This is not going very well. Grace is kissing Calum in front of everyone, and the only one happy about it is Grace. Luke scoffs, looking more annoyed than Michael does as he turns to look at his friends. Ashton is the only one keeping a polite smile on.
"G-Grace," Calum says, "why are you here? What about your friends?"
"I thought we could go for a walk."
Everybody in Norwest knew that that was code for making out behind the trees.
Calum gives one last helpless look to the boys before leaving. They all sigh, and Ashton shakes his head. "Why do so many people go out with people they don't like?"
Luke sits up, "Michael, you should know the answer to this question."
The statement catches him completely off-guard but still, Michael frowns, "I liked Nikki."
"You laughed when she broke up with you."
Ashton looks between the two. "Stop it." He says, and they do, returning back to slumping their shoulders and blanking their faces like it was default mode. "Luke, you weren't there. You don't know what happened."
The blond rolls his eyes, leaning a little to look at the pale boy at the end of the lunch table. "Michael, did you like Nikki?"
"Yes." He says, still guarded. "What will this do for your benefit? Help you sleep at night?"
"Did you kiss or make-out with Nikki on the day you guys broke up?" Luke smirks.
Michael gets confused, unsure as to why he's smirking about this. "No."
"Then why do you have hickeys?"
Michael – absolutely mortified – covers his collarbone, because he knew that this would happen, even though Calum reassured him that it would be fine. Luke bursts out laughing.
"Oh, man. I was kidding, but thanks for proving my point. Who've you been kissing?"
Michael has never been so thankful that Calum wasn't at the same place he was before. But then he realises where Calum actually is, and cringes.
"No one."
Ashton grins. "You're getting defensive. Somebody made out with you. This is great."
Michael feels trapped, and he has nowhere else to go and nothing else to do but lie, and pray it'll work out okay. "You know I don't make-out with people, Ash. Do you even know me? I fix computers and sleep in my spare time."
"Tell that to the hickey you admitted to." Luke giggled.
"It's a bruise, not a hickey." Michael says, sporting a red face and neck.
"What from?"
"Um, nothing." The black-haired boy says, trying to get out of it as quickly as he can.
"Michael, if you have a bruise on your collarbone, then you might want to tell us what from."
Michael covers his face. He knows he can't say he fell, because nobody falls on their collarbones. So, he does the only thing he figures would turn out okay. "I-It was Calum." He manages to get out.
"How did that happen?"
"We were just fucking around, and he accidentally punched me."
It takes Michael a while, but he eventually gets them to drop it, them semi-believing it. Calum comes back, lips swollen and red. When Ashton asks the Maori about the bruise on Michael's collarbone, Calum keeps a straight face.
