▷ micah barrett ◁
"Another week complete!" Griffin cheers, skipping up to the spot by my car where Watson, Jesse, and I stand. When she reaches us, she brushes hair out of her face and grabs my cigarette from my hand, taking a quick puff. "You should really stop this smoking thing," she blows out her plume of smoke with a wink, dropping her bag by her feet.
"You're one to talk," I chuckle, taking my own drag as I lean against my driver's seat door.
"Where are we headed today?"
Another tradition of ours. Every Friday, we go do something in the town as a friend group. It can range from dinner and a movie to skinny dipping in the lake at the park while we're high off our rockers. We missed last Friday for...obvious reasons, and we decided that this Friday needed to make up for it.
"Is Sidney coming? Cause you know that regardless of what we say, we're gonna do what she wants anyway..." Jesse shades, giving me a side eye before sliding her sunglasses down from her forehead.
I pass her nasty look back as I hand Griffin the rest of my cigarette. In gracious return, she hands me a fresh one of her own that I stick behind my ear. "No, she's sick."
"What about Saturn and a movie? Simple, quiet, and something we all may want to do," Griffin suggests.
"A smoothie I can slip some alcohol in, my girl, and a dark place where no one will be focused on me...you don't know what you've done, Duffy." Watson grabs Jesse by her waist and nuzzles into her, placing kisses on her neck while she laughs and playfully pushes him away.
"You're disgusting, dude," I groan, casting my attention to the open double doors of the school. Another rush of students exit from inside the red hall and there, in all her beauty, is Micah Blue.
In a sea of black, white, and gray, all I can see is her plum-colored shirt and beige overalls. She's a total explosion of color up against everyone else. Her hair is up in a messy ponytail, with pieces of her hair framing her flushed face. She walks down the stairs, the bounce in her step so refreshing and wonderful and...beautiful.
Griffin follows my gaze and calls out to Micah. "Micah Blue!"
Micah's head whips in our direction and our eyes meet immediately. With a smile, I wave her over. She starts making her way towards us, hands clenched around her bookbag straps so tight, her knuckles go pale white.
She stops about ten feet away from us, squinting over at Watson.
"You don't have any dodgeballs on you, do you?" She bites, causing Watson to let go of Jesse and sigh.
"It was merely a cruel joke," He shows his hands to Micah, giving her lazy jazz hands. "No red rubber on me, baby."
"Just a precaution." Griffin turns towards her and puts her hands on Micah's shoulders.
"We're going out, and you're coming."
"Pardon?" The french slips out of her mouth so effortlessly, making me laugh.
"We're going to go get smoothies and then go see a movie. Preferably, that new comedy."
"Nope, not seeing that one. I think it's gonna be fucking horrible," Watson complains.
"Nobody cares what you think," Griffin jokingly snaps. "You're probably just saying that because it's a character-driven story fronted by women."
"Trust me Duffy, I have nothing wrong with women, especially women in character." Watson makes an incredibly sexual gesture at Jesse which causes Micah's face to slowly form into disgust.
Griffin and Watson begin to bicker back and forth, which gives Micah an opportunity to start to slip out. When I take notice, I catch up with her and capture her frail wrist in my hand. She stops moving and slowly turns to me, her eyes low.
"I'm sorry about them. They're...a handful," I say, apologetically, watching her head raise to me.
"It's fine, really. I just don't know if I should hang out. I feel like I would totally mess up the flow you guys have going on."
I scoff. "That's nonsense. You're really cool and we want you there, trust me. Also, there's no Sidney and I can keep Watson as far away from you as possible." She snickers at the last bit, which makes my heart swell slightly.
I finally let go of her wrist and bring my fingers up to her face to brush some of her hair behind her ear. I feel her body essentially melt against my touch and quickly pull away, shoving my hands into my pocket.
