The Paper Kingdom

Chapter XII: Right

jessie
I woke up the morning after I had been to Ray's to see Michelle sitting in my desk chair, spinning like a madwoman. It made me dizzier to watch her than to think about Gerard, and that was saying something. I blinked a few times and sat up. The sound of rustling blankets made her look at me and catch herself on my desk, ceasing her gyration session.

A stupid grin spread across her face. "Guess who got a date!" she exclaimed, far too happy for so early.

"The same person who snuck into my room early in the morning?" I guessed groggily.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Morning? Jess, it's almost two o'clock."

I checked the bedside clock. It was seven minutes until the top of the hour, so Michelle was indeed right. "Oh, crap," I muttered, throwing the quilt off of me and hunting my drawers for a decent outfit. My hand immediately went up to my neck while I searched.

"What's wrong?" Michelle asked, seemingly undisturbed by my rush. She was staring at me evenly.

"I was gonna get lunch with Pete at one thirty," I explained. I pulled the baggy t-shirt over my head and Michelle looked away. "I knew I was gonna wake up late, why didn't my alarm go off?"

"I don't know," said my friend. "Why don't we go to lunch instead? Pete's kinda a loser and probably thinks that you hate him." She began twirling again, this time slower, taking in the colours of my room.

"Because Pete is my friend," I said. "And despite what you and Kayla and Laura think, he's not trying to get into my pants." My cotton shorts had been replaced for tight denim (hard to put on, much less get into, anyways) and my loose shirt for a high-collared one. I knew the day was going to be hot, like all July days were, but I couldn't really risk anything being flashed.

"I love the colour of your walls," Michelle commented. "It reminds me of dusk, like after the sun sets but before it gets too dark. And those--" she gestured to the white string lights that adorned the moulding, "are the stars. I love how they contrast. How they bring out each other." She didn't look at me once, but continued to study my dark blue walls and the bulbs that accentuated them.

I wasn't sure why she had changed the subject so suddenly, or why she had become distracted in the philosophy of interior design. "Why are you telling me this?" I wondered.

"Because I really love it. They're total opposites and I've never seen anything like it." As I was considering this, I swore she looked up and down me.

I shook my head. "You're a weird egg, Michelle, you know that?"

She smiled. "Yeah."

"I'm going to go, okay? You better go too. I think Aunt Linda prefers my company here when I am." Michelle stood up, agreeing. "Oh, and who'd you get a date with?" I asked, realizing that I neglected to previously.

"Mikey," she beamed.

"Mikey plus Mikey," I laughed. "That's cute." I had used Michelle's nickname less since meeting Mikey Way, but considering they had a thing, I'd probably stop using it all together.

We parted and I drove to meet Pete at a little restaurant off of Main Street. It was tiny and still cramped from the declining lunch rush, only making it seem smaller. By the time I got there, I was already an hour late. I noticed my friend sitting alone at a table, empty dishes in front of him. I immediately began apologizing as soon as I reached him.

His dark eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't expect anything less, considering you were probably with your boyfriend," he said sourly.

I took a seat, confused. "Boyfriend? Who, Gerard?" Pete nodded. "No, we're not together. Far from it, actually. I way overslept. I'm sorry."