"well, everyone said they could come to the sleepover, so it'll bridge over onto the day of the snowball," mike said, watching as el's face lit up.
"i'm so excited," she smiled. "it is my first."
"it'll be fun; they usually are. ask your friend max if she can come."
"speaking of- max!" el shouted, waving her friend over. max strode over, clutching a book.
"what's up?"
"are you free today? we're going to have a sleepover at mike's house."
"i'm sure i am, so i'll meet you at your house and then we can go over to mike's?" max smiled.
"bathroom," el said, pecking mike on the cheek. it became a routine now, with el's seemingly impending death.
"all we know is falling," mike said. "like i guess humanity is just always fated for it, like there's no way to avoid it."
"like my death," el dead-panned.
"it's been a week."
"it's coming, mike, please, when i say that. believe me, i love you, i want- no i need to live."
she wasn't crying as she pleaded, and he wasn't either. it was hard to explain, but a certain level of sadness was beyond tears. tears would be like worrying about watermarks on the furniture when the house is burning down.
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final paragraph: the bean trees by barbara kingsolver
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bathroom stalls » mileven
Fanfiction[ complete ] little girl eleven byers meets sad boy mike wheeler and tries to fix him. she didn't realize she needed fixing. [ this is not a very good story ]