"You don't have to say yes. If you said no, I would totally understand. But...it would be great if you did come. We could even slip out during the movie and go somewhere private, if you wanted," She raises her eyebrow and accompanies it with a head tilt, making me stammer. "I didn't m-mean it like t-that.Just like, we could go talk or just be alone or something. Fuck. I'm bad at this, aren't I?" She nods slightly with a tight smile. "I have a girlfriend, we couldn't."
She lets out a laugh through her nostrils and lightly shoves me with a hand to my chest, but the feeling behind it is completely sad. "I get what you're saying. I'll go." My entire being lights up like a little child in a toy store, and I clap my hands together in happiness as we both walk back to my car. Griffin and Watson are still arguing, Jesse completely oblivious as she uses the reflection in the gray paint of my car to reapply her lipstick.
"I don't want to see some stupid action movie that's all ahhh criminals ahhh explosions ahhh big guns! I wanna see something with substance!"
"So you're saying that a movie about catching a fugitive mob boss has no substance?"
"That's exactly what I'm fucking saying," Griffin states, crossing her arms across her chest with a huff. "Are you coming, Micah?"
"Uh...yeah."
"Alright then!" Griffin grabs her bag from the ground and leans into me. "Can we please go before I murder Watson in the school parking lot?"
"Griffin, can Micah take shotgun?" I ask, unlocking the car. Griffin hums her approval and slides into the back, settling into the seat behind me. Watson gives me a look through the rearview mirror that reads sliminess but has a subliminal message. He begins to mouth something to me, but I break out connection as he starts. I don't have the time.
The ride to Saturn is moderately silent, save for the soft hum of the Top 40 radio and the sounds of Watson and Jesse shifting against the leather seats.
"Hey, can you guys, like, not fuck right now?" Griffin screeches, squashed up against the door. Micah turns away from us more, keeping her eyes on the view of outside.
"Guys, please. Last time this happened, I was the one who had to clean up."
"Nah, man, I think the last time anything happened, it was you and your own girlfriend." Micah's body moves slightly, and she lets out a sigh. She's laughing.
"It's just so spacious. Lexuses have to be the perfect cars for coitus."
"Don't ever let that word come out of your mouth again," Griffin growls, making me and Micah laugh.
The conversation is fully over by the time we pull into the Saturn parking lot, thank God. We all clammer into the tiny building and order our drinks from the place with smoothies "out of this world". I get my usual, Jesse and Watson share a pina colada, Griffin sticks with her extra large mango peach, and Micah opts for a blueberry.
"You know," I say over a mouth a mouth full of strawberry banana slush. "It's really fitting that you got blueberry."
Micah finishes slurping another portion of blue through her straw before speaking. "Huh?" Here goes the rambling and the dorkiness and the weirdness and everything wrong with me.
"You and blueberries have a lot in common. Small. Both have relations to the word and color blue,"
"Round?" She interrupts, a smile playing at her lips.
"No, I was gonna go with cute." As soon as the word leaves my mouth, Micah makes a loud choking sound. It scares me, and I instantly start smacking at her back as she coughs incessantly in front of everyone in Saturn.
"Are you okay?" I ask in concern, wiping tears from under her eyes. Her face is beet red and she begins chugging a water bottle she grabbed from her bag.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Her voice is raspy as fuck and I find myself shifting in the booth we're sitting in. Fuck, fuck, fuck. "You can't...say things like that to me."
"I thought it was pretty great," I tease, being pulled out of the moment by Griffin's voice.
"So the showing is at 5, and it's 4:15 now. I think we should head out so we have time to buy snacks and so Watson can fill his pina with vodka." She rolls her eyes
"Movies show 20 minutes of previews. That movie starts at 4:35," Watson retorts sassily, making Griffin clench her fists.
"Can we just go? The Micahs and I can go see my movie, you and Jesse can go sit in your movie, cause God knows you guys won't be watching it," Griffin takes a sassy sip of her smoothie which makes Watson laugh. She makes eye contact with me and nods her head towards the door, which tells me it's time to go. She gets up from the booth and walks out, prompting Watson to yell, "You were always so smart, Duffy!" while still in his fit of laughter.
