regret

chapter 23

My eyes were closed waiting for the hard slap Jason was about to give me, but it never came. I slowly opened my eyes to see Jason's hand held back by a very muscular one. I look behind him to see Michael holding Jason's hand back.

"Let her go." He demanded. His tone deep.

"What the fuck are you doing Michael, just let go of my hand and mind your own business." Jason's shouts at Michael and tries to get out of Michaels grip but fails.

"What the fuck am I doing? What the fuck are you doing? You beat up girls now? What the hell is wrong with you huh?" Jason asks throwing Jason's arm back into him resulting in Jason stumbling back.

"Dude this has nothing to do with you so stay out of it." Jason said as he pushed Michael. Michael didn't move as much as Jason wanted so he pushed him again.

"I don't care who's business it is, I'm not gonna let you hit her. I let the other things go because nobody gets physically hurt but I'm not gonna watch you beat her up, are you crazy? Why are you even doing this?"
He asked Jason while blocking him from attacking me.

"This bitch slapped Megan then said that she has STIs." He snarled out looking at me with a look of disgust.

"Is that true Mandy?" Michael asks and I shake my head no.

"I didn't say that and I didn't hit her, all I said was if she didn't move out of my way I would take her boney ass friend and use her as a toothpick to pop her fake ass boobs and that's only because she was calling me names and making fun of me. She just got mad because I said it in front of people."
I explained. Michael laughed a little at what I said then tried his best to stop himself.

Jason was still fuming. He didn't believe me.

"Dude are you laughing right now? Seriously?" Jason asked in a tone of anger and disbelief. I wanted to laugh at how high pitched his voice was when he asked that question but figured it was not the right time.

"No I'm not laughing, but you heard what she said, she didn't slap her and she didn't say she had STIs. You know how Megan is, she can lie with a straight face man. Just think about it, how is Darius gonna feel knowing that you hit his girl?" He said and Jason started laughing. He looked at me and smiled.

"I'm sorry Mandy, I shouldn't have done that I'll leave now." He said and walked away with a smug and evil grin on his face.

Am I missing something? I feel like I'm in the middle of an inside joke.

"You okay?" Michael asked me stuffing his hands in his pocket.

"Yeah I'm fine, thank you for saving me." I said softly.

"Did you seriously say that to Megan?" He asked with an amused look on his face.

"Uh yeah, she really pissed me off and I couldn't help myself." I said with a little laugh.

"Well I'm kind of surprised and proud at the same time. You actually stood up to her, for yourself." He said nodding his head.

"Yeah I surprised myself too. I didn't think I could ever say something like that to anyone." I say and start moving towards where my bag fell.

I start to go over to the piano and sit on the stool and take my lunch out. I see Michael standing there awkwardly so I offer him a slice of my sandwich.

He moves closer and sits on the chair of the drum set opposite of me. He takes the bread and mutters a thank you and reaches down to his bag. As he puts his bag in front of him I hear raffling of packets. He opens the bag to reveal a whole lot of vending machine snacks just stuffed into the bag.

"Help yourself to anything here." He says while taking a bite out of the sandwich.

I look into the bag and see different kind of chips and candy bars with some sponge cakes. All the things I should be avoiding, but they look so good.

"No thank you I'm good, I'll just stick to my sandwich." I politely decline.

"No Mandy seriously it's my way of paying back for the sandwich you just gave me." He offers again. I really want them but how am I gonna loose weight if I keep eating these things.

"No seriously........" I was cut off by him speaking.

"Mandy I know why you're declining, and I am not going to allow you to do that. You can eat anything you like Mandy don't let anyone else tell you otherwise." He says looking at me with his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes staring into my own.

"That's easy for you to say, you have the body and face of a Greek God." I respond back to him while looking down. This conversation was very awkward for me since it was with a guy and it was about my body.

Michael laughs at how I described him and lifts my head up with his hand.

"And you have the body of a Goddess. Stop doubting it. Stop over thinking it. If you want to eat something eat it. I'm not going to force you if you really don't want to eat it, but I'm just saying, don't torture yourself to please others." My mouth was slightly open at this point and my breathing had accelerate. This was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me. Tears wanted to escape my eyes but I held them back. I looked at Michael and he smiles at me and I smile back.

"Thank you so much Michael. I needed to hear that." I hesitantly put my chubby hand over his and he put his other one over mine.

"Oh Mandy I saw you playing yesterday, and singing. You are officially a lair." He remarked folding his arms over his chest and looking at me with a fake judgemental look.

"What? I have never lied to you before, I don't know what your talking about." I say and turn around my body facing the piano and my nose in the air with my eyes closed.

I know he was referring to the time where I said 'when it comes to singing I try' in gym class.

"Play something." He said softly behind me. I could feel his broad figure behind me. I guess he stood up when I turned around.

"What should I play?" I ask looking straight up at him as he was standing.

"Anything you want, something that speaks to you." He says and takes a seat next to me.

I open up the piano and brush my fingers against the keys.
I take a deep breath in and close my eyes.
I start playing 'beauty and the beast by Ariana Grande and John Legend.'

I start playing the introduction and I start to sing.
I chose this song since Michael said anything that speaks to me. I feel like this song does just that. Beauty and the beast describes me and Darius.

He's the beauty and I'm the beast.