The Miracle of You

As expected, he blushed, as he usually did when he was caught unintentionally complimenting her.

Maybe it was his male ego, but he usually liked to play it cool, never telling her outright how he felt about her. He rarely praised her and only did so by accident, but maybe that was because she hadn’t managed to get him to open his heart to her yet.

Hailey had to admit that Michael was a fascinating character. Usually, when she scolded the male students at school, they would get offended and avoid her at all costs. None of them approached her or wanted to be friends with her. They probably all thought she was like a nosy mother.

Hailey had no doubt that many students at this school would gossip about her from time to time, but she never really let it affect her. After all, it was just words, and mostly false rumors. She couldn’t bring herself to care about something that was obviously false.

Unless they confronted her with it directly, or if the situation got out of hand somehow, she would step in and sort it out. At the moment, she had no reason to get involved in such petty matters.

However, Michael seemed to take such things quite seriously. Instead of her being offended, he was the one who seemed genuinely annoyed.

Whenever he overheard gossip about them in the hallways, he would snap at the student and growl at them to leave, which they did very quickly. Everyone knew who Michael’s father was, so they did not want to offend him.

To be honest, Hailey’s parents weren’t that bad in terms of influence and reputation, but maybe the students found her an easy target because she never stood up to anyone unless it was against the school rules – and gossiping wasn’t one of them – and also because she was a ‘girl’.

But Michael was different. From the beginning, he was so different from the other boys. He never cursed at her or threatened to hit her. He just avoided her and muttered under his breath in irritation. Whenever she tried to start a conversation, he would humor her for a while and then walk away coldly.

Over time, he warmed up to her, and before she knew it, they were spending a lot of time together.

So she sometimes wondered: was Michael hanging out with her because he found her interesting and a good friend, or was it just because he had no one else to turn to?

“I mean, yes. You are smart,” he finally admitted, snapping her out of her deep thoughts. “I just didn’t think that it was necessary to say out loud. Just… you must know that you’re smart, right?”

“Dang. You told me that I’m smart twice. I’m so touched,” Hailey teased, which earned her another exasperated look from Michael.

She couldn’t help but laugh. He could be so cute at times.

“Anyway, yes, I do hear that from time to time,” she replied. “Still, all of us need to study. There’s so much more to learn. I can’t just be in a stagnant state forever. That’s not practical.”

“Sheesh. All right, I get it. Just don’t lecture me again,” Michael grumbled.

“Good that you know,” she chirped, reaching out to ruffle his hair affectionately.

He avoided her touch immediately and gave her an annoyed glare.

“Stop treating me like a kid,” he protested. “Again, I’m only a year younger than you. And I’m not your little brother either, okay?”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Hailey raised her hands in a form of surrender, though she couldn’t stop smiling. “Okay. Fine. You’re not a kid.”

“Of course not,” he huffed. “I’m your friend.”

Her eyes widened, and her smile grew. “I am?”

He cast her a look of disbelief. “Are you being serious right now?” he said incredulously. “We’ve been hanging out for months now, and you don’t think that we’re friends?”

“Well, you have a point. But why me, Noah? Why not someone else?”

“What, you don’t think that you can be my friend?”

“I’m just asking out of curiosity.”

“Just… You’re different. That’s all I’m gonna say,” he muttered, slowly averting his gaze. His ears were turning pink, seemingly from embarrassment.

Hailey observed him for a long moment. Another smile curved her lips.

He was really cute whenever he was embarrassed.

“Then what if I’m gonna have one other friend?” she teased.

“What?” He widened his eyes. Oh, so innocent. “You have a friend other than me? With that personality of yours?”

“Hey, what is that supposed to mean?” she growled, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

He ignored her remark and prodded, “Who is it? Do I know this person? Is it a girl or a guy?”

“Whoa there. Hold your horses, dude. Just one question at a time,” she said, laughing. Why was he being so demanding about this suddenly?

“You should answer me,” he said sullenly.

“Hmm…” Mischief painted Hailey’s features for a second. It should be fine to have a little fun with this, right? “Then, to answer your questions… No, no, and… it’s a guy.”

Michael’s eyes were almost bugging out of their sockets from shock. “What?! A guy? What? Who? When?”

Hailey burst into laughter.

“Hey, why are you laughing at me like that?” he demanded, face red in humiliation. “Why can’t you at least tell me his name? Why have you been keeping him a secret from me?”

“Whoa, tiger. Chill!” Hailey said, still laughing. “Geez. I was just messing with you. There is no friend. He doesn’t exist, okay?”

Michael’s face only grew redder. He looked mortified.

“What?” he said. “He doesn’t… exist?”

“Of course not! If he does, then you would’ve already known by now. Duh.” She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Still, your response surprised me. Are you that possessive of me?”

It was just a joke that slipped out of her lips. Michael was supposed to roll his eyes at her and laugh it off, but to her surprise, his features slowly took on a serious expression. There was no trace of amusement on his face, and his gaze seemed to turn dark despite the bright sunny day.

“No one’s allowed to be close to you but me,” he said, leaning over until their faces were inches apart. “So don’t get close to other guys except for me, Hailey.”