Michael and Mel

Chapter Sixteen: Mel

Aunt Meghan had to cancel our dinner plans on Friday. She texted me earlier and said that she was going to be stuck at work all night long. But she did say that maybe we could meet up next week. I was pretty bummed about it at first, but then I figured that maybe it was for the best. I had been looking forward to this dinner tonight all day yesterday, but when I woke up this morning, I felt sick to my stomach. I didn't get out of bed until almost noon and even now, eight hours later, I still wasn't feeling too great. My mom and dad were out tonight with some friends at a dinner party, and my brother was long gone. I'm not even sure where. Before he left a few hours ago, he saw me in the kitchen and stopped for a minute. Which was really weird. Normally, he doesn't give me so much as a hello. But tonight, when he saw me sitting at the island with my brown hair a crazy tangled mess and a cup of hot tea before me, he stopped and studied me.

I was certain he could see that I didn't feel good. After all, it was pretty obvious. And, this was so stupid of me, but I actually thought that he might ask me how I was. But all he said was, "Let Mom and Dad know that I'll be home late tonight whenever they get back." And then he was gone. The silence within the house was almost deafening after he closed the front door. I shouldn't have cared that my brother hardly ever spoke to me these days. After all, it's been the norm for as long as I can remember. But I admit, it did sting just a little bit the way he blew me off. After he left, I pushed my tea aside and headed upstairs to get dressed and ready. I wasn't feeling very good, but I hated being alone in the house. Maybe it's dumb, but it's true. And although my stomach was in knots and my heart felt like it was skipping beats, I knew I needed to get out of there. So that's what I did. I grabbed my hat and coat, making sure to keep extra warm since it was Fall and the nights have been getting a lot colder, and I headed out to walk around town for a bit.

I wanted to text Chase and see if he wanted to come with me, but he was on a date tonight. See? Girls just couldn't seem to resist him. But it was actually nice just walking around. The night air was crisp and cool and I could see my breath every time I breathed. Getting out of the house for a while was always nice. It helped to both clear and ease my mind sometimes. And after a while, I started to feel a little better. I wasn't sure what was wrong with me, why I wasn't feeling good again, but I wish I did know. I mean, I didn't have a fever. No cough. No chills. No vomiting. I was, from a medical standpoint, totally healthy. So, what was up with the way I've been feeling? Sighing, I shook my head, not wanting to think about it anymore. This walk was making me feel better. I was not going to ruin that.

After a while, I decided to head into this cozy little café for a warm cup of hot chocolate. That's one of the things I loved most about the Fall season here, it was so cold that it felt just like winter. Which meant that hot chocolate time could be any time. The shop itself was very nice. Soft pop music played in the background, the scent of coffee beans strong in the air, and tons of people and friends and couples were scattered about. All of them smiling and laughing and having a great time. It really was a wonderful sight. "Next, please." The lady at the register called. I snapped out of my thoughts and stepped forward. "Hi, what can I get for you?" The lady, Jane, asked. I looked up and studied the menu on the wall behind her. I thought I wanted a hot chocolate, but the heavenly smell of the coffee was making me second guess my decision. "How are your cappuccinos?" I asked. Jane smiled. "To die for. Trust me, I'm not biased." I nodded. "Okay then, I'll have one to go, please."

She grabbed a paper cup from the stack beside her and also picked up a pen. "Name?" I hesitated for just a second before saying, "Aria." I'm an idiot, I know. But the urge to give a different name every time I went to a coffee shop was just too strong to resist. Plus, it was fun to pretend to be someone else every now and then. Even if it was just for a second. Jane nodded. "All right, we'll have that right out for you." "Thank you." Turning to move out of the way to wait, I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks when my eyes saw what they did. Because, standing right behind me in line, was my brother's jerk of a friend. Michael Kassidy. Come on, world, really? Only two days later and I have to see him again? My brother's friend looked just as shocked to see me as I was to see him and for a long time, neither of us said anything. Eventually the person behind my brother's friend in line rolled his eyes and asked if he was going to order or not. He apologized and stepped up to order. I kept my head down and continued to wait for my drink, planning to run out of here as soon as it was ready.

