group of kids bullied Virgil. They pushed him on the swings and refused to let him get off. I'm fairly certain that they said some things too, although I was out of earshot and I doubt that Virgil would feel comfortable confiding in me about it."

"Oh I don't know about that," Patton mused, sparing a glance at Virgil who was still fascinated by the fidget cube. "He definitely likes you, and that's pretty rare."

"What do you mean?"

"He doesn't talk to strangers; he's really shy. Virgil barely even talks to his classmates, I'm surprised you got a word out of him," Patton confessed. "What grade did you say that you teach again?"

"I didn't say. I teach one of the 1st-grade classes."

"Oh well maybe Virgil will get lucky and have you as his teacher next year."

"Perhaps," Logan glanced at his watch. "Speaking of classes, I must go pick up mine."

"Oh! Well, we won't keep you! And thank you for everything you've done today - I appreciate it, I really do," Patton turned to Virgil, holding out his hand. "Come on, Vee. Time to go."

Virgil scrambled to his feet, tiny hand folding into his Dad's much larger one. With his free hand, he waved at Logan. "Goodbye, Mr. Logan!"

Logan waved back. "Goodbye, Virgil."

-----

"Dad?" Virgil's voice was quiet.

Patton glanced at Virgil's face as he tucked him in. "What's up, Vee?"

"Do you think I'm... girly?"

Patton sat down on the edge of Virgil's bed. "Why would I think that?"

Virgil didn't respond, not making eye contact.

"Oh," Patton murmured, realizing.

"They made fun of my sneakers," Virgil said, pulling the sheets up to cover his mouth and embarrassed cheeks. "They said that purple is a girl color.  Can I get new ones? Please? I don't like them anymore..."

"I'm sorry that those kids at school upset you today and it's okay if you're a little mad about it.  But there's no such thing as a girl color," Patton countered. "Or a boy color. Or a non-binary color. There is just what people find beautiful," Patton smiled. "And you see beauty in purple. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that."

He gently pulled Virgil's covers down just enough to boop his nose. Virgil giggled, hiding slightly more under the sheets - protecting his nose.

But the giggles soon faded, replaced by a frown. "Why don't the other kids know that?" Virgil asked, grabbing his cat black plushie and holding it close under the sheets.

"Oh, it's not their fault," Patton explained, carefully brushing Virgil's bangs out of his eyes. "One day they'll understand. For now, don't listen to them, Vee. There is nothing wrong with you liking purple. Absolutely nothing," Patton said firmly.

Virgil didn't feel convinced. But he just nodded, sleepy.

Patton pressed a quick kiss to Virgil's forehead. "If you still want new sneakers this weekend, then we'll go out and buy some new ones.  But for now, try to get some sleep so you're well-rested for school tomorrow."

"Okay Dad."

"Goodnight Vee," Patton smiled, getting off of Virgil's bed and getting back to his feet.  "I love you so much, kiddo."

"Nighty night, Dad, I love you too..."

-----

"You aren't sitting at the swings today."

Virgil looked from his place at the bottom of the big tree at the back of the playground. It was his friend!

Today his friend was wearing a black shirt (just like Virgil!), blue jeans, and small bumblebee yellow sneakers.

Were they friends? What if he was upset that Virgil wasn't at recess yesterday -

"Oh, that's right, you don't like to talk much. I forgot," The boy pointed next to Virgil. "Can I sit there?"

Virgil quickly nodded, sliding over to give his friend more room. The other boy plopped down next to him, sitting criss-cross applesauce so their knees ended up brushing lightly against each other.

"I heard about what happened yesterday. Roman's a - a jerk," The little boy continued. "Do you wanna talk bout what happened?"

Virgil shook his head, bangs falling over his eyes.

"Oh," The other boy blinked once before smiling brightly. "Well, I'm glad that you're back, Friend. Wanna play a game?"

Virgil smiled. A friend. Virgil finally had a friend.

Friend.
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Hi lovelies! I hope you like it so far!

Max <3