Don't Tell A Soul

"Good morning." Michael yawns as he closes his locker.

"Tired?" I rhetorically question.

"Yep." He replies, popping the 'p'. "I've hardly had anytime to do anything since school has started back."

"Well what do you normally do?" We walk down to our class since we have the same ones today.

"Just normal teenage things that a nineteen year old would do." He simply responds, shrugging.

"Well if they're really important to you, you can find time for it without it interfering with school. That's what my dad always says." I recall.

"Your dad sounds like a wise guy." Michael retorts, smirking.

"He is wise." I reply, ignoring the fact that, that was meant to be an insult.

He chuckles. "Whatever, I'll see you after class."

Michael chuckles. "Whatever, I'll see you after class."

"Why don't you ever go?" I ask, motioning towards the classroom door.

"I don't want to. Sooner or later they'll just have to kick me out of school. I'm getting too old for this." He shakes his head and begins walking down the hallway to his destination.

I shake my head back at him, although he can't really see me, and make my way into my classroom where the teacher starts talking about Napoleon III.

~*~*~*~

"Hello, my dear." Max embraces me with a hug-something I wasn't use to here lately.

"Hi." I grin. "What are you doing?"

"Can't I give my wonderful girlfriend-who now only lives a block away from me-a hug?" He laughs, and I see his award-winning smile.

"Sure." I reach up to peck his lips.

He pulls away saying, "Remember how I said that we would have to pick things up?" I nod, feeling my stomach tingle. "Okay well give me another night. I have to stay after school today for committee, which reminds me I won't be able to take you home either."

"Oh." I say, pulling away from him, the feeling slowly becoming dull.

"Don't be mad, I promise we will tomorrow." It wasn't like he was promising me sex or anything, because I know that's what it sounds like. All I really wanted was to spend quality time with my boyfriend, which hasn't been happening here lately. It's almost like he doesn't what me around.

"I'm not mad." I inform him. "Just a little hurt."

"If I would've known sooner, I would've told you Marls. I would never intentionally hurt you, you know that."

"Of course I know that. I was planning on hanging out with Anna today anyways so..and I'm sure Michael could give me a ride."

"I love you."

"I love you too." I recite the words that I've told him for years, that seemed to mean so much at the time. Max leans down and quickly pecks my lips as if ashamed to be seen with me.

I watch as he walks away and make my way into the gym for my second class of the day. As I sit there I start recalling all of the good times that Max and have shared. When I used to think that he was the best person in the world. I remember how we first met. Me, Anna, and my mum went to a movie together and my mum being her normal self, put Anna up to throw popcorn in my hair. I was very emotion that week anyways since it was that time of the month you know, and so I ran out of the cinema crying. Max was standing outside, and he rushed over to see what was wrong with me. I told him not to worry about it, but he made it his business and made me sit on a bench outside and tell him the whole story. Afterwards, mum and Anna finished the movie and came to find me. They met Max, he gave me his number and the rest has been history.

I remember when he found out that I lived in Perth with my father, he would take time out of his weekend to come and stay with me. We would lay on my bed and watch films and tell jokes in attempt to make each other laugh. Now it seems as if he couldn't care less about making me happy, I've been here for almost a week and things between us are slowly declining, and that scares me. He's all I've known for almost three years.

"Why so gloomy?" I hear the familiar voice that belongs to Ashton draw my attention.

"I'm not gloomy." I object, blinking away a few tears I didn't know where forming.

"You look like you're about to cry." He says and takes a seat next to me on the smelly, brown bleachers.

"Well I'm not." I snap at him. I hated when people saw me cry.

Crying shows weakness, and I wasn't weak. "Calm down there, Perth."

"Perth?"

"I like giving people nicknames." He shrugs. "You're from Perth, so therefore your name will be Perth."

"Okay." I smile some.

"So what's got you down?"

"It doesn't matter. Is Michael in here? I need to ask him something."

"Dude he never comes to class. He stays long enough for attendance then ditches. That's the way it's always been. Why? What do you need?"

I feel tears waling in the rims of my eyes again. "I don't want to have to ask him, since I know that Luke and Calum ride home with you guys everyday and they probably don't like me. Which isn't really understandable because they don't even know me, but considering I don't know them either, I don't know what-"

"Ask the question." He scoffs, finding my rambling annoying.

