The Fall of the Aftons

143: Michael Afton

"One tardy slip, please," Michael asked the lady who worked in his school's front office, his voice quiet so she couldn't hear how shaky it was from all of this crying. He mumbled a quick thank you when she handed him the tiny piece of paper, then quickly left the office. He took his time as he walked down the halls to his locker, his head down. It was 11:39, which meant that lunch was in eleven minutes. So once he made it to his locker, he put his backpack in his locker and grabbed his science binder, immediately slamming his locker door shut and leaving. Ever since Noah and his friends had locked him in his locker, he started closing his locker the second his hands were out of it so he couldn't risk being trapped in it again.

He started walking down the hall, his head down as he made his way to science class. He silently walked into his science classroom and handed the tardy slip to his teacher, then silently took his seat at the back of the classroom, ignoring everyone's eyes on him.

"How is he?" Simon whispered, leaning in close so Michael could hear him better.

"Dead," Michael whispered back.

"Oh. Shit," he muttered, then looked back at the teacher, unsure how else to respond to that. He didn't talk to him for the remainder of class.

When lunch came around, Michael just hid at an empty table in the quietest corner of the outside lunch area. He didn't want to be bothered by anyone. He just wanted some alone time to grieve.

But, of course, he couldn't get that alone time.

"What are you doing over here?" Noah asked, taking his normal spot to the left of Michael. "Why aren't we eating at our normal table today? Did someone hurt you again?"

Michael shook his head, quickly blinking back the tears that started to form in his eyes. "Evan's dead," he said quietly, his voice barely audible.

His statement wiped Noah's usual smile straight off his face. "I'm so sorry," he mumbled, frowning deeply.

Michael barked out a laugh, aggressively rubbing his eyes before he started crying. "For what? That I'm so selfish I killed my own brother?" He laughed as tears flowed from his eyes, laughing so he wouldn't start sobbing. "He— He let himself be j-jumpscared by my s-s-so called 'friends' every s-single day so I wouldn't get hurt. A-A-And how do I repay him? I k-killed him because I was t-too much of a damn coward to stick up to Mark!"

Noah's frown dug deeper into his cheeks. "Michael, you know that's not true. What happened to him was an accident."

He shook his head, pulling his hood over his head when he started to cry. "It i-is true! William h-hates me now because of it. Mark k-keeps glaring daggers at me when we're at work, and F-Frederick keeps trying to strangle me. And God knows what Simon or Henry will do!"

"Do... Do you want to sleep at my house tonight? To get away from your father?" Noah asked quietly, gently pulling Michael's hood down to wipe away his tears with his thumb. "You can come home with me after school. Then you can sleep in my room and borrow some of my clothes—just like the last time you slept over at my house."

"Are you sure your dad will allow it? I-I-It's a school night, and I don't want to cause any problems for your—"

"You won't cause any problems," Noah assured him, laughing softly. "And he'll be fine with it. He knows how iffy your relationship with your father can be. Besides, Katie Ann is always bringing friends over, so we're all used to it."

Michael sniffled softly, rubbing his eyes. "Thank you," he said quietly, offering a weak smile.