twisted - muke - the distortion trilogy 1

0.4

MICHAEL'S P.O.V.

Gordon, be nice to him! He's my friend.

I laugh at Michael's attempt to make a threat--it sounded more like a plead. I laugh even harder at the fact that Michael thinks Luke wants to be his friend.

"What's so funny, Gordon?" Luke asks cautiously, like he thinks he's going to say something wrong and set me off. Smart boy. If he says something wrong, he'll probably set me off.

"Nothing you would understand," I brush him off and untangle my hand from his, repulsed that it was still there. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him frown.

"Where's Michael?" he asks, and I can feel the rage starting to bubble inside me.

I'm right here! Luke!

"Shut up!" I shout at Michael before returning my attention to Luke. "Why do you care where Michael is?" I sneer his name. I hate his name. I hate him.

Michael whimpers.

"He's my friend," Luke says defensively.

See! He's my friend, unlike you.

"I'm your best friend," I growl at Michael, and he quiets. I turn to Luke. "Why do you care about him?"

Luke raises his eyebrows in a challenging manner. "Why do you?"

I scoff. "I don't."

"But I thought he was your best friend?" Luke tries.

I roll my eyes. "Doesn't mean a thing."

"If he's your best friend--"

Luke's voice is interrupted by my groan as a sharp pain shoots through my head.

Goddammit, Michael.

"He's not a very good best friend," I sigh, and Luke looks at me suspiciously.

"Michael?" he asks.

"Who else would it be?" I giggle.

Luke nods warily. "Okay, Michael," he says, and I giggle. I like when he says my name.

Did you like when Calum said your name?

"Stop it, Gordon," I hiss under my breath. "Go away, I'm with Luke."

"Gordon's still here?" Luke asks. He looks nervous. Gordon used to make Calum nervous, too.

I shake my head quickly, hoping to console Luke. "He's leaving, right Gordon?"

Gordon doesn't reply.

"He's gone."

"Okay, then, Michael," Luke smiles at me, and I return the smile. Luke is very pretty, with his sky-blue eyes and dimples. "Are you feeling well enough to go back to class?"

My eyes widen at the mention of the word, and I shake my head quickly. "I don't think so, Gordon likes to come to class with me." I frown. "And if we went back, people would ask questions. The teacher would ask questions."

"We could lie," Luke offers. I shake my head.

"I don't like to be asked questions," I admit. "I don't like attention."

"I guess we don't have to go back to class, then." Luke scratches the back of his head awkwardly, but I can feel my face light up, which makes Luke smile. "We can just talk, I guess."

I grab his hand excitedly, already missing the feel of our touching skin. "You're new, right?" Luke nods. "Tell me about where you moved from."

"Well," Luke begins. "It's not like I moved here from America or anything, just Perth." He moves our hands so our palms are pressed against each other, and my tiny fingers only reach halfway up his. He intertwines them. "It was nice, but I think I like it better here."

"Why's that?" I ask him.

Luke shrugs. "I didn't like my old school," he admits. "I didn't have a lot of friends."

"What?" I exclaim in disbelief. "How could people not like you?"

Luke smiles sadly. "They did," he says. "Until they found out I was gay."

My heart flutters a bit, because Luke likes boys. I'm a boy. All the same, I try to act sympathetic for Luke. "I'm sorry," I say.

He frowns at me like he thinks I'm ridiculous. "Don't be sorry. If they can't accept me for who I am, they don't deserve me."

"Is that why you moved?" I ask him. "To find people who accept you?"

"Michael--"

"Because I accept you." I smile hopefully at him.

He gives me a grateful glance, squeezing my hand slightly. "Thank you," he says. "But let's save that story for a different day, okay? The bell's about to ring."

True to Luke's words, the bell rings, and students flood into the hallway. Luke releases my hand, which makes my smile falter slightly, but the words he says next return it to my face.

"Do you want to come over after school?" he asks.

I nod enthusiastically. "Yeah, I'd love to."

"Cool," he smiles, collecting his back pack and turning towards his next class. "I'll see you then."

~

You're such an idiot, Michael.

I try to ignore the truth behind Gordon's words as I tap my pencil nervously against the side of my desk during the last class of the day. I shouldn't have agreed to hang out with Luke after school, it was so stupid of me. He might like me now, but once he spends a few hours with me, he'll realize that I'm boring and he won't want anything else to do with me.

Gordon was right. I should've left him alone. It may not be intentional of him, but he's definitely going to end up hurting me. I should've listened to Gordon.

I'm always right, you should always listen to me.

(A/N: TRIGGER WARNING?? MAYBE NOT SURE MADISON STOP READING)

I pick at one of my bracelets, thinking about all the terrible things Gordon has told me--one in particular. And he lied about it, too.

I was not lying. You just didn't go deep enough.

"I don't want to die anymore," I mumble.

But you did.

"Not anymore."

Because of Luke?

"He's not the only reason."

But he is the main one.

"Doesn't matter."

Whatever you say.

(A/N: TRIGGER OVER--IF IT WASN'T EVEN TRIGGERING I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S TRIGGERING I'M SORRY, MADISON CONTINUE READING)

The bell rings, signaling the end of the day, and my heart begins to pound. Am I supposed to find Luke now? Are we walking home together? Does he even walk home? School isn't far from our street, but it's not so close that driving is irrational.

I try to block out the moth-like swarm of thoughts in my head as I make my way out of the classroom. I don't make it far down the hall before a hand reaches out and snatches my arm. Considering no one else in the school acknowledges me--not even bullies--I know who it is immediately.

"Do you walk home?" he asks. I nod. "Can I walk with you?" I nod again, smiling.

"I should probably tell my mum that I'm going over to your house, too..." I trail off, pulling my phone out of my pocket and sending a quick text to my mum.

"All set," I turn to Luke, smiling.

"Great," he says. "Let's go."

-

A/N: i just realized how long my a/ns are and i hate that so i'm trying to be quick lol

sorry this is short i just wanted to save the part where they hang out for another chapter

also no one reads this so i'm basically apologizing to no one

and ALSO obviously self harm is a semi-contributing factor of this book i am not encouraging it or trying to glorify it (wow im such a hypocrite) BYE