Double M is My Man

~ 15 ~

"Zada!"

I don't have any time to react. It all happened so fast. One peaceful second, I'm casually walking down the hallway with Charlie and the next, I being attacked from behind. If I had the proper time to react, I would have flinched in fear but then I see two arms coming at me from both sides and wrapping around me in a big, teddy bear hug.

Not to mention that those arms are wearing very familiar looking Iron Man bracelets.

"Bailey," I groan out, trying my best to sound annoyed but failing badly. I have a full blown smile on my face because of this girl.

In response, Bailey squeezes me under her arms. On a normal occasion, I wouldn't have minded but seeing as my shoulder is still recovery from the gun wound, Bailey's loving hug soon became a painful bear hug.

"Ow! Ow!" I yell out and use my good arms to push Bailey's arms wide open. Thankfully, she takes the message and lets me go.

"I wasn't holding you that hard girl." Bailey teases while I continue to mumble 'ow' over and over again and gently rubbing my sore shoulder. The pain isn't irritating beyond belief anymore but sure is still sensitive to unexpected pressure. Bailey's face loses amusement when she realizes that I'm holding onto shoulder. "What did you?" She asks, concerned.

"Apparently it was a sledding accident," Charlie explains, giving me a sideways grin.

This man is a life saver. I gratefully nod my head, "it happened over winter break and still hurts sometimes."

"Does that mean I can't give my best friend hugs?"  Even though Bailey is totally crushed at the thought, I still laugh.

"Oh please! You have your girlfriend for that!" I say, making sure not to mention Chasity's name out loud, like we agreed over the phone last night.

I keep my mouth shut about who exactly Bailey is in a relationship with while Bailey never bugs me about Reece.

It's a good deal.

Charlie, first time hearing that Bailey's a lesbian, whistles in approval. "Who's the lucky lady?"

"I would tell you but she's not yet ready for Beacon High to know she's out of the closet so..." and to make a perfect finish, Bailey sticks her tongue out at Charlie who just rolls his eyes and doesn't press on the matter any further.

How come he didn't just act like that yesterday instead of pushing and pushing me to go see Reece because that sure turned out well in the end!

"You ladies ready for biology?" Charlie asks, attempting to start a conversation when the three of us go silent. 

Bailey turns to give me a bewildered look, "did he seriously just ask that?" Then, she proceeds to face Charlie so he can see her shocked expression. "When would we ever be ready for that class?"

"Then why are you taking it?"

I giggle, finding it super adorable at how cute Charlie looks with his eyebrow scrunched up and a bit of wrinkles showing on his forehead. This guy needs to me confused more often.

"If it weren't for my parents who forced me to take all three sciences, believe me, I wouldn't!" The three of us round the corner, coming into view of the biology wing. Charlie and Bailey have sprouted a heated argument about whether or not biology is a useful course but I tune them out because all my attention is zeroed in on the breathtaking guy leaning against the lockers near Mrs. Layman's biology class.

My eyes lock in with his brown ones and it's not like those wonderful romance novels where the world stops and it feels like it's just the two of us. No because I can still hear Bailey and Charlie's debate on biology like a bee buzzing right up against my ears and the students all around us making their way to class, blocking my view of Reece every now and then.