Sydney, Australia
August 18th, 2016
Michael had been friends with Luke for two days know, but he felt so close to him already.
Luke had invited Michael to his house, and Michael was nervous. He knew they were just going to hang out, so he really didn't have to be nervous. It was probably just something about the wheelchair. What if the chair broke? Michael can't repair a wheelchair. What if Luke falls off the chair and hurts himself? Michael is too shy to call the ambulance.
Michael's phone was charging on his nightstand, and he was asleep on top of his laptop. He stirred slightly in his sleep. Soon he woke up to a crash, followed by loud swears. He yawned, and checked the time before getting up and walking out of his room.
Calum was in the livingroom, packing his stuff. He left in three days, and was beyond stressed. He mumbled a 'fuck' every now and then when he struggled trying to get the zipper shut.
"Do you need help?" Michael asked quietly.
"No," Calum said. This was the first time they spoke to each other in days.
"You sure? That looks like you could use a hand."
"I'm fine Michael. Go back to bed. It's only 10 am."
"Uh, actually, it's 2 pm."
Calum glanced at the clock. "Well shit."
"It's good that you woke me up anyway, I have to be somewhere in an hour," Michael said, leaning on the wall.
Calum stood up from the floor. "Let me guess, the coffee shop?"
"Kinda. I promised to meet my friend there and then we'll go to his place."
"Wait, you actually obtained a friend?" Calum asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. His name is Luke."
"What does he look like?"
"Blond hair, blue eyes," Michael stopped to think for a while. "And he sits in a wheelchair."
Calum stared at Michael in confusion. "Really?"
Michael nodded.
"Why?"
"He hasn't told me."
Michael glanced at the clock. "I better go take a shower now, or else I'll be late."
•••
Michael walked down the road, and even from far away he could see Luke already waiting for him. Luke was on his phone, and he had headphones on. He was wearing black skinny jeans and a white tank top. He also had a cap on his head, and black army shoes. Michael was also wearing black skinny jeans and a red flannel. He had black converses and his hair was all messy. He couldn't get it under control, so he just let it do whatever it wanted.
Luke lifted his head, and noticed Michael. A smile formed on his face, and he waved. Michael waved shyly back.
"I'm sorry if I'm late," Michael said, stopping in front of Luke.
"No, you're not late, don't worry," Luke said. "Do you want to go inside and grab a coffee or something?"
Michael nodded in response, Luke moved over to the ramp leading to the coffee shop. Michael followed him inside. He soon realized people were staring at them. At him.
Michael soon felt really insecure. He knew he was unattractive, and he knew he was fat. He instinctively wrapped his arms around his tummy, trying to hide himself. Luke didn't even notice the people staring.
"What would you like, Michael?" Luke turned to face Michael, and immediately noticed Michael's distressed look. "What's wrong?"
"People are staring at me," Michael whispered.
"They're not staring at you, they're staring at me. Don't worry." Luke said and shrugged. "So, what do you want?"
"I'll take a caramel latte, thanks," Michael said quietly.
Luke ordered, and handed Michael his coffee as they left the shop. Michael took a long sip of his drink.
"Doesn't it bother you when people stare at you?" Michael asked quietly.
"Not really, I'm kinda used to it."
"Oh," Michael said simply. "What do you mean you're 'used to it'?"
Luke shrugged. "I get weird looks every day. Hey, we're here," Luke pointed at the huge building in front of them.
"Is this where you live?"
"Yeah. Oh, by the way, I live with my friend," Luke said and took a sip of his coffee.
Michael soon felt even more nervous. "Y-you live with someone?"
"Yeah. I mean, I can't live by myself."
"Why don't you live with your parents?"
Luke soon looked very sad. "Can you hold the door open for me?"
Michael opened the door, and Luke mumbled a 'thank you'. Luke moved over to the elevator and pressed the 'up' button. Soon the doors opened and Luke wheeled in, followed by Michael. He pressed the 7th floor button and The doors slowly closed.
"What is you roommate like?" Michael asked.
"You'll see."
The elevator arrived to the 7th floor, and the doors opened slowly. Luke wheeled out at pulled out his house keys. His apartment was number 145. Luke opened the door.
"I'm sorry it's kinda messy here," Luke apologized, throwing his keys on the table.
"Luke, you home already?" Someone yelled from the livingroom.
"I told you we would come here!"
A tall boy with dirty-blond hair peeked from the livingroom. When he noticed Michael, he quickly disappeared to what looked like his room. He soon came back wearing glasses.
"Hey, I'm Ashton. Nice to meet you," the boy said, reaching his hand towards Michael's to shake hands. Michael grabbed his hand and smiled. Strong grip.
