Work Text:
The rocks crumble easily today. Usually, they roll and jump away, but now, when Mike kicks them, they just fall apart into pieces. It’s getting boring. Mike bites his lip and lifts his gaze to the sky. At least it’s no worse than geography.
Mike finds a fence to sit on as he stares at the sky. His father will chew him up for skipping class again, but it isn’t his fault. He’d drop dead if he had to go to every class every week. There isn’t a single kid who could do that except for freak nerds. He’s sure the only kids even in class right now are freak nerds.
If he squints, he can see into one of the windows. The only thing he can see is the kid sitting right up against it. They have blond hair, maybe a girl, since it’s sort of long. Or, no. No girl in class would wear a shirt that shade of green.
Suddenly, it hits Mike like a slap in the face. How did it take him so long to realize? That’s Jeremy Fitzgerald. The biggest loser in the world, according to Mike. Everybody else thinks he’s friendly at the least, but Mike doesn’t. He’s lame with a head too smart to be cool. He doesn’t deserve his pretty hair or clear skin or nice jaw. You can’t be both smart and handsome unless you’re the main character of a movie, and last time Mike checked, Jeremy isn’t any main character.
He jumps down and kicks a couple of rocks, all of which break. It isn’t fair, just seeing Jeremy’s face makes his whole body run hot, and gives him the urge to punch something. He was going to go back to school after lunch, but maybe he’ll run home instead.
Mike doesn’t want his mother asking him why he is home so early, so he walks around town for an hour or two before walking back home. Jeremy had stuck a parasite into his head, and it was eating away at all of his thoughts. Maybe that’s why he’s so smart, he’s a brain-eating motherfucker who steals everything he knows. Or maybe he’s just blessed with a face from Aphrodite and a head from Athena. No, it’s more likely that he’s a brain-eating alien.
And of course, just as he was thinking about him, there he was. Mike must have summoned him or something. Jeremy was across the street, joking with some little kid. They were together after school a lot; the girl must have been his sister or something. Mike thought he had seen her around his own little brother at some point. He thought all those kids were dumb. And Jeremy was dumb for being so nice to them. Maybe it was a little cute seeing his face light up when he saw his sister, but it doesn’t matter. None of that matters when you’re dumb Jeremy Fitzgerald. Mike kicks himself for thinking Jeremy was cute, even just for a second.
He shuts the front door with more force than necessary and storms up the stairs without bothering with dinner. All Mike wants to do is curl up in bed and stare at the ceiling. He doesn’t change his clothes, but he has the decency to kick off his jeans. The layers of blankets that had been stolen from the living room were heavy. They curl around his body and cocoon Mike comfortably. He wants to fall asleep before anybody knocks on his door. Before the school called about his attendance, his father yelled at him. Before anybody at all could bother him about his messy hair or shitty grades.
When morning came, Mike lazily opened his eyes. If the fire alarm ever went off, he’d be sleeping peacefully, kicking the blanket off as he slept in a ring of fire. Luckily, the only alarm is the one on his nightstand. The one that drives his mother nuts every morning because he takes so long to turn it off. It’s not his fault that he’s a heavy sleeper. He smacks it to turn off before sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
Once the alarm clock clears from its blurriness, the bright red words read 7:30 A.M. This definitely jolts Mike awake. School starts in 15 minutes, and he is barely getting out of bed. He throws on his jeans from yesterday and finds an old grey shirt on the floor. After too many sprays of cologne, a granola bar, and a torn denim jacket, he was out the door.
Damnit. Once he gets to school, he sees the taunting numbers. 7:47. Of course, today he’d have to walk down to the office and all the way up to first period. Or he could skip first period. He was sure they didn’t write the exact time he came in on the late pass; he could skip.
Opening the office door, he's met with a pretty blonde and a nice sweater. Mike smirked. Maybe he’d ask the chick out later. Until she turned around, and he was assaulted by Jeremy’s face. It spooked Mike so much that he tripped over his feet and fell on his ass.
