CARMEN ; m.c.

tu as besoin de moi dans ta vie

003

Carmen knows that she's home a lot more than she's out partying, but as she sits in the middle of her bedroom floor, she feels like she has absolutely nothing to do. It was as if she'd forgotten everything she used to do before she'd adopted her current social life.

It was only noon, which made her feel even more ridiculous. Every party she'd ever been to started at nine p.m. or later so she'd be home around this time anyhow. Carmen can't seem to recall what she did during this time.

She concludes that she just feels off because she knows there won't be any raving tonight, or the night after that, or the one after that.

With her mom and dad already at work, Carmen is definitely experiencing some boredom by herself in the house. She'd already scrolled through her news feeds and timelines and dashboards and she is contemplating doing the cliché looking-up-fun-things-to-do thing, but she remembers that she's not twelve and in middle school.

A few raps that drift into her open room from downstairs make her sit up, hoping for any sort of distraction. Even if it was just the mailman, she'd probably still strike up a conversation. 

After haphazardly failing to check who's at the front door through the window, or even check the peephole that's conveniently attached to the door above her, she unlocks it and pulls it open. It shouldn't shock her when she sees Michael, smiling down at her, but it kind of does.

"Hey, Car." He says on his way in the house, briefly massaging her head through her curls with his fingers.

"Hey, Michael," She replies, closing her door and redoing the locks. Carmen follows behind him to her kitchen, coming through the archway to see him skim through her cabinets. "I almost forgot that you were coming over."

Shrugging, Michael, takes down a box of cheese crackers. "In your defense, I never actually said I was coming over." 

Carmen nods, hopping up and onto the counter next to him, opening the box of Cheese Nips. She takes a few out and holds them in one hand, eating two at once with the other. He grabbed a handful for himself and pushed the box from in between his arm and her leg.

"So, what were you up to?" Michael asks, popping a cracker into his mouth. He stares up at her as he leans on the counter.

"Literally nothing. Like, you're my ex machina right now." Carmen giggles a bit, politely covering her mouth with her hand. She thinks for a second that she certainly doesn't have to keep her manners minded in front of Michael, and lowers her hand a little.

Michael gives a short and loud laugh as he digs back into the bag, refilling his nearly empty hand. "You're welcome, then." 

Carmen grins at him, clapping her hands together to get the cheesy residue off of her palms. She swings her legs with a grip on the granite, thinking of things to do now that Michael's here. Though, she will admit, even just sitting with Michael is better than sitting by herself.

An idea pops into her head and Carmen imagines a light bulb sparking to life atop her hair as she slides off of the counter and approaches the fridge. What she has in mind is usually something she pulls out at parties, but she thinks they can turn it into a fun competition of some sort. Which she plans to win.

"Wanna see something?"

"I don't know, do I?" Michael teases, coming up to stand next to her at the now opened refrigerator. Carmen playfully rolls her eyes, bending over to scan the shelves.

Her parents always kept the fridge pretty well stocked, so she had figured out early on that it was best to put whatever food she knew she'd frequently want in a separate and special place. Though the place where you typically store things like butter isn't that special.