"Michael," he introduced himself. He examined Ashton from head to toes; messy curly hair, black glasses, plain white t-shirt and grey sweatpants, and friendly features. Seemed like a nice guy.
"Do you guys want something to eat?" Ashton asked, holding the phone. "I'm just ordering chinese."
"I could eat," Luke said and glanced at Michael. "Do you want anything?"
"Sure," Michael said and smiled softly. Ashton called the chinese restaurant, and in half an hour the doorbell rang. Ashton went to open the door and paid the delivery guy.
"Guys, the food is here!" Ashton shouted. Michael and Luke were sitting in the livingroom watching Stranger Things on Netflix. When they heard Ashton calling them they paused the show and hurried to the kitchen.
"So Michael, tell me about yourself," Ashton said, mouth full of noodles.
"Well, I don't know if there is much to tell. I'm 20, I live with my best friend, I play the guitar,-"
"Wait, you play the guitar? Why didn't you tell me?" Luke asked.
"Because you never asked," Michael said, taking a new mouthful of chicken.
"But you could have mentioned it," Luke pouted, and Michael laughed.
"Your laugh is adorable," Luke said. Michael blushed and turned away. "I play the guitar too. We should play together sometimes."
"How do you play guitar?" Michael asked.
"I have my ways," Luke said and smiled.
"Are you originally from Australia?" Ashton asked.
"Yeah."
"I am too. I'm moving soon though," Ashton said.
"Oh really? When?" Michael asked, a bit concerned. Luke would be all alone.
"I don't know. Probably some time after Luke's surgery."
Michael sighed out of relief. That meant Luke could survive on his own.
All of them finished the rest of their meals in silence. Michael thanked politely, and promised to pay for the food later. Ashton did try to convince him he didn't have to, but Michael insisted on paying.
"Do you want to listen to music or play guitar or something?" Luke asked, wheeling to his room.
"Sure," Michael answered and followed Luke to his room.
Like room was quite big, and quite...normal. Michael imagined it to look something like a hospital room, but it looked like it belonged to a normal 18-year-old. A bed in one corner, a table without a chair in front of the window, shelves on one wall filled with different books, and three different guitars in their holders. A couple of posters were hung up on the walls, such as All Time Low and The 1975.
"You like All Time Low and The 1975?" Michael asked.
"Yeah. I also like Blink-182."
"Me too."
"Really? What's your favourite song from any of them?"
"Medicine."
"I like Backseat Serenade."
Michael walked over to Luke's table, and saw an open notebook. He didn't want to be nosey, but he really wanted to see what Luke had written.
Everybody's got their demons
Even wide awake or dreaming
I'm the one who ends up leaving
Make it okay
See a war I wanna fight it
See a match I wanna strike it
Every fire I've ignited
Faded to grey
"What song is this?" Michael asked. Luke turned around.
"Oh, nothing. It's just some stupid scribble," Luke said closing the notebook.
"You wrote it?" Michael asked and Luke nodded. "It's amazing."
"No it's not, it just something I came up with the other day." Luke took the notebook and put it to his bookshelf.
"It's really good. You should write more of those. They would make a great song."
Luke blushed. "Thank you."
The rest of the day the two boys hung out in Luke's room, listening to music, talking, and occasionally showing off their guitar playing skills. They also watched a couple of episodes of Stranger Things. It was almost midnight when Michael left Luke's place. Luke did ask Michael to stay over for the night, but Michael politely declined.
Michael had headphones on as he walked through the silent streets of Sydney. It usually wasn't this quiet, even at this time of the day. Michael lived in the suburbs of Sydney. There was about 13 miles between the center of Sydney and his doorstep. Michael really didn't care since he went to the city very rarely.
It soon started to drizzle, and Michael fastened his pace. He skipped a few songs, and settled on All Time Low's Backseat Serenade. He wasn't a big fan of the song, but just because Luke liked it he wanted to learn to like it too.
It was now raining a lot. His converses were soon completely drenched, and his hair was sticking to his face. He was only a mile away from home. Michael started running, even though he was already completely wet.
He soon reached his apartment, and opened his front door as quiet as possible. Calum was asleep on the couch, snoring quietly. Michael walked to his room, taking off his flannel, jeans, and Converses. Just as he was about to go to sleep, he heard his phone beep.
From Luke: I had a great time today. do you want to meet up for coffee tomorrow or something?
Michael smiled as he typed in the answer.
To Luke: i'd love to.
hey
this sucks but oh well
leave a nice comment or a star pls
sorry for mistakes
-Wil