you felt like you didn't belong.
everyone had something, a quirk, that made them stand out from the rest.
you had nothing compared to them. yet here you were, spending everyday with them as though you were similar. maybe you were, maybe there was something keeping you from leaving.
you were good at a lot of things.
you could hide your emotions well, but you cannot decipher what others are feeling as easily. in fact, you were much better at sitting in your room and spending hours readinh if anything.
you were good at lying, like lia. you were good with numbers, like sloane.
but knowing how people are feeling? knowing what's going on inside their minds? no. that wasn't you.
there was one guy that you tried to avoid more than others.
michael.
you tended to avoid him simply because you didn't want him to know how you were feeling. not like he was able to anyways. you were always the one person michael struggled with in reading emotions.
you didn't hate michael. in fact, you genuinely liked him. like, really liked him.
but that wouldn't work, because you didn't belong there. he deserved better than somebody like you.
today was another one of those days, a day where (despite your appearance) you felt a surge of sadness wash over you.
you heard a noise behind you, judd?
no, judd more or less stomped his feet rather than walked. these footsteps sounded light.
you immediately wished you hadn't turned around, because right behind you stood michael townsend who looked as good as ever.
"ah sorry, i was just leaving." you said, trying to rush off without a second thought. but it was about time that you realized how much smarter michael was than you thought.
"you're avoiding me?" it came out of his lips like a statement more than a question, like he was so sure of himself that he didn't need to scan my face two or three times again just to make sure.
"oh townsend, i would never." you tried to make your voice sound as sarcastic as usual, but today just wasn't your day apparently.
"stop lying." he spoke sternly, and you wanted to listen to him, but you couldn't.
"i'm not."
yeah, well that's obviously a lie.
he got closer to you, too close.
"i told you to stop." he smiled, but you didn't get the same butterflies in your stomach that you usually got when looking at him.
no.
he was playing your own game.
his smile was a lie too.
you weren't sure what he was going to do next. you certainly weren't going to lie again, but that didn't mean you would actually say something.
you didn't think it would be possible for him to get closer to you, but there he was, his lips just millimetres away from yours.
you could feel his breath fan across your face, and you so desperately wanted to lean in and close what little distance there was between the two of you.
you couldn't bring yourself to do it though, so he did it for you.
it took you a while to process what was happening, that michael townsend was kissing you, and you were kissing him back.
then you realized why he did it. he was trying to get inside your head.
slowly, you could feel your walls of fake emotions crumble down. you were stripped clean of your lies, he could see the real you now.
vulnerable, scared, and head over heels for this man, you let a tear fall from your eye. he pulled away as soon as it happened, but he kept his hands cupped around your face.
wiping your tears with his thumb, he got a close look at you. "you're sad, broken. and you didn't want to tell me."
"i didn't want to be a burden." you said, laughing disappointedly. your laughs then slowly morphed into shaky sobs, and you pulled harshly away from michael. you hugged your arms to your chest and cried to yourself. but michael pulled you back almost as quickly as you left.
"it's okay," he said softly. "i've got you."
