Y/N's POV:
We finally got to the park, where the sun was shining so bright that I had to squint my eyes. There were only a few kids there, swinging on the swings. We decided to sit on a bench close to a large playground. It was under a big tree, a perfect place for a chat without your skin peeling off by the sun.
"Over here. A nice shady spot." I walk towards the bench, and I sit down.
"This is a good spot." Mike replies, then he sits down beside me.
"I gotta ask a question..." I say.
"sure, what's up?"
"I've been wondering... why do you wanna be my friend? I am just another fan in your millions of people in your fan base. Why me?"
Mike rests his head in his hands. He had a sad and hesitant look on his face, but he decided to speak. "Well... the truth is... I've been losing a lot of things lately. People have been growing up, and moving on from friendships... and that included my best friend Cameron. He's just been... growing up lately. Too much. I miss him." Mike takes a breath, then he continues. "I've lost my girlfriend, too. The alters got in the way, and it became difficult. I was doing everything to save my relationship. I took therapy, took her to amazing places, and we would dine out almost every week. But, when Mal came along, Zoey went 'See ya!' and left me in the dust. I was just so happy to see one of my fans ask for a picture and autograph, and I saw how happy you were... so, I decided to create a new friendship and make friends with a fan." He looked down to the ground.
I look at him with remorse in my eyes. "I'm... so sorry about all of that. Sometimes, people move on, and it's hard to forgive and forget... I know the feeling a little too well..."
"Y...you do...? Really?" Mike's eyes glow in shock.
"Yeah..." I reply, a little hesitant.
I used to have this boyfriend/girlfriend named (random name). They were the best while dating, but started to show their true colours when we started the relationship. They, 2 months in things started to get complicated. Yelling and screaming would be heard wherever we went, making things hard for us to agree on the same things. They would always hang out with their friends way too much, and when we wanted to hang out together, they wouldn't care. SO, I finally snapped, and broke up with them. I was sad for a long while, and would always remember all the good times I had with them. But, in reality, all they were was just a big scumbag.
"Sorry about that too... I don't know the full story... but I feel bad." Mike says.
"It's ok, really. I'm all fine now."
"That's good to know. Well, I guess we should start talking about my... alters now..." Mike let out a worried sigh, then took a deep breath and started to explain. "So, this all started when I got hit by a very hard box full of pots and pans. I was helping Zoey's mom and dad move into their new home, and I just wanted to be considerate and help. But, while I was helping, the box slipped and it fell on my head. I like to carry boxes above my head because I hate how I have to limp to carry them. It's weird, I know... But, we all have that weird thing that we do that no one understands... "He took a breath and looked at me. "After that, everything started going wonky. I would have these so called 'dreams' but I later on realised that they weren't vivid dreams, but stuff that was actually happening in my brain at real time. I saw... everyone... all of my alters. And then... I saw Mal..." He looked back to the ground with a sad expression.
I shared the same look. We both kept our heads in our hands, looking at the ground. It was an awkward moment for both of us. I didn't know how it felt to have people living in your brain with their own separate lives, so it was hard to share the same feeling like I understood everything. But, I tried my best.
"That's just... odd..." I say. It really was odd.
"I don't know what to do anymore. Mal is going to cause chaos and I can't do anything about it. He's more powerful than me at all levels... especially when the blue harvest moon affected me and he controlled me for a while..." Mike replied. He has true fear in his eyes. "I don't want to go to Juvie again! I don't! He ruined everything for me! EVERYTHING!" Mike clenched his fists in anger. "I never wanted these alters in the first place... never did..."
I wasn't surprised. I wouldn't want people living in my head as well.
"I see... well, I'm no mental health doctor, but I'm pretty sure that you can't control alters whenever you want to... I'm sorry, but I cannot help."
Mike goes silent, then looks at me. "I knew you'd say that..."
I looked surprised. "Then why did you want to talk?" I ask. Why would he want to talk to me if he knew that I couldn't help? I raise an eyebrow.
