You can Bet on Me

Part 15 ~ Misunderstanding

Maddison
I quickly put the small, warm container with my freshly baked, homemade recipe, of lemon grass and taro scones into Michael's locker and locked it. I had been experimenting with different flavours of scones for a while now, and all my successful experiments I gave to Michael to be taste tester (of course, I had tasted my own scones first to make sure they weren't like, poisonous). As I turned around, I saw Michael approaching with his friends, as usual, still far off down the hallway.
My heart did a funny little spin and I wondered why. What did I feel for him? Hatred? Was my hatred really that deep that my heart even jumped when I saw him?
I shook the thought out of my head and decided to go and say hi, but before I could, a pretty girl with dazzling blonde hair that I've never seen before approached him. She was wearing our school uniform, but I didn't remember seeing her anywhere. I didn't bother worrying about it when she started flirting with him – he always shut girls like her down. Yet I couldn't help but notice – he didn't brush her off when she started flirting. His eyes were solid but filled with a look that I couldn't recognize. My heart swayed – I felt something painful that squeezed my heart. It hurt. I didn't know why, but it hurt.
All of a sudden, I didn't want to go over to Michael – wanted to curl up into a ball and hide forever until the day I died. My heart twinged painfully as the girl put her hand on his chest and my heart squeezed even tighter when he didn't push her off. I ran off without looking back, hoping that Michael didn't see me yet.
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Michael
I called out her name, but she kept on walking quickly. Maddison was... unhappy. I could feel it, but why? A part of me wanted to make her feel happy forever and ever, and I wanted to be the one to make her feel like that.
Sarah clung onto me as if I would fall over or get carried away by the wind if she let go and kept talking to me while batting her long, fake lashes. I had no idea what I was supposed to feel – I used to feel thrilled at her touch; at her being close, but I felt nothing. Something had changed – I could feel it.
"Sorry," I said as I quickly pushed Sarah off to go after Maddison. Maddison may not have been an incredibly athletic person, but she walked fast, and was so far ahead that I had to half jog to reach her. I grabbed her wrist gently and she turned around, wincing. I immediately pulled my hand away from her, thinking that I had hurt her. Yet I couldn't help but thinking – her arm was so warm and small and fragile that I felt I would snap it in half if I squeezed too hard.
"Sorry," I said quickly, realising that ever since Maddison was here, I apologised more often. Why was that? I didn't know myself.
"It's okay, it wasn't because of that." She replied. "I've got a class I've got to get to. Uh, sorry. I've got to go."
I nodded dumbly. "Actually, I was wondering – why didn't you hear me calling after you? Or like, replied?" I knew that my words came across as harsh or rude, but I really wanted to – even desperate to, which I never was – to know why. To know the answer.
"I didn't hear you," she said, looking past me. I wanted to ask more, but nothing came out of my mouth. I cursed myself internally as she turned away and kept on her quick walking pace almost as if... she was trying to get away from me.
For the rest of the day, she avoided me. I sometimes saw her in the hallway, but before I could call out, she was gone, absorbed into the crowd or turning away to walk the opposite direction. I had a sinking feeling that she was avoiding me, and that it was somehow my fault. But what did I do? I didn't remember doing anything to hurt her. Maddison avoiding me brought me down the entire day, and even Sarah picked up on it. She nagged me constantly and kept on asking the same, frustrating question: 'who's your girlfriend?'
I had made the mistake of telling her that I had a girlfriend so she should leave me alone, but apparently, she had only heard half of my sentence – that I had a girlfriend. And now she kept pestering me when all I wanted to do was to be left alone in a puddle of my own thoughts to piece them together and figure out why Maddison was mad or sad. Finally, she made me burst just after school. I was on the bleachers, sweaty and tired and drinking some water, lost in thought after playing a class sports game of soccer. When all of a sudden, Sarah appeared. It turns out that she had been a new transfer student, and she had claimed to know me so she was put in all the same classes as me.
In her white sports uniform and too-short shorts, she was beautiful, hot – even I would admit that, but my feelings about her had changed. She was no longer the one I loved – I wondered if that had something to do with Maddison. I didn't know when it changed – it just... did.
"Sooo," she said suggestively. "Who's your girlfriend?"
"I'm not telling you," I replied gruffly. "And get lost."
"Someone's in a bad mood," she giggled. Her giggle wasn't like jingling bells as I had once described it and remembered it as – it sounded more... fake. Maddison's laugh was always genuine and she had a sparkle in her eyes every time. But Sarah? Her laugh was just so much faker. High pitched and painful to listen to, but I could listen to Maddison's giggle or laugh on repeat for forever.
I didn't give her a reply and grunted.
"Come on, Mikey. You know you want me back," she smiled a plasticky smile.
"No, I don't." I hissed. "And don't call me that."
"When did you become such a party pooper, Mikey?" she giggled again. She kept talking to me when it was clear I didn't want anything to do with her. Finally, I snapped.
"Look," I growled, turning to face her. "What do you want from me? You were the evil snake that dumped me and now, suddenly, you want me back? Why?"
"Because," she flicked her fake-nailed fingers. "That college guy, you know, the guy I dumped you for, turned out to be only half as rich and charming as you." I was disgusted at how she was so shameless about her intentions. "So, now I'm here, to reclaim who's rightfully mine."
"You think I'm rightfully yours? You really are messed up," I almost laughed. "I've got a better girlfriend now – better than you ever was or ever could be."
"Then tell me – who exactly is this 'better-than-me' girlfriend?" she said, putting quotations around 'better-than-me'.
"Maddison," and that's when I made the mistake to tell her. She had just been so frustrating. So annoying. Such a gold-digger. Such a bitch that I wanted nothing to do with, and even though I made that clear, she still pressed me about things and getting back together.
"Oh, so that's her name," Sarah flicked her fingers. "You finally decided to tell me. And why is that? Mr Tough Guy decided that he's going to dump her and get back together with me?"
"No," I growled gruffly. Sarah smirked. I turned to her. "Look, leave me alone already." I got up to leave, but that's when she grabbed my shirt and kissed me.
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