Michael, secrets and worries

Isabelle and Yuna left without Maria, searching for Michael, as she was still too slow to chase after him. Besides, Maria just felt numb. Everything that was supposed to ache... didn't ache anymore, but it didn't feel right either. There was a soft pitter patter of voices that she could barely hear in the back of her mind and trying to focus on hearing them made her head hurt a little. She had heard them scream enough, but an instinct almost made her want to seek them out again. Almost. She had had enough today. Maria just wanted to go to her room, take a hot shower and a nap. There was just nothing else she could do to be helpful anyway. Or so she thought.

"Hello again."

The deep voice made Maria shiver. She wanted to turn around, but it just felt like she was a deer frozen in front of headlights. Seeing (or in her case, hearing) the danger approach, but unable to react. So, he came behind her. His breath hit Mariațs cheek as he leaned to whisper in her ear.

"I heard you were looking for me. A trade for my silence, perhaps?"

What came next surprised even her. It happened so fast, Maria barely had time to think about it. The next thing she knew, she was turning around to a very shocked Michael who had a palm shaped red mark across his face.

Tears pricked in her eyes again. And the voices... they were getting louder again.

"This is for stealing from my memories and then running away, you prick!" She heard excited shouting ring in her ears and a sense of dark satisfaction almost took her over.

He put his hand on his face, wincing. For a moment, he was quiet, before he spoke again: "...Well, that hurt. I thought you liked me?"

Maria felt something inside her shatter at that. She felt like she was drowning in warring voices and conflicted feelings all at once. After a moment of silence, she shouted:

"That was before you decided to sell me out!" She had settled on outrage. "I thought you were just a nice quirky guy, but noo, you had to be someone who cares more about money than about friends!"

His smile started to pale and he tried to say something, but Maria didn't care. She hadn't finished. An echo of what the voices had told her before with Isabelle came back to her: "Tear him down". And Michael really deserved that too. "You think I didn't notice the way people looked at you in the cafeteria?!"

Thick dark clouds started gathering above our heads, rain pouring down. Thunder rumbled. "I thought you were just an outcast, like me, in need of friendship, but no! You are just the big bully everyone avoids! I am so-"

Maria started to feel woozy. The voices felt far away now, almost as if underwater. And the world was blurring, like chalk drawings melting under a summer rain. "So..."

He shouted something, but the sound was muffled.

Then everything went black.

-------

It was comfy and warm. Maria opened her eyes, finding herself in a sterile white bed, the walls white, a small cabinet in front of her, on which were clustered plants and all sorts of colorful potions. And judging by the strong herbal smell, she was in a medical room. A face appeared from behind the corner. His messy black hair fell back behind the wall as Maria shot him a withering glare. She could faintly hear the voices, yet they still felt far away.

"You-" Maria started coughing, throat sore and dry, probably the result of her spontaneous heavy autumn rain.

The nurse came quickly and started fretting all around her. She spoon fed Maria some sort of terribly bitter green concoction and gave her some water, throwing a few spare glances at Michael. Which Maria had just noticed, was still soaking wet. After a minute or so, Maria had finally regained her voice. There were soft whispers of "Revenge" floating about, but she shook them off in exchange of curiosity. Surely Michael wouldn't have stood by her bed, soaking wet, if he didn't feel at least something... Right?

"Why are you still here?" Maria asked, her tone still a little harsh.

"You may have hit me in the face, but it was still my fault you over exhausted yourself. Couldn't leave you out in the rain, I'm not heartless."

So it was pride, not care after all. Maria sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You literally have a black market for information you steal from other people’s minds. Screw you." It really felt weird not to hear the voices shouting at this point. They were still just whispering angrily.

"Cold words for your savior." he put on his hurt face again, which had seemed oh so endearing before. Instead Maria shot him another glare.

"Speaking of which, how did you find out about what I was talking about with my friends?!" She asked, raising her voice. He put a finger up to his lips, shushing her, eyes pointing towards the exit, which Maria couldn't see. A small groan was heard from behind the wall to Maria's left. Probably another suffering student.

"How?" She whispered.

"I may have... eavesdropped." Maria was about to retort, but he put his hands up and continued. "I only did it because I needed to talk to you. Alone. And I arrived a bit before your friends left." He smirked. "You have quite the flair for the dramatic when you get mad."

"Stop." Maria's face was turning red, so she covered it with her hands. She listened to the whispers, trying to figure out how she felt. Was it anger? No. Frustration? Or maybe... she didn't finish the thought. "Just stop, okay? I don't- I don't want to deal with this too right now."

Maria took a deep breath. She needed to focus. She needed... to take her mind off of feelings.

So she asked: "Why did you want me to be alone?"

"I wanted to say I was sorry." For some reason, the simplicity of that statement left Maria speechless. And there they were again. Those little gulps of fear and giddiness swirling around her and tripping her up. No... "It's too good to be true" the voices had gained volume once more. And they were right, weren't they?

"If... if you were truly sorry, why did you do it in the first place?"

Michael's calm expression was torn to shreds by guilt.

