(WARNING: bullying)

Junior year came quickly, making Mitch freak out about how fast high school is almost over. He thought it will go by slow, but here he is, remembering the first day of high school like it just happened yesterday. He walked into his choir room, happy to see Mrs. Owens. Mr. Mallark was no longer his resource teacher, which made him sad, but he still talked to him. He hopes the new resource teacher will be nice.

Mrs. Owens smiled when she saw Mitch walk in. She then grabbed his arm gently and he nodded at her.

"Mitch, the drama teacher wants you to be in a play," Mrs. Owens revealed excitedly. Mitch then felt himself freeze in fear. "She wants you to audition as Anthony in Sweeney Todd. Can you do that?"

"I g-gu-ue-ess-s," Mitch responded. He then sighed as he heard his inner conscious beg him to do it. Here goes. "I-I'll-l do it."

"Amazing," Mrs. Owens finalized. She then smiled at the shy student has he sat down in his chair. "You know what, Mitch? You are possibly my best singer. You came in here, afraid of what was going around here. You have grown into your skin so well and I am appreciative of you. Major applause for you."

Mitch blushed as he played with his fingers. He then looked up at his choir teacher and nodded his thanks.

"T-th-ha-an-k-k you, M-mr-rs-s. O-ow-wens-s."

"Anytime, Mitch."

~~~

"Dude, I figured out the perfect way to embarrass Mitch," Nash yelled out. Mark and Matthew exchanged a look. Nash noticed their confusion and clarified. "Having your mom as the drama teacher and knowing how to do different voices is actually essential in life."

Mark and Matthew both nodded then laughed. The three troublemakers gave each other high fives, laughing at their victory.

"Mitch Olusola is going to get it!"

~~~

Alex looked through a book of tuxes and smiled when he felt Scott hug him from behind. After countless hours of begging and whining, Alex and Scott agreed to get married during Scott's fall break. After going to Esther's wedding, Scott couldn't wait any longer and wanted to move the wedding closer.

"I'm getting married in a few weeks," Scott breathed out. Alex nodded as closed the book and turned around to hug his fiancé close to him. "We're getting married."

"I know," Alex whispered. Scott is no longer that innocent ninth grader Alex fell in love with. He is a strong and confident twenty one year old who sticks to his beliefs and writes endlessly. "I love you so much, babe."

"I love you too."

~~~

"I think I have a crush on you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I love you. After seeing you again, I realized how much I love you. Please give me a chance."

"I just got out of a relationship. He cheated on me. I don't know if I'm ready for another one. I'm sor-"

"Listen to me, please. I would never do that to you. I will love you endlessly. I will make sure that if I ever make you cry, it is because I am on one knee when I want to marry you. I want to spend every moment with you. Yes, I was a jerk to you in a past, but I've changed. Please let me date you."

"..."

"Are you still there?"

"Yeah...yeah, I am. I...I love you. I know that I've loved you since freshman year. Even when we yelled at or fought with each other, my feelings didn't go away. I want to date you. I love you so much."

"I love you, too. Bye, Kirstin."

"Bye, Ariana."

~~~

Mitch walked onto the stage, his anxiety getting the best of him. Students were looking at him, judging him for every little movement he made. Little did he know, someone was recording him and the whole school could see it.

"H-hi-i," Mitch began, hearing a collective gasp in the crowd. Now the school knows what he sounds like. "I-I'm-m M-mi-it-tch-h O-ol-lu-sola-a. I'm-m."

What happened next reminded everyone of that movie called Carrie.

Mitch felt something get poured on him. He stood there frozen and noticed red right away. The smell made him lightheaded and he realized it right away.

It's paint.

"H-he-ey, M-mi-it-tch," Mark fake stuttered, laughing when he saw Mitch begin to cry. "Man, every time we do something funny, you begin to cry. Do you need a diaper change or something? Oh, Nash!"

Nash then came out from with a white sheet and baby powder. Matthew came up from the crowd and grabbed Mitch's arms as Mark and Matthew tied the sheet around Mitch's bottom. Red paint landed on the part where Mitch's bottom is and Matthew laughed as Mitch shook in fear.

"Aw, Mitchy is a stutter, a baby, and he is on his period," Matthew yelled out and everyone laughed. Mark then opened the baby powder and dumped some down the white sheet. Mitch tried to get away, but Nash held him back. "Little Mitchy Poo needs a diaper change! Mark, do you mind doing that?"

Mark nodded and quickly pulled down everything below Mitch's waist. The embarrassed junior gasped, feeling exposed to everyone. Laughter came from every direction and he heard people making fun of his voice. He began to sob loudly and uncontrollably, which made everyone laugh even more. This continued until a voice yelled:

"SHUT UP!"

Everyone did so immediately, looking at the owner of the voice. It was the boy who saved Mitch on numerous occasions. The boy then took off his jacket and gave it to Mitch. The junior stared at it confused. The boy then clarified.

"To hide yourself," he offered. Mitch blushed as he covered himself and his savior bent down to get Mitch's pangs and underwater. "You should all be ashamed of yourself. He never did anything to you."

Mitch took his clothes and ran off, letting the tears slide down his cheeks. He wanted to go away forever. School is his biggest fear now. As he was going to office, he could hear students laugh and make fun of his stutter. It eventually got too much for him because all the sudden, he let out the most shrill scream he could ever let out and fell down to ground, letting his tears escape some more.

Why did all this happen to me? Why did I ever agree to going to school? Why do I hate myself?

~~~

Avi could feel his heart break as he watched his youngest son close his bedroom door and sob quietly. He looked at Kevin and shook his head.

"Kids are so rude," Avi murmured. He shook his head as a solitary tear ran down his face and he quickly wiped it. "What did he ever do to deserve that?"

Kevin shrugged his shoulders as he looked towards the door. Only sobs could be heard from the other side of the door and he felt his heartbreak.

"I don't know, Avi. I just don't know."

A/N: I'm sorry. You all can put down the torches no because this is a fire-free zone. Also, put down the pitchforks because weapons are not allowed either. I hope you guys enjoyed it! We are almost done with Mitch's 'in between' journey. I wish I could tell you the sequel's details, but I want to keep it a surprise.;)

Also, how do you guys like ArianaxKirstin? I put them together because them fixing their friendship gave me the shipping feels. I hope you guys like them together!

I love all of you very, very much!!!:)

-Maddie🐧🐧🐧