Dumb idiot horrible Jeremy Fitzgerald. Looking so pretty and so kind with his hand out. Mike would rather die than take it. He’d spit on it and kick Jeremy in the balls if he could, but the office ladies were right there. He got up himself instead and gave Jeremy the dirtiest look he could muster, and when they passed each other, he purposefully bumped their shoulders just to be an asshole.
He gets his pass and somehow survives the rest of the school day until the final bell. Today, Mike doesn’t feel like going home, not immediately. Maybe he will walk around and try to get things off his mind. If he stares at the clouds long enough, he’ll surely forget about Jeremy.
After a few hours of wandering, Mike’s plan succeeds. He grows tired of walking and plants himself down on a park bench. The sunset sprays the land in hues of orange and yellow while the sky glows a special pink reserved just for the afternoon. It’s beautiful. A moment left just for Mike and his thoughts. The world is quiet, and for a moment, he’s the only one there. The bugs have stopped chirping, and the wind isn’t blowing so hard.
The moment seems to last forever, until it’s broken by the bane of Mike’s existence. Jeremy Fitzgerald. But for once, there’s no urge to kill someone or a feeling so hot it overwhelms all thoughts. Jeremy comes over and sits down, right next to him. It makes Mike squirm, but he doesn’t move.
“The sky’s pretty, huh?”
Jeremy is so casual about it. Like every word he says doesn’t set off alarms in Mike’s head.
“I guess.”
He looks over, and his gaze softens. Mike’s never noticed how green Jeremy’s eyes are. He’s always been too focused on how much he hates Jeremy to properly look at him. He’s half glad he hasn’t done it before; it’s horribly uncomfortable. But in the orange light, it’s almost nice.
“Do you not like me?”
Jeremy looks back, and it startles Mike. He didn’t expect to be looked in the eye so bluntly. It almost made him blush.
“I.. uh. I mean, I don’t dislike you.”
Somehow, every thought Mike ever came up with about Jeremy vanishes from his mind when he really sees his face. The shimmer in his eyes, his naturally rosy cheeks, the way his eyebrows furrowed when he asked a question. The way his face was especially wrinkled in frustration. Or was that… heartache?
“You act like you do.”
“I’m.. sorry.”
Mike looks away and chews on the inside of his cheek. Why would Jeremy do this to him? He was having a nice afternoon for once, and he came over just to look sad and make Mike feel guilty.
“I don’t want your apologies, I want you to stop looking at me like I killed someone.”
“Right.”
Mike can feel his chest tighten, but his body feels lighter. He takes one quick glance at Jeremy, and he’s looking just as pretty as before. Maybe a little less upset. A moment of silence collapses onto them both, and they stare up at the sky. The sun is lower and redder than before. It almost makes it hard for Mike to breathe. Staring up at such a pretty sight with Jeremy sitting next to him. It’s sort of incredible the way his hands aren’t instinctively balled up tight like when he usually sees Jeremy.
“If you really don’t hate me, would you mind hanging out sometime?”
Mike looks up in partial disbelief. They were anything but friends. He would never be seen with someone like Jeremy outside of school, but if it felt like this every time, maybe he wouldn’t mind it.
“Maybe if my Saturday is free.”
“Cool. My mom’s gonna want me home before dark, so you just let me know.”
He flashes one of those stupidly bright smiles, and Mike awkwardly tries to smile back. It sure isn't as pretty as Jeremy’s. He gets up and walks away, leaving Mike in the park. The sunset isn’t as pretty alone, so he gets up and walks home as well.
Just like yesterday, he goes straight to his room and climbs under his covers. The day is exhausting, and he dreads having to wake up tomorrow, so he drowns himself under his blankets until he can fall asleep. Yet thoughts of Jeremy dance around his head, and for once, he can’t help the smile that comes along with them.