Atmosphere's P.O.V:
The numbers on the pump excelled at an excessive rate as the fuel was being forced into my car's engine. It was giving in life again, but only at a certain cost. Just like us humans have to do as well.
I blankly stared at the numbers as they jumped from forty dollars to fifty, and then to sixty until it finally stopped at a ridiculous amount.
A deep sigh left my lips, "No wonder people are broke nowadays." I mumbled to myself before unlatching the fuel hose and tightening the cap.
"I didn't expect to see you here." A raspy voice startled me.
"Jeez, Mike." I hissed lightly, "Don't sneak up on me like that again."
"Sorry." He apologized with a warm chuckle, "I was on a run and saw your car from the distance, and I just wanted to come say "hi" to you." He explained.
My emerald eyes wandered up and down his half naked body. He was shirtless, showing me a different yet beautiful side of him I've never seen before. But I shook away those unwanted thoughts before looking down at my white sneakers.
"Why aren't you at Jake's surprise party?" I asked him, still not making any eye contact with him.
"Just didn't want to be in a room filled with some people that I don't really care to ever see again." He explained, "But the more important question is, why aren't you there?" He questioned, leaning against my car.
"The same reason you aren't." I whispered, leaning against my car as well.
After the night on the rooftop, Colby and I got into a huge fight, and I haven't been at his place for the past few days now. I've been staying at a nearby hotel, all alone, just trying to gather my thoughts together. And he hasn't even tried reaching out to me, so I'm going to do the same since I am stubborn.
"Is everything okay, Atmosphere?" He asked, taking a step closer to me.
I let out a short laugh, "When has anything ever been okay with me?" I asked him.
"I'm sorry, Atmosphere." He whispered, "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, which is what I needed to do, but of course, I'm not going to.
"No, but thank you though." I said, giving him a weak smile, "But are you running for fun?" I quickly changed the topic, because I didn't want to talk about my personal problems at the moment.
"I mean I don't usually go on runs, but I just needed to clear my head so I decided to go on a short one." He explained, glancing down at his shoes.
"Oh my gosh." I murmured, "I can't believe there's people out there that actually do physical activities to help clear their minds. I would just get stressed out even more if I were to do that." I said, giggling.
"Everyone's different, Atmosphere." He lightly chuckled.
"Yeah, tell me about it." I murmured, crossing my arms over my chest.
"So, what do you do to help clear your mind?" He asked, leaning against my car again.
"Hmm." I hummed, "Well, I either cry, destroy anything that's in my way including myself, sleep or all of the above."
"Jesus." He breathed with wide eyes, "I mean, I do the same thing, but I can't expect that coming from someone like you."
"What do you mean by that?" I questioned, eyeing him.
"Well, you're really sweet and down to earth girl." He explained, "I can't picture you raging out like that."
"That's because I don't really show that side of me to just anyone." I sighed.
"Yeah, and I didn't mean to show you that side of me the other night. I'm really sorry about that." He apologized as he scratched the back of his neck.
"Don't apologize, Mike." I whispered, "You needed someone that night and I was happy to be there for you."
"Thank you again." He weakly smiled.
"Don't have to thank me." I said, "Just doing what a friend should do for another friend."
His dark eyes glanced behind his shoulder, checking out our surrounding for some unknown reason before being fixated onto me again.
"So, what are you doing than if you aren't at the party?" He asked.
"Well..." My voice trailed off, "I was going to go to Michael's and get some arts and crafts supplies." I said, "Corey told me that I should find something healthy and positive that will help heal my soul."
"Do you like arts and crafts?" He asked with a slight chuckle.
"I mean..." I shook my head, "I have never been good at painting or any of that type of stuff, but it's a start to find my purpose or whatever I'm looking for in life."
"Do you mind if I tag along?" He asked, causing me to eye him.
"I don't think you're going to have fun with..."
"Hey, I wanna try new things as well." He smiled, "Maybe we can help each other heal, because doing it on your own really sucks."
I gave him a warm smile, "Fine." I gave in, "Let's go, Mikey." I added as I opened the passenger door for him.
"Mikey?" He eyed me with a slight grin.
"What?" I questioned him, "It's just a nickname."
"No, I like it." He beamed, "But I want to give you a nickname as well."
I eyed him, "You don't like Appna?"
"No, I like it." He chuckled, reassuring me, "But everyone calls you that, and I kind of want to give you a new one."
"Well, as long as it isn't as terrible as Kian's was then you are more than welcomed to give me a new nickname." I said.
He made his way over to me, "Trust me, I give the best nicknames." He grinned before getting inside my car.
A small giggle left my mouth as I lightly bit down on my bottom lip. But, I then took in a deep breath, collected myself, before getting inside my car as well.
