MICAH: Guess he felt generous.
MICAH: There’s a new pirate movie out. Wanna go?
CHARLIE: Is this a date?
MICAH: Strictly friend-date lol
CHARLIE: What’s the difference?
MICAH: Pretty sure one involves either kissing or the boy paying.
MICAH: And the other one…doesn’t?
CHARLIE: Ah. Gotcha. Well, I’m glad we figured that out.
CHARLIE: Now I can say yes without confusion.
Damn it. Why did I play along? How was I ever going to get out of this self-created friend-zone if I kept this up?
MICAH: Great, I’ll be over in a few.
CHARLIE: All right! I’ll be waiting!
“Teenage Dream” (Acoustic)
Glee Cast
I TOSSED MY PHONE ONTO the bed and jumped to my closet. I tugged my comfy-around-the-house clothes off and changed as quickly as I could into a pair of jeans and one of my nice, lace-decorated blouses. I was just twisting a bit of my hair away from my face when I heard Josh shout my name.
“CHARLIE! MICAH IS HERE!” I could only imagine what Josh and his friends were thinking. Maybe they were surprised; though, from the sound of things earlier, it was expected. Did Jennifer and Rachel feel the same way? Were they expecting me to come back to school one day with a smile and news of finally beginning a relationship with Micah? Jennifer was always encouraging me to spend time with him. And in my state of denial, I hadn’t bothered to confide my inner-most feelings about Micah with her. Maybe it was time I tried. After one more glance at my reflection, I slipped out of my room and down the stairs. Micah was watching Josh and his friends play another round of Uno. Despite their alleged boredom with the game, they must have decided to give it another go.
“I’d put that card down,” Micah said as he pointed to one of the selections in Josh’s hand.
“You can’t do that!” J said. “That’s cheating, man.”
“No, it isn’t.” Josh laid down a Draw 4.
“I hate you guys.” J glared at them. I peeked over J’s shoulder and pointed to one of his choices. He grinned at me.
“Look who’s cheating now,” Ben said as he laid down a card. J lifted his hand, flipping Ben the bird. That was my queue to leave.
“Ready?” I asked, turning my attention to Micah. He shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded.
“Yeah, it starts in about a half-hour. Let’s head out.” Micah gave a nod to the guys. Josh winked at me.
“I’ll tell Mom and Dad when they get home. No worries,” Josh said. I replied with an appreciative grin and followed Micah out the front door.
When he turned the car on, I recognized the melody coming from his stereo.
“This is such a good song!” I eased forward to turn up Queen’s “Under Pressure” as Micah tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to the rhythm.
He drove through the streets to our small hometown movie theater. It was super old. Every time I saw it, I was reminded of Back to the Future, and the 1950s. There had been rumors of a newer establishment being built in the area, but the Grand Lakes Ritz was a family favorite. It was too much a part of our history for any of us to let it disappear.
Micah parked the car, and together we walked into the brisk hue of twilight, toward the Ritz. As we turned the corner, a huge poster of the pirates movie loomed in the corner near the ticket booth. At least it looked cool.
“I’ve been waiting to see this for ages.” Micah grinned. “I figured you’d see it with me.”
“I’ve seen the first one. I think it was called Pirates of the Lost Barbados Cove, right?”
“Yeah, that’s the one,” he replied.
Micah started to pay for the movie, when I suddenly remembered his text from earlier. I placed a few dollar bills on top of the ones Micah had laid on the cashier’s counter. I avoided his glance as I stepped back. It wasn’t until we were taking our seats that he mentioned, “I was going to pay for your ticket.”
“I know,” I answered. “I just wanted to help out. Your dad left that money for you.”
I could tell Micah wanted to argue, but remained quiet on the topic. I decided to leave the whole “date/no date” thing out of the conversation, and was relieved when he left it alone, too. I didn’t feel like getting into a stupid argument over movie tickets. About an hour into the film, I couldn’t stop from shivering in my seat. The air conditioner felt as though it were blowing directly on me.
“Good lord, you must have ants in your pants,” Micah whispered as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
“No!” I whispered harshly against my chattering teeth. “I’m freezing.”
“Come here,” he said, tugging me closer into his arms. “I’ll warm you up.”
I was greeted by the warmth of his jacket and the sweet tang of his cologne. His hand found its way to the base of my neck, where his fingers gently played with my hair. His smooth thumb brushed over my skin, causing a pleasurable shiver to radiate down my spine.
After several minutes had gone by, I noticed it was becoming harder to focus on the screen. My eyes were growing heavy, comfortable with his body heat and gentle caresses. His touch was soothing, so much so, I was beginning to nod off. Before I knew it, my eyes were closed and I was pulled into a deep sleep in his arms.
I was startled awake by the sound of my name. As I opened my eyes and glanced around, I noticed the theater was well-lit again, and the movie was over. Micah was grinning at me, his arm still wrapped around my shoulder. So much for a thrilling pirate’s adventure. I’d slept through the entire thing!
“Good evening, Sleeping Beauty.” He laughed. “Was the film that boring?”
I pushed myself up, feeling very self-conscious. “I don’t know what happened. I—” I began, but the smile on Micah’s face was reassuring.
