fortuity - mgc

thirteen

michael didn't show up to school the next day, which left lily alone in his seat. he hadn't responded to anybody's text messages. like he just up and ghosted them all. michael sat in his room, watching every message pop onto his phone.

where are you? from lily.

mike answer us. from sydney.

everything okay? from luke.

multiple other messages were displayed, but he ignored them all. michael had been sat on his bed, thinking about yesterday. he was so oblivious to obvious signs it pained everybody. he thought about lily being awake while they talked about her, thought about how she must've hated him for even thinking she'd be his girlfriend.

he was snapped into reality as his phone buzzed, luke was calling.

"hello?" michael spoke, holding the phone to his ear. "mike! oh my god man, we've been worried about you. where are you is everything alright?" luke spoke quickly, he almost couldn't understand him. "woah woah, yeah im fine luke." michael was almost monotone, he could hear luke sigh of relief through the phone,

"why aren't you here?" questioned luke, michael paused to think. apparently for too long. "this isn't about yesterday is it?" he asked, almost in disbelief.

"listen i'm fine. you can't skip whatever class you're in, go back." he ended the call before luke even got a chance to respond. michael laid back onto his bed, he had no idea what to think. lily could've hated him, she could have been upset with him for even considering her to be his girlfriend. but somewhere in his mind, he was trying to tell himself he was wrong.

lily skipped every class. sat in the bathroom with the window open so she'd get good reception. just staring at her phone. she didn't want to text him for fear of being too annoying trying to get an answer, so she waited for him to text her. which he never did.

when the final bell rang, she was the first out to the buses, first to sit, putting her headphones in, and staring out the window all the way to her house. luke and sydney tried getting her attention a few times but to no avail.

keeping her head down as she walked down the aisle and off the bus, she concealed a few tears from falling. all of them watched her walk inside, in complete silence. they didn't know what to say, how to say it, or what to do.

they simply just, sat with each other until they eventually all got off. in silence. erin debated calling her, or even going over, but she shut the idea down. maybe lily just wanted space.

sydney was not thinking the same way. she dragged luke, calum, and ashton all to michaels place. michael looked half asleep when he opened the door, "upstairs, come on." sydney ordered, walking to his room. michael was on his bed, the other three sat on the floor, and sydney stood. "alright, talk. what the fuck is wrong."

she had her arms folded across her chest, staring at him. "nothing! i said i was fine!" michael retorted, scoffing at her. "no, you're a fucking liar michael. you dont act this way, ever." sydney spat, walking closer to him. all three boys looked at each other, the slightest hint of fear in their eyes. when sydney got this way, she was rightfully feared of.

"i'm just thinking a lot! alright? god can i not stress about something!" michael yelled, standing up in front of her, basically towering over her. calum straightened up, ready to pull sydney back. "then what is stressing you out so bad? we're your friends dude, just tell us." michael sighed, sitting back down.

if there was something he didn't want to talk about with his best friends, it was this. it was his love life.

ashton and luke shared the same look with each other. "it's about lily, isn't it." ashton spoke up, with clear determination to get an answer out of him. michael glared his way, flipping him off. "ha! so it is!" luke clapped, standing up next to sydney. sydney was confused, so if he's thinking about her, why was she crying? "did you say something to her?" sydney questioned, michael shot his head up, "what? no, i only answered luke's one call today, i didn't talk to anybody." he saw the clear confusion on her face. "why? what happened did someone say something to her?" sydney slightly smiled at the worry he had for her.

calum shook his head, deciding he'd pop in on this conversation now. "nah man, she just was really quiet today and we thought she was crying when she got off the bus." michael felt his heart shatter. "oh." that's all he said.

oh.

ashton walked over to him, "i think you might want to call her. or at least let her know you're alive." he spoke kind of quietly. michael nodded. he would do that when they all left.

erin and lily had been on the phone for about two hours, erin sat and listened while lily panicked about everything. as well as cried. "do you think i did - oh god." lily cut herself off, "what? you can't just say oh god and go quiet!" she protested, lily picked up her phone, "i'll call you later, love you!" erin went to respond but was cut off the call ending. "what the fuck?" she spoke aloud, setting her phone down, entirely confused.