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mikki feels like she's in a movie, sitting by a window and watching the rain streak down the glass. some old song is humming through her broken earphones, but she isn't bothered to find the other pair. no doubt she'd tossed them into her bag and they'd somehow crawled into a far distant corner.
a soft voice through a crappy speaker echoes around the cabin. "we'll be landing in fifteen minutes. please fasten your seatbelts, stow away your..."
the girl tunes out the rest of the monologue and follows the instructions mindlessly. she was too excited. in just a few hours, she'd be back with the best friends she'd ever made.
and him.
🩰
"mikki!" a whirl of blonde hair launches herself at mikki and laughs brightly.
"press," mikki hums into her friend's shoulder and feeling a smile curl across her mouth. for a while, she keeps her eyes closed, ignoring the fact that she'd have to face brady when they let go. procrastination.
but press breaks away and leaves to go hug sarah, who'd just walked into the restaurant.
he's right in front of her. taller than ever, features sharpened, with the confidence of a boy who'd grown up well.
the anxiety stirs inside her – all the built-up fear that they might not be as good as they used to, they might not like the same things anymore, they might have changed and moved on – all of it rises to the surface in one great tidal wave, threatening to leak out of her eyes.
she smiles nervously, feeling dizzy.
brady smiles back.
that same, sunny, brady smile. she watches it appear in slow motion – the tiny crinkle at his eyes, then the lift of the lips and the appearance of straight white teeth.
the tidal wave retreats and becomes a smooth sea again.
mikki whirled into an incredible feeling of warmth and joy, the realisation that she was in love. but brady closed in around her, and she was back in the little restaurant, surrounded by her all friends.
"hey mikki," brady whispered, still holding her, "i missed you."
"i missed you too."
the thousands of other things she planned to say hung in the air around them. mikki let them float away, because she didn't need them anymore. she didn't need to say anything. all she wanted was to hug this boy and never let him go.
"how was your flight?"
"perfect."
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the author speaks: let's just pretend this chapter was good.
