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Chapter Fourteen

Another update!! I'm so happy with myself.

I'm back at uni next week, but hopefully I can update again before I go back.

***

Michael was dreading going to school.

He laid in bed for as long as he dared to after his alarm had gone off before coming to the conclusion that he couldn't avoid it forever, and he dragged himself out from the comfort and safety of his duvet. He didn't bother trying to make himself look good; today, he just wanted to blend in with the school crowd, be another faceless person in the halls.

Too bad things never seemed to go to plan for him.

***

It was like time stopped when Michael stepped into Norwest Christian College.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at him. It was like his first day all over again, though a lot more different. They were all staring at him with new eyes, looking at him differently now they knew exactly who he was. Michael looked down at his feet as he began to make the trip towards his locker.

You could have heard a pin drop. No one moved, no one talked. No one did anything but watch him, and that's what made Michael nervous. He had expected some hostility, some people trying to suck up to him. He had hoped for ignorance. Not this... This complete silence, with everyone watching.

Michael was relieved when the bell finally rung for first period. He couldn't get to class fast enough.

***

Michael had to take a deep breath before he reached out a shaky hand to open the door to his Music class.

Ashton, Luke and Calum were there despite Michael's late night pleas for them to ditch today. However, they had their bags sitting on the extra chairs around their table, and their message couldn't be more clearer; you can't sit with us. Michael averted his eyes to the other group in class, the popular group, who were beckoning for him to sit with them - the suck ups.

Michael ignored both groups and sat in the back by himself, away from everybody. He did nothing for the majority of the period but play games on his phone since they were meant to be doing group work, and he didn't have a group. Not anymore.

He kept stealing glances at them, and when he saw Ashton bring out the project folder, he felt anger suddenly rising in him. He quickly supressed it, knowing it was no one's fault but his own therefore he had no one to blame but himself. But damn, did it hurt.

He had helped write that song. To him, it symbolised the first time he had ever felt part of a group, that people liked him for him. Now everything was broken, shattered into pieces, and Michael didn't know how to fix it, to get everything back to the way it was. He blinked hard, holding back tears as he looked down at his unopened notebook.

He stared at it for a while before opening it and turning to a blank page.

***

Lunch was when everything went downhill.

Michael supposed it was because it had finally sunk in that he was filthy rich.

At first, it wasn't so bad. He had people coming up to him and asking if he could donate to their clubs to get equipment fixed, or get new uniforms. But then he was suddenly being asked by everyone to be their friend, and it was too much.

It brought back memories of his last school and how people treated him then. Now it was going the exact same way in this new school.

People had been nice to him because he was new and shy and hung out with the popular non-popular trio. Now everyone wanted to be his friend because they actually knew about him when they hadn't cared to get to know him before. Even Josh, the jock he had sassed on his first day here, was wanting to 'hang out' with him tomorrow night.

Michael left after that because this time, he knew the truth; no one actually wanted to be his friend, they just wanted his money.

***

The next day was even worse.

People started shoving him around because he had refused to talk to anybody and refused their offers to be his friend.

Michael could just be walking in the halls, head down, when all of a sudden he'd be shoved into the lockers, or tripped over someone's foot on the way to his seat in class, making him drop all his books and becoming the laughing stock.

At one point during the day, he was even shoved into a storage cupboard which was locked after him. He had spent half the period shouting for help, and the other half crying and wondering why he had to be born to a wealthy couple (which made him guilty later because he loves his parents to bits).

Michael was finally discovered and let out by the janitor halfway through lunch. He thought everyone will have calmed down by then because they would all be too busy eating or making out with their girlfriend or boyfriend.

He was wrong.

Carrying his tray of food consisting of a bowl of soup and a pizza slice, and on his way to an empty table, someone decided it would be funny to upend his entire tray.

On him.

In front of half the school.

There was a moment of silence in which Michael stood in shock before it was broken by some snickering that ended in the majority of the cafeteria bursting into laughter.

Tears spilled down his cheeks as he fled the scene, the laughter echoing in his mind, haunting him like a ghost, long after he had reached home and ditched the rest of his classes.

***

Michael didn't show up for school on Wednesday.