𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍

twenty seven

『 twenty-seven 』

GOD HAD PLANNED THE DAY of Miguel's return to align with near perfection to Natalie's birthday. 

Miguel returned to school on December 15, which happened to be the day after Natalie's 18th birthday. It was one of the best birthday surprises she had been gifted in the long eighteen years of her life. It was a Monday. A bright start to what she was sure would be a perfect week. She had something else planned for the next day, not pertaining to Miguel. But that was another topic of thought. 

Kids began cheering for Miguel when he finally made it past the bag check. Some of them stood behind a banister, in front of a colorful "welcome back, Miguel" sign. Boys gave him fist bumps and clapped his shoulder in passing. 

Natalie ran up to the front doors. "Miguel!" She shouted. He laughed when she launched into his arms, hugging him tighter than she had hugged anyone in a long time. 

He smiled and waved at Hawk, who stood a couple of feet away. "Careful, you'll knock him off his feet before he's able to use them very much," Hawk told her, walking up to greet him. Natalie grinned, offering him a polite nod. He did the same. 

Hawk and Natalie weren't able to agree on much. But they could silently agree on a treaty of peace for Miguel's sake. 

Miguel and Hawk exchanged a complicated fist-bump handshake... thing. It went too fast for Natalie to keep up. "What, did they give you bionic legs or some shit like that?" Hawk asked. 

"Nope. Same boring, human legs," Miguel said. Natalie rubbed his shoulder. 

"Oh yeah?" Hawk asked. He playfully punched Miguel's shoulder. "Can you throw down? Gotta defend your title! Gotta get through me first!" 

Miguel chuckled, which caused Natalie to giggle. He had a cute laugh. Cute like a sea turtle, or something. 

"Bro, Cobra Kai is killing it right now!" Hawk reported. 

"Uh, I've actually been meaning to talk to you about that," Miguel told him. The first bell of the day rang. "Shit, I'll tell you about it at lunch."

"Sure!" Hawk bid them both goodbye and jogged up the stairs. 

Natalie slowly followed him into the hall. "Who do you have the first hour?" She asked. 

"Uh, college algebra. But I heard Simmons left after the fight?" Miguel asked. 

Natalie nodded, stopping at her locker. He stopped with her. "Yep, he did. It was a whole thing, too. They still haven't been able to find a permanent replacement. They're switching between whatever substitute has the time of day. Kate's taking that class, and she said it was so difficult to learn anything with all the inconsistencies in the curriculum. They're thinking of just switching to an online solution for next semester," she reported. 

"Damn," he mumbled, fist-bumping some random guy from the crowd. Miguel searched further down the hall. "Is that Demetri?" He asked. 

Natalie shut her locker and followed his gaze. "Oh, yeah. He and Yasmine have the funniest placement this year," she giggled, slinging her backpack over her other shoulder ungracefully. The two had lockers lovingly placed side by side. 

"What happened to his arm?" Miguel asked, already on his way to greet their friend without giving her time to respond. 

Demetri noticed his approach when he shut his locker. "Ay! The comeback kid returns! How are you doing, buddy?" He asked, smiling. "I must say, I replaced your spot in the world of mobility impairment."

Miguel smiled, giving him one side hug. "What's up with the cast?"

"Proximal radius fracture," Demetri shrugged.