Unexpected Ways | Madwheeler

Chapter 4.

"Well that's a rare sight." Mike said gingerly, gesturing towards Max's hair. It was tied up in a loose ponytail on the back of her neck. Max blushed slightly. "Yeah well, I don't like my hair getting in my face when I study," she explained, looking down at the textbooks. "Hm... well it looks nice." Mike offered. Max smiled nervously in response before clearing her throat. "Well lets start then... so... which stuff in particular do you suck at the most?" Mike chuckled and the pair began studying.

An hour had passed until Mike decided to stop for a rest break. "You're just being lazy, Wheeler!" Max complained. "Shut up" was Mike's response, as always. Max sighed heavily, rolling her eyes. "Fine, go ask Steve for some food, you could use the energy" she said eyeballing Mike, who was clearly exhausted from completing only some of the equations. Mike quickly shot up, and grinned "what do you want?" he asked. "Just the usual" Max replied without missing a beat. "Huh" Mike said, pondering, "how often do you come here?" Max fell silent and looked at her skateboard on the floor, avoiding his gaze. "Never mind, you don't have to tell me" Mike said softly, before exiting.

Max blinked and stared at the space after him. She could feel her eyes sting and rubbed a sleeve over them forcing back the tears. She couldn't unload her shit on him, he was worried with school already and she wasn't even that close to him. She sniffled and began answering a question on the page, distracting herself from the negative thoughts that were beginning to settle in her mind.

"I'm back!" Mike announced, carrying two brown bags. "Smells good" Max responded, not glancing up from the paper. Mike sat down next to her and the two of them began studying again, this time accompanied with food. "So, when did you get so good at this?" Mike asked, through mouthful of turkey. Max winced. "Um... since the first term" Mike frowned and so Max explained, "I hate staying at my house, especially after the events of last year, you know demo-dogs and all" Mike nodded, encouraging Max to continue. "I get nightmares and shit, except when I wake up it's still sc-c-ary" she stuttered, squeezing her eyes shut. "It's the same but with Billy and... my stepdad." Max's voice was now barely audible, while she started to play with a loose thread on her sweater's sleeve. "I'm sorry" Mike said carefully. "I used to get the nightmares too, I still do" he didn't know why he told her that. He was meant to reassure her not scare her further, but to his surprise Max actually smiled. "Guess we do have common ground after all" she mused. Mike snorted and for once he actually heard Max giggle ever so slightly. He liked the sound of it, and her smile was different to the one he was used to. The smiles she'd save for Mike were the ones that invited a challenge, a verbal match but this was one genuine, natural. He liked it. And the fact that he was the reason for it made it better... Maybe they could actually be friends, he thought.

Mike had offered to accompany Max home, since he had to repay her somehow for the tutoring. Max however, protested saying that they weren't even just yet, making Mike roll his eyes playfully. "Well this is me." Max said turning towards her front yard. "Yeah" Mike said licking his lips awkwardly. Max scrunched her nose at him and was about to head towards her house until Mike decided to ask her about her hair. This resulted in him yanking her by the wrist towards him. Unfortunately Mike also managed to rip the loose thread on her sweater, exposing Max's arm.

Mike's breath hitched in his throat as he saw purple blotches splashed along it. "Fuck" Max muttered, scrambling to cover her arm with the remainder of the sleeve. "Max, wait —" Mike begun. "Save it Wheeler, you saw nothing today. Okay? Nothing." Max hissed ominously. Something in her look made Mike want to comply so he simply nodded. "Good" Max whispered tiptoeing, towards her bedroom window. Mike watched solemnly as she made her way up and quietly slip in.

There was something terrible going on and the clenching knots in Mike's stomach confirmed that. He could feel the nausea take over his body as he remembered her arm and hair. He bit his lip hard and for the first time, since the demo-dogs Michael Wheeler was terrified.