Daylight

Chapter 16

Taylors POV- Thursday

I'm walking with John in the hallways at lunch again, only being able to think about how annoyed I am at Michael right now. He's being such a dick. What's going on with him? This isn't like the Michael I know at all.

"What's on your mind, Tay?" John asks with his arm around my waist as we walk, trying to analyze my expression.

"It's nothing, I just had an argument with someone yesterday and I'm a little annoyed. I wouldn't even consider it an actual argument," I say, trying to dismiss the situation. I don't want to keep things from him, but I also don't want him to make a big deal out of this.

"With who?" He asks, his curiosity growing.

I pause for a moment, thinking about what to say. I want to tell the truth, but I just don't know how John might react. He's protective over me (which I find cute) and I don't want him starting anything. Especially not with Michael.

I take a deep breath before deciding to say, "Michael."

"Oh," John says, his grip on my waist tightening.
He stares ahead of us with a concentrated look on his face, then turns back to me and says, "okay, well don't worry about it babe. I'll take care of it."

"No," I snapped back a little too fast for my liking, "I handled it already, it's okay. You don't need to do anything."

"No seriously, I'll deal with him," he says with a grin.

"What do you mean 'deal with him'?" I ask. I hope he doesn't say what I think he will.

"I can fight him for you," he says, his grin turning into a mischievous smile.

I was hoping he wouldn't say that.

"Don't do that, I don't want to get involved in anything else," I reply with a worried look.

"Okay," he says, suddenly giving up on the thought.

"Promise me you won't fight Michael?" I ask, holding out my pinkie finger.

"I won't, seriously," he replies, kissing me on the cheek instead of taking my hand.

I hope I can put my trust in him.

John has a very double sided personality. One day he's the guy that I fell for, the sweet, caring guy that would do anything for me. Then the next, he would dismiss my feelings and act shallow.

His personality flips like a light switch, and I always yearn for the first guy.

Later

After a long day at school, I unlock my apartment door and drag myself inside. I immediately go to my room and plop on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I have so much homework to do.

I look at the walls that my bed is up against. I have a ton of Polaroid pictures of my friends that I taped on one wall, and I have hanging vines on the other.

I take a closer look at the photos, still laying down. Most of them are of Michael and I, the photos dating all the way back to when we first met in 2019. Next to those are some recent ones that I took of John and I doing things together.

Despite trying to focus on something, anything else, I can't stop thinking about Michael's words in my head. He was in love with me. Not like it matters now, I don't like him anymore, but still. Michael, the guy I've longed for years, had feelings for me. I mean, I guess it makes sense now that I think about it. I guess we did flirt a lot back in middle school. We did almost kiss one time back in grade 8. We were hanging out in Aria's basement, and we were playing spin the bottle while waiting for a pizza delivery.