"Do you have an extra shirt of Colby's in here, because I don't have one?" Mike asked.
"Wow." I lightly giggled, "You should've been more prepared, buddy." I teased, which he chuckled at.
"Hey." He pouted, "I didn't know this is how tonight was gonna go."
"Me either." I pouted as well, "But I think there's a red hoodie of his behind my seat." I said before turning my attention to my phone.
In the corner of my eye, I secretly watched as he rested his right arm on the side of my seat and leaned back to retrieve the hoodie. Butterflies fluttered around my stomach and I didn't like it one bit. I think I'm just feeling this way, because of the way things have been going on between Colby and I. But don't worry, I'm not going to cheat on him especially with one of his friends.
"Jeez, it's tight." He murmured, tugging on the hoodie.
"Well, I mean you are more muscular and taller than him." I pointed out the obvious, which caused a small smirk to appear on his unique face.
"Wow." He chuckled, "Were you checking me out?" He questioned, teasing me.
"No, I was just..." I paused for a second, and decided to not say anything at all, "Never mind." I sighed.
"Atmosphere, you know I'm just messing with you." He said, causing our eyes to meet.
"Yeah, I know." I whispered, giving him a weak smile.
The car ride was short and not boring whatsoever. Mike couldn't stop making random jokes, and I couldn't stop laughing, because of them. And when I was laughing halfway through one of his jokes, I couldn't help but wish it was Colby who was with me and not one of his friends. Don't get me wrong, I adore my new developing friendship with Mike, but I do truly miss my relationship with Colby.
"Oo, let me get a cart!" I happily beamed as I skipped my way over to the shopping carts.
"I think I found your nickname." He smiled, causing me to eye him.
"What is it?" I asked as I leaned onto the cart.
"Stormy!" He beamed.
I let out a howling laugh, "No way?!" I gasped, "That's like a stripper's name, right?"
"I think it's cute though." He chuckled.
"But that doesn't even go with my name." I pointed another thing out about it.
"Fine." He pouted, "How about Apps?"
"Nope." I quickly rejected that nickname.
"Then I'm sticking with Stormy."
"No." I whined, "That's not fair, Mikey."
"I don't care." He chuckled, "It's final."
"You are rude." I mumbled, rolling my eyes at him.
We were making our way towards the store, but I stopped in my tracks when I noticed a flash go off in the corner of my eyes.
"Did you just take a photo of me?" I questioned Mike, eyeing him.
"Yeah." He chuckled nervously, "You don't mind if I post it on my Instagram, do you?" He asked for permission first, which I thought it was nice of him to do.
"I mean, it's not a big deal if you do, right?" I asked, worried at the fact what our other friends or my boyfriend might say about it.
"No, I don't think it will be." He reassured, "We are just hanging out as friends." He added.
"Exactly." I weakly smiled.
Liked by: kevinlangue, realbignik, katrinastuartoffical and 171,398 others
mikes.dead Stormy and I are gonna go drown our feelings with paint.
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frvr.atmosphere Mikey, I hate that nickname😭
kevinlangue um, where was my invitation??
solbyxsphere 👀👀👀
"So, what colors do you want to get?" I asked him.
His dark eyes studied all the colorful options we could choose from the variety of different paint styles they had.
"Hmm." He hummed, "I like dark colors, but..."
"But?" I eyed him.
"Can we also make slime?" He asked out of nowhere.
"For someone who has this tough exterior, you really are a softy inside." I giggled, causing him to playfully roll his eyes at me.
"I always wanted to make slime, but no one would ever make it with me." He added, pouting as well.
"Well, I would be happy to make slime with you, buddy." I happily said.
"Thanks, Stormy." He beamed, pulling me into a tight hug.
"That nickname." I mumbled underneath my breath.
"Watch, you're going to start liking it more than 'Appna'." He said.
A loud gasp left my mouth, "Don't say that." I playfully hissed, "You're so lucky that Jake didn't hear that, because he would literally tear you apart." I warned him.
"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." He chuckled, not worrying about that.
"Unless I tell him." I said with an evil smirk.
"Wow, you're going to do me like that?" He questioned, slightly hurt.
"Maybe." I teased.
"Wow." He jokingly sighed, "And I thought this friendship was going to blossom, but I guess not." He pouted.
"Oh, don't be such a boo boo head." I murmured.
After, spending an hour at Michael's, because Mike couldn't figure out what type of slime kit he wanted to get, he decided to buy six different styles while I bought a majority of cool tone paints, and two 8 x 11 white canvases for us to paint on.
I was grateful that he was letting us do our arts and crafts at his place instead of Colby's, because I didn't nor am I going to tell him how I haven't been staying at Colby's for a while now. It will just be easier than having to explain to him why I'm staying at a hotel.
