Sanity Siphoned

Ch28: Date Accepted

Chapter 28

Michael knew his friends, ex-friends, whatever the hell they were now, wouldn’t be supportive and probably looked down at him now but he never expected they’d give him this much flack for who he chose to fall for. Soccer practice had been hell to get through but he shrugged off their taunts.

That was until they stopped attacking him and mentioned Julienne.

“You were lousy on the field. I guess your suicidal bitch is a lousy lay.” Cody sneered as the team stepped out of the locker room, all having changed and ready to head home.

Michael turned and looked at the other boy with his eyes were dark with menace. “Yeah because Anna is so perfect. You and I both know how many have gone through there. Wasn’t it you who called her a high traffic zone?” as much as he wanted to hit him he refrained, he didn’t need the trouble with the coach and if there was anything he was great at it was attacking with words. Sadly everyone he cared about could vouch for that.

“And weren’t you the first to lay into Julienne first thing every morning? Now you want to be some saint?”

“I was wrong and I own that. You’re wrong now and you’re too fucking stupid and phony to see it. We were best friends and instead of thinking about that you’re letting everyone else cloud your judgment. I did that and I can tell you you’ll regret it.” Michael said his piece and made a move to continue walking by.

Cody slammed his hand into his shoulder and held him back. “The phony one here is you. You lie like you breathe and when she wises up to it you’ll have no one left.”

Michael grabbed his hand and twisted. “Let me go.”

Their two pigheaded egos weren’t letting them walk away. The fight started in the blink of an eye.

“Hey stop it!”

Michael stopped short of breaking Cody’s nose when he realized that voice belonged to Julienne and it was her hands pulling at his shoulder. He let go of Cody and stepped back.

Cody wiped his hand across his nose, the blood came from the first time Michael hit him. “This isn’t over.” He walked away. “Oh by the way Julienne? There are some really good knives on sale at the mall this week.”

Michael shook his head at how lame the insult was, it wasn’t something to be proud of but he knew his taunts had been way more creative. “What are you doing here?”

“Nick had some after school project and needed a ride.” She explained quickly as her eyes surveyed the damage from the fight. She ran her thumb across his lip and it came back red.

Michael smiled like a kid in a candy store as their eyes met. She was there and she was worried about him. This was good.

Her face paled. “Don’t you dare think about hitting on me.”

He snaked his arms around her waist. “Come on, I’m wounded.” He nuzzled his nose to her neck. “Just ballpark here, how long do I have to wait for your thinking time to be over? Why don’t you go out with me tomorrow and we talk?” tomorrow was Saturday and he wanted nothing more then to spend it with her. Well he’d rather spend it with her naked but any time was a step up at this point.

She sighed and, probably unconsciously, moved in closer to him. “Ok but we’re going slow. If you try to get in my pants at all I’m leaving.”

“Fine I’ll agree to that but I’m highly against it.”

Julienne stepped back and pulled his hands free. “What was that fight about?”

“It’s not important. Let’s not ruin this nice thing we have going.” He reached for her again.

“Michael.”

Honesty went hand and hand with trust and as much as he wanted to protect her it would be a stupid move to lie. Sometimes this maturing thing was a pain in the ass, he thought. “He was talking crap about us and I had enough.”

“You’re going to waste a lot of time and get into a lot of fights if you start throwing punches every time someone says something about me.”

It was hard but he kept a lid on his temper. “That bad huh?” he used to be one of her abusers and now here he stood wanting to take on the world to protect her. Yeah the universe sure did have a sense of humor.

“I don’t let it bother me anymore.”

As he looked into her grey eyes he saw that she really wanted to believe that but no one was that strong. The insults and taunts stung, she was just better at ignoring the reaction they normally caused. “Maybe I should try your doctor and learn some of those tricks.”

“Dr. Sharon is a miracle worker but I think even she’d pass on you.”

His mouth fell open and he gaped at her for a minute. She actually just made a joke at his expense. “We’ve really come a long way. All this talking and now you’re cracking jokes. You know this turns me on.”

A blush crept across her cheeks but masterfully she kept her face neutral. “I have to go find Nick. Bye.”

He watched her go, actually his watched her butt as she ran quickly away from him. He couldn’t wait for tomorrow. His smile fell as he realized he needed to come up with a good date, he couldn’t just stare at her for the whole night and she was still against sex.  He made a mental note to talk to Nick again about Julienne’s likes but until then he went home.

As always he headed home in search of his brother who was a miracle worker with advice. He found Shane in his room getting ready for something. “Where to?”

“A date.”

“It’s pretty early, who’s the guy?”

It wasn’t something Shane broadcasted or something you could tell by looking at him but he was out with the family and their parents were great at supporting him. It had taken Michael some time to get over the shock his brother was gay but at the end of the day he didn’t care, Shane was still his big brother and best friend. It didn’t matter who he slept with.

“It’s not a big deal.”

“Right, that’s why you’re wearing the good cologne.” He teased. “I got Julienne to agree to go out with me tomorrow and I have no idea what we should do.” He didn’t have much time and got right to the point.

“You should ask mom, she knows the Tellers better and might have an idea.” He finished with his tie and pulled on his jacket next. “How do I look?”

“If I wasn’t your brother or straight I’d be all over you.”

Shane laughed. “Will there ever be a day you’re not an ass?”

“I really doubt it.”

“Me too. Whatever you do with Julienne don’t let it be private, let her know you still don’t care what others say.”