Bloody Knuckles • Gallavich

Happy Beginnings Sad Endings

"Why didn't you tell me you joined boxing?" Mandy asked. The two siblings had their winter coats on along with scarves as they made their way to school. It had started to snow slightly, the white flakes falling into the teens' hair.

He shrugged. "Cause it's not important," he mumbled, lips wrapped around a cigarette. This time he had packed his own clothes and even brought two gatorades for wrestling. He had been trying to convince himself that he had brought them both for himself. Truthfully, he had specifically placed them in his bag with the intentions of giving one to Ian. Last weekend when they had hung out and Mickey was downing beer after beer, Ian was doing the same thing, except with gatorades. So the next day after school he had stolen a whole pack of yellow ones and hid them from his brothers so he could bring them to boxing.

"Do you like it? Ian said you were pretty fucking good at it," she said. She pulled her black hat farther down over her ears and shivered slightly. Mandy reached up to steal Mickey's cigarette only to get her hand swatted away.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," he said, passing the cigarette over. "I mean I get to beat the shit outta some north siders. It's fucking great. Kicked this one kid's ass yesterday. Kid got one or two good punches in but that was it. I dropped him in a matter of minutes." Sure Mickey was proud of that, but he had done it before. It wasn't the first time a cocky northsider got put in their place by Mickey. But what Mickey was more proud of, was the fact that Ian had actually mentioned him to Mandy. He grinned a bit and looked down at his shoes.

Mandy raised an eyebrow and nudged his side. "What's got you all full of grins and shit?" She asks. Mickey rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"Nothing." He ran a hand across his lips, wiping the smile away. He cleared his throat and looked up at her. "Later," he mumbled before walking into the school.

Like usual, Mickey hung out with the same few kids before class. They stand in the middle of the hallway, practically blocking it for anyone else. "Dude, you were upstairs with Angie for a fucking hour," Alex said, grinning.

Mickey laughed. "She's a good fuck, man. Ten outta ten would recommend for you to tap that ass too." The reason it had taken so long was that it took Mickey ten minutes to get hard and it was almost impossible to keep it that way. He had to use his imagination in ways that disgusted him but worked. As soon as he replaced Angie's soft chest for a toned chest of a male and replaced her face with that of a hot actor from a magazine, Mickey was good to go.

Alex laughed and shook his head. "Pretty sure I already have. Everyone here probably has."

Mickey laughed but the laugh doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Whatever. I gotta get going. I, uh, gotta go to the library and use the computer before class" he lied, walking off. His friends always got on his nerves. Constantly talking about hooking up with some new chick or how they went to this awesome party over the weekend. Mickey didn't give a shit about those things.

_____________________________________

The day passed as usual. He got kicked out of first hour again for sleeping in class, he failed his test in second hour and they spent all of third hour watching a movie. As soon as the lunch bell rang, Mickey was out of his seat. He swung his bag onto his back and walked down the halls. He shoved a few kids out of his way as he made his way through the crowded halls. He pushed open the lunch room doors and the scent of cheap lunch food smacked him in the face. He walked toward his usual table when he saw Ian Gallagher sitting by himself. Mickey grinned a bit to himself. His friends would probably question why he was sitting with Ian, but he doubted any of them would be looking anyway.

He walked over to Ian and once he's close enough he tugged on Ian's backpack, practically pulling the kid out of his seat. "What the - Mickey? Fuck, man. You scared the shit outta me," Ian said, finally dropping his bag to the ground.