Phone Call

[Zeke Nayakan]

Ring...

As the bell tone echoed in his ear, Ezekiel wondered what he was going to say once Marcoh picked up the other end. The younger boy hadn't shown up to meet him after the GSA meeting, and he had a sinking suspicion that something was wrong. Why else would Marcoh stand him up like that? And after Caleb had kissed him... after he had kissed Caleb... well, something really was wrong. He couldn't not tell Marcoh; he couldn't keep that a secret.

Ring...

Unless Marcoh already knew. Unless he saw, or someone he knew saw and told him. This was what Zeke was afraid of. He was afraid that Marcoh had found out before he had the chance to tell him. That would have been the worst. After all, at least if he told Marcoh he could explain what had happened... not that it would make much difference.

Ring...

Why wouldn't someone pick up the phone?!? The waiting was killing him more than anything, even though he still didn't know what he was going to say. How could he break Marcoh's heart with the truth? As hard as that may be, though, he couldn't break his hart more my lying to him. This call was going to suck.

[Michelle Kinsley]

Michelle had been stretched across the couch, enjoying the fact that she didn't have to share it with someone else for once, when the phone rang. Looking toward her mom, who was making dinner with her iPod blasting, she realized that it would be hopeless trying to convince her to answer the phone via a shouting match.

Groaning a tad obnoxiously, she lifted herself off the couch and trudged to the receiver, only to find that the handset was missing. Michelle rolled her eyes and looked around the room, trying to locate the phone without really trying. When she realized there was no hope in that either, she quickly jogged around the first floor, hoping by the third ring that she'd find it soon. Their answering machine had been broken for months, so any callers who didn't call back... well, they were screwed, and it'd happened enough times during important events for Michelle to give a crap.

Another ring. "Jesus Christ, keep it in your pants!" she yelled, despite the fact that the caller couldn't hear anything. Looking around a bit helplessly, she finally spotted the phone and pointed at it like a police officer at an escaped convict before grabbing it and answering.

"Hello?"

[Zeke Nayakan]

"Hello?"

Michelle. Zeke hadn't really thought of the fact that other people lived at Marcoh's house, and that any of them could have picked up the phone. The fact that it was Marcoh's sister and not his mother or his father was reassuring, though. He didn't want to have to explain himself to them. Not that he would have, but he knew how questioning parents could be. Why are you calling? Why do you sound nervous? Is everything okay? He could imagine it now.

Zeke realized that he'd been thinking for far too long, and that he should probably say something in response to Michelle.

"Hey, Michelle, uh, is Marcoh around?" he asked, his tone as casual as possible.

[Michelle Kinsley]

There was a brief pause where there was no response, and Michelle had been about to hang up - knowing that a few seconds of silence usually meant a telemarketer - when the caller finally spoke up.

"Hey, Michelle, uh, is Marcoh around?"

Oh hell no. Michelle, though she only met him a few times, knew automatically that it was Zeke just by the fact that... well, besides him, Marcoh didn't get any other callers.

"Oh, yeah he is." she replied in a roundabout way, keeping her tone calm and even as not to evoke suspicion from him. Michelle knew allll about Zeke's infidelity, having been the one Marcoh came crying to after he had come home two hours later than usual, since he walked home from school.

There was hell to pay. Michelle didn't exactly like her brother, but she loved him, and there would be no excuse grand enough to convince her that Zeke didn't deserve to be skewered.

But first she had to find a stick big enough.

[Zeke Nayakan]

Something was up. Ezekiel couldn't quite place it, but there was something about the tone of Michelle's voice, something about the pause, something... just something that wasn't quite like her usual self. Something wasn't right.

"Oh, yeah he is."

"Well, may I please speak with him?" he asked, only a little annoyed by the way she as acting. He was almost wishing that one of Marcoh's parents had answered the phone in the first place. At least they wouldn't have played games with him. His nerves were already on edge, and this was only serving to make things worse.

It wasn't like he was angry with Michelle, though. After all, the two of them had met up several times over the past few weeks, and they were on good terms with teach other. He liked her, she had spunk. Plus, she was a good person, deep down. Deep, deep down.