Jesse and Watson follow behind, and that leaves me and Micah in the booth. I stand, and reach back to grab her hand, but instantly recoil it when she goes to grab it. Habit. Supid habit. She's not Sidney. Her fingers form into a ball, hurt spreading all over her face.
"Sorry, I..uh...it's something I do for--"
"Chivalry really must be dead. Or, it's just reserved for Sidney Reid." The bite in her voice is apparent as she slides out of the booth and leads herself out without even casting me a second glance. Stupid. You're stupid. You're an idiot! Why didn't you just grab her hand?
All of my friends are crowded around my car when I make it to the parking lot.
"I'm taking a smoke break," I unlock the car and expect them to all get in without me, but Watson stays behind. He puts his hand on my shoulder and leads me a few feet from the car.
"What?" I grumble, cigarette hanging from my mouth. His face is always so mischievous. I hate it.
"So, Micah Blue, huh?"
"'So, Micah Blue' what?" I ask, tapping off my cigarette.
"Dude, don't tell me you think I'm fucking stupid. You want her."
"What are you talking about?" I say monotonously, making Watson wipe at his face.
"You are seriously digging Micah Blue. It's written all over your face. I almost had to tell you not to drool while we were in Saturn."
"That's not..."
"You're a horrible liar. Don't even start," the jig is up. I'm basically glass, Watson can see right through me.
"I'm gonna be nice guy Zach right now, not sleaze Watson," he rolls his eyes at his nickname before continuing. "You think Micah is beautiful. You think she's funny, smart, witty, all these wonderful things. But you've got a girlfriend and you don't want to jeopardize that, especially when that girlfriend is Sidney Reid."
I take a singular, "you got me" drag and watch as Watson claps his hands together. "Did I read you, or did I read you?"
"You read me," I mutter, swiping some hair out of my face. "But what do I do about it? How do I stop-"
The mischief comes back. He hops around like the Joker, this all too familiar glint in this eye. "You could stop. Banish all your feelings. Or...you could play with it a little. Indulge in it."
"That's wrong."
"It's all about self-control, my man." I know it's wrong, deep deep down in my gut. I shouldn't put Sidney or Micah through my indulgence. It's in the way that Watson paints it, that makes me think it might be the slightest bit okay. As long as I don't hurt anyone, or promise anything.
"It's your life, Micah. You can live safe, or you can live on the edge." Watson grabs my cigarette, takes a quick puff, and tosses it onto the ground next to me. I look at it in despair as he laughs in my face, a loud, booming sound. "But just remember, no one had any fun staying in their comfort zone."
"Are you ladies done gossiping?" Jesse yells with her body hanging out of the window, causing Watson to run over and smother her in kisses. "Yes, yes. We just had so much to talk about." We get over to the Cineplex in ten minutes, buy our tickets and snacks for our respective movies, and part ways.
Micah sits in between Griffin and I, and even though they're both focused on the movie, laughing and snickering and sharing commentary, I can't help but focus on Micah out of the corner of my eye. The colored projections slide over her face, highlighting the slope of her nose, the shine of her lips, the curl of her long eyelashes. During a slow part of the movie, she catches me looking and nudges my knee with her own, a small smile playing on her lips. The side of my knee that she nudged burns, like I'm a teenage girl in a romance novel describing the electricity she feels when her crush touches her...elbow or something.
When the movie ends, Griffin stands and stretches her arms up to the ceiling, letting out the most demonic screech that makes me snicker. "What a great movie." She launches into a dialogue with Micah as we walk out of the theatre, my attention completely taken by Jesse and Watson walking out of the theatre opposite us, hair messy and faces blissed out.
"What did you think, Micah?" I snap out of my disgusted trance and turn to Micah with wide eyes. "Huh?" Her smile from earlier is back, sly and cheeky. She grabs a strand of her hair and begins twirling it around her finger, never breaking eye contact with me. My throat goes dry, and I fight to get it back to normal before I have to speak again.
