{Mikhail}

"You're not going to explain who those people in the morning were and how you knew them?" Dan asked, accusingly. "Trying to keep all of them to yourself or something? I didn't even know you hung out with people like them." We were finally in our last class of the day so it was pretty rowdy inside the classroom with people talking over one another.

"What?" I asked, baffled. "Not even close. I just don't want either you or Dylan hanging around them." I rubbed my eyes gently and looked at her with a stern glare, "Please tell me you aren't interested in that girl Seraphina? You always go after the bad girls and get your heart stomped on."

Dan scoffed lightly, "I've learned my lesson. There's no harm in checking her out, right?" She said with a mischievous smile that contradicted her words. "How old do you think she is?"

I sighed irritably and said, "Does it matter? She's older than you. Don't go around looking for her."

Dan rolled her eyes at me, "Calm down. She looks like she's still in her early twenties. I'm eighteen." She reminded me, helpfully. "Totally legal and I can't get pregnant. Score!" She said crossing her legs. She was sitting on top of her desk. She sat in front of me towards the back corner, near the windows.

"Dani-"

"It's harmless. I just checked her out. Don't get your panties in a bunch." Dan said and he as if brushing my worries away with a motion of her hand.

"I agree. It's like sex for your eyes." Dylan said coming up from behind and placed a bottled water in front on me. He sat down sideways in his seat with a smile.

"Oh God. Tell me you aren't after the minor!" I said, not realizing I had said it louder than intended.

"Shhh!" Dylan said reaching over and smacking my arm. "Can you not get me arrested? Thanks.

"You said 'sex for your eyes'." Dan spoke up with a shrug. "Sounds like something a predator would say."

"I have checked out other people before." He said matter of factly. "Besides, it's not like that with that Max kid. I just swear I've seen him before. He looked familiar."

I stared at him for a few seconds and then shook my head. "I'm going to tell you what I told Dan. Don't go near them. Seriously, they're not a good group to be around." I said hoping that would convince them.

I knew it wouldn't.

Dan is an adrenaline junky and purposely seeks out trouble. Her parents are pretty tame and normal. She's had a completely shielded childhood so now that she has a bit more freedom, she does reckless things continuously. Last year Dan started dating some guy who was in a motorcycle gang. She ran off and disappeared for nearly a month. Dylan and I had to cover for her with her parents. We said she went off to a camp with her team. We made sure we had communication with her everyday to make sure she was alright. Eventually she came back because it was getting a bit too serious when the cops were involved over an 'accident' the gang caused.

Moral of that story: Dan is an adrenaline junkie and can never say no to the dangerous types.

Dan was definitely going to try to get close to Seraphina even if I did not approve.

Dylan is a bit different. He never goes out looking for trouble but somehow it always finds him. Just last week for example. He was walking home from his club activities and saw a kid being bullied. Being the heroic type, Dylan stepped in to protect the kid. Turns out, it was a scam and they all turned on Dylan. He managed to escape with a few bruises, nothing noticeable. He was able to fight off most of them.

Moral of that story: Dylan feels the need to save everyone without looking at the bigger picture.

I was certain that now that Max had caught Dylan's interest, he wouldn't stop until he found out why he felt like he knew Max.

I looked at Dan with a raised eyebrow and she shrugged back at me. I shook my head and grabbed the bottled water from the desk. I uncapped it and drank nearly half the bottle. I was trying to keep myself awake though it proved harder than expected. I tilted my head to my right and left roughly to crack it.

"Oh, right! It's almost your birthday!" Dan said looking away from her nails and looked at me with a wide smile. Dan loved throwing parties and being surrounded by a lot of people.

I groaned softly and shook my head in disapproval. "What? No, it isn't."

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Dylan said, snapping his fingers and pointed at me, "What do you want for your birthday this year? I never know what to get for you because it's on Christmas Eve."

"Right!?" Dan agreed, "like, am I supposed to get you two presents because Christmas is the next day or do I just get you something for your birthday?" She asked shrugging her shoulders, "You never ask for anything specific either."

Dylan pouted softly, "You should be a little selfish on your birthday, you know?"

"Why would I purposely be an inconvenience to everybody just because it's my birthday?" I asked in confusion, "Thats ridiculous."

I never understood the concept of birthdays and I was always looked at weird because I never wanted a party. My parents threw a party for me every year despite my protests. They were never anything big. Just my parents, Dylan, Dan, and myself. We would celebrate the week before since my birthday landed on a holiday. On the day of, my parents would make a big deal of my birthday. With presents and singing the birthday song mixed with Christmas songs. I never hated their attitudes towards my birthday, I just didn't understand what was so special about it.

Millions of people are born and die everyday. It felt weird to celebrate my life when someone somewhere could be losing theirs. I always get scolded for my way of thinking, especially by Dylan, Dan, and my dad.

Mom was supportive. She explained that even if I didn't want to celebrate, that it was more of a celebration for both dad and her for giving birth to a healthy son. So, every year I would celebrate in some way with them.

I still wouldn't accept any presents though. Why would I want money wasted on a present when it could have been going towards the bills? Dylan and Dan always got me some sort of present. If it was too expensive I would give it back to them immediately. Expensive gifts made me uncomfortable. I didn't do anything that required for such things.

"It's because you're definitely allowed to be selfish! It's the day of your birth for God's sake, Mikhail. Learn to function like a proper human, please." Dan teased with a smile on her face.

