[This story is free again]
A social klutz and certified bookworm, Autumn Lyne is content with having just books as companions--that is, until her extrovert of a sister drags her out to meet her band. But nobody has expected that this would mark the...
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Without warning, Michael came back the next day.
I was getting my notes for the fifth period when I caught a glimpse of him from the corner of my eye. His hair looked short, pushed back in a messy style, and he was clad in a white shirt, thick black hoodie, and black skinny jeans. He looked fresh, sharp, as if he had turned his life around in the days of his absence. A couple of people stared at him in wonder as he passed through the crowd toward me.
My breath snagged in my throat when he smiled and said, "Hey, I've been looking for you."
His baritone voice which had been echoing in my mind since the night he had sung to me made my heart and stomach drop together at once. I wanted to reply with, "And I've been waiting for you" because that was what I'd been feeling for a while, but it would be weird and cheesy to say out loud in a high school hallway, so instead, I croaked through my dry throat, "M-Michael... you're back. And... you had a haircut?"
"Ah, yeah. I cut it on a whim."
"You look good." The words tumbled out of me before I could hold them back.
It was apparent that Michael didn't know how to take compliments, judging from the way he chuckled and the way he ran his fingers through his hair.
"Thanks," he said.
"Um... are you—?"
Before I could bombard him with questions about where he'd been and whether he was okay, a booming voice interrupted us.
"Jesus Christ, you're here!"
Michael and I turned around and saw Nate with his arms stretched out. Following behind him were Clover and Rose, all of them staring at their friend's sudden return. They looked more shocked than they had when Clover had broken the news about the audition results at lunch.
"I'm not Jesus. I'm Michael," he responded with a cocky smile.
Nate wrapped his huge arms around Michael's body, and the latter groaned from the pressure. I could imagine it was like being hugged by a bear.
"Glad to see you back, dude!" Nate let go of Michael and slapped him on the shoulder. "What the hell happened? Last time we saw you, you looked like the guys from The Cure."
"Yeah," Rose chimed in. "It's like you went on a makeover show. Not that we're complaining because you look good!"
"Thanks, but Autumn already beat you to it," said Michael.
Glancing at me, Rose shot up an eyebrow, and her smile turned into a full-on mischievous grin that I'd never seen her make before. Flustered, I averted my eyes from the group.
"Where's Clint?" Michael asked.
"He's at a meeting for a group project," Clover replied. "But anyway, what happened to you? We were planning to check on you after school if you didn't show up."
