EVERYBODY'S EVERYTHING | AV

[18] Mikayla

Mickey was sitting on the porch steps, waiting for Tyler to walk out and join her. She had a joint in her left hand and her right was fixing the hat she had on her head. The stars were visible in the sky and Mickey couldn't help but admire them. They were beautiful. She knew that by the time she saw them, they were already dead and gone. Time really was a funny thing.

The front door had opened behind her just as she brought the joint to her lips to take another hit. She didn't bother turning around, she knew it was Tyler. Tyler's footsteps were light, calm. His overall presence wasn't threatening. Roxie, on the other hand, had a loud stomp to her footsteps no matter what the situation was. There was an uncomfortable feeling that followed her wherever she went, you just knew that she meant trouble.

Tyler sat down beside her and accepted the spliff that she offered him. She looked out into the sky, looking for any constellations she might've recognized. Tyler and Mickey sat in silence for a little while, enjoying it while it lasted. It was late at night, the country was bathed in darkness and silence. There was no sound of cars driving from point A to point B, no sound of children playing in their front yards. It was quiet. Up until Tyler had finally spoken.

"You okay?" he asked, looking at her from the corner of his eye. She had told him about what happened earlier that day, about Ca$h's confession followed closely by his arrest. Mick didn't know why he was arrested, but she assumed it had something to do with the eshays and his conversation with Amerie.

"Yeah, I'm good," she responded, moving back to lay on her back. Her eyes remained fixed on the stars as she lay there, thinking about nothing in particular. Tyler looked back at her, his dark hair falling into his eyes. He had his head shaved when he went into the army, but his hair always grew awfully fast. He leaned back and joined her on the wooden landing.

"I don't want to leave you," he said all of a sudden, startling Mickey out of her trance-like state. She turned her head to look at him. There was a look in his eye that Mickey didn't recognize. And she usually recognized all of them.

"What are you talking about?" she queried.

"I don't want to leave you again. I know you think you're doing a good job of hiding it all, but I know that things have gotten worse ever since I left. I never should have left you alone to begin with," he said, looking into her eyes when he spoke. He felt guilty for doing something for himself after a whole childhood of putting Mickey first.

"You left because you needed to. I encouraged you to leave, to do the one thing you've always wanted to do. Although I don't know why you would want to risk your life in the army," she responded, putting an air of humor into her voice to avoid the conversation turning more serious. However, her efforts went unanswered.

"You didn't deny it. I know Roxie did something, Ca$h told me about the bruises, Mick."

Son of a bitch, Mickey thought. Amerie wasn't the only one to notice her bruise that night, and Ca$h evidently couldn't keep his mouth shut. Mickey didn't want anyone to know about anything going on at home. Both him and Tyler probably drew the same conclusion. Mickey was no stranger to fights, she was very familiar with them. And every time she got into one, she would tell them about it. The fact she kept quiet about her busted lip and bruised ribs must've tipped one or both of them off. She looked away from Asher and back to the stars in the sky.

"The bruise - singular - was nothing. Besides, it's nothing new. You know how I love getting into fights," she said. Another attempt at deescalating the situation that had failed. Ty was not letting her change the subject or avoid the topic.

"Mickey, stop it. Stop trying to make it out to be something small when I know that there's more to it than you care to admit."

"I'm not doing that, Ty. I'm not going to be the person to make you stay here when it's the last thing on your radar," she said, sitting up and leaning her elbows on her knees. She'd had just about enough of the conversation and was desperate for it to end. She feared that she would snap at him and start a meaningless fight if he continued on the subject.

"I'm going to stay-"

"No," Mickey cut him off. "You're not going to stop pursuing what you've always wanted to do because of your sister, who can take care of herself, by the way. I'm fine, I've been fine this whole time, Ty. I'm not going to be the reason you stay here and go back to your miserable life with Roxie. I will drag you out of here by your fucking feet if I have to."

Mickey stood up, stepping to the front door and opening it. She stood in the doorway for a second, waiting to see if Ty would follow her, then closed it when he stayed put. He wanted to say more, she knew that. But he knew better than to push her.

•••••

Mickey decided to skip the rest of the school day. She snuck out soon after her second lesson and walked around aimlessly before deciding to go home and spend some time with Ty. He was leaving in two days and she didn't want to miss out on anything. She also didn't want to leave him alone at the house with Roxie for too long.

She was walking down the street, headphones on her ears and music blasting through them. Her hood was thrown over her head and her sleeves were rolled up past her elbows. Mickey rounded the corner onto her own street and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a black car parked on the side of the road in front of her house. She saw a woman standing on the porch, speaking to Roxie and Tyler, and a man standing on the porch steps.

Cops? she questioned. That was unlikely. They might've looked like detectives but neither one of them carried themselves as one. Mickey began walking again, slowly but surely approaching the house. She pulled her headphones off her ears and settled them around her neck. She wanted to hear every word that was exchanged between them. As she approached the house, she couldn't help the sinking feeling in her gut. Her mind was telling her to run, to get out of there before they noticed her. But just as she decided to do it, the woman's eyes had landed on her, and in turn, so did everyone else's.

Mickey froze like a deer in headlights, not knowing what to do. The woman stepped down the porch steps and approached the girl, who was standing on the sidewalk. The man followed suit and before she knew it, the two very official looking individuals were standing in front of her and addressing her directly.

"Mikayla? My name is Veronica Jones and this is James Altman. We're here regarding an anonymous phone call reporting a..."

Mickey didn't register anything else that came out of the woman's mouth. She looked past her and made eye contact with Tyler. His arms were crossed as he stood on the top of the porch steps, Roxie was standing behind him looking very much disinterested. Mickey felt like her world had just been turned upside down. She was fine, perfectly content with the way her life was. And these people wanted to turn it into something worse. Mickey blinked her anger away, looking at Tyler as he shook his head at her.

"Mikayla?"

The voice had brought her back to the conversation at hand. She looked at the man who spoke to her, seeing him for the first time since they approached her. Mickey dropped her bag to the ground at their feet, knowing that it would only slow her down if she didn't. Then, she ran. Mickey began running as fast as her legs could take her. She swerved around one corner, and then another. She was sprinting with no set destination, no place to go. No safety net.

She was doomed.

TO BE CONTINUED...