Behind the Cherry Tree, A Not-So-Short Story

6. Changes

The next few weeks moved sluggishly by. Mike had been staying with me up until last week. That's when his monster of a mother threatened Will's dad that she'd have Mike's face on a milk carton if he didn't come home the next day- yeah, she still believed that Mike was hiding out at Will's, not that she'd say it aloud. She was manipulative and bitchy that way. Life goes on...

To be honest those few weeks had been awesome and awful. Awesome because Mike and I had spent quality hours together just talking and chilling, eating rubbish that I'd snuck in through the window before heading in to say hi to my parents after getting the groceries. We'd gotten closer than before, he told me all about his ex, he opened up to me about his parent's abuse, he even told me which of his friends liked me. It was awful because he never, at any point, let on that I even had a chance with him. Every second that he spoke or we were just together, I became ever more increasingly aware of how unbalanced our feelings were and how it would never change. 

 Yeah, I know after that first night I'd told myself I'd suck it up and move on but it was hard. It wasn't even like I had a repreive! I was either in my room with him or in my house with my parents thinking about him. It just wasn't fair. 

Sighing to myself I finished my school work at the dinner table, shut the book I'd been studying from, and hauled myself to my feet.

"I'm going to my room now!" I called to dad in the kitchen.

"You done all that trig work?" Dad said as he poked his head out the kitchen doorway.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, dad."

"And the chemistry?"

"Yes, dad." Ha, no... 

"Ok then, set the table for dinner ok? We barely ever see you around the house anymore, all you do is lock yourself in that bedroom of yours out back and you never come out and see us..." and so on he grumbled in mock upset.

I walked into the kitchen and hugged my dad.

"Oh shush dad, you're supposed to let me be a moody teenager."

"Says who?"

"It's in the guidebook."

"The guidebook of life?"

"Bingo, daddy-o."

"No such thing."

"That's what you think."

Dad's mood suddenly brightened as he asked me, "Hey Melly, I read this really exciting article today, you ready to hear it?"

I rolled my eyes, but smiled and nodded. My dad was obsessed with physics. Nothing in heaven nor Earth could be more thrilling to him. If I was right his next words would be along the lines of: have you heard about the latest discovery with the CERN? Or, did you know that we've almost found the higgs boson? Or I just ordered the latest Brian Cox DVD set, want to watch it later?

"What do you think would happen if the Sun just disappeared one day? Do you think the Earth would fly off into space the moment it disappears or will it stay in orbit?"

"What?" Ok, well I was close... "We are talking physics, right?"

"Yeah." Ok, I was right on.

"Ummm, what do you mean 'disappeared'?"

"As in, for no reason, just vanished one day- hypothetically of course."

"Of course. Well I guess it would depend on whether it exploded, in which case the Earth would go bye-bye, but if it's only hypothetical then I suppose... well I don't really know..."