Hide Away - 1. The Picture Of Dorian Gray

James slipped on his Skullcandy headphones before opening the wooden door into McAdam's High. The Welcome Seniors! Sign invited him to a place where he wished he wasn't. No one even seemed to look his way as he walked down the hall, which James was grateful for. He was the only person people would talk about last year for weeks after his brother killed himself. He barely even remembered Sophomore year when everyone would confide in him. James wasn't popular by any means, but people loved to talk to him. No matter what he could put them in a happier mood, but that was a distant memory now.

He looked down at his schedule, English was first on the list! James loved English; well he loved reading and writing, so in turn he loved English. Walking through the door which was labeled Senior English, he found a seat near the front. The teacher was writing his name on the dry erase board, and he could tell just from the back of the head that this was not Mr. Adams, the 50 something year old rhetoric teacher. As the guy turned around, his green eyes were the first thing James noticed, followed by his attractive 20 something features, and finally the name on the board, Dorian Jacobs. The man didn't use Mr. Jacobs, which James found odd yet modern, and when the bell rang the attractive teacher spoke. “Welcome class, my name is Dorian Jacobs. Please call me Dorian, not Mr. Jacobs. I will be your English teacher for this year. This is my first teaching job, so I expect you all to go easy on me.” he said with a smile, with his pearly white teeth making some girl sigh. “We are going to do a little something different this year. I am going to make this class more about reading than writing. This is your senior year and I need to prepare you for University. You're first book is this:” Dorian held up a book with his name sake written on it, The Picture of Dorian Gray.

“That book looks gay” some jock in the back said, snickering. James rolled his eyes, and Dorian only smiled. “Well, actually, Mr. Young. It is bisexual at best. I will be handing out copies now” said the new teacher, as he started with the row directly beside James. As he reached James, the solemn teen just shook his head. Dorian looked down at the boy that the teachers had told him about in the lounge earlier this morning. James was the quiet boy ever since his brother died, and the other teachers said he only spoke when spoken too, and never caused any trouble. Dorian could see it in James' honey eyes that this pain would never go away without help. He didn't place a book on his desk and continued to hand them out. When the bell rang, Dorian asked James to stay behind, which he did.

“Is there a problem with the book I picked out?” asked Dorian in a polite tone, and James shook his head as he opened up his backpack and pulled out a leather-bound copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

“I just have my own copy.” said James making Dorian smile.

“I see and how many times have you read that book?”

“Almost a hundred...” he said quietly as Dorian nodded.

“I expect you to do great in this class, and if you need anything my door is always open” said Dorian, James nodded and left the room. The author just smiled, as he would be grateful having one good student in this class who seemed to love literature almost as much as he did.

Walking into the next class on his schedule, Anatomy and Physiology, he knew that this was going to be his least favorite class; any kind of science was not his strong suit. He took a seat at the stool, hoping that no one would take the seat next to him. No such luck, a red headed girl with glasses took it and smiled politely at him, but he didn't smile back. It wasn't that he was rude, he just never once smiled since Cody died. Mrs. Duncan walked into the room with a jar filled with white strips of paper and her hair in her signature bun.

“You know what time it is class, “ she said in a sing song voice, “lab partners. When I call your name move next to your partner. No substitutions, as always.” She started pulling out names and people started moving, with the red head being first. James silently prayed that he wouldn't get a partner but his prayers went unanswered. “James Trask and Seth Darcy” called out Mrs. Duncan. James didn't move and soon a Letterman jacket wearing guy was sitting next to him.

“Hey” said Seth politely, yet bored.

“Hi” said James in almost a whisper. Seth knew all about James Trask, that he was quite yet smart and not to mention sharing a last name with a character in one of Seth's favorite movies East of Eden. He almost wondered if James knew that. Glancing at the boy to his right, he assumed he had never seen a classic movie in his entire life. Seth also knew that everyone in this room prayed to whatever God they believed in to not get paired with James, they were scared depression was something you could catch by being seen with some who had it. Seth on the other hand knew differently. If these people only knew the shit he went through every night at home, and how movies and football were his only escapes from the Hell that his parents put him through every night since he could remember.

“Everyone the first assignment will be Monday, I want a one page report on the respiratory system written by both parties, and I don't care if you have football practice I want it done!” said Mrs. Duncan, with that last part was directed right towards Seth. She knew from 4 years of experience that his homework was always late or never turned in, and was happy that fate had brought him together with James. Maybe something good would come out of that for both teens.

“Do you want to get started on it tonight?” asked James in quiet tone. Seth looked at him. “I have practice but I could come over afterwords,” said Seth taking out a piece of paper and writing his number on it. “Just text me your number and I will call when I can come over.” “Okay” whispered James taking the paper. He glanced at Seth. The black and silver Letterman jacket somehow brought out the icy blue of Seth's eyes. James quickly turned away. He hated looking at boys for too long, as it was just a waste of time for many reasons: Seth was straight, he was a jock, he was dating Lynn Klein, the schools class president, and James would never be able to love anyone. When the bell rang, James left his seat as quickly as possible. He had a urge to get away from Seth, and walked into the closest bathroom and pulled out a pill bottle reading Xanax. He popped the pill in his mouth, and the jagged little pill went down his throat. Looking at himself in the mirror, a sad boy looked back at him; one that he didn't recognize, but had grown use to. James knew that he would never see what he really looked like in the reflection that boy had died on the floor with Cody, and would never be resurrected.