Miracle Box - an MLB rewrite

Distressed way of Thinking

"Do you like the quiet?" Marc asked Nathaniel after standing beside him for a while in silence, observing the dance below which now seemed muffled to the ears.

"Yeah," Nathaniel nodded. He couldn't look at Marc, keeping his eyes glued to the students under the second floor.

"You seem ruffled up?"

"I just had an interesting conversation with Marinette," Nathaniel admitted.

"Oh, yeah... she's your girlfriend, right?"

"Huh? No- erm- yeah, she is."

"How long?" Marc asked.

"Uh..." Nathaniel racked his brain for answers. When did the fake relationship start? He couldn't even remember Marinette's alibi for it.

"You remember... right?" Marc asked peculiarly after Nathaniel took so long to come up with nothing.

"Just three, no, four months," Nathaniel said.

"Cool," Marc said. Nathaniel felt like he'd done something wrong.

"I um... uh..." Nathaniel couldn't even speak. He was still thinking about what Marinette had said to him and how he was specifically NOT supposed to think of it that night. But he was still consumed by himself and now there was the distraction of a boy who hadn't even dressed up formally for the dance. His blue "zombie boy" shirt nearly glowed in neon light, reflecting the dance lights and glitter below.

"Does Juleka look alright to you?" Marc suddenly asked, a tone completely different from the one he'd been using before.

"Huh? I dunno, where is she?" Nathaniel asked. Marc pointed to the corner of the gym where Juleka sat on the steps by herself. She looked downright miserable.

"Isn't she here with Rose?" Marc asked.

"Urm... well, they're friends," Nathaniel clarified. Marc hesitated to respond.

"I saw them come in together but Juleka looked a little sick... maybe we should check in on her. You're her friend, right?"

"Sort of? We sit near each other in class and talk sometimes but..."

"But what?"

"I uh..." he couldn't just say his parents would kill him over being friends with someone like Juleka. In fact, he shouldn't even be friends with Marc for that very same reason, yet here he was, talking to him. "I dunno. She's shy. I'm also... shy."

"Introverts are the best kinds of people. Come on, let's go see if she's alright," Marc insisted, stepping away from the railing.

"She probably doesn't want attention-" Nathaniel was already being tugged along by Marc down the stairs. Marc was an introvert just like Nathaniel was, but he also was impulsive and didn't think too deeply about things before jumping into them. He would be the type to irrationally buy concert tickets because they were on sale, completely not thinking about the fact that he didn't like crowds and loud music. He would be the one to agree to join some after school social club, only to get there and panic because of the social part of it. He was also the one to go see if someone was ok without considering anything that could be triggered by simply asking to help someone who desperately wanted to be alone.

Nonetheless, Nathaniel was now at the exiting steps of the gym with Marc where Juleka sat, leaned up against the wall. Marc was right, something was definitely wrong. She looked like a downright mess.

"Juleka?" Marc squatted down in front of her. She furrowed her eyebrows, muttering something along the lines of 'leave me alone' while glaring at the wall next to her. Nathaniel wanted so desperately to flee but was anchored down by Marc holding him hostage.