"You could've helped carry these in." He groaned, before dropping the bags onto his kitchen counter.
"Ehh, could have." I murmured, "But why would I?" I added, giggling. He playfully rolled his eyes at me.
"Sorry about the mess." He apologized as he started cleaning off the countertop, "I didn't think anyone would be coming over." He explained, tossing away old used paper plates.
"It's fine." I reassured him, because I honestly didn't care about the mess, "Do you live alone?" I asked him, checking out his place with only my eyes.
"Yeah, I do." He whispered.
"Do you like it?"
"I do and don't at the same time." He answered truthfully, "Like, I like my personal space and all, but I get lonely sometimes because of it, ya know?"
"Yeah, sadly I do." I sighed, looking down at my hands.
"Do you want to go paint in my spare room?" He asked, changing the somewhat depressing topic.
"Yeah, sure." I answered, forcing a smile onto my face.
I followed behind him as he guided me to my spare room. There was a small loveseat in the corner of the room while the other side was filled with all sorts of musical instruments and other technologies.
"So, this is where the magic happens?" I lightly teased as I waltzed around the room.
"Yeah." He chuckled lightly, "This is my little escape from reality." He whispered.
"Do you mind showing me what you do?" I awkwardly asked, because I didn't know if it was okay to ask that.
"Sure." He whispered with a warm smile before making his way over to me.
In sync, we both sat down on either of his office chairs in front of his desktop. I leaned closer to him, watching his every move as he logged onto his computer.
"I'm going to show you a new song that I've been working on for a while now." He said as he clicked on a specific file on his computer's desktop, "And you're actually going to be the first person to hear it." He added.
"Well, don't I feel special." I happily smiled.
"Well, you should." He chuckled, jokingly.
"Oh, whatever." I mumbled, pushing him slightly.
"It's not done yet." He added, "So, it probably doesn't sound that great."
I rested my hand on top of his, "Don't say that." I lightly sighed, causing his dark eyes to meet mine, "I'm sure it's amazing." I whispered.
He gave me a warm smile before clicking play on one of his latest songs. My eyes wandered over to the computer screen as his music started to play through the speakers. There was a softy tone at first before it picked up once his unique voice started to sing/rap his meaningful lyrics.
"I don't wanna go another day without you
Start to feel alone, got me thinkin about you
Call me when you're home, kinda worried about you
Thinkin about you, thinkin about you
I don't wanna go another day without you..."
He suddenly stopped playing the music, causing me to look at him, "Mike?" I whispered, "It's so good, actually amazing." I corrected myself.
"You really think so?" He asked, a small smile tugging on the corner of his lips.
"Yeah." I breathed, "I really do."
"Thank you." He whispered, "I'm just having writer's block with this song though." He lightly sighed, "It's like something is missing in it."
"Or someone." I added.
Someone?" He questioned, eyeing me.
"Yeah." I said, "It's like you're telling your side of the story with those lyrics, and I think you should get someone on the track to tell their side. Like, make it where it's two of you talking about what they want to say to the other person, but you guys are too afraid to do so." I explained.
"Holy shit." He breathed, "That's brilliant." He beamed, jumping up.
"I mean..."
"Do you want to be the other person?" He asked, hope lingering in his voice.
I eyed him, "You want me to sing on this track with you?" I asked.
"Yeah, like..."
"Mikey." I sighed, "You haven't even heard me sing." I pointed out, "I actually never even heard myself sing either."
"How about you sing a little something for us right now?" He suggested.
I shook my head, "My anxiety will go through the roof if I were to sing right now, and that won't be pretty."
"But what if this could be your little escape, you know?" He said, "Like, you have to try everything out to see what can help you cope, and what if music is the one that will."
"I don't know." I murmured.
My dark eyes fluttered over to his balcony sliding door. I tilted my head slightly when I noticed that the crescent moon was shining brighter than ever. And suddenly a warm feeling flooded inside of me that I haven't felt in a long time. It was like my body and the universe was trying to tell me something. That maybe this will help me with my road to recovery.
"Okay." I whispered, giving in.
"Okay?" He questioned me, hoping what he just heard was correct.
"I will do this with you, but you have to promise me that no one will find out about this." I said, my eyes meeting him.
"Wait, why?" He questioned, slightly confused.
"Because if I do fall in love with making music, then I don't want anyone or anything to take that away from me like they have for everything and everyone else." I explained.
"I promise." He reassured, interlocking our pinkies together.
"Promise." I whispered with a warm smile.
And this is where my hope for a better and happier future begins, but did it really?
**** Author's Note ****
Hey buddies!
Sorry for a late post, but I still hope you enjoyed it.
Remember we are only four chapters away from the ending of Player 3.0.
Take care,
ash.
Song: About you by Mike's Dead