Thanks guys for all your reviews on this story, it has the most of reviews of any of my stories… so here *hugs* Um… updates might be a bit sporadic now because I have a huge assignment that is coming up (Me Book [A book teachers make you do]) and it's around… 50 pages long? I'm gonna try though… well, I might even do more because… PROCRASTINATION. It might be a bit confusing because you go into a flash back within a flash back, whoa, flashback-ception. Sorry
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Mick sat on his bed just thinking. Thinking about what he had just seen. It tore holes through him seeing his Mara, kissing him. Kissing the one guy who he knew liked her. She pulled away, hadn't she? At the very least she ran, while he just stood there. She wasn't, no, couldn't have been just letting him kiss her. But she had, hadn't she? No, she wouldn't, she loves me, not the bastard. It reassured him, thinking these thoughts, but no matter how hard he tried, he would just see them kissing, over and over again.
It always had to be Jerome. Jerome always ruined things. With his smirk and his lying abilities, he could get out of anything, it was the one this that made Mick jealous. You never knew when he was watching, collecting information. And that was the worst thing. Jerome knew about the homework, all the help he had been getting. He was an average 'A' student now. All it did was make a few kids stare, confused, and annoyed. Jerome on the other hand had taken it onto himself to confront Mick.
"Why hello Mr. Smartypants." Jerome had remarked, sitting right next to him. It had put him on high guard immediately, Jerome never said anything to Mick. He only ever received the occasional sarcastic remark or acknowledgement. Being Jerome, he had thought that he would just say something vaguely insulting and leave.
"What do you want Clarke?" He was hoping the tone of his voice would scare him off. Jerome was all talk, no fight. Looking up from his apple, he glared at Jerome, only to be shocked by his facial expression. His eyes were as cold as steel, his eyebrows puckered as if he were thinking about the meaning of life.
"I just want to commend you on yet another essay that you did well on. Tutoring has been really helping, hasn't it Mick? Well, I took it upon myself to borrow a copy of your essay and compare it with Mara's. Very, very similar writing styles if you ask me. I wonder if she knows?" At this point, both the boys were glaring at each other, waiting for the other to crack, but Mick knew he wouldn't be able to escape this one.
Jerome had seen the truth, he knew everything, and yet hadn't told her yet. Was he warning him? Did he want something? Panic rose within him. Of course Jerome wanted something. A little part inside of Mick, though, was worried. How much did Jerome know about him?
"Mara's a great tutor, her… style, yea, erm, it's rubbing off on me I guess." Micks eyes travelled around the room nervously, sadly finding it empty. No one to distract them, not even Mara. Silently, he prayed for a miracle, but he knew it was a fruitless effort.
"I guess when you have two tutors. A tutor for all your subjects, and another one to teach you how to satisfy your needs." Jerome whispered this harshly, his eyes never leaving Mick's face. Mick tried to string words into sentences in his mind, tried to think of a rebuttal, but none came to him.
"I-I have no idea what you're talking about Clarke," Mick's instincts told him to stick with intimidation," so why don't we drop the subject, yea? So why don't you just leave me alone and go hang out with Alfie, oh right, he's abandoned you for Trixie. Now if you excuse me, I have a tutoring session."
He stood up abruptly, the sound of the chair legs scraping the floor disturbing the silence that had fallen on both of them again. Shooting one last glare at Jerome, he headed for the archway, intent on leaving Jerome behind when he heard him call," Yes Mick, have a great tutoring session with Alicia Hall." Fear trickled up Mick's spine. Then he did know. He knew everything.
He couldn't help but feel infatuated with her when he first met her while on his first run. The first thing he saw was how she was as small as Mara. That's where the similarity had ended though, because she was the complete opposite. Her hair was extremely short and brown, her green eyes were huge. She had worn a spongebob zip jacket and a pair of pink skinny jeans. "Sorry!" She had exclaimed in a loud voice that sounded funny coming from such a small girl. Her voice had a beautiful lilt, where was she from?
"Um, it's alright, I mean, it's ok. Who're you? I haven't seen you around." He mentally kicked himself at his lack of composure. He didn't even know the girl, and probably would never see her again. There was something about her though, something that he knew would leave a lasting impression on him.
"Oh, I'm Alicia, Alicia Hall. I just moved from South Africa, I used to live with my dad, but now I've been put here. I'm in the house of Thoth, you know, the god of Wisdom. You?" Mick fidgeted for a bit, feeling uncomfortable around her for the first time. It was a foreign feeling to him, one that he strangely liked.
"Oh, well, I'm Mick Campbell, I'm in Anubis house." Alicia's ears seemed to perk up at this. "Oh, well, you're the talk of the school then. Everyone everywhere talks about your infamous past and the whole bracelet thing." His shoulders slacked and silence hung between them. "What did happen Mick? I mean, I would rather hear the story from you then from little gossips like Emma."
"I had a girlfriend, Amber Millington, you heard of her?" Alicia nodded her head, obviously hearing the wild rumors about her and then continued," She and I had a great relationship; we were perfect for each other at the time. I was doing badly in school so I asked if Mara could tutor me, and I accidentally gave both of them the same bracelet, and Amber blew up. Our relationship sort of died right then and there. After a while, Mara made her crush more obvious and we went on a date and we kissed, but I didn't like her like that. Then she went through a whole phase where she turned into a rebel, but it was the school musical that brought us together, and… well, now we're together."
