learning to fly ➵ petekey

viii ; in the wise words of hannah montana

short. dramatic. rushed. enjoy.

Pete said it bluntly. He didn't see any point in hiding the truth. After all, a good relationship was based off trust.

"So, I skipped fifth period," he confessed.

"Oh."

Oh. Fucking oh. What did that even mean? In that context, at least?

There were way too many synonyms for Pete to be able to remember.

Surprised. Angry. Worried. Disappointed. Concerned. Stressed. Shocked. Upset.

In this situation, probably all of the above.

It was funny how one word could contain so much meaning; so much emotion, when there were some words that were practically meaningless.

It was only a simple, two letter word, though. And that somehow made the concept so much more extraordinary. Words that were much longer held less interpretations and less sentence uses than a word as small as that.

Weird how that basic expression hurt Pete so much. Mikey hadn't even said anything like "Pete, I hate you, go to hell", or something along those lines to offend Pete, he had just said "oh", and somehow, that managed to hurt more. Or maybe it didn't - Mikey had never said the example expression to Pete, so he couldn't really judge it, but that was beyond the point.

"Are you mad at me?" Pete asked, and seriously, slow clap for Pete, because that may have just been the worst question to possibly ask at that moment.

He was expecting a yes, if he was being honest. He deserved a yes. He knew that. He had broken part of the proposition - the one that he had actually came up with. The one he had vowed to stick to.

"I don't know," was what Mikey eventually responded with, after half a minute of agonising silence.

"Oh," Pete said, and look how the tables had turned.

Pete could define his use of the word, though. He was confused. Why didn't Mikey know? How could he not define how he felt? Or was he really mad, but just didn't have the heart to admit it?

Questions raced through Pete's mind as the two sat in silence, Pete fiddling with the sleeve of his jacket in an attempt to distract himself from overthinking everything.

Much unlike the other day watching the sunset, this silence was one of the uncomfortable kinds. Unwanted tension drenched the room, leaving Pete agitated and perturbed.

After another few minutes, Pete couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm just gonna go. Sorry," he said, standing up, and making his way towards the door.

"Oh," Mikey sighed, but this time, Pete knew exactly what it meant.

He was hurt. Hurt that Pete would just leave.

He was scared. Scared for what Pete would do when alone, without the security of Mikey, or the school.

He was tired. Tired of Pete messing up. Tired of feeling like he was ignored.

Betrayed that Pete would disregard one side of the deal - the part that actually benefited himself.

Mikey was also confused. Why would Pete skip after what he had told him about better attendance getting better grades?

But most of all, he felt pathetic, because it was such a small thing, and he was making such a big deal about it.

In the wise words of Hannah Montana, everybody makes mistakes. So Mikey should just try to get over it, right?

But at the same time, Pete told him to do things for himself, and maybe, just maybe, for once in his life he wanted to speak his mind and tell him how he felt. That he lied when he said he didn't know, and he really was pissed off, but that didn't exactly mean he hated Pete, because Mikey could never quite bring himself to do that, no matter how hard he tried.

He wanted to scream at himself, for getting into his conflicting situation, and for getting upset over this too easily.

And so, after a very quick burst of internalised arguments with the different viewpoints inside his mind, he spoke. "Wait, Pete," he said, just as Pete reached out to turn the handle of the door.

"Yeah?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Oh shit, he couldn't back out now, despite how nervous he was. He had to just... do it. Get it over with. Spit it out. "I lied," Mikey said, adding a sigh onto the end of the sentence.

"Huh?"

"I am mad."

Silence. Breathe in. Breathe out. More silence. Fuck.

"I'm sorry," Pete mumbled, and he rushed out the door and slammed it shut, leaving Mikey standing alone in his living room, contemplating his emotions, wishing he could've elaborated on his point and wondering what the ever loving fuck just happened.