"I- I didn't have a choice. Somebody forced my hand. Somebody I couldn't refuse."

"Liar liar" The voices taunted.

"Who?" Maria ashed.

"I can't tell you." Michael looked to the side, towards the exit. "Not here. Maybe somewhere else. Some other time."

“When?!” Maria couldn't live in another lie. She... she was drowning in the noise again and it felt like she couldn't breathe.

He took a minute to think and she used it to calm herself down.

“I guess I could tell you on Saturday, sometime in the evening. Somewhere inconspicuous… we’ll meet in the central plaza, should be bustling by then. And this information doesn’t come in free.”

"It's a scam" The voices shouted. "So what?" Maria shouted back. "I just need the truth. Whatever it takes."

“But I’ll make you a friendship discount.” Michael said, waking Maria up. He pointed towards her neck, where her chameleonite necklace was. “How about that necklace?”

Maria thought about it. It had meant a lot to her, seeing as it was a thing she had bought on her second day here. But she needed to know. So she untied it, but Michael gently stopped her.

“It really seems you don’t know how to bargain with us shady types, Maria. What if I just took it and ran off?” His crooked smile appeared again. “Keep it until Saturday evening as a guarantee.”

Maria tied it back on, thoughts rushing through her head. Nothing about his attitude right now seemed to add up. It was as if he himself didn’t know how to feel about all this. Not like she did either.

“Why did you tell me this?” She gently asked.

“We’re friends, remember? That’s what friends are for.” His smirk was gentler now. "At the very least, I hope we're still friends." He mumbled.

Maria felt my a knot in her stomach at that. Were they really friends anymore?

Maria took a moment of (relative) silence to process all of this. So much had happened in so little time.

"... Did you tell them? Everything you found out?" Maria dared to ask. She didn't dare to think about her other question anymore.

In silence, he nodded. He then bowed his head low.

"I told him everything he wanted to know. But that doesn’t mean I told him everything I knew.” He smirked at that.

"And I promise to you I won't tell anyone else what I found out from you. On one condition."

He lifted his head high, a small hopeful smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I want us to keep being friends."

He was forcing her to answer that question. Just thinking about it hurt.

“... I don't really have a choice, do I…” His smile was wiped clean off.

"Sorry, I- I didn't mean to make it sound like that. Just take some time to think, I'll see you on Saturday." He left without another word, the way he always did. Through a shadow, this time out of view.

------

For the next few days, Maria stayed at the apartment instead of staying at the dorms. Two of the four people she had met on her first day had hurt her and the other two... were in that dorm room. Maria just... didn't know who to trust anymore.

Mya was the first one to talk to her after she didn't return to the dorm room that day. After all, she was Maria's classmate.

"Are you alright? Me and Nin were worried sick when you didn't come back! I tried to call you, but you didn't answer!" She frantically shook her forearm, on which was a golden waterfall bracelet, very similar to Maria's.

"I'm sorry I scared you, Mya. I'm just... going through some stuff.." Maria answered with half a mouth.

"What kind of stuff?"

"Private stuff, Mya." Maria answered coldly. Mya looked at their classmates, as if she had only noticed them then.

"Does that mean you're going to tell me once we get back to the room?"

Maria tried to keep my voice leveled, even though she could fill the frustration bubbling up and she could hear the voices buzz. It all made her head hurt.

"No, Mya, it means I don't want to talk about it. I'm coming back to the dorm room to get some stuff today and then I'm going to stay with dad for a few days. I need some time alone right now."

Mya's eyes were now those of a sad puppy, and she walked away without another word. She did look at Maria a few more times after that, begging in silence for an answer to her question, which Maria stubbornly refused to give.

Maria saw Nin the next day at the cafeteria. Nin came over to say hi and make some small talk. Mya must have been complaining to her, over exaggerating things as she always did. A few minutes in, she gently popped the question.

"So, what's the bother? Somebody bully you?" Nin cracked her knuckles, but maintained a slight smile. The gesture was only a joke. For now.

"...I had a really bad day two days ago, Nin." And something broke inside Maria. So despite the fear that she'd be betrayed yet again… she really felt like she couldn’t hold it all in any longer.

"One of my friends betrayed me… She wanted to blackmail me into leaving one of my best friends.” Vision started to blur as tears filled her eyes. The voices miraculously shut up, only talking in hushed whispers.

“Another hurt me with dark magic... Apparently he's a big bully, but no one bothered to tell me who I was talking to! And he always seemed so nice while talking to me... He wants us to friends again, but he won't even tell me who forced him to do this to me! I am so confused, Nin... I don't know who to trust anymore." Maria looked at Nin, eyes glazed over with tears.

Nin nudged her with an elbow and even though it didn't hurt, Maria flinched.

"This is for distancing yourself from me and Mya when we could have helped you go through this, silly."

And then Nin caught Maria in her arms, hugging tightly. They stood there for a bit, her blouse slowly wetting up with tears, rubbing Maria's back as she felt like she was melting down into a pile of sticky chocolate.

"And this is for all the sorrow you had to endure alone." Nin said softly.