It was getting colder day by day and the fog was making it hard for Jason to drive. Michael, who still hadn't got his divers license, was getting angrier as the time passed because he knew that Jason's slow driving will make him late for his class, again.

As soon as they entered the school grounds Michael ran to his class while Jason parked his Grandpa's old car.

Mrs. Richard glared at him when he interrupted the class. His seat was taken by someone else and he didn't even roll his eyes after seeing that. The only vacant seat in class was next to someone he didn't want to see, but he had no other choice. He had to sit with Elise for the next 40 minutes.

Mrs. Richard began her lecture and gave the students a worksheet to solve in five minutes. A collective groan was heard from the class but Michael didn't mind. Calculus was the only subject he was good at.  
Michael started solving the questions and like always was very confident with what he was doing. When he raised his head after completing his worksheet he was baffled to see that Elise was also done.
For a moment he admired her skills but slowly this admiration turned into jealousy. He had always taken pride in knowing that he was the best in this class but now Elise was his rival. He saw her as a competitor and was willing to do anything to beat her.

As the bell rang, Michael asked Elise to wait for him. She, startled by the calmness in his voice, reluctantly obeyed.
"So how have you been?" Michael asked as they walked out of the classroom.
"Ah, I'm good. What about you?" She felt weird that Michael was talking to her in this friendly tone but she still answered him politely ,"Yeah, I'm good too, what about you?" He immediately realised his mistake but was too slow to amend it.
"Come to point Mike and tell me what you're here for." Elise demanded with narrowed eyes.
"Damn it's weird to talk to you." Michael muttered, "Look I know that you're hanging out with Alex and you both are going good, I  guess. He's my best friend and I don't want to see him with someone I dislike." He stood with his back straight and she couldn't stop feeling a little intimidated by him.
"So you want me to stay away? Know what? I won't—" She moved closer to him but he pushed her away saying, "No I don't want you to stop seeing him. I want to fix the thing between us... If you can stop acting weird around me, maybe Alex will be comfortable with you even when I am around. Let's just fix it, it's only for Alex."
"Ok, sounds weird, but ok." She shook hands with him and he again told her that it's all just for Alex. Elise doubted him but she also made herself believe that they were doing this for her friend, Alex.
She saw Michael ran in the other direction but suddenly he stopped. Turing around he shouted, "And for the record my name is Michael not Mike."
To this Elise just gave a small smile.

When Elise saw Alex in her next class, she told him that everything was fine between her and Michael now.
"Did Michael apologise?" Alex asked, still not believing her.
"No he didn't but we kind of agreed on not holding any grudge. You know, it's not healthy, right?" She stuttered as she tried to make up a story about her and Michael behaving normally.
"Yeah right. I told you already that Mike isn't the type of guy who would hold a grudge and I wish you could but you don't know how cool he is if you manage to get past his stay-away-from-me layer. I'm happy that you both are fine now." Alex seemed relaxed.
"Yeah and you won't have to hide the fact that you're friends with me too." Elise grinned at Alex.
"Wait how come you are allowed to call him Mike when I'm not."
Alex smacked his head on the table, looking up, he muttered, "Please don't tell me he gave you that my name is Michael speech."
"He actually did. Any reason for that?"
"There's no good reason. He just doesn't want to be called Mike. He loves his full name a bit too much."
"So why do you call him Mike?" Elise asked still not understanding.
"That's because we are best friends and I can do and say things which others are not allowed to." Alex said in a duh tone.
Nodding her head, she finally started to pay attention to the teacher who was busy teaching Biology. 

Alex had believed that Elise and Michael would never become friends and was happy to see that they're at least now not ready to slit each other's throat. Elise, on the other hand, was intrigued by Alex's comment about Michael. She had started to realise that Michael was something more than the rude and egoistic person who tried throwing her out of the class.

Michael scanned the classroom for Thomas and finally saw him sitting on the last bench. He quietly sat next to him and waited for him to realise his presence. Thomas was so absorbed in his thoughts that it took him three solid minutes to realise that Michael was sitting next to him.
"Oh hi mate, how you doing?" Thomas at last spoke.
A boy threw a letter for her girlfriend which accidentally hit Michael on his face. Before he could speak, they both came and apologised to him. He asked them to leave him alone and to not ever throw a thing in his direction again. They nodded and left giggling.
"Sorry for that, I'm doing good. What about you?" Michael turned his face towards Thomas who was again already staring at him. Before Thomas could utter a word, Mr. Antonio  made his presence known with a loud 'be silent' class and they didn't talk for the rest of the lesson.
After the bell rang, they both went to a less-crowded area of school and sat on the cold floor.
"Argh, it's cold." Thomas whined.
"Don't be a baby." Michael said and Thomas started staring at him again.
"Dude, why do you keep staring at people?" Michael finally asked.
"No, I only stare at you." Thomas replied and Michael gave him that but-why-tho look.
"You're hot." Thomas laughed. Michael rolled his eyes and said, "And the sky is blue."

