Fly Away (Michael Jackson)

eight

We drove down to Hayvenhurst, to see Michael's family. He had been super excited for me to reunite with his family. As kids, I really only connected to Michael because we were the same age, the rest of his older brothers teased me, and I was too young for his older sisters. And Janet was a baby for majority of the time she and I were neighbors. In conclusion, I stuck around Michael majority of the time we were together and kept to ourselves.

Seeing them all again will hopefully change their perception of me, and maybe even create some new relationships. Being an only child and losing my parents in the last year has really adapted me into a lonely lifestyle, which for an extrovert like myself - it's my worst nightmare. 

As we drove into the driveway, we found the family waiting outside in a group almost bouncing glee. They haven't seen or hung out with Michael since before he spent two weeks in Gary with me.

"Mike!" they all continually yelled. It was really sweet how excited they were to see him. He smiled and waved at them through the window until the car was stopped. 

"Get out here, man!" Jermaine yelled happily, in a teasing manner.

Hugging and greeting everyone cheerfully, I stood behind as to not get in the way of the reunion, then Tito's face peeked out and looks me up and down before covering his mouth in surprise. "No! That is not you!" he ran to me and his brothers soon followed. "Wow! Long-Time-No-See, BonnieBrat!" he grinned. 'BonnieBrat' had been his nick name for me. The rest of them called me-

"BONNIE GIRL!" as I looked up from Tito, I see Michael now standing behind the rest of the brothers who stood beside me. I felt a swarm of eyes staring me down, my cheeks flushed red and my body tensed up bashfully. Jackie gave me a hug and said, "Bonnie, you've really grown up after all this time, haven't you?"

"Yeah she did," one of them commented.

"Oh shut up." Michael called out from behind everybody.

"Oh my God!" Janet squealed, ran up to me and squeezed me right after Jermaine set me down after giving me a hug. 

"Hey, Janet!" I decided to squeeze her back.

"Oh, My, Lord. You have aged well, girl." she spun me around to examine me.

I laughed, "Thank you! As did you!"

She blushed and Katherine came up to me next. "Is that really you?" she looked up at me.

I smiled at her, "It is me," shrugging modestly.

"Wow! You have become a beautiful young lady, Bonnie," She deeply smiled.

"Thank you, Katherine. Means a lot to me that you think that." I hugged her for a long time, then let go. For a slight second, I felt like I was hugging my mom again, so I hugged tighter for a moment more.

Michael walked up to me and smiled. "I told you not to be nervous,"

"Oh fine," I laughed in a whisper.

"C'mon! Let's go inside!" Janet grabbed my hand started walking towards the front door.

Michael's brothers had already taken him and gone their separate ways to catch up with each other. I saw as he walked away, and he was laughing, having a really good time. He turned to me and mouthed, "I'm sorry," but not in a very serious way.

I mouthed back, "It's okay," with a smile.

Janet and LaToya found me and took me away in isolation from the family.

"Now!" Janet clapped her hands, "Let's get to business here..." her eyes darted through my eyes. I could feel what they wanted to know and what they were about to ask me.

She looks towards her sister with a cheeky grin, then LaToya blurted, "What's up with you and Mike now that you're together?"

Janet smacked her forearm, "I was trying to make this a little more drawn out!" she whispered.

"What do you mean, together?" I asked. I comprehended what she said, but needed confirmation.

"Oh don't be silly, Bonnie Girl! We all know that you two have had something for a while now; I mean who else puts in that much dedication to keep in touch with a lifestyle like this?" Janet smiled deeply.

My cheeks flared red and became hot, I pushed a lock of hair behind my ear, "Michael and I are just very close - we aren't like that. And he doesn't like me that way."

They looked at each other and laughed. "Are you kidding me? Each time you sent a letter through the mail, he was the first to know about it, and he was always freaking out if a letter came late. He thought you forgot about him. He would always get so happy when your letters came through." LaToya laughed.

"And no one dared to touch those letters," Janet smirked, alluding to an inside joke somewhere.

"Have you asked him yourself about how he feels?" I questioned, almost harshly. Sure, I may have feelings for Michael, but I'm sure his own feelings are long gone by now.

LaToya put a hand on my knee, "We don't need to ask."

I was getting mixed emotions through my head, "Well wait a minute," I added. "Just because he's liked me in the past, does not mean he still feels the same now. It's been years -- decades." I rolled my eyes.

Janet sighed, "Bonnie, it's almost completely obvious. Let me tell you, he hasn't flown out across the country for anyone else's birthday. Happy belated birthday by the way," She said under her breath, then continued, "I'm pretty sure you were his first love." she says as she looks to her sister for confirmation, who nods in agreement.

I sighed and stared at the ground beside me. My cheeks flared and blushed, and my smile was creeping up on me and it was getting harder and harder to hold my suspicious expressions. Could it possibly be that he still feels that way about me? I don't want to get my hopes up with false hopes, and he comes around saying that everything he felt was in the past and he's in love with some flawless and gorgeous movie star friend of his. Which to me, feels more realistic than anything.

"Janet, LaToya, I know you really want Michael and I to happen, but I need to know, for a fact, in his own words, that it's true. Because I'm not about to bring my heart full speed ahead towards Michael only to be shot down and friend-zoned."

They looked at me and then at each other. "Sounds like a plan," LaToya smiled.

I got up and protested, "No, wait no--"

"You'll thank us one day." Janet whispered as she got up from the table and walked away with her sister.

In my head, I hoped they were right. Me and Michael. Me and Michael. That's always been a rumor or joke that the family starts when they tease us. My own mother would tell me that Michael would be "a fine boy" to get with and she wouldn't mind him being my first boyfriend. But since I was a child, I didn't see love the way adults did. Michael did. My "I love you"s were taken to heart. But I didn't know exactly what I was saying, I mean - I cared about him enough to say I love you, but I wasn't sure why I had to say those special three words. But now, things are different, and maybe things will change.