Don't lick the spoon

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Mik------>

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Meggie's POV  

5th period Chem was another class I had with Mervyn. Mikelah ran into us at the door. "Hi Meggie, hi..." she hinted for a name.  

"I'm Mervyn. Nice to meet you." he smiled at her slightly. She smiled back, just as shyly, and then Mervyn made a point of looking at something or other over her head, while Mik ducked into the lab with her head down. I chuckled. They were cute. I couldn't tell just yet if that was Mervyn being shy, or if it was something a little stronger.

We got into the experiment quickly. Mikelah took it upon herself to explain to Mervyn what we were doing, which was a very good thing, because I had no clue myself. But Mik was clearly a little uncomfortable talking to him, as was shown by the light pink blush that spread from her cheeks across the bridge of her china-doll nose.  

"Umm... you both get that, right?" she stammered. "Now we just add some sulphur..." she tilted the container of sulphur into our beaker, but looked more in Mervyn's direction.  

"Mik! It's exploding!" I exclaimed. She jumped and turned around too fast, and knocked the beaker off the table. Mervyn made a grab for it (which is not advised when chemicals are involved), but it crashed down to the ground, shattering into a million pieces, and leaving a foamy puddle on the floor. Miss Gregg looked up, shocked.  

"Is everyone okay?"she inquired, lifting her reading glasses off her eyes.  

"Yes Ma'am!" Me, Mervyn and Mikelah replied in unison, wide eyed. "But there's a spill on the floor now." Mikelah added. "I'll go get the mop. I dropped it, anyway."  

"You broke the beaker, Mikelah?" Miss Gregg asked, suspiciously. "But you're such a focused student."  

"Sorry." Mikelah offered Miss Gregg a helpless smile. "I guess I'm not myself today." See what I mean about smiling her way out of trouble?  

"That's okay dear. I'll write you a hall pass." Mikelah rushed out of the classroom busily, relieved, I think, to be somewhere where she could think properly. Mervyn had a sketch on the corner of his lab book. I tried to sneak a look at it, but he closed the book quickly. I made out a pair of eyes, though. Blue ones. I said nothing. Looks like a little crush to me.

Mikelah mopped up the spill, but we didn't really have time to do it over. We talked for the rest of the period. Well, mostly I talked, because Mik and Mervyn had both clammed up on me.  

"So how do you two know each other?" Mikelah asked quietly, looking at everything on Mervyn's face but his eyes.  

"Oh, we go way back." I said, and winked at Mervyn. "He was my first kiss."  

Mikelah's eyebrows shot up, and Mervyn blushed, squirming in his seat a little. "Meggie..." he complained. Mervyn is absolutely adorable when he blushes.  All of a sudden, he's my Mervyn again. The innocent, harmless, 10-year-old Mervyn who once read a biology textbook and then rubbed every single container in his house, looking for his parents' genies (genes).  

"We were only 4." I amended. "We didn't really know what we were doing." Mik covered her mouth with her hand, and made an 'awww' kind of sound. It didn't help Mervyn, though. If anything, he blushed more. I considered telling Mik the story I just mentioned, but I'm not a cruel person. I ruffled his hair, just because he was so cute, (I had to reach up a little bit) but Mervyn pushed my hand away. He always was easily embarrassed.  

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Mervyn's POV  

"You moved back into the same house, didn't you?" Meggie asked, recognising the route that we were walking along. I nodded.

"No spare room anymore, that's the only thing."  I told her. "It's Melanie's now." She nodded then, and we kept walking. "And how's your dad? And Aunty-"

"Shut up!" Meggie blurted out, cutting me off. I gave her a strange look, as any sensible person would, and she shrank a little. "I'm so sorry. I... that was irrational. I'm sorry I shouted at you."

"... What's wrong?"

"Um, well, Mom's gone."

"She... she died?"

"No." Meggie sighed. "She's just gone. In Georgia now."

"So, she just- Why?" I asked. Meggie shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You didn't do anything." Meggie replied, and kept walking without looking back at me.

I frowned, because it was not okay, but I didn't say anything. I wouldn't press the matter if she wasn't ready.

Melanie jumped on me as soon as I opened my door, and hung on like a koala.  

"Hey Melon." I said, trying to unlock her fingers from around my neck. "Are mom and dad home?"  

"Noooo." I couldn"t see her, but I could feel her hair swinging as she shook her head.  

"What are you doing home alone, then?" I asked, and she let go of me.  

"Where was I supposed to go?" she asked. Then she saw Meggie, and her attention completely shifted. "Hey! You're the girl that Mervyn drew!" she said, then leaned closer to her and whispered, "Mervyn thinks you're pretty." I laughed when Meggie looked at me, and picked Melanie up.  

"I knew it was a bad idea to have a little sister." I joked, and swung Mel around.  

"So your parents are still working crazy hours?" Meggie commented, understanding. I nodded, putting Mel back down.

"They"ll be home in time for dinner."I said. "They"ll be happy to see you." I watched Meggie try to hide her smile, with very little success. It was a nice smile. Meggie really had grown to be quite pretty. But I found myself seeing, instead of Meggie's purple ones, a pair of blue-  

"MERVYN!" Both girls yelled in unison. I blinked a few times.  

"Hmm?" I would have pretended I had been litening, but neither of them would have fallen for that.  

"I just wanted to know if we have to make dinner for mom and dad." Melanie said.  

"Yep." I told her, and headed toward the kitchen. Meggie grabbed my arm.  

"I think we should keep this one out of the kitchen."she said, then turned to Melanie. "What do you say?"  

"Yeah!" Melanie yelled in reply. Then she stepped a little bit away from me, behind Meggie. "Mervyn's the tickle monster." She said apprehensively. Little children have a way of whispering so quietly that only half the neighbourhood hears them.  

"Oh, is he?" Meggie raised an eyebrow at me, with an unmistakeable glint in her eye. It was the kind that had always made me a little nervous. Ignoring the look, I side-stepped Mel and whispered to Meggie.  

"I swear she tells everyone that on career day." I imitated a kid's voice. "'My daddy is a doctor', 'My mommy is a lawyer', 'My brother is the tickle monster!'" Meggie laughed. She went into the kitchen and gave me a suspicious look.  

"Don't come in, okay?" she warned. "I can handle being ignored and walking into walls, but I cannot deal with you getting any burns." She turned to Melanie,after giving me one last look, and started talking to and directing her. I couldn't help but be amazed by Meggie. Within 15 minutes of entering my home, she had already befriended my little sister, conspired to ban me from my own kitchen, and started cooking dinner for my parents.  

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So, this must be my first author's note on this story! So, what do you think? So, should I stop saying the word 'so'? And here's some food for thought:  

If Atlas is holding up the world, what's he standing on?

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