“Let’s get you home, sleepy head.” There seemed to be something unspoken as he looked at me before he stood up, ready to leave. I reached out and grabbed his jacket sleeve to stop him.
“We don’t have to end the night so soon,” I said quickly. “We could grab dinner if you want. I promise I won’t fall asleep on you again.”
“I could always go for dinner.”
Micah headed down the aisle. “If you fall asleep, just know that you’ll go face-first into whatever you ordered. And there will be pictures.”
I giggled. He stayed beside me as we exited the theater together, and walked out into the cold, dark night. Micah drove us to the local McDonald’s down the street, where we decided to start some sort of salt-throwing-over-our-shoulder tradition in hopes to bring us “good luck.” That was, until one of the managers came over and told us we’d have to leave if we continued.
“Spoil sport,” Micah mumbled as he pushed the salt container to the other end of the table.
“I’ve never gotten in trouble before at a McDonald’s.” I snorted.
“Consider it an experience, then,” Micah said proudly. “You can cross that off of your bucket list.”
“This might shock you, but that was never on my bucket list.”
“I bet you have all sorts of boring things on your bucket list. Going to college. Getting married. Having three kids. Let me guess, even the white picket fence, too.” Micah ticked them off on his fingers, watching me with amusement.
I sighed, thinking. “I want to go to England someday. I want to watch a sunrise...”
“Well, that one’s easy.” Micah pointed a French fry at me. “Just wake up early. Or stay up all night.”
“Easier said than done. I want to write a book someday. I want to fall in love. I want to see a miracle. I want to read fifty books in a summer…”
“God! Why would anyone want to do that?” Micah dragged the fry through his ketchup. “I was right. Your bucket list is boring.”
“Well, I don’t want to ju
mp out of an airplane,” I retorted.
“Neither do I.” Micah raked a hand through his hair, looking contemplative. “I want to do a bunch of things when I get out of Grand Lakes. I’ve thought about going back to Georgia and buying a boat; living off the ocean. Sometimes, I think about buying a ranch in Montana.” He smirked. “Live off the land and marry a woman who can endure a life with me.”
“God help her,” I replied, rolling my eyes playfully.
“God help the man who falls in love with you and your boring bucket list!”
“I’m not boring!”
“Yes, you are. Difficult, too, and you know it.”
“Am not.” I bit my bottom lip to stop myself from smiling.
“The first step is accepting that you’re in denial,” Micah informed me. “I’ll cut you a deal. If, by the time you’re thirty, you haven’t found someone who can tolerate your stubborn attitude, I’ll marry you. We’ll live in that ranch house in Montana.”
“We’d kill each other.” I busted into laughter. “And I’m not so sure about Montana. It’s pretty far away.”
“It would be an adventure.” Micah leaned back in his chair, eyeing me. I lifted the straw of my drink to my lips and took a long sip of soda. The caffeine made me feel more awake.
“Let’s be clear.” I set down my cup, meeting his gaze. “You’re going to move away and forget all about me. I’ll become ‘that girl’ you talk about when you’re old and gray and you’ll always wonder what happened to me. I’ll become ‘ole what’s-her-name’.”
Micah hesitated, looking as though he was struggling with his thoughts, and then slowly began to shake his head, his expression serious.
“As if that were possible, Charlie.”
His words hung in the air between us. Maybe I had taken it too far. Quickly, I tried to think of something else to talk about. Anything to diminish the awkwardness I had created.
“So…are you ready for the presentation?” I asked, leaning my elbows on the table. Micah bit into his burger.
“I guess,” he responded thickly.
“Does it look good?” I continued, curious.
“It looks great, actually. I had Marshall help me out with some special effects on the computer and you can actually see a storm raging outside the windows. You look really great in the movie, too. I think the entire class will be mesmerized by you.”
I laughed nervously. “Yeah right.”
“No, really,” Micah replied, shoving a few more fries into his mouth. “You looked like a princess. You really carried the part of Elizabeth.”
“I kinda forgot all about the paper we had to write about the author. I guess I got carried away with the rest of the project, but I ended up working on it,” I said, changing the subject as swiftly as I could again. “It appears we’re really done with the whole thing.”
“Wow…yeah.” Micah brushed a hand through his hair. “I guess we’re finally done with the whole project, huh?” Micah asked, crumpling up the paper from his hamburger and shoving it into his now empty fry container. I took another sip of soda.
Micah studied me as though expecting a reaction. I knew what he was looking for. He wanted to know if we’d continue to hang out, now that we no longer had a school assignment tying us together.
“Ready to go home?” Micah broke the silence, glancing down at his phone for the time.
I shrugged and started to clean up our trash. We didn’t say anything else as we got into Micah’s car and started to drive back to my house. Micah opened the windows, allowing the autumn air to creep in.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked softly, snuggling down sideways into the passenger seat so that I could watch him. Micah tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.
“Nothing really. Just stuff. How about you?”
I’m thinking, how in the world am I going to tell you how I really feel?
“Nothing,” I responded. All too soon, we were pulling into my driveway and I was reaching for the door handle.