They talked about their project and Thomas told him that he won't be inviting him over his place for the experiment. Michael, who now lived with an elderly couple in a small house, didn't invite him over either.
"I think you should try it at home and then tell me the results tomorrow." Michael suggested.
"Better set it off under my dad's ass." Thomas said with a grim face and a serious tone.
"You're kidding, right?" Michael felt weird and asked.
"No. I'm dead serious. I think it'd be best if I do it today." Thomas replied, still serious.
"Why is he like that?" Michael didn't know why he asked him such a question.
"Because he's a jerk and he hates me and my mom." Thomas paused.
"Honestly, I had a happy childhood. We were never short of money and my parents were a loving couple. Two years back, my father lost his job and started drinking. He would hit my mom and call her things that suit him better. We moved here six months ago. 'To start a new life' as my mom liked to say. But that man came with us and it was all the same. My mom would work day and night, he would get drunk and take his frustration out on her. I hate myself because of that, I hate that I can't help her." He was holding back tears now.
"Why don't you report your father? To a domestic violence organisation?" Michael asked.
"I can't. I've tried but I can't. I'm not brave enough, Michael." Thomas told him and immediately stood up.
"What happened?" Michael almost fell back on the ground as he was numb from sitting too long.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you all this. I'm sorry, it's just that... I can't even explain this to you now. I'm sorry." Thomas stumbled on his words. Before Michael could speak, Alex punched Thomas on his shoulder and put a half-nelson around his neck.
"Oh shit, I'm sorry." Alex was clearly embarrassed by what he did.
"I thought you were Jason." Alex had mistaken Thomas with Jason. They both had the same height and the same size. Jason came running from behind and stopped when he saw them standing there.
"Oh hi brotha, we are wearing the same jacket today." Jason punched Thomas on his chest and moved in for a hug. Thomas hugged him and ran saying goodbye to Michael.
"What was that boy doing with you?" Alex asked Michael.
"They're partners, honey. Project partners." Jason replied and Alex nodded.

They all went to canteen for lunch and Jason ran to give their order.
"I talked to her." Michael slowed down his pace.
"I know, she told me about that." Alex stopped completely to listen to him.
"You don't want to say anything to me?" Michael asked, shocked.
"Nope." Alex smirked at him.
"I know you didn't do that for me. Stop lying to yourself, dude." The last line was almost inaudible but Michael heard it. He didn't reply and they both walked to the table where Jason was frantically waving his hand.

"Why didn't you come to class today?" Michael asked Jason whose mouth was stuffed with food.
"Didn't you notice the other person missing from class too?" Jason smirked at him.
"Who? Oh. Delilah." Michael needed no more answers.
"Yes you're right. I was with Delilah in the lockers' room, for an hour." Jason whistled.
"No further details needed, please." Alex added and they ate most of their food in silence.

"Oh I almost forgot. My father is in town. He'll be coming to pick me up today. He wants to see you both." Alex said finishing his food.
"He knows about us?" Jason asked.
"Obviously, I've only two friends. He knows that." Alex answered him and Jason laughed at this.

Mr. Black was never in town, never. And maybe that was the reason, he was filthy rich. Alex told them that he came to visit them but only for such a brief period that he couldn't see any of his friends or the activities he did. When they were in primary school, he never came to see any of his performances. He talked to Alex daily but his friends had only seen him in pictures. He was strikingly similar to his son. His eyes were amber with streaks of gold around the pupil. Alex had the same fiery eyes as his father.

"I'm sorry mate, I've to leave in an hour. Need to work an extra shift. I've a class now, see you both tomorrow." Michael trotted towards the school building.
"Then that leaves you with one friend." Jason winked at Alex.
"Oh God." Alex groaned.

After their classes were over, Jason and Alex went to the parking lot. As Jason was about to get in his car, he heard someone call Alex from a distance. They both turned around to see a man in a floral shirt, shorts and flip flops.
The man came running and hugged Alex until he had to push him away. This was exactly the opposite of what Jason expected Mr. Black to look and act like.

"Hello young lad, I am Raymond Black and you?" Mr. Black moved his hand towards Jason. He shook his hand and gave him three fist pumps.
"I'm Jason Steiner. Nice to meet you, sir." Mr. Black had a distant expression on his face when Jason spoke to him. He came back to his usual self after a second and complimented Jason's car. Jason liked that man, he was nice and friendly. At that moment, he wished that he had a father like him.

As Alex left the parking lot with his father, Jason stood there staring at them till they were out of sight. He then got into his car and turned on the radio. Waving at the guards, he whooshed his car out of the parking lot and on the road he was to take now.

*******