He's Real c.h.

Six: notepad

The next day, Maely and Calum joined Carson at lunch. Carson smiled as they sat down.

"Guys, this is my dorm-mate, Maely." Carson said.

"And Calum." Maely added.

Carson quirked an eyebrow and so did her friends.

Maely gestured to Calum and he waved.

The boy with red hair wrote something and gave it to the person sitting next to him.

He read it, "Michael says, 'she's schizophrenic.'"

Maely liked the boy's Australian accent. Now that she thought about it, Carson had a little bit of an accent, too.

"What does that mean?" Maely couldn't ignore the word again.

They exchanged uneasy looks.

"It's normal, Maels." Calum said.

"Are you sure? They say it like its a bad thing." Maely asked.

"I promise." Calum said. He rubbed her back soothingly and she smiled.

Maely turned back to Carson and her friends.

"Uh...anyway. Maely, this is Luke, Ashton, and Michael." Carson said. Maely smiled awkwardly at them.

Luke took out two cigarette from his back pocket, handing one to Carson.

Ashton extended his hand and Maely took it. "Nice to meet you." Maely said.

She noticed how sweaty Ashton's palms were, or maybe that was hers. She really hoped they would like her.

Michael stared at her through beautiful, but sad, eyes. "Hello." she said to him. He just waved and went back to his pizza.

"He's mute." Ashton said with melancholy.

There was a long pause in which Maely made small talk with Calum. She wasn't sure if she liked Carson's friends.

Maely felt someone tap her shoulder, and turned around. It was Michael, he held up his little notepad. It said, "How'd you end up here?"

Maely couldn't help but smile a little.

"Tourette's." she replied, scratching her arm.

"What's that?" Luke asked, tapping his cigarette. His voice was very deep and soothing. Maely liked it very much.

"A tic di--shit--disorder." Maely explained, unaware she had just ticked.

Ashton looked a little taken aback. This innocent looking girl just cursed in the middle of her sentence. It puzzled him, until he realized that was her tic.

"Like that?" Luke asked.

"Like what?"

"You just said--"

"Shit." Maely ticked again.

"Yeah, that." Luke said.

"What are you talking about?!" Maely asked.

She looked around at them.

Michael hurriedly scribbled something on his notepad and handed it to Ashton.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Ashton said to him.

Maely turned to Calum, "What are they talking about, Calum?!"

Calum hugged her reassuringly.

"You're ticking, Maely. It's ok, don't worry about what those whack-jobs think." Calum said calmly.

"They're not whack-jobs," Maely insisted. "They're the nicest people I've ever met. Other than you of course."

Carson looked at Maely worriedly. This girl was insane, but she couldn't just leave her.

Luke put a hand on Carson's arm and her tension melted.

Maely turned back around to see so many sad faces, all directed at her.