twisted - muke - the distortion trilogy 1

0.5

"You don't have to hide from me," I tell him. Our faces are only a few inches apart--it's much closer than we need to be, but not nearly as close as I want to be. I hope Michael doesn't mind it. He doesn't say anything, but nods slowly. He's still burning red. "Why are you being so quiet? You weren't like this at school."

His eyes go wide, and he looks like a deer caught in the headlights. "I, um, I..." he trails off, like he's trying to come up with some excuse in his head, but I don't want an excuse. I want the truth.

"You can tell me," I insist. "I won't judge you."

Michael bites his lip--God, that's hot--and nods again. He moves a little away from me, looking down at the ground. "I was just really nervous to come over," he admits.

"Why?" I frown. "You don't have to be nervous around me, we're friends."

"It's not like I want to be nervous," Michael points out. "Anxiety's a bit of a bitch."

Michael makes dirty words sound pretty. Oh, my God, I want Michael.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I say, suddenly understanding Michael's actions a bit more. "I didn't know."

Michael nods. "I know, it's okay. I feel better now, though."

I'm sure I'm beaming. "Good."

"But I probably should be getting home," he says, standing up. "Dinner will be soon."

"You can eat with us," I offer quickly, not eager to let the lilac haired boy away from me.

"Oh." Michael scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome."

"Don't be silly," I brush him off. "Of course you aren't."

"Okay," Michael gives me a small smile. He looks bashful, and it's adorable. "I'll text my mum..." He trails off, pulling out his phone. I watch his pudgy little fingers as they type away expertly at his phone, and I wonder what they could expertly do to me.

Snap out of it, I tell myself. Michael and I are just friends, as of right now. I've only just met him, too. I can't come on too strong or I'll scare him away.

"She's cool with it," Michael says. "I think she's a bit jealous, actually." He laughs. "I guess our mums really hit it off."

"Yeah," I say. "My mum hasn't stopped talking about yours."

"I'm glad," Michael replies. "My mum hasn't really had any friends since...in a long time."

I choose to ignore Michael's abrupt change in the direction of the sentence, though I am undeniably curious. "Then I'm glad, too."

~

My mum comes home with a pizza a little while later, and I basically fangirl over Michael as he fangirls over pizza.

"It's kind of an irrational love," Michael admits, trying to hide his smile as he works on his third piece. "But I love pizza so much. Gordon always lets me eat pizza, too."

My eyes go wide, and I struggle not to choke on my food. Gordon lets Michael eat pizza? As in, there are times when Gordon won't let Michael eat?

"What do you mean?" I ask Michael carefully.

Michael shrugs. "Sometimes Gordon tells me not to eat, but he always lets me eat pizza. I think he likes pizza, too."

"Why does he tell you not to eat?"

(A/N: TRIGGER WARNING? ANOREXIA KINDA DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING PLS <3)

"So I don't get fat," Michael says nonchalantly, like he doesn't realize the problem at hand.

My heart breaks for the beautiful boy in front of me, who is now beginning his fourth slice. He doesn't deserve this level of abuse, especially considering that it's all coming from himself--assuming that Gordon is a fragment of his mind, of course.

"You aren't fat, Michael."

"That's because this is the first thing I've eaten today."

My jaw drops slightly, and I feel an actual physical pain in my chest. "Michael--"

(A/N: TRIGGER OVER)

"I'm sorry!" Michael exclaims suddenly, but I don't think he's talking to me. When I look at him, his eyes are filled with fear. He drops the slice of pizza, looking at the food like it's repulsive. "I-I should go." Michael stands up, wiping his hands off on his jeans and grabbing his backpack off of the chair next to him.

I stand up. "I'll walk you out," I offer. He doesn't respond, he just makes his way towards the door. I follow closely behind, reaching ahead to open the door for him.

"Thanks for having me," he mumbles, walking out.

"See you at school tomorrow!" I call as he makes his way to his neighboring driveway.

Michael doesn't respond with words, but with a blood curling scream.

He grabs his head in pain.

I slam the door shut.

-

A/N: wow im so happy there was no gordon until the very end of the chapter bc i hate gordon wow wow WOW am i cassie ainsworth yet oh wow lovely i hate myself goodbye