Michael sat on the stairs in front of my place waiting on me. He lived next door and would make it a ritual to walk to school together ever since he moved to our neighborhood in middle school. My mom brought them some pie as a well coming gift and found that she also had a son. I didn't want to meet Michael but I knew I would see him sooner or later. My mom told me he was going to the same local high school I went to.

Michael sat in the back of the class and didn't talk much. Lunch came around and I took him out of his misery and sat with him. Since that day I sat with him every day and we grew close.

"Ray lets go we're going to be late!" Michael shouted at me. I grabbed my bag and took a granola bar for breakfast.

"Ma I'm out." I yelled walking away from the kitchen. She was preparing snacks for the office like she usually did before she left for her job as a receptionist.

"Don't forget to pick up the pastries I ordered on your way home."

"Nah mom I won't." I shut the door behind me and locked the door. Michael looked like he hadn't slept in week and his hair was greasier than ever but he still got more girls than I ever did. He didn't have to try as much as I did. I was too 'uptight'. I was fine with me though we make each other better. I helped him focus and he helped me have a life outside of school that wasn't just studying.

"Yo did you do the history paper Ms. Harrison assigned?" He knew I was going to say yes but he needed a confirmation just to make sure as usual.

"Of course man what else was I supposed to do this weekend?" Michael just stared at me then laughed.

"You could have gone to Elliot's party, everyone that went got laid man it was epic." I wasn't usually in the party scene and nor did I want to be.

“Nah man I had other priorities.” by now we were almost at school and I was hoping this weekly intervention would soon end. Michael and I hung out often but it was never in a party scene. He never pushed me to although I knew it would make it easier on him if we could just hang out in all situations.

“I’ll see you later man.” Ray said. I walked to my first period and sat in the back of the class next to the window. The laminate tiles were scuffed with black scars since no one ever bothered to clean them. Ms. Harrison was talking about the Revolutionary War. She sat on the stool that was behind the podium since she could never stand long. The long years of teaching finally caught on with her body. She would repeat herself over and over as if she hadn’t said it said it five times before.

Ms. Harrison always squinted even with her glasses on. She was animatedly talking about the assignment she had assigned before