May Angels Lead You In

Jimmy dragged me out of the school compound before he relented in releasing his grip on me. Surprising enough, the others were still far behind as if to let us have our moment alone.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Jimmy hissed, causing me to take a step back from the sudden hostility.

"M-- Me?" I spluttered, not believing my ears.

I noticed him looking at me-- no, he was checking me out and I couldn't help but to blush a little. But when he shook his head and crossed his arms, I knew he was going to say something I would not like to hear.

"Look at yourself trying to go mainstream," he took a step back and put on his Raybans. "And flirting with the jocks? Are you really that low?"

I was right.

He had indeed say something I wish I did not hear from him. His words stung-- like a poisonous scorpion's sting. I had to force myself not to cry on the spot. Instead, I balled my fist, compressing the anger that was building up inside.

"Why would you care?" I spat, fury in my eyes.

Before he could answer, I quickly interrupted him. "First you save me from them and then you act like I don't exist. Jesus! I thought that maybe-- just maybe I had finally found a friend after the hell I've been through.

"And what made you think I liked coloring my hair? I hate this color on my hair. But it seems to be the only way I am able to make friends in this school!"

"Friends?" Jimmy had an amused expression but his voice was the complete opposite.

"You know what James? Stop. Just stop, okay?" Tears started forming and I blinked rapidly to stop them from rolling down my cheeks.

I saw the others had stopped a couple of feet away, making sure my conversation with Jimmy remains private.

The damned tears betrayed me as it trickled down my cheeks but I quickly raised my hand to wipe it away.

"I know that choosing a party over you is wrong and I've apologized a thousand times for it. God knows how sorry I am. And I do want to be friends with you-- but if you've not forgiven me for that one mistake, then don't save me from anything. Don't bring my hopes up only to shatter them with your cold attitude," I finished talking and saw him scrutinizing my face.

When he had nothing to reply to me with, I took it as my cue to leave. I shook my head, wiped another pair of tears rolling down my cheeks and turned to look at the others.

Everyone had an apologetic look on their faces-- all except for Zacky. He was the only one who was slightly smiling.

It wasn't a sympathetic smile though.

It was more of a triumphant smile.

I shrugged the thought away and started walking.

++++

I didn't feel like going home-- especially with Mom waiting for me by the porch. I can handle only enough for a day. Instead, I found myself sitting on a bench in Central Park, gazing into the pond a few feet away.

How could I be stupid enough to think that changing the way I look could help Jimmy forgive me. And what was that evil look on Zacky's face right after?

You're reading too much into this, Marchelle, the voice in my head scolded me.

I didn't listen to my subconsious talking. Instead, my mind started to race wildly before coming with the conclusion that maybe I shouldn't have heeded Zacky's advise.

"I saw what happened in school," a female voice that came out of nowhere made me jump from fright. I turned and saw a pale-skinned girl smiling shyly at me.

I didn't know who this strange teenage girl was, so I returned the smile and looked away-- hoping that she would just leave me alone.

"I'm Abbey," she introduced herself as she took a seat next to me and extended her hand for me to shake.

"Marchelle," I shook her hand before staring at my feet.

"Nicole will always be Nicole," Abbey rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself.

"Actually, I kind of wished Jimmy could have shut her up by hitting her back or something," she paused as though she realized the wrongness of her wish. She turned to me with a sly smile before asking, "Is that a bad thing?"

I couldn't help but to chuckle a little. I had to admit that it felt good to do so.

"No, it's not a bad thing," a new voice came out of nowhere-- only difference was that it belonged to a guy.

I turned around and saw a beautiful teenage boy about my age with messy brown hair that compliments his electric blue eyes walking towards us with three cups of frozen yoghurt. He handed one to Abbey and one to me, leaving the last cup to himself.

"My name's Alexander Michael James Thorton," he introduced himself before grinning widely. "A long name to process so I must apologize for my parents' indecisive decision to choose the 'perfect' name for me."

"Thus all those names combined," Abbey snorted along with him.

"My parents' prefer the name Michael, like the archangel-- and my friends call me Xander. However, you can call me Mikey," he extended his hand like Abbey had done a few minutes ago.

I was taken aback by his non-stop talking but I shook his hand nonetheless with a sincere smile.

"I don't usually ramble this much. I just do it when I'm nervous," Mikey coughed and took a bite off his frozen yoghurt.

"Nope, he talks all the time," Abbey disagrees before chuckling again. "But that's what I love about him."

"Thanks for the yoghurt," I tried to say.

I had no idea what I should do. It's rare to have people from school coming up to me just to talk or introduce themselves. Mikey seemed to have caught my panic form so he rested his hand on my shoulder.

"Relax, we come in peace," he joked and pointed to the cup of melting yoghurt in my hand.