to the moon. /m.c./

t w e n t y o n e

I rolled onto my side, slamming my hand on my table in a failed attempt to silence my alarm. It was time for work, but I honestly felt like crap. I slowly got out of bed, doing very little to look presentable, and then set off to work.

I thought about how I'd not seen Michael in quite a while since the...incident. I grabbed my phone and tried calling him, but there was no response. I sighed and left him a message asking him to talk.

As I was putting books back on shelves, I heard someone clear their throat.

"Hey, Joy."

She smiled. "You look like you could use this." She handed me a cup of coffee. I smiled and took a sip. "What's going on? Usually I need to beg you to shut up."

I sighed. "Well, it's a bit of a long story."

She nodded. "I've got all the time in the world."

Slowly sitting down, I drew my knees up to my chest. "Michael kissed me."

Her eyes widened. "Like Michael with the rainbow hair...that Michael? The Michael that's best friends with Ashton, your boyfriend?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Like we were just sitting here together and he just like kissed me."

She looked stunned. "Well, did you push him away?" After a while of me not responding, she sighed loudly. "Josie! You can't just go around kissing random guys."

My phone buzzed. "Oh, Michael's calling. One second." I quickly stood and walked away from Joy. "Hello?"

"Is your refrigerator running?" I didn't respond. "Ma'am, is your refrigerator running?"

"This isn't Michael, who is this?"

I heard muffled laughter. "Please, ma'am, is your refrigerator running?"

"Yes, it's running, now just tell me the punchline."

"Well, you better go catch it!" The laughter became much more audible now, and I frowned.

"Who am I speaking with?"

"Calum Hood reporting for duty, sir." One of the voices said, chuckling loudly.

"General Luke Hemmings here."

I sighed. "Alright, Calcium, Lucifer...did I get that right? I think my service isn't working."

"You're Mikey's friend, right?"

"You could say that."

"Meet us at the nearest coffeeshop to your bookstore in an hour. Wear a red rose."

"Luke, she's got bright red hair, she doesn't need to wear a rose."

"Bye."

"Adios, muchacho."