"I don't see what's too bad about that. Hey, how 'bout you visit me sometime at Thoth house? If Mara ever can't help you with your homework, or you just wanna talk, I'll be here, kay? I think I have to go, don't wanna miss dinner. Bye Mick!"
With that, she had permanently entered his life and stayed there. He just felt like he could talk with her without having to worry about being dumb. He could say what he felt, he could laugh about the most inappropriate things without being scolded. He could be himself.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about Jerome. This is just as far-fetched as your whole homework theory."
"Mick, there is a thing called subtlety. I always wondered why you ran so much, until I realized that you didn't do it for the sake getting the physical benefits, if you know what I mean." Mick's blood boiled. In a rage he stomped over to Jerome and punched his jaw, feeling a smile spread across his face when he heard the sickening crunch that went along with it. In response, Jerome merely stood stiff, his head up higher than usual.
"I guess that settles it than." Jerome merely muttered, brushing past Mick and walking out. It had all been a ploy, and Mick had fallen for it. He knew Jerome fancied Mara at the time, but hadn't taken it seriously. "So what Jerome? You gonna go tell Mara? Crush her?" Jerome considered this for a moment, before replying," Maybe, maybe not. I guess you'll have to see." He hadn't of course, and everything had been seemingly right.
But it hadn't and now he sat on his bed, contemplating his next move. Jerome had already gone too far kissing Mara, but did he really love Mara anymore? Maybe it was just the fact that she seemed to enjoy the kiss or the fact that Jerome's words had gotten to him, but she didn't seem to have the same effect on him, but it still seemed to hurt him. How could she, one of the most honest people he'd ever known, just go behind his back? Little Mara?
Suddenly his room felt like it was constricting him, like he couldn't breathe. No, he needed to confront her, needed to confront him. They deserved to be humiliated, deserved to feel bad for what they did to him. Yes, he would confront her, he would confront them. He would rage, he would scream, he would let it all go.
In a sudden move of desperation, he got up and walked out, hoping to find them in the living room. His rage seemed to build up within him. The room was desolate and cold, much like how he felt towards Mara right now. All the pent up anger he felt inside of him was escaping, and he couldn't cool himself off. The feeling of losing all control of himself was frightening.
One,
He could see them kissing in his mind
Two,
Her face streaked with tears was burned in his memory, the way she looked so hopelessly at him. Was he forcing her to kiss him?
Three,
Yes. It was for Mara's own good, she needed to get away from him. He was like poison, he would kill her. Mick balled his hands into fists and let out a shaky breath as he creeped up the steps. It was for her own good, he kept telling himself, but inside of him, he couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty.
~0o0o0o0~
*While Mick's going through his inner turmoil*
Jerome paced the hall silently, running his fingers through his hair compulsively. Light still poured in from the windows, a perfect day to be out, and yet with all the housemates back from town, the house felt surprisingly empty except for him and Mara. Pressing himself up on her door, he heard nothing but silence, only broken by a slight sob. It crushed Jerome inside, how he had caused her such pain, such inner turmoil. He had corrupted her, and she just needed to know… He was genuinely sorry. Sorry for everything that he had done to her.
With shaky hands he rapped his knuckles softly on the door twice. There was no response, no sound of movement. Again he knocked, hoping to get a reaction. Nothing. He breathed in deeply and shut his eyes, hoping that he wasn't about to make a huge mistake. Already he had made too many mistakes today, he didn't need to make anymore. His hand found the door knob and he opened it quickly. "Mara?" He asked quietly. Quilts covered her prone form as he realized she was shaking dangerously. "Mara?"
She whispered, almost too quiet for him to hear," What do you want Jerome?" Venom was laced into the words it shocked him. "I just wanted to see if you were ok. I'm sorry Mara, I… I truly am. I don't… Please forgive me. The kiss meant nothing to me. I… Mara? Will you at least look at me?" Eventually she peeled the blankets away, revealing her puffy eyes. "Jerome. I… I'm sorry for what I said, a-about your family. It was insensitive of me. Will… will you forgive me?" He forced a laugh trying to loosen the atmosphere.
"Mara, I'm trying to apologize to you. You… Nevermind… Can we just… pretend like it never happened," he looked around awkwardly before adding," You know, for Mick's sake." Mick. Just the mention of his name brought tension to the atmosphere. Even he could notice her stiffening at the sound of his name. "Alright Jerome. Now, can you, I just need to spend some time alone, I… can you please leave?" Her knuckles were white from clutching her blanket fervently. Traumatized, saddened, and confused. That's what she looked like. Jerome had a knack for doing that to people, and now he had hurt her.
Reaching for the doorknob, he opened it, only to face Mick once again, his blue eyes glowering at him. "Mick," he croaked, his body going rigid," How nice to see you here."
~0o0o0o0~
DUN DUN DUN! Will Mick ever decide? Will Jerome make it out alive? And will Mara still try and help Jerome? All coming up in the next chapter, which won't be out for a while, yay! What do you think? I'm trying a new style, making longer paragraphs, I like it. Tell me in a review!
Thanks and goodbye!
Eskimo Kisses,
z3stygurl97
P.S
If you read this, please go to this video, AUSTRALIANS ARE AWESOME MAN!
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