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Another long night of playing games at Jeremy’s place left Michael in bad shape; exhausted and desperately wishing for a nap. It was lunch time when he realized that instead of learning about Shakespeare, why the hell is he still relevant anyways? The guy is super dead, he dozed off and didn’t retain anything.
“Just great,” he mutters to himself before pushing away from his desk, and grabbing his backpack. He heads to the cafeteria to wait for Jeremy, and hopefully get a few more winks in between. He better make it up to me for last night, with like a slushy, or something, Michael yawns as he sits at their usual table. Now, some might dub their spot as the loser table, but Michael would have to disagree. It had the best view of the trashcan that was a foot away at-all-times, and of the nerds across from them that would always play card games. Michael would at times become very invested with those games, but would never admit it. He throws his bag under the table and props his feet up on the chair next to him as he resumes to doze off.
Not too long after Michael closes his eyes, he is woken up to a soft flick to his forehead. Obviously agitated, he opens his eyes to see Jeremy hovering over him with a lunch tray in hand. “Good morning sleeping beauty,” Jeremy chuckles and sets his tray on the table, while pushing Michael’s feet off the chair.
Michael yawns again and sits up in his chair, “so, I take it you’re not going to make it up to me from keeping me up all night.” Once more awake and aware of his surroundings, Michael snatches a fry from Jeremy’s tray and pops it into his mouth with a sly grin.
Jeremy scrunches up his face while he thinks of a response. “I’m not exactly sure how I can make it up to you; considering it was your fault you were up all night in the first place,” he grabs his pizza slice and shoves it into his mouth, to keep from having a smile slip. He immediately regrets this, as he quickly takes the pizza out of his mouth, a grimace very prominent on his face. “I’m pretty sure this is just cardboard with cheap tomato sauce,” he frowns and pushes the pizza away.
Michael scoffs at Jeremy’s misfortune, but quickly grows serious again. “My fault? Says the guy who wouldn’t rest until I let him play as Kirby and kick my ass at Smash. I do not negotiate with terrorists, Jeremiah.” Michael snatches a couple more fries before standing up. “You can make it up to me with slushies, and promising to never play as the pink menace ever again, deal?” He sticks out his hand, waiting for his friend to agree with his peace treaty, while shoving the last of the fries into his mouth with the other.
Jeremy snorts as he grabs and shakes Michael’s hand; using it as a leverage to pull himself off his chair. “Sure, whatever you say, bud,” Jeremy rolls his eyes and grabs his bag from the floor. “Hope you know that I totally crossed my fingers though, man.”
Jeremy ended up paying for not only his cherry slushy, but also Michael’s blueberry slushy and two packs of Strawberry/Watermelon Hubba Bubba bubble gum, that Michael apparently couldn’t live without.
“Why two packs of Hubba Bubba though, man? Shouldn’t one be enough?” Jeremy complains as he hands the packs of gum to Michael.
Michael gasps in mock disgust and pockets the gum. “One does not see Strawberry/Watermelon Hubba Bubba, and only take one pack, Heere. The flavor goes quick, and there are only five pieces a pack. I like to shove at least two pieces in at a time,” Michael laughs as he pushes his headphones up and begins to slurp his slushy.
Jeremy has noticed that for the past few days Michael has been on edge lately. Which is understandable, since about five days ago, Michael drove to his place, obviously trying to hide the fact that he was crying a few minutes before opening the door, but how quickly he broke despite his efforts. Michael still hasn’t explained what happened that made him stay over, but he knew better than to ask what was wrong. Even if he was completely worried about his best friend’s home life, he wasn’t going to ask. This was the first time this week that Michael has been smiling and genuinely happy, as he was hurriedly sucking down his slushy and listening to his music loud enough that Jeremy could listen to small phrases. It was Bob Marley, of course, Michael has been recently obsessed with him, and really took a liking to how calm and powerful the songs felt. Seeing his friend ease up just a little made a small smile surface, but it didn’t quiet the nagging voice in the back of his head that kept insisting he should figure out what was bothering Michael. Finally giving in, Jeremy taps Michael’s shoulder and awkwardly tries to start a conversation. “So, h-how’s your mom, been?” Jeremy was never the greatest at small talk; there were too many unclear variables that would usually end with him rambling and embarrassing himself, and by this point he was already mentally kicking himself. How’s your mom been? That’s the best I could do?
Michael looks away from Jeremy for a few seconds before putting on a smile. “She’s doing great, Jere. I know you’re wondering what happened last week, but it’s really nothing, I promise,” Michael laughs and lightly punches Jeremy’s arm. “It’s all cool, thanks for asking,” Michael goes back to his slushy, obviously not wanting to continue further on the issue.
God something is wrong, I just know it. He’ll talk to me soon enough, right? Jeremy takes the cue, and decides to change the subject so they won’t dwell too much on whatever was happening at Michael’s home. “Hey, Dad said that he’ll grab pizza for us when he gets home, and we can play games until we pass out,” Jeremy offers while resting his hand on Michael’s shoulder and gives a dopey smile. Michael’s eyes shine brightly as he nods; happily, out of his funk for at least a few moments. Jeremy checks his watch and his eyes widen in horror. “Holy shit! Man, if we don’t hurry we are going to be late for next period!” Jeremy panics and grabs Michael’s hand as they rush back to campus.
The 711 they usually grab snacks at isn’t too far from campus, thankfully, as the two boys rush into the building, gasping for air. “See ya after class?” Michael wheezes, while throwing his cup into the trash.
“After class,” Jeremy agrees and the two bump their fists together and run off into the direction of their afternoon classes.
Michael stops to watch Jeremy run to his class and his façade drops. He knew he should tell Jeremy what made him show up to his place, but he doesn’t want his friend to be worried or upset with him. He ended up coming out to his mother as trans-male after having a five-month debate with himself about it. He only figured out that he was a year ago, and he constantly doubted himself about it. He was glad Jeremy and Mr. Heere were so accepting, but sadly his mother wasn’t the same. As soon as the news left Michael’s lips, his mother rambled hysterically. Yelled at him with his dead name, begged for him to be joking; for him to be going through a phase or just simply confused. How her eyes just pleaded for him to be normal; to just be the daughter that she wanted. He couldn’t take her reaction, so he grabs a few items from his room, and ran to his car to drive to the only place he knew he could be accepted, Jeremy’s home. He sobbed the entire drive, and desperately tried cleaning his face with his sleeve, but as the door was opened for him, and he saw Jeremy’s cheery face; the illusion was broken, and Michael became a sobbing mess once more. Jeremy grabbed Michael and held him tightly, as he was hiccupping on his sobs. The week that Michael has stayed over, Jeremy has been trying to cheer Michael up; which consisted of playing Apocalypse of the Damned and Smash until they passed out. Michael appreciated that it was keeping his mind busy from thinking of his mom, but the joys were dwindling fast, as Michael just really wanted some sleep.