suddenly | muke

chapter 1

january 6th

it had been a few days since calum met luke, but the way michael saw it was the day his best friend suddenly forgot he existed. now, it was the first day of school back from winter break, and michael sat in his math class earlier than usual. the first bell wasn't going to ring for another ten minutes, and usually he would be running in last minute with calum.

today was different.

michael nearly snapped his pen at the thought of what happened the night before.

-

"so, cal, we're going to the cafe before school, right?"

"oh, um ..."

michael impatiently waited for his friend on the other line to speak. "um...?"

"mikey, i can't. luke needs help getting around the school tomorrow. it's his first day..."

michael swore his blood pressure rose at the mention of that asshole blonde dude's name. he took a minute to breathe. "whatever, calum. he's, what, fourteen-"

"thirteen. he's a little bit ahead for his age-"

"look, i don't care. point is he can find his way around the school just fine. if i can do it, he can."

he heard calum sigh sharply. "i'll talk to you tomorrow... you know, when you decide to stop being a god damn drama queen. you've never even seen luke!" and with that, the line went dead.

michael let out a shout of anger, slamming his phone on the table as he ignored his mom shouting back to keep it down.

-

michael refused to let it get to him though. he should know better than anyone that calum was typically a grump and a jerk to people, but for some reason it especially bothered him this time.

time passed quickly, as told by the sudden blaring of the warning bell. michael raised his brows in confusion when calum's usual spot next to him was still empty. where the hell was he!?

as the teacher was about to take roll, calum ran inside. michael smiled a little, but quickly frowned as that stupid blonde kid followed close behind. the teacher turned to look at the two, glaring at calum first. "almost late on your first day back? hood, go sit down."

"whatever, mrs. allen." he shot back, earning a few giggles from the other students. "i was just showing the new guy around."

mrs. allen looked surprised, lips parted slightly. "you? doing something nice for once? i'm impressed, hood. ... and you must be luke hemmings. why don't you introduce yourself to the-"

"oh, um, he doesn't speak much." calum interrupted, and michael nearly cringed at the sight of luke. he had watched the blonde boy ball his fists into sweater paws, covering his mouth with one of his hands and wrapping his other hand around himself protectively. god, what a loser. why would calum want to hang out with some-

did he just.

oh hell no.

michael's eyes darted to the seat next to him. calum's seat.

except calum wasn't there. luke was there, and calum was behind him. michael felt his pencil snap in his hands.

"okay, we're starting off the year with review... michael, why don't you work with luke? i'm not sure how familiar you are with pythagorean theorem, but michael is very good at it." mrs. allen spoke kindly, too kindly, and michael wondered why everyone was being so nice to this guy!