Mike raises his voice. "I just need someone, Y/N! I need anyone at this point! I just want someone to talk to! Someone to share a laugh with! Please understand... I just haven't been doing well at all. Everything is breaking apart..." He drags his fingers under his hair, like he wanted to claw his head out. He looked at the ground. "I feel like I've been going mental! Like I'm not grasping reality anymore! I have all these fans, but do they really care about me? Do they care?" He widens his eyes. Mike really looked like he was going insane.
This is like a fever dream... one moment he wants to have a nice little chat about his alters, and now he's going CRAZY! He really is not grasping reality. I look at him with disbelief. This isn't what Mike would say. I rub his shoulders to try to make him loosen up and relax. He finally stops clawing his skull, and looks to the ground. His breath was getting lighter and lighter, which meant that he was easing up. Good. Then, I say something to break the silence.
"Listen Mike... I don't know what's going on in your brain at all, and don't take this personally. Everything so far has been crooked-" Mike interrupts, both of us quickly making eye contact. He looked angry.
"CROOKED?! MY WHOLE LIFE IS UPSIDE DOWN! EVERYTHING!" He pauses to take a breath. "I...I'm sorry... I'm really sorry..." He looks back at the ground again. This dude has lots of mood swings, damn...
"It's ok..." I continue to rub his shoulder, kind of like massaging it. Making him loosen, ease up, lighten up... oh for goodness sake I just want him relaxed!
Mike looks back at me with worry. "I shouldn't be wasting your time... you have a job and everything..."
"My job... MY JOB?! OH MY GOSH MY JOB! YOUR RIGHT! Well, not the wasting time thing.. you weren't wasting time at all! But I REALLY GOTTA GO! LIKE RIGHT NOW!" I quickly get up. "THANK YOU FOR THIS LOVELY CHAT HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!" I yell, while running away as fast as I can. I need to get to work as quickly as possible! I'm so close to being late!
M's POV:
"Thanks for the... talk..." I wave, then I slowly put my hand down. Now i'm all alone. Me and my thoughts only... well, I shouldn't be saying that... There's Manitoba, Svetlana, Vito... ok I don't need to name them all.
I look left and right, noticing the same kids that I passed by a few hours ago. They're still playing? That's a long time. But, they were having lots of fun, blowing bubbles... I remember doing that when I was little, about 11 years old... hanging out with Zoey... as her close neighbour. School got us together, and then Total Drama made us closer than ever... until... everything changed. Absolutely everything.
I stay in silence, watching everything around me. I just applied for a new job, because my old job was crappy. But, I heard that the last waiter got fired, so if they allow me, I'll get accepted as a waiter for a new restaurant that's been built on Loverside, close to the bluffs. So many couples go there, so no wonder it's called Loverside. I would go there with Zoey all the time... Sigh...
...
I gasp. Everything goes black, and then I land inside my subconscious, only to find Vito sitting on a small hill, talking to himself.
"What happened?! Who's in control?!" I say to myself. Vito quickly glared at me, then started to speak.
"Yo, Mike! I could maybe find out for you..." Vito looks around, then looks back at me. "Did you accidentally put a hat back on again?" Vito says.
"What? No!"
"Did you bang your knee?"
"No!"
"Let me guess... you were doing something athletic?"
"No, Svetlana's right there!" I look and point towards Svetlana, who was doing the splits, touching her toes.
"What? Did you call Svetlana?" Svetlana asks.
"No..." I look scared. "If it's none of you... then it must be..." I get up.
"The... Malevolent One...?" Vito says. He looks scared.
"Oh no..." Svetlana says, looking around.
ML's POV:
Finally. I'm in control. Let's stop this love talk. It's boring.
I get up from the bench, and I look around. Looks like him and Y/N were talking about us coming back, like he was thinking about this morning. I always keep up with Mike... heh heh heh... Now, to see this... 'Y/N'... She looks interesting...
I start to walk out of the park, hands in my pocket. I started to fix my hair to look more like Mikes, whilst whistling. It's time to talk to Y/N...
(WC: 1673)