I'm Going Back To Indiana (MJ Fanfic)

I'll Wish Something New

"Michael! Michaaael!" Dee and Shan called as they rode their bikes down the street. 

"Michael!" Shan yelled, cupping a hand by her mouth. 

"Check the picture again!" Dee told Shan. They stopped their bikes as Shan dug out the magazine page from her pocket. 

A defeated breath left her lips, tears threatening to poor over her eyes. "It's basically gone." Her voice sounded strangled. 

She handed the picture to Dee, and kept calling out his name. 

Dee looked over the picture in her hands. It was as worse as they'd ever seen it. You could hardly even tell there was a person in it, let alone who it was. All you could see was the background and a smidge of gold on the bottom right hand corner. And even then you almost needed a magnifying glass to see what was left. 

She sighed heavily, folding it back up and putting it in her pocket. She checked her watch; it was already 12:45...

"Michael!" They hopped on their bikes and kept riding around. "If you can hear us please come back! We're sorry!" 

"Please, Michael!" Shan yelled. 

"Where did he go?" Dee said rhetorically. 

"Somewhere familiar?" Shan thought out loud. "Somewhere he goes often? A place he loves?"

"No," Dee shook her head. "He's so young, plus he hardly had any free time to do anything besides practice and perform..."

"Well then where could he be?"

"Wait," Dee hit her breaks, looking at Shan wide eyed. "Maybe he'd go to the exact opposite... A place that he rarely goes at all." She realized. 

Shan thought for a moment, trying to understand what she ment. "You mean..." 

"Yep..." Dee nodded. 

"We need to find the nearest park!"

***

They rode their bikes all around Gary until their legs couldn't handle it anymore. By the time they got to the only park left, it felt like their legs were jello.

"Well, this is the last park in Gary Indiana..." Shan said quietly, aware of the time that was running out. 

"It doesn't make sense... we were positive he'd be at one of them." Her eyebrows furrowed. "Do you think he went home?"

"Back to Joseph? No way." Shan shook her head. 

"I guess we should get going," Dee said, feeling defeated and confused. "We better start looking somewhere --"

"Hey! Wait!" Shan suddenly yelled, "Over there! There's Michael!" 

The both dropped their bikes in the grass and ran full speed to the small playground. Surly enough, there was Michael on the merry-go-round, spinning in a slow circle as his shiny black shoes dangled over the edge. It was a mournful sight, and in a lot of ways it described his entire life. 

"Michael!" Dee kneeled in front of him, stopping the merry-go-round from moving. "Michael, we were so worried!"

"How are you? Are you okay?" Shan asked, and not just about his physical appearance. 

"I'm fine." He whispered, looking at his clasped hands that sat on his lap. 

"No," Shan shook her head. "You're not. I'm so sorry, Michael. Whatever happened this morning..." 

"What did happen this morning?" Dee asked. 

"We were working almost all night, and Joseph told me to go through the routine again, and... and I said no." He sighed. "It was my first time every saying that to Joseph."