After ordering, my brother's friend came and stood beside me, also waiting for his drink. Well, this couldn't get any more awkward. After the whole water incident the other night, I've thought a lot about my brother's friend. I wasn't mad anymore. I got over that pretty quickly. But I was still hurt by what he'd said. Especially since he seemed so nice at first. Guess I'm just a bad judge of character. But it was all right. It's not like we were friends or anything. He knew my brother, not me. And I hated holding grudges. So no, I'm not mad. But that didn't mean I had to like this Michael Kassidy. Which was why I remained perfectly silent as we waited for our drinks. Although, I could still see my brother's friend out of the corner of my eye and could easily tell that he was nervous. He kept shifting from foot to foot and opening his mouth like he wanted to say something, only to give up on the idea two seconds later. But right as I was about to pull out my phone and pretend to be busy, just to do something to break the tension, he spoke. "Have you...ever read a book by Colin Truman called Shadow Kingdom?"

My eyes snapped up to meet his, but his gaze was glued to the floor. "What?" I asked, half confused and half stunned. He went on, still shifting his feet. "In the book, there's this king who everyone fears. And one day, the people of the kingdom start rebelling against him and the way he rules. So, the king declares that any citizen found defying him or speaking ill of him, that they would have their arm cut off. In other words, being disrespectful resulted in you losing a limb." He took a deep breath and finally looked up at me. "If you want to cut my arm off, I won't stop you." Despite the fact that my brother's friend was a rude meathead...I couldn't help but smile a little.

"That's okay." I said. "No limb dismemberment will be necessary here. But thanks for the offer." My brother's friend shook his head and turned fully toward me, his eyes filled with regret. Genuine regret. "I'm so sorry about the other night. I was way out of line and a total idiot. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. And...I'm really sorry." Um...wow? I was...not expecting that. Normally I'd still be a little unsure whether or not he was actually being sincere. But I could tell by the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice that he meant what he said. He really was sorry. "It's...okay." I said at last. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." He sighed. "I know this is probably a long shot, but is there any way we could just...start over?" I thought about it for a minute, then asked, "No more flirting?" He smiled a little. "No more flirting." "No more pigheaded comments?" "No more pigheaded comments." I shrugged. "Then, all right. I suppose we can start over."

Relief washed over him. Which struck me as odd. Why did he care if I forgave him or not? "Cappuccino for Aria!" Jane called a second later. Turning, I hurried to grab my drink. Thank goodness! The longer I was in here the more my mouth began to water from the amazing smell. I couldn't wait to try their coffee! My brother's friend raised an eyebrow. "Aria?" I nodded. "Yeah, I like to use different names when I get coffee." That seemed to amuse him. "Any particular reason?" I shook my head. "No, just for fun. You should try it sometime." "Maybe I will." "Latte for Michael!" My brother's friend grabbed his coffee and Jane gave us both a wave as we left. When we were outside, I asked what he was up to for the rest of the evening. He shrugged. "I don't know. But maybe I'll try to find some donuts to go with this coffee." My eyes instantly lit up. "Well, there's this place just down the street. They have amazing donuts! Do you...want to check it out?" Don't ask me why I said it because even I don't know the answer to that. Maybe it was because he said donuts and I can never keep my cool when it comes to donuts. My brother's friend looked surprised for a second but then he smiled. "Depends. Do they have jelly filled?" "Oh, they definitely have jelly filled!" The best ones in the city, in my opinion. "Then what are we still doing here? Let's go check it out!" "Great! Follow me!"

As we walked, I thought back to what my brother's friend said at the coffee place. And the look on his face when he said it. Remembering that, I stopped walking and turned to him. "Michael?" He stopped too. "Yeah?" Before I could lose my nerve, I just blurted the words out. "Thank you." He tilted his head to the side, looking at me as though I told him I believed the sky was orange instead of blue. "For what?" He asked. "For apologizing. I...I really appreciate it." Before he could respond, I took a sip of my drink and kept walking.