savior

twenty eight

DAY TWENTY; ELEVEN DAYS TO GO

"Michael?" I called out, stepping into the gymnasium. The giant room was empty, other than a few basketballs that were lying out here and there on floor. I heard the echo of footsteps shuffling towards me. When I turned my head slightly to the side, I caught a glimpse of Michael, who was standing next to me.

Voices came from the hallway, meaning that the class was on its way here. A panicked Michael grabbed my wrist, and pulled me into the men's restroom with him. It was one small room with only one toilet or urinal. It was kind of awkward standing in there like that, especially because I had no idea why I was there in the first place.

"Michael, I have a class to get to so—"

He cut me off by cupping a hand over my mouth. "Do you want me to tell you what's going on or not?" he snapped at me. Michael smoothed out his hair, something I took as a nervous habit. I nodded my head to answer him.

Michael began to pace back and forth around the small room, muttering things like, "I have to tell you," or, "I need to get this off my chest," but he wasn't doing anything about it. I was about to walk out, but he stopped me.

"Okay, hear me out. Don't talk in between my speech, or you'll fuck me up," Michael said, leaning against the tile wall.

He wasn't making this easy, for me, or for himself. Everytime he tried to say something, he either got lost in his sentence, or freaked out because some idiot threw a ball at the door. I almost forgot that we were in a small bathroom in the big gymnasium. I didn't pay attention to that, or the fact that I was probably going to get into trouble for skipping class, but instead, I fixed my eyes on Michael, who had tears forming in his eyes.

"I'm in love with—"

There was a pounding on the door. Someone on the other side was beating on it furiously, like he was running from someone and the only escape was the room Michael and I were occupying at the moment. Michael glared at the door. "Chill out, man! Uh, I'm—I'm taking a shit, okay? I'll be a little while!"

The noise stopped. I almost died of laughter, but Michael's dagger eyes stopped me from making a sound. He was pretty serious about me not talking.

"As I was saying—before I was so rudely interrupted—I'm kind of in love with—," he said, taking a seat on the bathroom floor. He encouraged me to do the same. I sat down in front of him, both of us leaning on the walls that were behind us, and waited for him to continue. "I'm in love with Anna."

There was a slight pause, and I wasn't sure if it was because I wasn't allowed to talk, or because I was too shocked to. Michael's expressions were that of anger, sadness, and a lot of pain. I wanted to hug him.

I didn't know why he was telling me this. He had wanted nothing to do with me the first—second?—time we met, and now he was trusting me with this kind of information.

It sort of made a lot more sense to me. That was why Anna always glanced so nervously at him, especially when Calum had joined us at the table. It now occured to me that that way why Michael always looked at him like he was an enemy, because although he really wasn't, he sort of was.

"You told me you hated her," I said, remembering that day at lunch when Michael told me to leave he and Ashton alone.

Michael looked down and played with his fingers. "I did," he muttered. When he looked up, his eyes were watery. "She's hurt me more than once. But I just love her too goddamn much to walk away from her; you know?" Another knock sounded from the door. "I'm not fucking done! Go away!"

Things were weird. I started to go back in my thoughts and think about everything that's happened so far. I accepted the deal from Death to save Ashton's life, I had accomplished getting him out of his shell, and all of that was good. But there was a lot more I was missing. Death told me to pay attention to my friends, but the more I did that, the more my brain hurt. Who had I encountered this whole time?

I had met a lot of people during this adventure. First was Ashton, then Michael, Calum, Fate, Life, Death, Luke, and that was it. But there was also that orange haired kid that sat with Michael that day he was being a jerk to me. I had never caught his name. He looked a bit; evil, and if not that, then he was definitely scary. Almost as scary as Death.

Death! I suddenly remembered the day he told me to watch out. "I'll bring some friends to help you out," he had said. But that kid joined us before I had that conversation with Death. He could still be one of his minions, right? I mean, no one can control someone's emotions just by sitting by them like that guy did that day. That wasn't normal.

"Anyways, I don't think she understands how much she means to me," Michael said, breaking the silence. "I've done so many nice things for her, but she still sticks around that Calum boy. He's a soccer guy. Who gives a shit? I bet I'd be twice as good of a boyfriend to her."

I thought about it. Michael actually was a great guy, and I'm sure if Anna gave him a chance, she'd be happy with him. But she and Calum were adorable together also. Plus, I don't think Michael would know what he's getting into. Anna wasn't a great choice.

"Calum does nice things for her, too," I mentioned. I thought back to all the things she has told me about him.

Michael scoffed and rolled his eyes. "That fucktard hasn't done anything for her. As her best friend, I figured you would've known. I bet all he cares about is getting laid and leaving," he said. He was making upset. "Those flowers? He didn't buy them; I did. She wrote his name in blue marker to try and play it off as if he did it, but he didn't. It was me—all of it was fucking me."

Michael was scaring me. He was so mad. Tears fell from his eyes as he spoke, his voice cracking with every few words. I believed it now: that he was in love with my best friend.

To be honest, Anna didn't deserve a guy like Michael. He truly cared about her. I bet Anna lied to me about who actually called her up in the middle of the night and expressed his love for her. It didn't seem like something Calum would do. Michael even mentioned something about that to Ashton and I a few days ago, him staying up late to talk to a girl who wouldn't even give him the time of day. I thought I had problems.

"She doesn't listen to me. Anna tells me that she loves me, too, but then she sneaks off with Calum; and I—"

Michael buried his head in his arms, which were propped up by his knees. I was glad that no one was knocking on the door again. I scooted over to the crying boy, wrapping an arm aloud his shoulders. He was going through a lot. He was in need of a hug.

"Thank you for telling me, Michael," I said. He was still sobbing into his arms. I patted on his shoulder and waited for him to let everything out.

That's what he needed. He needed to be okay again.