The Difference Between You And Me {Petekey}

Chapter six

Mikey made his way out of the house gradually and with a lot of hesitance. He had been there for nearly a week and still no one had come to retrieve him. He figured by now they had realized he was gone, but he seriously did not want to think about how Pete or Gerard were doing on their own. The though scared him more than anything.

He had spent his six days in the 1930's reading A Tale Of Two Cities (it was kind of boring, but it made Mikey's brain work, which he was grateful for) and talking with Lindsey whenever she was home. She was an interesting girl, someone compassionate and caring. Sometimes Mikey would vent to her about his worries and she would just sit there, nodding but giving no reason to assume she understood what he was going through. Mikey appreciated that. He hated when people said annoying things, pretending to care about his problems. Lindsey didn't necessarily care, either, about his brother and friends and job "back home", but she cared about Mikey and wanted him to be happy. So she listened. And that was all Mikey needed or wanted from her. 

Today was supposed to be the day that Mikey would go out and search for a job. Lindsey told him that he was brave for doing that so early, considering his situation. Mikey knew that she was referencing his supposed suicide, but took the compliment anyways. He was going to need all the confidence he could muster up. 

He was standing in his room, trying to find clothes that made him look presentable and fit him. Lindsey was concerned about his weight, thinking it came from under-nourishment when in reality Mikey had been that way forever. No attempts to fatten him up had ever worked. He had accepted that this was just how his body looked years ago. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt when none of the already-slim fit clothes made him look like he was drowning in fabric. He finally found a blouse that looked fine as long as he didn't put a blazer on top of it, tied a tie around his neck and pulled on the pants he was wearing when he came to the past. They made him stand out, but at least they weren't a dead giveaway that he was wearing somebody else's clothes. The other refugees had warned him that if the clothes didn't look like they belonged on his body he would be accused of stealing and refused any job he tried to apply for. 

He looked at himself in the mirror one last time. He looked awful by his time's standards. He wished he had Gerard there to help him with his outfit. He had always been good at fashion and things. The thought made his heart hurt. There was a possibility that he would never see Gerard again.

He quickly pushed aside the thought. If he kept thinking of Gerard and how much he missed him he would never get out the door. Mikey stepped out of the bedroom he shared with a dozen other men and made his way towards the entrance. Although now, for the first time, it was an exit. 

He took a deep breath and turned the handle. The first thing he noticed was how cold it was. They were in the middle of autumn, but the temperature was comparable to a winter's day in Mikey's time. He wished he had worn a blazer or at least something to cover up, no matter how stupid it looked. He looked down at the list another refugee had given him of places nearby that usually accepted new workers, though most of them were crossed out. He wondered what that meant, if the businesses had closed or if they were no longer accepting employees or if someone had just decided to cross it out. Nevertheless, he pulled out his map in search of the first option. Or, rather, the first option that wasn't crossed out. He had to squint his eyes to read it. Usually he could just pull out his Communicator to give him better vision, but since that wasn't working, he opted to struggling with reading the map. He couldn't remember the last time he had to read a map. Usually his Communicator would point him in whatever direction he wanted to go. He missed the effortlessness Travelling with technology came with. How did these people live without it their entire lives?

He finally located the place he wanted to go to and found the path he needed to take. Unfortunately, he was walking in the opposite direction of the wind, which really did not help his shivers. global warming was terrible, but it was good for something, at least. There was no way humans could have survived for much longer in these kinds of temperatures, he thought, before recognizing that was stupid and that obviously, since they had been doing it for thousands of years, they could definitely deal with a little bit of snow.