mikey fell asleep shortly after the phone call. by that time, it was near five am and he knew he would be up around eight, woken up by luke pounding on his chest to make him breakfast.
and he was right. he dreamed of his car, humid and the rain still pouring. she was there, her pink faded hair falling onto his legs. her head was in his lap and her eyes were drooping so low that he thought perhaps she fell asleep, but she hadn’t. she was still lazily counting the raindrops and inhaling his cologne. she tiredly grabs his cold hand and entwines her fingers.
“wake up!” luke yells right in his ear, making michael not only jump but also yell at luke.
“come on, luke.” he grumbles loudly and angrily.
“sorry, dude.”
“whatever.”
michael stands up slowly and follows luke to the kitchen, where the table is set but no food made. he flicks on the stove and puts on a pan, grabbing two eggs and cracking them into a bowl. he asks luke to scramble them while he prepares toast and orange juice. he was working on less than four hours of sleep.
“luke, i’m out of lucky charms!”
“why?”
“i let the girl have it.”
“the girl?”
“yeah, rue.”
and then michael explained the story of the lucky charms.
“go grab some.” luke replies calmly.
“the supermarket is a half hour away and i don’t want to drive that long.”
the toast pops out of the toaster. he takes it and puts it on plates.
“then go to the gas station.” luke mutters, pouring the scrambled egg into the steaming pan.
he smiles, his ears perking up.
“can you finish making breakfast?” he yawns.
“sure. can you get me a box of frosted flakes?”
“alright, buddy.”
so michael got into his minivan and drove to the small gas station market. it was around 8:00am, and he wasn’t sure if he had money with him. he patted his pockets. he did.
pulling up and parking, he noticed a car-the only other car in the lot-that was jet black. he had hoped that maybe, possibly, rue would be here too, but her car wasn’t. mikey frowned and entered the building. it was chilly and the section with the cereal had been restocked. as he rounded the corner and walked near the shelf, he saw familiar pink hair.
“rue?” he tapped the girl’s shoulder.
she turned around and her eyes lit up.
“mikey?”
rue opened her arms and hugged michael, tightly.
“you act like you’re long lost friends.” a rough voice mutters. michael takes notice of ashton.
“so?” rue grins.
“he could be a murderer.” ashton removes the cigarette from his mouth and jabs it into the palm of his hand. it makes a sizzling sound and then the fire flickers out.
“i’m not. i just came to get some cereal.” mikey grabs a family-sized box of lucky charms, as does rue.
“wait – didn’t i just give you the box yesterday?”
“we ate it.”
rue and ashton had spent the remainder of the night/morning eating cereal and watching movies.
“oh.” michael grabs a box of frosted flakes, too, and watches as rue cradles the lucky charms. michael takes the box from her.
“it’s on me.” he grins, taking the box up to the counter. he pays for all three, a total of five dollars, and hands the girl back her cereal.
they exit the building, ashton in tow, holding his small purple lighter. as ashton clambers into the car that mikey saw while pulling in, rue glances at michael.
“do you want to come over and hang out?” michael asks, walking towards his car. ashton hears the question and looks at rue.
“sure,” rue says. “i would like that.”
ashton coughs. “be careful.” rue smiles and hugs ash through the window, while, over her shoulder, he glares at michael.
rue ruffles ashton’s hair and turns to leave. ashton rolls up the window and begins to take off.
rue gets into the passenger side as michael gets into the drivers seat. he plunges the key into the ignition and revs the car. he pulls out a tape.
“is that a mixed tape?” she asks, smiling. he nods and pushes the tape into the console. he presses play and starts to leave the parking lot. He twists the volume button.
“NA NA NA NA NA NA NA” the words blare through the speakers.
“my chem?” she muses. he grins cheesily.
“you know it.”
YOU ARE READING
lucky charms » clifford
Fanfiction"you look like the leprechaun on the box, dude." in which a girl and a boy with a love for a certain cereal find each other through a run down grocery store.