"What'd you think about the movie?"
"Uh, I thought it was...funny." Micah drops her hair and tilts her head, lowering her eyes at me. "That's it? You thought the comedy was funny?" She chuckles as she says the sentence, making me scratch at my neck with a nervous laugh. I open the main door for her, a gust of cool September air engulfing our bodies.
"It's still a valid statement. Comedies are funny. Valid. Equal." Micah nods her head slowly, rolling her eyes at me with a giggle.
"I'll give it to you. It's obvious you weren't focused on the movie," She socks me softly in the shoulder, making a big smile break out over my face.
"Was it that obvious?" I don't even realize that Griffin, Watson, and Jesse are way ahead of us until Griffin turns and gives me a look, one that's exactly like the one I got from Watson earlier.
"I'll...catch an Uber home. See you lovebirds later," She winks at me, but I return the gesture with widened eyes and the shake of my head. She raises her hands apologetically and says, "Just one pair of lovebirds. Just one," pointing over to Watson and Jesse.
"Yeah, we're gonna head out too," Jesse announces, rushing over to give us both hugs before being pulled away towards the plaza that the Cineplex is in.
Another breeze flies through, and Micah puts her hands on her arms and rubs, puffing her cheeks out as she tries to combat the chill.
"Here." I slide off my hoodie and hand it to her, watching her face go from surprised to conflicted to fond when she finally slides the hoodie onto her body. The black fabric drapes over her so perfectly, oversized yet fitting.
"I guess chivalry isn't dead," I let out triumphantly. She grins, but drops it soon after.
"Uh..." Her cheeks and the tip of her nose burn bright red as she looks at her surroundings. "Thanks for inviting me out. It was...nice."
"Of course. We should hang out more often."
"Sure. Er, my house is only like a mile from here, so I'll see you." She rotates on her feet and starts walking towards the road, but I'm able to stop her, my face shrouded in confusion.
"Uh, no. I'm driving you home. Come on. Get to the Lexus." Instead of fighting it, she bites on her lower lip and leads the way.
The ride to her house is short and sweet, the only true conversation consisting of directions and random small talk. It doesn't bother me though, or make anything weird. I enjoy listening to her. Listening to her ideas, her thoughts, her ramblings, her voice.
"This is me," she states as we pull up to a widespread one story house. I lean forward and out for a better look out of her window. The house itself and the yard are near pristine. Grass maintained, decorations nicely placed, a fresh coat of blue paint on the exterior. It's cozy looking. Homey.
"Nice place."
"Thanks. Inside, not so much. My family's a mess."
"I'd love to meet them someday," Micah's body stiffens awkwardly and I instantly want to take my words back. "Not to be weird. Just, uh, like-"
"It's okay. I get you." She grabs her bag from near her feet and faces me with a big smile. "Thanks again."
I can't help myself and reach out to tuck some of her hair behind her ear, following her eyes as they watch my movement. Her skin is so warm, so soft under my fingertips. And her lips. What I wouldn't do to kiss her right now.
I lean in slightly and watch her gasp softly as I stop inches in front of her face.
"Of course." My voice is low and she takes her bottom lip between her teeth and before I can close the space between us, she pulls away. Her face burns red like a tomato. Guh.
"H-h-here's your hoodie," She stammers, shimmying out of it, but I stop her with my hands.
"Keep it. It looks nice on you." She doesn't meet my eyes anymore, just settles her bag on her shoulder, gives me tight lipped smile, and exits the car without another glance. I wait until her front door opens, expecting a wave goodbye...but nothing. She just walks in and shuts the door and that's that.
I can't even will myself to be upset. I'm feeling too many other emotions to let anger in any form crowd my mood. I just turn up my feel good radio and sing all the way home with the goofiest smile on my face, my heart somersaulting for this girl.
hi! my writing inspiration has returned lol. but i got super motivated to write something cute to start to delve into their romantic relationship and ahhhhh my heart. can't wait to take this places (:< love you guys and thank you for your support!