Arranged Marriage (BoyxBoy)

What Have You

*Micah*

Date. Date. Date. Date. Date. I mumbled to myself as I contemplated my upcoming humiliation. Why the hell did I have to ask him that?

I couldn't take him on a date using his father's money. That was just beyond passé. But I was even more poor now than I had been the first time in high school. Hell, I was poorer now than before I'd agreed to marry my problems away!

Of course Mr. Arel had insisted I quite my jobs. I couldn't go to school and keep them. Which meant my last paycheck had been weeks ago. I sighed, contemplating, not for the first time, how becoming rich had made me poor. At least before I could have bought a cheap bouquet of flowers. I raked my hands through my spike-ish hair, tousling it in frustration.

"No, but seriously, Saiben, what the hell am I supposed to do?"

She laughed at me.

I punched her in the shoulder. Superficially of course, I'd not a dick.

"Saiben!"

"Oh, listen to the big boy whine!"

"I do not whine!"

"You're whining now," she rolled onto her back kicking her legs up in the air in much overdramatized laughter.

"Shut up," I growled at her. "So much for confiding in you. I thought you were supposed to be my friend."

"That's what you get for ditching me for those cheerleading bitches." She stuck her tongue out at me and rose on her abnormally long, skinny legs. She flashed her wide, freakishly even smile at me and stuck her hands in her pockets, hitching her jacket back.

"Oh come on! It's not my fault we don't have any classes together! I haven't been ignoring you, I'm just busy. You know that."

She gave me the eyes.

I rolled mine right back.

Just what exactly did she want from me?

"You had time for me back when you were working two jobs, running a household, and playing mommy to three kids all on your own!" There was an indescribable facial expression to go with this. It didn't do much emphasizing, though, because it was uniquely distracting. Like there was something very wrong with her face. Were the ridges beneath your eyebrows supposed to be able to move that way?

"Are you going to laugh at me or help me," I asked, changing the subject. I'd forgotten what she'd asked me anyway. You would have too if you had seen...whatever the hell that was.

"Come on," she swung forward onto her large feet. "What you need is place to start, so let's go see what we have to work with."

I lugged myself to my feet and followed after her.

An hour later I was eyeing an accountant blankly.

"Could you say that again," Saiben had to iterate for me.

"Well, Mr. Payne's pay checks from Arel industries have been on direct deposit here since August now. With a quarter sent into his savings account each month and a point zero two percent interest...That's how much he has available in his checking account here with us.

"If Mr. Payne would like more immediately available, he need only fill out a fund transfer form to transfer money from his savings to his checking account. We can also change the settings on his debit card so that funds can be automatically transferred should he make a purchase that exceeds the amount in his checking account." The man shifted nervously mistakenly believing that I was unhappy with the ridiculously large sum he'd just given me.

"Thank you." Fairy godmother, I added silently, lumbering out of the building like a dizzy dancing bear.

"Buy me a car," Saiben broke the silence as we climbed into my shiny new set of wheels. "You so owe me."

Huh?

"Sure, but only because I'm hallucinating."