Death’s Tales: Chapter 16
Micheal’s hand was running through my hair while I was lying with my head on his chest. We were watching a Disney movie. It was the third one of the day. Micheal argued that we would watch them all because I had never seen any. At least, not that I could remember.
The conversation went a little like this:
“So, do you want to watch Sleeping Beauty?”
“What’s that?”
“You’ve never seen Sleeping Beauty?”
“No. I’ve never seen any of the movies on this shelf.”
And that is how we ended up sitting on his bed while snow continued to fall outside. The laptop was the only light in the room and it was resting on Micheal’s legs. I twisted a little to get in a more comfortable position. Micheal’s hand stilled but continued after I had settled back down.
“You okay?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Fine. Why?”
There was a moment of silence. And then a laugh. I looked up at him, one eyebrow raised.
“That was three one-word sentences, Hades.”
“It was?” I thought back to my response. “Huh. It was.”
I turned back to the screen just in time to see the credits start rolling. Micheal yawned and reached over to turn off the computer. There was a knock on the door. I jumped and sat up, slightly away from Micheal. Mirada opened the door, holding an envelope in her hand.
“This came for you, Mikey.”
She threw it onto the bed while I smirked at Micheal. As she closed the door, Micheal leaned forward to grab the mail.
“You know, I don’t know how you still find that nickname funny,” he said as he opened the envelope.
“It’s hilarious,” I told him, lying back. “You, being called Mikey!”
He sighed and shook his head. He looked over and smiled at me and I smiled back. Then he looked back at the card in his hand and he read it.
“It’s for Lydia’s birthday.”
“Who?” I asked, sitting up.
Who was Lydia?
“You know. That girl that bugs all the time about eating lunch with them.”
“Lillian?”
Micheal looked confused. “Who’s Lillian?”
“That girl!”
Micheal started to laugh. “That’s Lydia!”
I groaned and fell back. “You mean to tell me that I’ve been wrong about her name the entire time?”
He nodded, still smiling widely.
I groaned again and threw my head over my eyes. “Dang it. My mind will never be able to re-label her as Lydia.”
He bit his lip to keep the laughter in and I hit his arm with the back of my hand. Why didn’t I know her name was Lydia and not Lillian.
I groaned again but I was mostly over the embarrassment of getting her name wrong. “Are you going?” I asked Micheal.
He shrugged. “Nah. You aren’t invited so what would the point in going be?”
I raised my eyebrows. “It would be polite. And I don’t have to be your only friend.”
Micheal lied down next to me, his head by mine and his feet going much further than mine did. “Since when do you care about being polite?”
“I believe I’ve told you before, but you’re a bad influence.”
“Completely bad, Hades.”
I turned and smiled at him. “You should go. I really don’t have to be your only friend.”
He did a one-shoulder kind of shrug. “Yeah, but I don’t need any other friends. You’re perfect.”
I rolled my eyes. “You are literally the only person who would call the person who could kill you perfect.”
He shrugged again. “She’ll be fine if I don’t go. It’s not like the party will fall apart if I’m not there.”
“It could. Lillian could have told everyone you’re coming over and that’s why they’re going.”
Micheal started smiling again and I quickly thought through my last sentence. “What?” I asked, not finding anything strange.
Then it hit me. “Oh.” I groaned and slid further down on the bed.
Micheal shook his head a little and said, “It’s fine. It’s not like you talk to her a whole lot.”
“But how many times did I not have to be paying attention to never realize that?”
He shrugged. “Probably a lot.”
I groaned. “You are so, so helpful, Miracle Boy.”
“Was that sarcasm? I have never heard you use that tone, Hades.”
I groaned and threw a pillow at him and his sarcasm about my sarcasm.
He laughed and swatted it away.
Micheal walked me home later that night. The snow had risen to two feet and we had another snow day the next day. Micheal was bundled up in his huge jacket while I had on my smaller one. I shivered in the cool air, wishing I had one like his. The sky was already dark blue and stars twinkled out from behind the clouds. I shivered again and Micheal looked at me.
He stopped but it took me a few steps to notice. I turned back to look at him. “What?” I asked.
“You are literally shaking.” Micheal walked over to me and opened his jacket. He moved to take it off but I stopped him.
“You’ll be cold then.” Jeez! It was cold out here!
He shrugged and grabbed my arm. “Well then, come here,” he said as he pulled me into the jacket with him.
He held it closed and we stumbled the rest of the way to the orphanage. It was warmer in his jacket and I didn’t want to let it go to go to my room. It was snowing hard again and the flakes were diving to the ground while the wind howled.
I bit my lip. No one should be out walking in that. I turned in the jacket to look up at Micheal. Sometimes, I forgot how much taller he was than me. But then, standing right next to him and looking up, I remembered. I shivered again and Micheal’s arms tightened around the jacket.
“Why don’t you stay here for the night?” I asked. “It’s too chaotic to head back tonight.”
Micheal looked out at the storm and nodded. “That might be a good idea, but I need to call my mom and dad to let them know.”
I nodded. “There’s a phone in the kitchen and you can use it on the way to my room.”
Micheal nodded and I used one arm to open the door. We both stumbled inside the warm building, covered in snow and frost.
Micheal took his jacket off and hung it up on the nearby rack. Then he looked over and smirked at me. “You look like an ice cube,” he told me.
I pulled my arms around myself. “I feel like one, too.”
He came up behind me and I felt his arms go around my neck. “That better?” he asked.
I leaned back into him and nodded. “Yeah.”
He smiled when I looked up at him. I rolled my eyes, but I wasn’t really annoyed at all.