Finding The Universe // Michael Clifford

Two.

"Please, take your seats and allow me to read out the list of partners for my class," Mrs. Otey spoke above the voices of my classmates. She had a small clipboard in hand with a pen resting at the top as she made her way to the front of the classroom.

"Ana your partner is Michael, Michael Clifford." She announces once she reaches my name and then I furrow my eyebrows together in confusion as she reads out the unfamiliar name of my class partner.

"Who is that?" I ask and she smiles slightly before she lets out a soft hum, taking a step towards my before she slowly bends over, "It's the boy two rows back in the third seat from the front. He wrote your name down on his paper and since you did not turn in a partner name, he will be your partner." She whispers.

"Alright, thank you." I whisper and then I slowly glance back, counting back the rows and seats before my eyes locked with the emerald eyes I had been obsessed with for twenty-four hours now.

"Oh my god." I mumble as he smiles and gives me a small wave which causes me to quickly turn back around in my seat and lock my eyes on the board ahead of me once she begins to speak about our first project as a pair.

"For your first project together you will be learning about each other and presenting your partners to the class with facts that many people may not know. Get together now and begin your interviews!" She says with a small clap before everyone stands up and begins to move around.

"Ana, it's nice to meet you finally. I know it might have came off as weird that I wrote down your name but I don't really have any friends and you were the only name I knew so I hope you don't mind." I hear him say from beside of me and then I slowly glance over to see that he was sitting in the desk beside of me with his vibrant eyes staring at me.

"No problem, I don't really have friends either so I was just going to see if I could work solo but you can be my partner as long as you don't start any funny business." I say to him which causes his lips to spread into a smile and a small chuckle squeezes its way past his lips.

"That will be no problem considering I have a girlfriend." He says, the words immediately filling my body with the numb feeling I had been cursed with and then I forced a small smile.

"I'm very happy that you have a girlfriend, but right now the task at hand is not to make me envy you." I mumble and he raises an eyebrow before slowly nodding.

"So this project is going to be a hell of a ride for the both of us. I don't like talking about myself and I don't like learning about other as well, so write down what you want me to tell the class and I'll write down some bullcrap story about a fake me and we can present those." I say before I pull out my notebook along with a pen.

"I'm not going to hurt you Ana. I promise I would never hurt someone so beautiful." He whispers and I quickly look over at him and I slowly shake my head.

"I'm not quite sure your girlfriend would be pleased knowing that you called another girl beautiful." I whisper before I roll my eyes and begin to write.

"My girlfriend died three years ago in a freak car accident. We had been together for two years and I was waiting at home to propose to her when she died in the wreck just miles from the apartment we shared." He says quietly causing my eyes to slightly widen.

"That's a terrible story but we all suffer from losses in our lives and you just have to know when to move on." I mumble and he nods slowly before he goes quiet and begins to write as well.

The green eyes that the boy possessed had been his cover for sadness and everyone failed to realize that even the most beautiful creations of god could be damaged.

From that point on during class I failed to keep my mind on track to focus on the project but instead found myself wondering what other damages Michael could have hidden away behind those eyes.

I knew that he had yet to tell anyone about this and that he found comfort in me so he allowed a small piece of him to spill, not realizing that would lead to the complete empty feeling of losing that piece.

"Come with me, say we need to research family history and let's go talk somewhere private." I whisper to him and he slowly nods before we make our way out of the classroom and then into the parking lot.

"Don't speak a word, just follow for now." I mumble as we make our way across the lot full of cars and then into the wooded area behind the school, down a small pathway that was hidden from the eye of the public.

I stopped once we reached a small clearing that was surrounded by trees and I turned to look at him, "Welcome to the spot where I like to explore the universe." I whisper and he smiles slightly before he slowly looks around.

"So I guess we could call this finding the universe." He mumbles and I smile slightly before I slowly nod, taking a seat on the grass beneath us.

"I come here often to clear my mind or sometimes I just come here to try and feel some kind of emotion," I whisper as I watch him take a seat beside of me with a small hum.

"It's a very nice area, thank you for showing me to this place." He says and I nod slightly.

"Your girlfriend was involved in the accident with my brother," I finally whisper and he slowly looks over at me before widening his eyes.

"He died as well." He whispers and I bite down on my lip before I slowly nod, trying to fight the tears that were threatening to spill onto my cheeks.

"My brother was my best friend. He would always involve me in everything he did and he was the only one that I trusted enough to talk to about secret things." I whisper before I feel droplets racing down my cheeks only to fall onto my shirt.

"We both lost something that was a bigger part of us than we are, but now I'm here and I will stop at nothing to fill that part for you." He whispers before slowly wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into a tight hug.

"Will you help me find the universe?" I manage to whisper through my tears and I feel his lips press into the top of my head before he slowly nods,

"I'll help you find every last drop of the universe and I'll make sure you are satisfied with it." He whispers into my hair before he begins to gently stroke the top of my head.