STAY

14.

I walked upstairs as quickly as my hungover body managed. I walked into my room in the search for my phone. At first I didn't know who I was supposed to call. Should I call my parents and tell them what happened? No, they would get to concerned. Maybe I needed that. For someone to come and hug me, and tell me that everything was okay? Or maybe I should call Christina and yell at her? The thought made me bubble inside. I hadn't noticed it before, but I was angry at her. She had left me completely alone. If it wasn't for her, this would've never happened.

As I clicked the call button, I was completely sure that I had made the right decision. While I was calling him, I wasn't sure of what to say. What if he didn't answer?

My heart sank into my stomach the moment my call went to voicemail. The best thing I could do was to leave a voice message for him to hear. He would probably call me back.

"Hey Michael...", I started as I sat down on my bed. "I just wanted to thank you for yesterday... For picking me up. I hope I didn't cause you any trouble yesterday...", I was at the edge of crying. Better get this over with. "Could you... Could you just call me as soon as possible". I hung up.

For most of the day, I stayed in my room. When Angelica and Jacob got home, they came up to make sure everything was okay with me. I told them I was fine, even though on the inside I wasn't. But I didn't want them to know. Especially not Jacob, my little brother. I had to be strong for him.

Michael never called back. Not on that Saturday. Not on Sunday. I started to get worried. I would have my phone close to me all the time, and even though it vibrated a couple of times, it was never him. Even though Christina tried reaching me several times, I didn't answer. I didn't feel for talking to her right now. I needed to talk to Michael.

***

It was Monday. I walked up the big stairs to the school, not even bothering to wait for the others. My insides were still boiling when I thought about Christina leaving me alone. I didn't even want to see her today.

When all the morning classes had passed, I realized that Michael was not in school. I was starting to get irritated with him. He was the only one who knew what happened. He was the only one that was there to help me. And now he would just not bother talking to me about what happened. But the worried questions still lingered in my head. Maybe something had happened to him? Why would he not call me back otherwise? I hadn't done anything right?

At lunch, I was still avoiding Christina and Daniella. I walked to the cafeteria and saw Michael's group of friends sitting in the corner. That's when the idea struck me. Even though I wasn't sure of what I was doing, my steps were walking towards their table. It took a while for them to realize that someone was approaching the. All three of them had a similar appearance, but were still slightly different. All three of them were still tall, with dark hair and had an athletic body. It was the eyes that told them a part. It was however the guy with the blue eyes and the tattoos covering his arm that was the first one to react when I approached them. Eduardo.

"Where's Michael?", I started. I didn't know what else to say, and I figured that there was no formal introduction needed.

Eduardo gave me a grin before he answered my question, with his Spanish accent.

"Well apparently not here right?". He is still smiling towards me when I stare at him for a couple of seconds. The other two are smirking towards me.

"I have to talk to him", I continued.

"Well that makes it more interesting", he says and leans his elbows towards his shoulder. He knew perfectly well that me and Michael talked to each other. He didn't have to play stupid around me. "Did you guys..."

"Could you knock it of", I told him of before he was going to say something stupid. "Could you just tell me where he is..."

"Did you try calling him?", one of the other two guys asked, while Eduardo was eying me with concern in his eyes. Something told me he knew more than he wanted to let me know. Maybe Michael had told him about Friday. I shook the feeling of as I answered the other guy.

"Do you think I would be asking you if he would've answered".

"Go to the boxing study in town", Eduardo said out of nowhere.

"Boxing studio?", I ask him as I raise my eyebrows.

"That's where he goes when he's angry of frustrated"

"Angry?", I asked him. Had he been angry at me?

Eduardo took a deep breath and exhaled before he continued. "He came Saturday morning to the training studio and looked pissed. Something had happened during the night.

"Yeah, but he wouldn't tell us what", one of the guys started. Eduardo eyed me carefully before he answered the other guy.

"He'll tell us eventually, he just needs some time". This time, Eduardo didn't look at me.

"Got it. Thanks", I said as I started to walk away from them.

"Be careful though", one of them called after me. "If he's angry he's not fun to mess with".

I ignored him and start to walk towards the exit of the lunch room, where I walked passed Daniella, Christina and Philip. When I saw Daniella trying to reach out for my arm, I turned away and walked out into the hall. I could deal with that later. Right now the only thing I had on my mind was Michael. If he was angry, was he angry at me? Or at that creepy guy? But why wouldn't he return my calls? And why did Eduardo look at me in that weird way?

I walked towards the parking lot, looking for Angelicas car that she would let me drive sometimes. I only had one lesson left. It was only math. I could survive skipping one math class. I didn't even enjoy math class that much. I had to see Michael.