STAY

24.

The last time that I saw Michael, was when we were all hanging out at the gym, or the boxing place depending on how you saw it. I saw it as a regular gym. The guys saw it as the place where they could go boxing. Okay, there was a boxing ring there so I understood there logic, but we were actually at a regular gym.

Anyway, we were all having fun. Michael was training with Eduardo again, after having his injuries healed completely. Even though Michael hadn't practiced for a while, Eduardo still struggled to win. It was like any other day when we would meet the guys. We were laughing, having fun and giving rude comments towards each other.

Suddenly Eduardo's phone started to buzz and we had to break of the laughing and joking at his struggles of not being able to beat Michael. He gave us his usual smile, even though it was clear that he was bothered by the situation. When he looked at his phone he started walking towards the exit.

"I'll be back in a minute", he said as the doors closed.

"Don't take too long", Michael shouted after him in a teasing voice and Eduardo gave him the finger.

As the other two were having a heated discussion whether Michael or Eduardo would win the next match against each other, Michael walked up to me and put his arms around me.

"So, how do you think I'm doing?"

"You're doing great", I said. He smiles and kisses me on my forehead, before the doors open again and Eduardo comes back.

"That was fast", I teased but Eduardo doesn't say anything. He walks towards Michael and hands him the phone.

"It's for you", he said and his voice had changed tone. Something was going on.

Michael looks at Eduardo. He gives him a stern look and nods. Michael sighs and walks towards the end of the gym and starts whispering in the phone. Eventually he walks to the Men's bathroom and stays there for a while. We were all quite, while waiting for Michael to come back. I looked ad Eduardo. He seemed concerned.

"What's going on?", I asked him.

"Nothing", he said coldly at first. When he realized his mistake, he looked at me and gave me his usual warm smile and said; "nothing you have to worry about Olivia. Just some private stuff", but he had already done his mistake. I could see it in his eyes. What was going on, had something to do with me.

When Michael came back, he didn't say anything at first. When he handed the phone to Eduardo and looked up at us, he realized we were waiting for him to say something.

"Why are you looking at me as I just died?", Michael laughs and the tension is released. "Come one Eduardo, let's see who can win this last game"

After another half an hour of practice, the boys considered themselves done and Michael started to have some pain in his ribs, so the best thing was to stop the whole thing, before he hurt himself again. We said goodbye to the other guys, and after some talking and some joking, Michael drove me home. He parked the car in front of my house and walked me to the door.

"Today was fun", he said.

"Yeah", I said and smiled. "Your face was priceless when you almost lost that one time"

"I did not almost loose", he said. "I was never going to loose"

"Keep telling yourself that, and you will soon break another bone in that body"

"Well this time", he said and grabbed me by the waist, "I will have someone to take care of me, right?"

"Always", I sad and leaned in for a quick kiss. But Michael held it there. It was as if he didn't want to let me go just yet. The kiss deepened and his lips were eager to tug onto mine. The longer we stood there, the more eager the kiss became. Eventually he broke it off, and leaned his forehead against mine.

"Olivia", he whispered and I opened my eyes to look at him. To my surprise, his dark brown eyes were already staring at me. He took a deep breath before he uttered the words for the very first time; "I love you. Don't forget that"

I shook my head. "I won't", I leaned in towards him, but before our lips touched again I couldn't help myself. "Because I will always love you too".

***

The next day in school, everyone was gone. Neither Michael, Eduardo nor any of the other guys were there. It was as if they had just disappeared. Eventually, that is what everyone said. Because they never came back to school. None of them.