Isolation

Going away

Mike looked between Davy and Micky, still not understanding what they were saying.

"What'd you do?" He asked and Micky sighed and shook his head.

"I...we didn't do enough, that's the thing," he said quietly, causing Mike to stare at him.

"What?" He asked, confused. What were they talking about?

"You're gonna leave next week," Micky said with a sigh. "We'll help you pack and move in and stuff when the time comes and..."

Micky couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence when he saw the look on Mike's face.

"You're kicking me out...?" He asked sadly and Micky instantly went to him.

"No, no, it's not like that, I promise," he tried to smile to show Mike that it was alright. But he couldn't do that either. "It's just that..."

"What?" Mike asked, now he was close to crying. He was frightened and confused, he didn't know what to think.

"Mike..." Davy sighed.

"Why is no one talking to me?" Mike asked, his voice breaking as he looked around the room. "What'd I do?"

"Mike, you didn't do anything," Micky said, grabbing onto his arm. "It's fine. I-it's just that..."

"What's going on?" Mike asked. Micky sighed and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Mike," he whispered. "Come on."

He held out his hand for Mike to take, but he only frowned, looking up at it.

"Why?" He asked, Micky sighed.

"We're gonna help you pack," he explained. "I know you don't have to leave for another week, but it might be best to get some of the hard stuff out of the way first, right?"

Mike didn't answer him as he looked at the other two, hoping they'd give him answers or at least some sort of explanation of what was happening. But he got nothing from them. Instead the three of them began packing up all of Mike's things, Mike only watching as they did, and went to say their goodbyes to the neighbors.

"Are we going somewhere?" Mike asked in a whisper to Davy while the group was at Millie's house. Davy sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, Mike," he said, trying to look anywhere but at Mike.

"Where are we going?"

No one ever answered that question for him. But Mike soon forgot about it until the day came.

The week had gone by faster than any of them were ready for it to. By the time the day had come, none of them could even say a word to Mike without feeling so much sadness. And Mike had become frightened during this time, no one would so much as look at him, and he began to worry about what he might've done to upset them.

When Mike woke up, he was on the couch, alone. Two suitcases were sitting on the ground beside him but the living room was dark and empty.

"Hello?" He called out, getting no response. He frowned and slowly made his way upstairs, knocking on the bedroom door before hesitantly stepping in. Inside was Peter, struggling with a tie. Mike smiled and walked in, instantly going to Peter to fix it. Peter stiffened, but smiled.

"Thank you, Mike," he said softly and Mike nodded.

"You're dressing up," he pointed out and Peter sighed.

"Yeah, I am," he said, looking down.

Mike frowned, noticing how upset Peter had looked. Why was everyone always so upset and acting so strange around him?