One of the Boys.

I wriggled around a bit as I felt someone stroking my stomach. I immediately panicked as the surroundings were not my bedroom, so I must have slept with one of Henry’s dad’s clients, or worse, his dad.
I lay rigid, just in case they’d figured out I was awake. I looked down and raised my eyebrows as I saw the familiar writing on the stroking hands, then broke into a smile as I realized it was Brendon; I didn’t need to fear.
“Good morning.” he smiled, turning me over so we could face each other. His hand moved from my stomach to my cheek, moving his thumb up and down gently.
“Hello.” I whispered. “I thought you were someone else when I woke up.”
“Who?”
“Just some random guy.” I shrugged. He kissed my nose, held me close, then got out of bed.
“I’ve already packed for us.” he nodded, pulling on a new pair of jeans and doing them up. “All you have to do is get in the car, then we go to school. Well, you have to get dressed and do whatever you do, but that’s it. Everything else I have done.”
I sat up, rubbing my eyes, smiling at him. “Brendon, I love you.”
He grinned, doing up a flannel shirt. “I love you too, sweetie.”

It wasn’t long before we were both dressed, washed, and in my case, make-upped. We cleaned up the little mess we had made in the cabin, said goodbye to the Lagoon and returned to reception, giving them the key back. The original woman thanked Brendon, smiling at him for that little bit too long. We quickly scarpered and got into the car, heading back home to school.
On the route back, we stopped at IHOP and shared some chocolate chip pancakes, which were my treat. Brendon was over the moon to see me eating them, to be eating properly, and honestly I probably wouldn’t be eating at all if it weren’t for him. He was happy for me, so genuinely, and he managed to do it in a way that didn’t seem condescending. That boy had some serious skill.
It didn’t take much longer to get to school, pulling in to the parking lot. We left most of our stuff in the car, and Brendon clutched my hand, as if to ask me whether I was ready or not. I simply nodded and he smiled, reassuring me by giving my hand a final squeeze before we left the safe surroundings of the car.

No turning back now.

Three and a half weeks, it’d been. That’s how long it had been since I’d come to school, or was in a state that meant I could come in without collapsing.
“I’ll be here for you.” he whispered as he slung his bag over his shoulder, his left arm around my own shoulders. “Any chaos/mess we go home, yeah?”
I gulped and nodded. “Thank you.”
“Please, don’t worry. Leave the worrying down to me.”
I smiled and fell victim to his charm, trying to forget all worries I had. People wouldn’t know what had happened to me, would they? They probably wouldn’t even have noticed that I’d disappeared. Yeah, this would all be fine, there was nothing to worry about.

The bell rang shrilly, waking me from my perfect day-dream. Brendon kissed my forehead and mumbled something about me texting him, then he disappeared off to his math class whilst I went to mine. It didn’t feel like my school. I knew my school, inside and out, the time table by heart and the name of every person in the grade, but here, I just floated on by, unsure of everything.

“Ahh, Miss Graziella, good to see you back. Have you got better from the flu?” asked Mrs. Sampson.
Flu? I never had the flu.
“Mr. Urie said you had the flu, a very strong case of it in fact, and wouldn’t be in for a while.”
“Oh, yes, I am better now thank you.” I smiled, catching on to why I had had the flu. Brendon had covered for me; of course. I need to thank him for that later.

The first few lessons passed quickly, and no one seemed to acknowledge me, which I was eternally greatful for. I really didn’t feel up to talking, or the questioning that I knew was bound to happen at lunch. Flu would be a perfect excuse for most people, but they knew that even if I was on death’s door, I would be at school.

“It’s just a cold, I’ll get over it.” I’d say. Fuck, I wish I was more of a wuss now.

“You, you’re eating with me outside.” said Brendon sternly, breaking out into a smile. “Come on, it’s beautiful outside, and I know you don’t want to have to face all the comments inside.”
“Wait, it’s lunch time?”
He frowned at me, stopping in his tracks and placing his hands on my hips. He looked worried and bit his bottom lip.
“How much have you eaten today?”
“What you saw me eat at IHOP.”
“Yeah, you did eat a good amount there. Hmm.” he paused. “You’ve been really dazed all day. It can’t be lack of sleep because you slept for hours and hours last night. Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Not that I can think of.”
“Em, anything, anything at all. If it’s drugs, or if you think you could be pregnant, or-”
“Whoa, back up, how could I be pregnant?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“People are staring, you’re shouting Em.”
“I don’t care, Brendon! What are you accusing me of?”
“I’m not accusing you of anything.” he said calmly. “It’s only a possibility. You’ve not been yourself recently, and if I’m honest, it’s scaring me. Where did the old you go, huh? The one who used to call me bastard and really not give a damn about what anyone thought? I know you say it now, but I can see that it’s not true. I fell in love with the Emma who used to let me make lame remarks about everything and let me be a guy. Can you remember when we went camping that one time? You told me to never change, not for anyone, because I was ‘so fucking awesome, you bastard.’ Well I have changed, alright? I’m tip-toeing around you’re precious little soul, being gushy and love-sick for you. I’m trying my hardest here, and all you’re doing is acting like a diva!”
“Bren, I-”
“No! I’m not finished!” he shouted at me, angry. He’d never been properly angry at me before. “You’re just like the rest of them now! You used to be my best friend, Em! What happened to that? And we’d go skating and make asses of ourselves, but it didn’t matter because we were happy! You’re too bloody self conscious now, and I just don’t know what to do anymore. I should have said something.” he breathed, mumbling the last sentence. “I should have told you how beautiful you were before you went and changed.”
“You… you said you liked my look.”
“It’s not that, Ezme. You changed everything. When you threw out those old Metallica shirts you threw out my Emma. You’d be a douche sometimes, but I kinda liked that, because it was all in a jesty way and, y’know, you were cool. Now you’re… well. You’re the atypical girl.” he shrugged.
“Brendon.” I whispered, my face now sheet white.
“Let me think some things over.” he nodded. “I’ll see you around. And this is not us breaking up, just so you know.”
I nodded back. He went in to give my cheek a kiss, but recoiled and placed his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it lightly then walking away.

I need to get home.