[color=red][h3]The Xavier Institute[/h3][/color][hr][indent][indent][sub]Westchester, New York   |   Issue 1.01: Toro   [ [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5414152]Next[/url] ]  |   [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRALbvGJNIE]Post Theme[/url]  |   Tags: [@Mao Mao][/sub][/indent]
[color=snow][i]"...know that you have the support of faculty and your fellow classmates. You belong as part of this community. You don't need to hide your true self any longer.”[/i][/color]

[color=silver]The boy sat toward the front of the auditorium’s bleachers, part of the class that was both the youngest and, as befitted that reality, also the smallest in stature. 

This wasn’t his regular school.

He wasn’t even sure it was a school at all. Was it a prison? A punishment? A wellspring of emotion threatened to choke him. A pain laid across his chest like an unfathomable weight. The blue eyes that darted around the unfamiliar surroundings seemed on the verge of either panic or tears. 

[color=snow][i]”You don't need to be constantly afraid of not fitting in anymore. And most importantly, you can feel safe here.”[/i][/color]

A spark of anger shot through the boy. Intensely, he stared across at where a bald, white [i]güey[/i] – the headmaster or some shit – was talking.

He called it a dream.

And Toro?

Toro called it [b]a lie[/b]. He didn’t feel safe. None of them were. Crossing his arms, the boy grabbed onto his shoulders as he hunched over, hugging himself tightly as he tried to breath through the myriad of thick emotions.

Everything had been fine. Everything had been [i]normal[/i]. Then the fire had come. Quietly, like a thief in the night. Toro had gone to bed like any other day in his life. Looking back, now it all seemed like that had been the dream.

…and he’d woken up to the nightmare. He’d woken up aflame. Surrounded by fire. [i]On fire[/i].

He could feel it still, inside of him. Waiting for a spark to set it free.

He wasn’t [i]safe[/i]. He was [b]a monster[/b]. 

As people broke out in applause for the [i]ojete[/i] in the wheelchair, the boy just flipped the hood of the sweater he wore up over his head to try and hide the tears that had started running down his face.

He wanted his old school. He wanted to go back to California. He wanted his [i]life[/i] back..

He wanted his parents back.[/color][/indent]