*~Ambition and Love Wearing Boxing Gloves~*

~ N I N E ~

Powerball

Just yesterday Y/n got so upset a blew a light bulb... and blew chunks.
She was getting kind of tired of telling herself to calm down.

Especially right now, when she couldn't get her locker open.
Not just because it was stuck again, or these lockers were old and rusty as crap.

It's because for some unfathomable reason, the kids at this school couldn't help themselves.
She wasn't even that weird, but they teased Y/n relentlessly.

But no, Y/n was standing there staring at her locker in frustration.
Cause now there were 3 additional locks through the holes in the side of the door.

Her arms were crossed and her glare was withering.
How the fuck did they jam it open enough to do that?

She could ask the janitor for help, but that would be really awkward and she wasn't even sure if he could do anything.

But-
"Hey what's... up?" The hesitant voice behind her trailed off.
When she turned around, Michael was staring at her locker and gripping his backpack strap.

"Uh... how'd they do that?"
Y/n rolled her eyes and turned back around, glaring at her locker.
"Beats me."

It was the end of the day and she kind of needed half the things in her locker to do her homework.
God, she hated this. Kids at this school already hated her and she'd only been there...

The more she inner monologued, she noticed her locks on the door vibrating.
Soon they were swinging back and forth.

"Let's go." She blurted, swirling around to grab Michael's arm and get him out of there as fast as possible.

She didn't need one of her only friends thinking she was a freak too.
Otherwise she might have told him.

"Uh... to- uh where?" He stuttered, stumbling along behind Y/n.
"Doesn't matter." She sighed, letting go of his arm and beelining for the door at the end of the busy hall. "I just don't want to be here anym-"

Mid sentence, she was caught by an obstacle at her shins, making her trip and fall face first into the linoleum.
The floor hit her face, not vise versa, and hurt like a motherfucker.

"Ow." She groaned, peeling herself up from the cold floor just in time to see 3 chuckling silhouettes striding away from her.
She was positive one of them had tripped her.

"Hey, are you okay?" Michael leaned down and held her arm, helping her up from the floor.
Y/n's head was spinning as she glared harder at the guys making their way to the student parking lot door.

She barely registered Michael voice through her throbbing head.
"Whoa your nose is bleeding..."

The spinning figures got clearer and clearer, till one of them dropped to the floor and slid back.
Not by much, but enough to be frightening.

Enough to make Y/n flinch with fright.
Part of her was hoping if she glared enough, something would happen.

But a kid actually gets thrown to the floor, it made her less enthusiastic.

"Y/n." Michael gained her attention again, and the whooshing heartbeat in her head stopped.
"...yah?"

"Come on, let's go to my car." He led her by her arm, and she reached up to touch her nose.
It was swelling and running red.

*~*~*~*~*~

"Okay... alright you're good." Michael handed Y/n the rest of the napkins, letting his hold on the head go.

Her head was tilted up and most of the brown restaurant napkins were now stained red.
"Thanks." She mumbled, but it was extremely nasally.

Michael smiled and nodded.
"So... why'd they do all that?"
Y/n snorted and sniffled.

"What?"
Michael reached down to pull the lever on his seat, and rest the back of it down.
"Okay like... people messed with me because I was a nerd. But you, you're..."

He trailed off, and Y/n glanced at him.
When she did, he blinked and came back from his distracted gaze.
He cleared his throat, "I just mean like... you're not anything like I was."

She smirked and pulled the napkins away from her face, sniffling loudly.
"Yah, care to tell them that?"

He laughed and laid all the way down, turning his head and glancing at her again. For a few seconds longer than she was comfortable with.
Y/n squinted. "Stop staring at me."
"Sorry."

He looked up at the ceiling, but kept grinning like his life depended on it.
Something about everything, made him connect with her in a new way.

Like he understood Y/n a little bit more now that he knew how she was treated.
It wasn't fair, and he knew what that was like.

"You ever wonder if life is a like a lottery?" Y/n asked.
"Like some people just get it while the getting is good from the second they're alive... and others..."

She gestured to the two of them.
Michael nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking."

He turned on his side and rested his head on his hand.
"But like... in different spots. Like cool people, they're just cool from the moment they more born-"

"Obviously."
"Right. But I won the parent lottery. My moms love me and support me in everything I do. But I'd be willing to bet money a lot of those popular assholes have shit parents."

Y/n staring into space.
"Almost makes you feel bad for them..."
"I guess," Michael shrugged. "What about you, what money shot did you shoot?"

She blinked, her eyes resting on the dashboard in front of him.
I won the superhuman lottery.
"My uncles are pretty cool too."

Michael smiled.
"Barry is an awesome writer, plus he's kind and watches Sci-Fi movies with me. Scott is weird and I don't always love spending time with him, but he cares about me."

She thought hard about him, barely able to scrape up an acceptable answer about Scott. She hated him... but she loved him no matter what.
It was confusing.

Michael watched the gears clicking in her head, like he could read her thoughts.
Like he knew how contemplative her thought-process was at that moment.

He would've sat there and talked with her forever, but the back door swung open, startling them.

Jeremy climbed into the spot behind Michael, pushing his seat up.
He was followed closely by Christine.

"Damn dude, tell us next time you go straight to the car. We were sitting in the hall like dopes for nearly 20 minutes." He sighed.

Christine gasped at Y/n, and the bloody napkins in her lap.
"Oh my god, what happened?"

Michael started the engine, and noticed Y/n smiling at him.
"Oh you know," she sighed, "Jackpot assholes."

That made Michael laugh out loud.
And the kids in the back stare in confusion.