[Michelle Kinsley]

"Well, may I please speak with him?"

Michelle could hear the annoyance in Zeke's voice and was both pleased and angered; she'd gotten him a bit riled, unlike his "calm and confident" - as Marcoh would say - self, but she was still pissed at what he'd done and didn't really think he had the right to get short with her.

"No, you may not," she began, leaning into a semi-secluded corner and whispering dangerously into the phone, "I'm not sure if I want you talking to him ever again, as a matter of fact. And I'm certain that at the moment, he has no desire to speak with you either."

Placing a hand on her hip, she remembered the sight of Marcoh, dazed and looking almost broken as he walked through the door, before his face crumpled and he stumbled toward the couch and curled up with her, similar to their preteen years when he agonized over people who'd picked on him. The thought infuriated her again.

"What the hell, Zeke? Honestly, what the hell?" Michelle demanded sharply, trying to keep her voice down. Marcoh was up in his room, and though he asked not to be disturbed, Michelle knew that he'd be concerned if he overheard their conversation. For some reason, Marcoh still had feelings for the guy and he wouldn't want her berating him. Still, she had to do what she had to do.

[Zeke Nayakan]

"No, you may not,"

Ezekiel was really getting annoyed now. He was losing everything he had thought of saying, his thoughts leaving him the longer he had to stall here, waiting for Michelle to go and get her brother. He wondered if he would have anything to say when Marcoh finally did pick up the phone. Then Michelle continued stopping, and it became all too apparent that she didn’t plan on getting her brother at all.

"I'm not sure if I want you talking to him ever again, as a matter of fact. And I'm certain that at the moment, he has no desire to speak with you either."

“What?” Zeke asked stupidly, speaking before he had the chance to think through what Michelle had just said. Why wouldn’t she want… Why wouldn’t he want… unless…

She knew. Marcoh knew, and he had told Michelle, and now they both knew. But Zeke didn’t care that Marcoh knew. That is to say, he had planned on telling him everything as soon as possible, so that they could work through it together. Instead, he had found out before Zeke got a chance to talk to him, and now he was making judgments and assuming things without knowing the whole story.

“Michelle, I-” he started, but she was already attacking him.

"What the hell, Zeke? Honestly, what the hell?"

“What did he tell you?” Zeke asked, unable to hide all of the panic from his voice. “What does Marcoh think happened?” This time the concern shone through, fearful for how he had taken it. How much had he seen? What all did he know? Shit! How had this happened? Just when things had been going so smoothly…

[Michelle Kinsley]

“What did he tell you? What does Marcoh think happened?”

"What does he think happened?" she began incredulously, "I think he knows for damn well sure that hesaw you macking on another guy!"

Looking back toward the kitchen, she made a shooing gesture at her mom, who'd turned down her music a bit and was giving her a concerned look. Abbey just shrugged and mouthed "language" before blasting ABBA again. Michelle frowned a bit; if ABBA wouldn't cheer Marcoh up... well, she wasn't sure what would. This was bad news - Zeke had done some serious damage.

[Zeke Nayakan]

"What does he think happened? I think he knows for damn well sure that he saw you macking on another guy!"

“Shit,” Zeke said, sitting down on his bed. He had been standing, pacing from one end of his room to the other, but now he found that his legs would no longer support his body. He could only imagine what Marcoh must be feeling right then, what he must have thought about him. “He saw-“ Zeke started, but cut himself off. So Marcoh had come to meet him after school after all, only he had walked in on Caleb and him kissing. If he had been five minutes later…

“Michelle listen…” Zeke started, pleading with her now. “I know you hate me right now, and I know Marcoh hates me… I damn well hate myself at this point, but just hear me out, alright? My friend, Caleb… we got into this huge fight. I guess he was angry that I got a boyfriend while he was in England, I don’t know. Then out of nowhere he just kissed me. I’m not going to lie, I didn’t push him away, but I should have, he just seemed so upset… he’s my best friend, has been for years. I was confused. I know that isn’t an excuse, but he kissed me. It wasn’t like I went around seeking out people to cheat on Marcoh with!”