“We are friends, right?” Micah asked abruptly. I turned my attention away from the door and looked at him, raising my brow.
“Of course we are,” I replied.
“So, it won’t be weird to hang out now that the project’s over, right?”
“I hope not,” I said honestly. “Don’t worry, Micah…I’m not going anywhere.”
Micah nodded slowly, a sad grin twisting his lips.
“Okay,” he replied softly. There was a hint of insecurity in his tone. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and let out a deep sigh.
“I know that Homecoming is a big deal for you girls.” His dark gaze locked on mine. “Would it be all right for us to go together? A little celebration for all our hard work.”
“You’re asking me to Homecoming?”
“Only if you want to go. I know it’s last minute.” Homecoming with Micah.
I tried to hold back some of my enthusiasm. “I’d love to go.”
Micah smiled and let out a puff of air. “Great.”
“See you on the bus,” I promised as I climbed out of his car. Micah waited until I opened the front door before he finally pulled away. I stood there and watched him go. It was safe to say the something between us was love.
In our own, quiet ways, we knew it. The connection between us was more than just a silly school project, or a rumored crush. It was more than what any song from Micah’s stereo could encapsulate. What had begun as a friendship had silently changed in the hues of twilight nights and slushies. No matter how scared we were to admit it to ourselves, what we felt was more.
“Something Just Like This”
The Chainsmokers and Coldplay
“LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE MICAH Jacobs and Caroline Blake next,” Mrs. Tenner said cheerfully. I looked at Micah from across the room and he winked at me. I could almost hear him saying, “We got this, C.” He walked to the front of the class and inserted our homemade DVD into the machine. There was a large white projector screen against the wall, pulled down for the other film projects.
“So, Charlie and I made a movie for our project,” Micah began as I stood up and went to stand beside him.
“We created a film based on the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley. There isn’t really much to say about it, other than...watch and enjoy.”
Micah turned to look at me and I gave him a nod of encouragement. I had nothing to add, other than how much I hated the mask Marshall wore. Micah flicked off the lights, and I pressed the Play button on the DVD player. Instantly, the room was filled with thunderous music and Micah’s face filled the screen. We both went back to our seats and watched the film unfold to the class.
Micah had been right. I looked different—beautiful, even. The Halloween costume had been the perfect touch to Elizabeth’s character. But Micah’s interpretation of Victor was piercing. He was even more handsome in the film, dressed up in his rich costume; he reminded me of a good-looking Hollywood actor. The monster was pretty horrible, but it was the only thing that reminded us just how amateur our film was. My death scene was intensely startling; the monster looked as though he were truly strangling me. I darted a glance at Micah, his proud expression reassuring me. By the end of the movie, everyone in the classroom was cheering and clapping. As the credits began to roll, Micah jumped up from his seat to flick the lights back on. When he caught my eye, I could tell we were thinking the same thing. We had succeeded, and it was over now.
“Wow, you two! Wow!” Mrs. Tenner looked delighted. “That was an excellent interpretation of the story! Does anyone have questions about the film?” She turned her attention to the class. I saw Samantha fling her arm up in the air.
Oh, God.
“Samantha?” Mrs. Tenner seemed tickled pink that someone was actually participating in the Q&A portion.
“Are you two dating?” Sa
mantha asked, a cruel smile growing on her glossed lips as her eyes drifted between the two of us. Micah rolled his eyes. I looked down at my hands, hating her.
“That’s not appropriate, Samantha.” Mrs. Tenner frowned and glanced around the room. “Anyone else?”
“I think it’s a very valid question, Mrs. Tenner,” Samantha retorted with a careless shrug. “The chemistry we saw on screen felt very real. It piqued my interest.”
“It’s called acting,” Micah snapped at her.
“Wow, well, you’re really good at acting like you care about each other,” Samantha said with a grin. “For a hot minute, I really thought you two were a couple. Guess I was wrong! Too bad, Charlie!”
The entire classroom’s eyes fell on me. Once again, Samantha Walters was trying to humiliate me in front of everyone.
But I wouldn’t let her this time.
I shook my head. “You’re the one I feel bad for. You’re either so bored or so miserable that the only enjoyment you can find is through hurting the people around you. My life was never any of your business. And you know what?”
Samantha tilted her chin, appearing amused by the whole thing. I ignored the gasps emerging from my classmates.
“I don’t care what you say or think about me,” I continued. “It doesn’t matter. And I realize now, it never did.”
I didn’t bother to take any more questions after that. I found my desk and sat down silently. I was done allowing Samantha to intimidate me. I was done allowing her the power to make me believe that I was worth nothing.
As I glanced at Micah, I felt proud of myself. In all the times we were together, Micah had always encouraged me to be confident. To him, I was worthwhile. Mrs. Tenner clapped her hands as the classroom erupted into murmurs.
“Class! Focus. The next presentation will be…” She pulled the attention back to the front of the room. Another group stood from their seats and began to present their project. Keeping my eyes down on my desk, I ignored the whispering coming from Samantha’s direction. I let out a puff of air just as the bell finally rang.
The Songs in Our Hearts: A Young Adult Romance Page 19
