𝕺𝖈𝖊𝖆𝖓 𝖊𝖞𝖊𝖘 [Mikey]

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 10

Look how cute!^^

I woke up and my pillow was warm. I reached to flip it but it was hard and heavy. I look up and I'm laying on top of a white torso.

I could hear small snores, Mikey was sleeping under me.

Memories of yesterday started flooding my mind. It made me feel like throwing up.

I tried lifting myself up from the cramped sofa, every movement hurt so much. I stared at Mikey's sleeping face, his hair was messed up and he looked like a regular middle school kid. I tried again to get off, but instead of succeeding, Mikey grabbed me tighter and turned around. He must've forgotten we were on a small couch.

"Mikey don't-"

We fell off. Luckily I fell on top of him. Even after hitting the ground he was still sleeping.

Is he dead?

I pushed myself off and went to make some eggs. I usually never cook, always being lazy and all, but I guess I had to thank him in some way. I couldn't stop looking in the mirror, I felt like a new person. It felt good to not struggle with my hair.

I was almost done with breakfast, when Mikey came down, yawning and scratching his head.

"Good Morning Sweetheart," he said.

"Morning, and don't call me that,"

He sat down at the table and watched me finish, "Do you need help with anything?"

"No, I'm done," I set the plate of eggs down with a glass of orange juice.

Sitting down beside him, Mikey split open the chopsticks, "Thank you for the food,"

"I can get used to this," he said, smiling wide.

We ate in silence for a while before he spoke up,"Permission to speak?"

"Whatever, go ahead," I couldn't help but laugh.

"I don't want an incident like that to happen again and I think, no, I want us to open up more, see... I don't even know your favorite color." He had a serious but friendly face. How would I respond to that?

"Okay, I guess you're right,"

"Great! Let's start simple, Can I call you by your first name?"

That caught me off guard. Nobody has called me Noelle since moving here, but I smiled and nodded. I wanted him to call me Noelle.

"Okay Noelle, your turn!" He seemed happier.

"What are we playing? 20 questions?" I didn't know what to ask him."...What's your real first name?"

"Its Manjiro, but I prefer Mikey, short for Michael,"

"That makes no sense but okay. Manjiro sounds mature so I guess Mikey fits you,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked with a lazy smile.

"Is that your question?"

"Nope! Do you have any close friends?"

"I don't do friends, but you're my only friend, we'll be friends forever," I teased him. I'm still not sure if what he has for me are romantic feelings.

"We'll see about that," he smirked. "If you don't "do" friends, who were those we met while shopping?" He finally asked the difficult questions.

"Accomplices... just kidding, I don't think of them as friends,"

"Why are you here? I mean, why did you continue to pursue me?"

He smiled before responding, "Your eyes, when I first met you at the pond I noticed them and couldn't help but feel attracted to them, they looked sad...I was so glad I met you the next day and I wasn't going to-"

"That's enough, if you say more I'm going to throw up." I playfully gagged. He was so cringey.

"What do you plan to do in the future?"

"The future... to be honest, I've never thought much about it, until my sisters death...I decided to live out her dreams,"

"Are you sure? Isn't there something you want to do?"

"It's not your turn to ask,"

"You're right...hey, let's go somewhere today?" He asked,  getting up from the table and stretching.

"Depends. Where do you have in mind?" I asked and got up myself too to take the plates to the dirty dishes.

"Let's go to the zoo,"

"The zoo? Is that a joke?"

❋

"Haha, look at the monkey, its scratching its butt," I pointed at the monkey and took a picture.

"Let's go look at the tigers next!" Mikey said and pulled me along with him.

He was being gentle, It was obvious. He would make sure to grab me where I wasnt bruised and he constantly asked me if it hurt.

"How boring, the tigers sleeping," I tell him and he nods.

"It snores just like you," he snickered  and hid behind a post.

"Shut up,"

"The tiger's name is Tora," He reads off the information offered. "It's only 3 years old! No way it looks like its 47,"

"I don't think Tigers live that long," I slapped my forehead at his dumbness.

Looking at the map, I noticed the reptiles were next.

"Hurry Mikey, I want to see the snakes!" Surprising both him and I.

"Then let's hurry!" He grabbed my hand and he ran.

When we arrived at the exhibit it was quite crowded and dark.

"Don't let go of my hand," he said and gripped my hand tighter.

The first snake was a small yellow one and it was sleeping under a small tree.

"Names Jello, that's weird," tapping on the glass.

"Do you like snakes?" Mikey had his head tilted to the side.

"I had a wild snake once, I didn't tell my family about it, and after a few weeks it escaped and ended up in my sisters closet, my dad ended up killing it in front of me," recalling a memory I had forgotten about.

"That's harsh, what did you name it?"

"Don't laugh at me, but I named it Cherry,"

"Cherry... all your pets have cute names, I wonder what you'll name our childre-"

I slapped my hand over his mouth to keep him from finishing his sentence.
The sound echoed throughout the whole exhibit and everybody stared at us.

I let go of him and rushed out embarrassed and accidentally bumped into someone, It felt like my bruises were punched.

"Ow,"

"Are you okay?" The guy asked.

"Yes she is," Mikey finished and he grabbed my hand and we walked out together.

"I told you not to let go of my hand, should've listened because now you're hurt again,"

"I'm fine, and you! Dont say dumb stuff,"

"You're so stubborn Noelle, why don't you just accept that we are meant to be?"

Rolling my eyes, I upbraided,"There you go again,"
i
"Calm down now, let's go get some crepes," he tugged at my hand with a smile on his face.

I followed after him, I couldn't stay mad at him, not when he smiles like that.