High School Never Ends

Vic and I decided to give Mike some time to cool off before we told him. Awkwardly, we sat on the sofa staring at the TV: neither of us were really watching it.
“I think I should talk to him alone.” I murmured
“Are you kidding?”
“No Vic, I’m serious. He could snap at you.”
“He could snap at you!” Vic countered
“I just feel because you’ve been hiding things from him for longer he might not be as pissed if I tell him.”
“I-I… Fine.” Vic flopped back on the sofa, defeated. “I’m staying in here though.”
“Alright.”
Slowly, I crept into Mike’s room, softly closing the door behind me.
“Get out!” Mike ordered, his head buried in the pillow
“Just let me talk, please.”
He didn’t respond, so I took this as a yes.
I sat down next to where he was lay on his bed and poked the back of his head.
“Piss off!” He mumbled
“Please, look at me.”
“No.” He huffed and turned to face the other way
I tried to roll him back over but he shoved me out of the way. I yelped as I fell off of the bed and landed hard on the floor.
“Shit, are you okay?” Mike panicked
“I think I’m broken.” I moaned, my face buried in the carpet
“You’re fine.” Mike chuckled. “Are you gonna let me help you up.”
“Nope.”
“We’re gonna have to do this the hard way then.”
“What do you mea…” I was cut off when I felt arms around me
I was lifted off of the floor and chucked onto Mike’s bed.
“That was assault!” I exclaimed
“No it wasn’t!” Mike laughed
We laughed together.
I pulled Mike down onto the bed so that he was sitting next to me. Once he was sat down, I relaxed but didn’t let go of his hand.
“What do you want?” He asked staring down at his hand which was still in my grasp
“To talk. You deserve to know what we’re hiding, I’m just sorry it’s taken us so long to tell you.”
“I don’t understand why. Don’t you guys trust me?”
“We were scared of putting you in more danger.”
“More!?” Mike exclaimed
“Oh, well… That’s a part of the story.”
“Get on with it then!”
“My sister, Paige. She was murdered a little while ago…”
“Sorry.” Mike interrupted offering me a sympathetic smile
“Don’t worry about. Anyway, the people who murdered her were drug dealers. She was in debt, so to clear up that debt they took her life. But apparently her life wasn’t enough to cover the debt, so they’re after another person who was close to her.”
“If they come anywhere near you, I’ll kill them. I promise you, Ari.”
“Thanks, but it’s not me they’re after. They don’t even know who I am.”
“Who then?”
“Vic.”
“Wh-what?” Mike’s voice was small
“We’re gonna figure this out, they won’t get close to him.”
“He’s all I’ve got Ari, I can’t lose him…” Mike whispered, tears glistening in his eyes
“They’re not going to!” I said firmly before pulling Mike into a hug.
“Thank you…” He whispered

Notes