011 ~ A Mileven Fanfic

Chapter the Ninth

alright for those of you who are annoyingly observant and who have caught my numerous mistakes i have tried to just pretend didnt happen, yes i forgot about holly in part I and now we're just gonna pretend she's been here this whole time, good? good.

Mike's POV

I force the front door open with my shoulder, my hands filled with all the books that didn't fit into my backpack.

"Holly, I'm home!" I call to my little sister who drives home with her friend everyday because Hawkins Elementary has to get out half an hour before High.

"Whatever!" She yells back. I roll my eyes. Holly is incredibly sassy for a nine-year-old, it's kind of crazy.

I trudge upstairs to my room, opening the door, throwing my stuff down, and turning around to face my desk.

"You know, textbooks are expensive you really should be more careful with those." I hear from behind me.

"Go away Max, just cause you're my neighbor doesn't mean you can constantly be at my house." I snap, without turning around.

"I'm not Max."

I jump up, painfully twisting my neck in the process, and turn to see Jane, standing in the middle of my room. As I'm opening my mouth to exclaim she cuts me off.

"I live behind you. I saw you coming in and I didn't feel like going home so I just climbed up here and came in through your window. Clearly though I'm not wanted so I'll go now."

"No wait!" I yell, a little too quickly. I smoothly try and cover up my enthusiasm. "I mean I don't care but you can stay here like if you want, I totally don't care."

She stares as me for a second before smiling and plopping onto my bed.

"So Mr. Seung's English assignment? Insane right? I mean a 3 page essay on the apparent theme of justice and judgment in Tess of the D'Urbervilles due tomorrow? Yeah sorry but no." She starts.

"Speak for yourself, you're just behind. A few weeks ago he practically told us every part of this essay so this is just busywork for me." I gloat.

"Well I'm sorry for moving schools in the midDLE OF THE FUCKING YEAR!" She screams, mainly at the ceiling. I want to ask her why she moved but I sense that it might be personal so I change the subject.

"College?" I ask.

"Ugh don't remind me. If I lived in a perfect world where neither denial nor money were a thing, Brown would be the dream school but I'm also interested in Syracuse. You?"

"Columbia. It's been my dream school since 8th grade. Dustin and I were going to go there, and Max too though she wants to go to the law school, Will at NYU and Lucas always weirdly wanted to go to Fordham. But that way we would all be together. But then again, I don't know what our plans with Lucas are anymore."

"What do you want to do?" Jane asks.

"Well, I want to double major in physics and bio, Dustin wants to also in physics and psychology, Max wants to go to Law school but in the hopes of becoming a politician, Will wants to, obviously, be an artist, and Lucas is interested in communications."

"Wow, you guys have it figured out." She mutters, looking distraught.

"Oh don't worry, it's because all we ever do is think about the future. Usually no one has it this planned out."

"I know, it's just, I feel like everyone else has a plan for success and here I am, having no idea what to do and in a little over a year I'm going to be alone and I'm going to have no clue about my future." She says, her eyes getting red. I start to feel the dull pang of guilt and sit down on the bed next to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.

"Look, I may have a plan. I know what college I want to go to, what I want to major in, where I want to work, which internships I'll get to achieve my dream jobs, I know it all. But what if I don't get into Columbia or I end up hating bio and wanting to change my major, or if I don't get those internships and then I don't get my dream job. I may have a plan but if the plan doesn't work, I'm screwed and I won't know what to do because I won't know how to live without a set itinerary. The point is, you're okay. In the end, plan or no plan, we all end up having to make quick decisions and not knowing what to do. It's just the anticipation that differentiates us. In reality, it's all up to chance. It's how long it takes us to give up control."

After my speech there is a silence that lasts for decades. Finally, she looks up at me, tears brimming over her eyelid and I immediately know I did something wrong. I start to apologize but she stops me.

"Thank you." She whispers and then, in the blink of an eye, she's gone.

all the college stuff, thats because it always bothers me how NO ONE EVER TALKS ABOUT THIS BUT ITS KIND OF LIKE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF JUNIOR YEAR.