The Boy In The Back (Muke)

6

The whole week was odd. Michael would show up to school, snap at the people around him, including me, and leave before the end of the day. Usually, he would slip out of the school between classes or during lunch, going unnoticed.

I wondered why his parents or whoever he lived with allowed him to. If I showed up at home halfway through the school day, my parents would provably actually murder me. They weren't strict about my grades or anything, but they did care that I actually showed up to school and stayed there throughout the day. They cared that I got the opportunity to learn.

And so did I. I kept As in all of my classes, did all of the homework and assignments I was assigned, and tried my best to never be absent. Of course, I missed days. Sickness, appointments, mental health days, and other family things were the cause of my truancies.

Why wouldn't somebody want to keep up with their grades and school? It didn't make sense to me, as it never had. I wanted to know what made Michael brush it off as if it didn't practically determine his entire future, though.

What made him feel as if it wasn't more important than a short nap or going him and doing whatever he did.

From what I knew, his siblings, Skylar and Ethan, were dedicated to school. They were good students, who missed about as many days as the average student. Why was Michael so different?

Maybe it was because people were mean to him. Maybe because he wanted a future they didn't require schooling, so he deemed it unnecessary. Maybe he simply just didn't care about, or didn't realize, the impact that his actions were going to have on his life.

I wanted to know why.

As we ate lunch on Friday, I decided to see if either of my friends knew anything about it.

"Do you know why Michael doesn't care about school?" I asked Ashton. I tended to avoid conversation with Calum most of the time, as I was almost certain that he hated me.

Ashton sighed.

"Why do you care so much about what Michael does?" Calum questioned, popping a grape into his mouth.

"I don't know." I shrugged. "Just curious, I guess."

"Well, be curious about anybody else." Ashton responded. I frowned. Why?

"He isn't that bad of a person, guys. He's just a little introverted." I stated.

Ashton and Calum both raised their eyebrows at me.

"You don't know him like we do, Luke." Calum sighed.

"How do you know him? Have you ever actually spoken to him?" I challenged.

"Yes, actually. We have." Ash responded.

"More than a couple of times?" I added.

They both nodded.

"Then you should be able to answer my question, considering you know him so well and all." I smirked.

Ashton took a deep breath before his hazel eyes met my blue ones.

"He doesn't care about school because of the people. People are mean to him, but it's his fault. He doesn't like being around other students because of it. Him and his siblings are close I guess, but they don't really stick together at school." Ashton explained. His eyes flickered from side to side as he told me, so I suspected that he was lying to me. I decided not to say anything, though.

"Plus, it bores him and he just hates being here." Calum added. I nodded, looking back down at my turkey sandwich.

The rest of the day dragged on as we all anticipated the weekend, two days of sleep and freedom for me. Except for the small amount of homework I had been given, I had nothing else to do.

Unfortunately, as soon as I began to look forward to the comfort of my bed, Ashton cleared his throat.

"Luke, are you busy this weekend?" He asked. Yes.

"No." I replied. Whatever he wanted me to do, I'd probably actually enjoy it. That's usually how it was, but I could never seem to gather enough motivation to actually go.

"Great. Come to a party with us tonight. Don't worry, it won't get too wild." Ashton smiled at me. A party? Why did they want me to go to a party?