It's Not Her //Boyf Reinds//

Chapter Four

Michael pretended not to notice how Jeremy started avoiding him, at least not after the first week.

He pretended not to notice how him and Christine grew closer, that the Popular Kids were inviting him to their parties and activities, sitting at their table.

He definitely pretended not to notice how Brooke's replacement, Kookie, stole glances at his Player Two.

" Mikey, drilling a hole in her head isn't going to get Jeremy to talk to you," Brooke sighed, taking a sip from her pink lemonade slushy.

A grunt left the boy's mouth, causing Brooke to roll her eyes. She absentmindedly picked at a loose tread on a patch on the beanie that lay on her lap. Michael had taken her to where he got his patches. He had paid for the patch, the lesbian flag. The blonde had sewn it on her favorite beanie, which was plain black.

The following day, a ghost plush from Pac-man and brownies were on his desk in his first class, along with a paper with a smiley face drawn on it.
Michael had told Brooke she did not have to pay him back, but who was he to deny her? He could not resist her puppy dog eyes.

She had sewn the ghost and baked the brownies herself. The ghost was absolutely adorable, and the brownies were so delicious, that almost were better than his mother's.

Him and Brooke had also been hanging out with each other every week. They were quickly becoming close friends, and they wondered why they had not spoken before.

Because you cared more about your status and Chloe than anything else, he had thought.

They made flower crowns, braided each others hair, baked cookies, built pillow forts, and much more. Brooke was starting to become his new Jeremy, a replacement, just like Kookie was with Chloe.

Jeremy finally saw that you were nothing. He knows you're just a low-life trying to cruise by until college. He finally found better.

Michael refused to accept that, though. He refused to accept that his Jeremy was leaving him without saying goodbye.

Michael took a raspberry muffin from the container that Brooke brought, nibbling on it as he glanced over at Jeremy.

His best friend was talking to Kookie, who was leaning more toward Jeremy every second. A pang of sadness and jealousy went off in Michael.

Why does Kookie, a girl who's only known him for a couple weeks, get to talk to him? Why not me? His best friend of twelve years? What did I do wrong?

He turned away, finishing off his muffin. The bell rang at that moment, cueing the room packed full of high schoolers to leave. Brooke grabbed the container, putting it in her bag. She lifted Michael's bag up and gave it to him, picking up her own and slinging it over her shoulder. She rose from her seat, dusting off any stray crumbs from their lunch, Michael following suit. She slipped her beanie on, her eyes dulling a little.

" Pinkberry after school?" She asked with a sly smile.

" Pinkberry after school." Michael repeated, a smile also on his face.

He knew she only wanted to go to the frozen yogurt place to see if Chloe was there. She wanted to show her she could survive without her.

He knew she could not.

The two took a hold of each other's hand, walking out of the cafeteria and into the hallway of hormonal teenagers.

They walked at a fast pace, wanting to be rid of their fellow peers as fast as possible. Michael squeezed Brooke's hand and pulled her closer to him, watching her eyes fill with fear. They both hated the hallway, people tripped them, called them horrible names.