"I need a ride home from school today." I say in a rush.

"Consider it done!" He exclaims.

"Really? That easy?" I ask in awe.

"You don't ask for favors much do you?" I shake my head. "Well we've got your back. And don't worry about Luke and Cal, they'll come around." I nod, and put my bottom lip between my teeth as the bell rings to go to lunch.

~*~*~*~

"Later, Marley. If you need a ride again, don't hesitate to ask. Maybe next time you could come and hang out with me. Here what's your number?" Michael asks me handing me his phone.

I do the same thing and we save the number in each other's phone. "I may take you up on that offer sometime, Clifford." I smile.

"I won't hold my breath." He gets close to my face, to where I can feel his breath on my face. Something about it takes me back, and I have to quickly rear back to catch myself.

"See you." I mumble and wave the rest of them goodbye. Ashton smiles and waves back, Luke and Calum stare at me with a blank expression.

I shrug it off and walk up the path, noticing a familiar car in the drive, opening the door to my house to be met with Anna and my parents. "Anna!" I shout and hug her with force. She gives back the same force and shouts as well.

"Mars! Oh I miss doing that everyday now!"

"Me too." I agree, catching my breath from the collision.

"You two go out and enjoy one another's company again. It's been a while." Mum smiles and hands me a coat since I didn't bring one earlier. The weather here doesn't get cold per say, but it's gets chilly.

"Be back in time for dinner."

"Okay." We agree and climb into her car.

~*~*~*~

"Been a while, huh?" Anna asks, whilst we sip on coffee.

"Sure has. How's life?"

"Oh lets skip this talk. We know each other, how are you and Max?"

"Well you hit a sour note there." I laugh at my own joke even though it really wasn't funny.
"Um... well we've been different." I hesitantly say.

"How different?"

"Well remember how he used to just drop everything to be here with me a make me happy?" She nods. "Now it seems as if I'm a bother to him."

"Maybe he's just been caught up with school. I mean you don't really know what his weeks look like since you've only ever hung out with him on weekends." Anna suggests.

"That's a possibility." I nod, sipping again feeling my mouth go dry talking about this. "But I mean I had to take a ride from Michael today, because he cancelled on me.

"You mean he let you take a ride home from another guy?"

"Yes, and he's never once met him. He's seen him around before but the first thing he did was take digs because him and his friends have tattoos."

"That's a new low, even for him." Anna shakes her head. "Maybe he thought that having a girlfriend who lives away from him was easier than seeing her everyday."

I breath in deeply, and decide upon saying, "Let's change the subject."

"Let's talk about this Michael boy." Anna gushes, her eyes getting big.

"Well we're only friends. He's nice for a guy with tattoos." I begin. "He was the first one who helped me out with everything and let me get a grip of things. He's been wanting me to hang out with him."

"What are you waiting for?! Go for it!" She exclaims.

"You act like you're trying to set us up!" I laugh. "Don't get me wrong, I've been thinking about it."

"What's holding you back?" Anna furrows her eyebrows.

"If Max finds out-"

"If Max finds out? You're going to tell him that you're going to hang out with some new friends, and he's going to be okay with it."

"What if he's not?"

"He's been forgetting about your needs here lately, so now it's time to treat yourself. You don't live in his shadow, Mars."

"I know."

"So you're going?"

"I guess so." She makes up my mind for me, and I give her that I look I give her when she talks me into things I sometimes don't want to do in the first place, but always wind up to have a good outcome.

~*~*~*~

After we got back home, Anna and I went to me room as we waited for dinner to be done, and I pulled out my phone. 'Remember how I told you I'd take you up on that offer?'

"Hey I never told you this before, but you're ma doesn't seem to be as bad as everyone thought she was." Anna speaks, as she buries her head in my pillow.

"I know I'm proud her." I say, just then my phone buzzes. 'Are you taking me up?'

'I sure am.' I send to him.

He comes back with the final message, 'I'll be here to pick you up at 5pm.'

"Well I guess I'm hanging out with Michael." I puff out my cheeks.

Notes

So I had great difficulties writing this chapter. I am so sorry if there are any mistakes in this chapter, just bare with me. This site wouldn't let me copy and paste this from wattpad, so I had to go somewhere else and rewrite it, so sorry if anything is wrong.
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