Dylan laughed and nodded in agreement, "Is your dad planning anything?" He asked.

"I don't know." I said honestly, "This is the first year without mom. He mentioned something but I said no." Dylan's and Dan's smile was wiped off of their face as I said that.

Mom died in her sleep on the twenty-sixth. Doctors swear that she held on that long so we wouldn't have a bad Holiday. Whether I truly believed that or not was a different matter.

"Right." Dylan said awkwardly. They still didn't know how to react to the death of my mom since I never really showed sadness after her death. Of course, I was sad. Devastated, in fact. Though, I also knew that crying wasn't going to accomplish anything. It wouldn't bring her back.

I hadn't meant to make the mood turn bad. I was going to tell them not to worry but the teacher walked in as the bell rang.

"Ms. Sander. Get off the table top and sit in your chair like a proper lady." He said clapping his hands to get everyone's attention.

Everyone shifted in their seats to face the front. Dan mumbled under her breath and got off the table. She sat in her chair and flipped her hair back. Dylan sighed softly and took out his books for the next lesson. I did the same and yawned again softly.

Class went by incredibly slow. It felt like the teacher was talking slowly on purpose to make me fall asleep. Incredibly, I actually managed to stay awake the entire lesson. I even managed to write down a few notes on things I didn't understand to ask him at a later time.

The bell sounded letting the school know that classes for the day were finally over. Dylan got up and stretched his arms. "Is it just me or is our professor super boring?"

"It's not just you." Dan said grabbing her bag off the floor and tossing her things inside.

I closed my notebook and did the same. Do you guys have activities?" I asked wondering if I was going home alone today as well.

"Yeah." Dylan said adjusting his backpack over his shoulders. "I've got a meeting today and basketball practice." Dylan is the Vice President so he often has meetings with the student council to talk about ways to better the school and such.

"I've got cheer practice." Dan said standing up and holding her backpack from the strap. "Coach will kill me if I'm late again." She said rolling her eyes. Even though Dan didn't look or act like the stereotypical cheerleader, she really did love cheer. She's been on a cheer team since she was a little kid. She even told us she's won a few competitions with her old team.

We walked out of the classroom and down the corridor. I didn't have any after school clubs or activities. They were a waste of time when I had other things to focus on. Besides, I had to get home and help dad take care of the flowers.

I said my goodbyes to Dylan and Dan as they went off in different directions. I walked out of the school and through the gates. I needed to stop by the store and buy groceries for the week.

I yawned again when I was halfway to the store. I was next to the park my mom often brought me to when I was younger. I stopped and looked at the park with a small smile remembering how she would push me on the swings and sing a lullaby to me. I walked instead towards the park and sat on the bench. Some kids were there with their parents. It felt very nostalgic to sit there. I felt my eyelids getting heavier as I leaned my head on my shoulder.

***

I woke up suddenly, "Shit!" I said getting my phone out of my bag. It was a crappy flip phone but I didn't need those new smart phones. I didn't even talk to a lot of people anyways. It was already six in the afternoon. I had fallen asleep on the bench for three hours. I looked through my missed call and found more than twenty calls from my dad.

I was about to call him back to let him know I was okay when I heard a familiar voice beside me. "Sleeping Beauty awakens without a kiss from the Prince. What a shame."

I looked to my right and jumped a bit from the surprise. None other than Nico was sitting next to me with a teasing smile on his face. "Are you stalking me now?" I asked frowning at him.

"Nah." He said keeping his smile on his face. "I just saw a small defenseless princess sitting on a park bench and thought you looked familiar." He said with a small shrug. "What kind of a person would I be if I left without seeing you were safe?"

I frowned deeper. What was he getting at? "I'm not a defenseless princess. I was just napping."

"On the bench? Do you do that often?" He asked making fun of me.

"What do you care?" I asked harshly. "Not like I was doing anything that could harm other people."

"Okay, don't bite." He said putting his hands up in mock surrender. "You should take your safety more into consideration. It's dangerous after the sun goes down." He looked at me closer and said, "You look exhausted."

"It's called determination." I clarified.

"Determination for what? To die on the streets? You should take care of yourself-"

"I'm leaving." I said shaking my head and grabbed my things as I stood up. Something about Nico just irritated me. He was just some rich, cocky brat who thought himself better because he had more money.

"Wait!" Nico said standing up and grabbed onto my wrist. "Have you been getting enough sleep, seriously? You look horrible. No offense." He added quickly. "What about eating right? Your wrist is so tiny."

His eyes at the moment looked so honest. Like he was really worried about me. I pushed that thought out and yanked my wrist out of his grip. "What do you care?"

"I'm worried about you. Why are you being so hostile?" He asked genuinely shocked.

"I never asked for you to pity me."

"I didn't say I-"

"I don't need your help. I've got everything under control. If you excuse me." I said putting my backpack on and turned around. "If you want your money back, take it up with my father. It's his business after all." I said quickly and left.

My heart was beating quickly. It felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. I was sure that it was just the fear of talking rudely to the a Mafia kid.

I hurried down the street, trying not make it seem like I was running away from him but I just wanted the beating of my heart to slow down.

I kept telling my self over and over that I was imagining his honest facial expressions. No way could someone from the Mafia have such a soft personality, right?"