Zeke was sure that his words weren’t really helping him, even if they weren’t hurting either. He just needed to get everything out, he had to tell someone what would happen. He just hoped that Michelle might believe him, that he hadn’t meant to hurt Marcoh, that the kiss was a one-time thing, a mistake… but he knew that she wouldn’t care. He had to find a way to get through to her… to get through to Marcoh…

[Michelle Kinsley]

“Shit."

"That's right. Shit. 'Cause if I see you, I swear to god..." Michelle began, deciding not to jump to the threats right away and, with a strange change in heart, to take the time to listen to Zeke's excuse, despite the fact that it was going to be hard to convince her of anything less than a tire iron to the balls.

“Michelle listen… I know you hate me right now-"

"Yeah, I do. It's kind of a fiery passionate hate, actually-"

"And I know Marcoh hates me-"

"I know that if I were in his shoes, I certainly would-"

"I damn well hate myself at this point, but just hear me out, alright? My friend, Caleb… we got into this huge fight. I guess he was angry that I got a boyfriend while he was in England, I don’t know. Then out of nowhere he just kissed me. I’m not going to lie, I didn’t push him away, but I should have, he just seemed so upset… he’s my best friend, has been for years. I was confused. I know that isn’t an excuse, but he kissed me. It wasn’t like I went around seeking out people to cheat on Marcoh with!”

"No, it's not an excuse, and no, you didn't have seek someone out because he was standing right in front of you!" she yelled, smacking herself exasperatingly on the forehead when she realized she was being rather loud and Zeke was the one causing it. She wasn't accepting it, no matter how much of a sob story.

"Why couldn't you have fucking pushed him away? Honestly, if you're horny enough to make out with your best friend because he's upset, then-"

Michelle heard creaking on the stairs and knew that it was Marcoh during one of the rare times he came downstairs to eat. This wouldn't do; she had to finish this quickly. Or maybe...

"The park playground. Half and hour. If you don't show, I'll fuc- shit. Just be there!" she screamed/whispered, slamming down the phone as Marcoh drew near with a questioning - as questioning as a horribly depressed boy could muster - expression.

"Who was that?"

"Dexter."

"Oh, okay."

And that was that. Michelle went to the kitchen to eat dinner, knowing that some crazy shite was gonna go down. But she had to eat her meatloaf first. Then some shite was gonna go down.

[Zeke Nayakan]

"That's right. Shit. 'Cause if I see you, I swear to god..."

Zeke knew that he would have one hell of a time winning Michelle back into his good favor. Her quick, biting responses to everything he said only made things worse. She really did hate him, and from what she said Marcoh wasn’t taking this too well either. He hadn’t even said anything! Not a gasp, not a ‘hey, what the hell are you doing’, he had just left. Damn it. If only Marcoh had given him a chance to explain. Not that it would have made a difference, what was done was done, but he would at least like for him to know the whole story.

For some strange reason, however, Michelle kept quiet just long enough for him to get his entire story out. At least some one would hear the truth, and maybe she’d believe him. Realize how sorry he was, how much of a horrible mistake he’d made. Maybe…

"No, it's not an excuse, and no, you didn't have seek someone out because he was standing right in front of you!"

Maybe not.

"Why couldn't you have fucking pushed him away? Honestly, if you're horny enough to make out with your best friend because he's upset, then-"

There was a pause, a dead silence, during which time Zeke could hear the background noise as well. It was Marcoh, he just knew it was. He wanted to scream Marcoh’s name through the receiver in the hopes that he’d hear it, and let Zeke talk to him, but Michelle had other plans.

"The park playground. Half and hour. If you don't show, I'll fuc- shit. Just be there!"

Click.

Zeke sat there for a few more seconds, the ‘beep beep beep’ of the dead line in his ear fading as his hand fell to his side. He had to meet Michelle. If Marcoh really didn’t want to talk with him, then she was his only chance at fixing this. He had to make things better, make things right, before it was too late. He had already lost one lover this month, he wasn’t about to lose his boyfriend too. Grabbing his things, he headed for the park.

((ooc- sorry the end is kind of rushed, time to eat!))