Day by day, I spent it with Mikey. And did we go insane together. Gerard graduated from high school and is ready for art school in New York. Tony also graduated, but I was more proud of Gerard than Tony. It's the middle of June, the hot New Jersey weather was unbelievable. With it being June, it also meant that Mikey was moving. And I wasn't prepared for that. He hasn't told me what date he's leaving, and Gerard wouldn't pry either. This was probably the worst summer of my life. I'm losing my boyfriend, and by the beginning of fall, I'll be losing Gerard and Ray due to colleges.
"Iris?" I looked up at Mikey. He was sitting on the top branch of the tree in my backyard writing some things down. He smiled sadly at me. I couldn't even return the smile. "You stopped sketching ten minutes ago, what's wrong?"
"You know what's wrong," I whispered sadly. I sighed and leaned back on the trunk and balanced my sketchbook on the branch I was in so it wouldn't fall. "My life was getting better and now...now it's being torn apart."
"I won't be gone forever, love," he said. He climbed down so he was on the same branch as me. "I'll always be in touch. And trust me when I say I'm going to get a job so I can come visit you anytime I can." I laced my fingers with his. I stayed silent for a long time. Mikey's presence always made me feel better.
"What if..." I paused, chewing my lip nervously. "What if we actually ran away?" He squeezed my hands gently.
"Iris you know we can't do that."
"But we could."
"Iris..."
"I can't lose you. I'll go insane." He leaned over and brought his warm lips to mine.
"We've talked about this, Iris. We can't change the fact that I'm moving. Trust me when I've said that I've tried to stay here. I tried to reason with them. I even said I would get an apartment with Gerard in New York and take the train here to go to school. But they're not taking any of it. They're making me go with them. I've pushed the date off so far, we were originally supposed to leave after Gerard's graduation, but I begged them if we could stay longer." Tears burned my eyes. He wrapped his arms around me carefully and kissed me. I kissed back, wrapping my arms around his neck.
"When do you leave?" I asked after our kiss.
"I'm not telling you."
"Mikey." I was starting to get angry that he wouldn't tell me. I got off the tree, Mikey following my lead.
"I'm not telling you, Iris. You don't need to know." I paced around angrily before I snapped.
"Well, I want to know!" I shouted. "I don't want to wake up one day to realize my boyfriend and the love of my life is on the other side of the country!" A sob broke through my lips halfway through the sentence. Tears fell down my face and I didn't bother to stop them. I dropped my head in my hands and cried. "I already know you're leaving, but I can't handle falling asleep with you one night and waking up to an empty bed." Mikey wrapped his arms around me and held my shaking body.
"Please calm down, Iris. Iris, please. Please..." I buried my head in his chest and tried to control my sobs. "Iris, I love you with all my heart. Please don't make this any harder that it is."
"I'm trying Mikey," I whispered. I sighed and closed my eyes tightly. I had somehow ended up in Mikey's lap, not that I minded. I leaned my head on his shoulder and sighed again. "I love you." He turned his head to kiss me.
"I already know that. I love you too, nerd." We stayed like that, neither of us wanting to leave one other's embrace. He was lightly stroking my hair. It had grown a little past my shoulder since April when I had to get a forceful haircut. I ran my fingers up and down his smooth skin. "I leave in two days." I tried saying something, but the words were stuck in the back of my throat. My face twisted in agony and I tried to stop my tears.
