five times five • m. espinosa (short story)

0.5 =

song of the chapter: everybody lies by jason walker
________________________

as monday rolled in, i was yet again facing with the problem of waking up. but having a matt espinosa threaten you for it, was definitely something to look forward to in the mornings.

as soon as i heard my bedroom door open, my eyes opened slowly.

"you know, if you don't get your lazy ass up i'm gonna post this drooling picture of you on the net."

i rolled over my bed, eyes wandering to what he was wearing. "there is no way in the world i'm letting you wear a freaking cat shirt to school."

he gave me a stern look and crossed his arms. "well what the hell am i supposed to wear?"

"i don't know, anything else besides that." i stood up from where i was sitting and went through my closet, picking my own clothes for the day.

i heard him grumble and utter a few words before stomping out of my room, probably to change his shirt.

i would literally stab myself if he wore it out in public with me.

i settled for a simple white shirt and denim jeans, pairing them up with white sneakers.

my hair was at it's simplest form today, silky and straight. girls at my school would do their hair like they were going to an awards show, their makeup as well.

"how about this?"

while i was packing my books for school, Matt came into the room wearing khaki pants and a white shirt. he had white converse on his feet and his backpack was slung over his shoulder.

it was then i realized we looked like a couple with matching outfits.

"were you spying on me?" i inquired and zipped my bag, finally finding the calculus textbook under a pile of clothes.

"don't worry, MJ, we've seen enough of each other when we were younger."

he held a playful, amusing smirk on his lips; eyes twinkling.

and me being the stupid me, asked, "what do you mean?"

he gave a shocked reaction, sitting down on my bed. "oh, don't tell me you forgot the times we would bathe together in uncle Mason's bathtub the size of a swimming pool."

and that was enough to have me stomping out of my room in order to get as far away from him as possible.

of course, i blushed.

//

when i first entered school, there were students looking at me like i just grew another head. but then again, Matt was with me today.

we quickly made our way to the office to get his locker number, schedule, and textbooks.

after that we made our way through the bustling crowd towards his locker, which surprisingly was just three lockers away from mine.

i left him for a bit to attend to my own locker so i could get my books.

surprise, surprise. Angelo was there.

he gave me a cold state as i rolled the combination and opened the blue metal.

"may i help you?" i said in a tired tone. to be honest, i really was tired... of him.

he took a step closer and leaned in to level our eyes. "who was that guy you were with?"

"guy?"

shoot. i forgot about my possessive boyfriend who would beat me to a pulp if he finds out i was with another guy.

that was going to be my situation in 3...

he pulled me by my arm as my other free arm shut my locker.

2...

he pushed me towards the back door and kicked my leg, sending me to the ground.

1...

and then he landed a punch to my cheek.

he made me his punching bag for five minutes, throwing punches to mostly my stomach.

i couldn't even stop him. i was too tired, too hurt to do anything. even the slightest movement of my toes made my whole body erupt in pain.

he pulled me up by my hair, and gave a sly smirk.

"now, who's he?"

i had to say the one thing that my mind could think of, the one thing that could save me from the pain i was feeling at the moment. "he's my cousin."

i thought he was going to let me go and apologize for getting the wrong idea... but he didn't. "seal your words, mikayla, or i'll make you eat them."

he dropped me and fixed himself. he was relaxing while i was on the ground, spitting out blood.

"get yourself cleaned up. you're late."

with that he left me. he walked away with my heart still in his hands. he was crushing it slowly and it sent agonizing pain.

i tried standing up, only to get myself hurt by bending my stomach. it felt like a thousand knives were being plunged into my stomach, twisting once they were inside my organs.

i shut my eyes tight and braced myself. counting to three and holding my breath, i stood up.

my eyes held back tears as i held onto one of the trash bins. i didn't care if they were dirty or if my hand was going to stink, i needed to get to my class and to look normal.

i managed to push open the door and limp to where my bag was dropped. once again, i had to bend my back and stomach to reach it. it felt like infinity as i reached for one of the straps.

hissing in pain, i crouched down further and hooked my hand around the strap. i tried to walk as normal as possible through the empty hallways to my class.

as i climbed up the stairs, i felt like i was going to collapse. the pain was hardly bearable and i knew i should have stopped.

but i kept going. if a teacher found me out in the hallways, they would send me into detention.

with one last breath i stepped on the last ledge and walked to my class.

everyone turned to look at me when i opened the door.

"miss jones?" the teacher called my attention as i was making my way to the back of the room, where Matt was seated. thankfully he had saved me a seat. "you're five minutes late."

i sat down beside Matt and took a breath. even the simple movement made my stomach contract in pain.

jeez, was this how giving birth felt like?

"i'm sorry mrs. beaugarde, it won't happen again."

mrs. beaugarde was a decent teacher. she was fair in giving grades and treating students. and i was grateful she considered my tardiness, telling me next time would result in a detention slip.

the rest of the class, i tried avoiding Matt's gaze. my eyes seemed to be interested at my desk's vandalized wood as i read through the things written on it. i didn't even listen to the teacher, i was treating whatever i was doing as a pain-reliever.

i wanted to do anything and everything just so i could get my mind off of the pain.

Matt, though, wasn't helping.

when he tapped me on the shoulder, i looked and met his eyes.

i couldn't believe that i lied to him, when i told him that i was happy with who i was with. i couldn't believe that i lied to Angelo that Matt was simply my cousin and nothing else. when in reality, Matt took a very special place in my heart.

and when he asked, "you okay?" in a soft whisper, i gave him a small smile and a nod.

and i couldn't believe i lied again.

i was not okay.

//braces are irritating//