Book 5- 1969 (Michael Jackson)

Chapter 19- Keeping Secrets

                Chapter 19- Keeping Secrets

                Date: Tuesday, October 7, 1969

                Time: 6:36PM

                KAYLA'S POV

There was one thing I truly loved about being at Diana's house, and that was the casual atmosphere. It didn't matter where we went or what we did, but Diana was always chill and laid-back. Whenever when Michael, Marlon, and I were up to any little antics or pranks, she would often play along. Even when we four of us were messing with paint and got multi-colored spots on her white shag carpet, she didn't mind. She just shrugged it off.

That was the coolest thing I had ever seen.

So, when it came to dinner, she did not mind it when we started up a conversation. That was good, especially because Michael was so very talkative. Even when Joseph or Katherine would tell him to be quiet, he would accidentally slip something out and pretend as though he hadn't said anything. 

He didn't have a problem here. "Who wants to hear about our day at school today?" he suggested, taking a sip of orange juice.

"Sure thing, I would love to hear about your day." Diana leaned in to the three of us. "So, I heard you had a little crush. Is that right, Mike?"

Even though I tried to pry my eyes off of Michael, I couldn't help but notice that his cheeks were considerably redder than before. "Who said that?"

"No one really did," she admitted. "However, the way you mention this girl makes it sound like you, I dunno, like her?"

"I wouldn't say I like her, not like a cute girl. I mean, she's cute, but, um, I was just sayin'... Ah, that wasn't what I meant! I mean to say that she's nice. That's all, she's nice."

I placed my fork in its respective spot beside my glass. "Come on," I whispered. Leaning to my left, where only Michael and I could hear, I continued. "You know you like her. She's nice, of course, but there's something about her you adore."

Even though Diana and Marlon were staring at us, he murmured his response to me. "She reminds me of what I like. She's shy, but kind, kinda like you. Her laugh is not too loud or too soft. She's got little hands."

"So, you like her?"

"Now, I didn't say that."

Reverting back to my ordinary volume, I said, "It was implied."

He let out a tiny, almost depressed sigh before turning back to his spaghetti. Letting out a weak yawn, he picked his fork back up and twirled the noodles with his utensil.

"Well..." Diana made little effort to hide her feelings of awkwardness, "how was your day, Kayla?"

"Mine was pretty good," I admitted slowly. Covering my mouth for a yawn myself, I went into depth of my day, adding some dry humor in the process. "So, mine morning commenced at which hour we perambulated to our everyday venture: the bus stop. At school, mine English teacher urged me to enter mine essay into a district-wide contest. The results should beest available about a fortnight from now. After that, Mike and I hadst an horrifyingly grotesque lunch in which we mostly ignored, and the remainder of the day wast not much but a mere blur."

"Ah, using old-timey speech?" Marlon raised his fork at me, his signature grin plastered to his face. 

I let out an exasperated sigh. "Sorta."

"Well, that sounds interesting. Marlon, what about you? How was your day at school?"

"Jamal and I were messing around in the fields this afternoon. At one point, we found this patch of dirt that seemed to be moving, right? Well, I thought it'd be a good idea to poke it with..."