"Okay, I'm leaving. Cover for me. Say I'm sick or something."
Brett smiled. "And what fictitious illness should I conjure up for you?"
"Whatever. Tell them I have period cramps, I don't care."
I left Brett with a big smile across his face and I got the sense that he was going to make some kind of drama of this. Tomorrow at school people would probably be asking me about my dreaded disease. I didn't really care though.
I exited the gate and started a speedy walk to Mike's house. It takes about thirty minutes to get there and as I'm going, I'm still messaging and phoning him. And with every 'non-answer' I was getting more and more worried. This wasn't like him.
I finally arrived at his house after what felt like hours and Mrs. Matthews answered the door, which was strange because she should be at work.
"Mrs. Matthews, is Mike here?" I launched straight into it and her face immediately scrunched up in confusion.
"No. He should be at school, he left this morning, said he would jog there."
I shook my head. "Well he's not. And he's not answering his phone."
Panic flashed across her face and she called out, "Lionel. Lionel. Mike isn't at school."
His dad rushed to the door. "Hi, Maria. Are you sure?"
"Positive."
Mr. and Mrs. Matthews exchanged concerned looks.
"We told him we are getting divorced this morning."
"What?" I almost screeched it. I couldn't help it. I always thought these two had the perfect marriage. I always thought my parents were more likely to get divorced.
Mr. Matthews nodded. "He was pretty upset. He said he wanted to jog to school to clear his head. Do you know where he might have gone?"
I didn't need to think about it. I knew exactaly where he was.
**
Mike was sitting in the tree. I stood and watched him for a few seconds before calling out to him. He was fiddling with a branch, pulling the leaves off and chucking them on the ground. He looked miserable and my heart broke for him.
"Hey." I finally called out and he looked up. His face was pale and it had a shell shocked quality about it. I didn't blame him. Imagine having your parents drop that kind of bomb on you?
"I was worried about you. I tried to call."
Mike dug in his school bag and pulled out his phone. "Sorry. It was on silent for some reason." He managed a small smile. "If I didn't know you better, I would say you were stalking me. Ten missed calls and fourteen messages."
I tutted loudly. "You wish I was stalking you."
He smiled back as I climbed up into the tree and took up position on the branch.
"So...your parents told me." I said it tentatively because he looked genuinely upset.
Mike suddenly frowned and in that moment it looked like he was actually fighting back tears. He bit is bottom lip hard.
"I'm seventeen years old for fuck's sake. I don't know why..." He tapered off.
"Don't know why this is affecting you so much?" I asked, knowing full well what he was going to say.
"Yeah." He finally stopped fiddling with the branch and looked up at me. His eyes were shining, moist, and it looked like a tear was about to escape them. I wanted to make it better so badly.
"Everything is going to change now. I don't want it to," He bit his lip so hard that it left a little indentation.
I moved closer to him and without thinking, draped my arm around him. I didn't really know what to say to be honest. I'd never gone through anything like this before.. And then, without any kind of warning, Mike tilted his head towards me until it was resting on my shoulder.
My heart quickened and I felt a little selfish for getting so much satisfaction of this moment. Him being so close to me. The moment was so intimate and I wanted it to last forever. And then suddenly, it become even more intimate.
He reached out and took my hand. I swallowed so hard I was sure he could hear it. He held it gently and then intertwined his fingers into mine and looked like he was examining it.
"I've never noticed how long your fingers are," he said with a smile in his voice.
"That sounds terrible." I said, wondering if I should be totally embarrassed by this. Did I have some kind of freakishly long fingers now?
"They're cute. Good for climbing trees." He let my hand go, lifted his head and turned to face me. Our eyes met and it feelt like.. Oh God... it felt like a meteorite slammed into my stomach.
"Are you bunking school for me?" He reached up and pushed a stray hair out of my face. My tongue was officially tied, because Mike was looking at me like he'd never looked at me before... well, at least, I think so. His face was so close, and all I needed to do right now was to lean in a little and our lips would be touching.
And then he did the unthinkable. Something he'd never ever done. He leaned in and suddenly I felt his lips on my cheek. It was quick, a tiny peck, but it was a kiss and it had my head spinning.
"Thanks. You're such a good friend Maria."
Such a good friend? The kind of friend that kisses you and then lies about it? The kind of friend who's been lying to you for years about how they feel?
How was I meant to tell him now?
Chapter 12 - Mike
It felt good to have my head on Maria's shoulder. She felt warm and familiar and for the first time that day, I started to feel better about things. We sat in that
