Descending || m.c.

Chapter 10

"Why don't we go talk in my room? I haven't seen you in forever it seems," I say immediately, moving to the side just enough to stand next to AJ.

"What? Why not stay in here? These boys have gotten so--"

"AJ!" I shout, tugging on her arm. "My room, please." I usher her to walk in front of me, glancing at Michael to mouth a quick I need to talk to you later before putting myself in front of AJ to lead her down the hall. I close the door behind her once we enter the room completely; she takes a seat on the bed, making herself right at home. Her hair now falls entirely to her waist and she sits with her legs crossed, a smile upon her face as she beams up at me with her perfectly straight, white teeth. This girl was my total opposite. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Aw, it's nice to see you too, Hadley," she snaps.

"I was just asking, Allison," I retort.

"Oh god, please don't use my full name," she groans, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Fine. But really, what are you doing here?" I ask again.

"I flew out here to check on you and to hang out with my best friend, duh," she smiles brightly. "You haven't answered my texts in days, Hadley. I thought something might be wrong or you just might be upset. I wanted to make sure that you were okay. I even texted Michael and asked if you were and he said you seemed perfectly fine, but well.. I know just how much you're hiding from that boy.." she smiles again, winking in my direction.

"I swear to god if you tell Mikey anything AJ, I'll kill you," I say through my teeth.

"I would never," she scoffs, covering her chest with her right hand.

"Bullshit."

"Oh, c'mon," she laughs. "Michael so deserves to know how you feel, why won't you just tell him? Literally the worst that could happen--"

"Is that he tells me he doesn't like me?" I raise my voice. "You don't think I don't know that already, AJ? Have you ever thought though that maybe that would be the worst response I could ever get? I would rather have nothing and just be his friend that ruin my chances of not having him in my life at all." I choke on the last few words, and turn away from her. Seconds later, AJ's hands rest on my shoulders and turn me around into her arms. 

"Oh god, Hadley, I'm sorry," she says, hugging me tighter.

"You don't understand," I sob, trying to whisper as much as I can. "It all hurts so much."

"I--" she stops for a second. "I didn't know you liked him that much."

I pull away from her, only nodding as I sniffled a few times. Tears streaked my cheeks but at this point it didn't matter. I take a seat on the bed where she had previously sat, falling down backwards and allowing my legs to dangle off the side. She followed suit moments later. "I don't know what to do.."

"Talk to me about him," she urges, elbowing me in the side. "Tell me why you like him so much." She laughs at the end, a light laugh not meaning to make fun but trying to encourage me rather.

"I--I don't know where to start though," I whisper, bringing my hands up to cover my eyes. "I didn't even realize I had actual feelings for him for so long, I don't know how the hell you knew."

"I just knew, shut up," she says. "Tell me about him."

"I--" I bite my lip, stopping momentarily as a smile appears on my face. "I like the way he looks in the mornings when he stumbles out of his bedroom seconds after waking up. His clothes are a mess and his hair sticks out in every direction possible; his eyes are always half shut and his voice is so raspy and there's always the tiniest bit of stubble on his chin.."