To the moon ♡ muke

5 - still I call it magic when I'm next to you ☽

Luke walked down the library stairs that divided the library collection and the reading room. The three-story building was one of his favorite places to visit. It was either to study, read or do some work. Sometimes it was just a place he used to remove himself from other magic bound people.

The thing was, not a lot of his friends or his brothers visited the library so it was the perfect place for his research. Since it was the weekend the entire building was almost empty.

Almost.

"Hey, Luke."

Luke jumped, the two books he was holding fell from his hold. Michael, who disturbed him in the first place stood up and picked both of them to Luke's disappointment.

The older boy checked the books and grinned. "Doing research on me?"

Luke was good enough with lies to try and get out of it. "No. Why?"

Michael sat back behind a messy table and Luke followed. "Both of these books are written by two of the most famous people with multiple magic sources."

"True," Luke agreed. "But both of them are also written by two of the most famous people who use the power of the universe."

Michael chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, that's true."

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked. "Don't you go home on the weekends?"

"I could ask you the same thing. But no. My parents are on a business trip somewhere across the ocean. Which is totally fine by me since I have a lot of work to do to catch up."

The boy with the moon tattoo glanced over the papers and books trying to get some hints over the theme of Michael's tattoos. The catch was: he was studying all of them.

"What subjects do you have to take?"

"Well in my last school you complete all the basic subjects like math and biology in the first two years and then focus on the magic. So I actually passed all the basic subjects for this and next year."

"Lucky you." Luke, who's only struggling in school was chemistry. "So you study magic subjects only?"

"Yes and some other optional things like art and stuff."

"Why aren't you at home?"

Luke sighed and leaned over the table. "My mum found out I was seen with you. Plus someone did better on their summer art homework and my family isn't really pleased when I'm not the first at something."

Michael frowned. "So it's my fault you're avoiding your family? Luke, I'm sorry, I'll-"

"No, no, no." Luke quickly stopped him. "I'm sure your masterpiece was amazing and I invited you to hang out with me. It's not your fault. My family just likes to over exaggerate things."

"They are really taking this feud seriously, huh?"

And there it was. They've never talked about it before. Luke tried to not be the one to bring it up and he wasn't sure he wanted Michael to either.

With a loud sigh, he tried to explain. "Yes and no. It's my grandparents really. But they are the ones with the money and the last thing anyone in my family wants to do is disappoint them."

"Except you?"

"I don't care about the money. I don't mind it of course but I only do what I do to please my parents. They are really amazing but sometimes I just want to throw a bucket of ice-cold water over their heads so they'd realize how stupid this entire thing is. And I don't even know what it is but it's stupid."

"You don't?" Michael asked, he was slightly surprised but not shocked.

"Never wanted to know. Look, if it had lasted for so long without our families reconnecting then it's stupid. We both know how much richer our families would be if we'd do business together but because it's stupid we don't."

A grin on Michael's face let Luke know he was at least half right.

"But you should ask your parents about it. It's a cool story and if like you've said you don't care, knowing it won't change it."

"I wanted to call my mum to come and visit me anyway," Luke concluded. "She's the most chilled out person in our family when she's not under my grandma's influence."

"You do that and maybe try and explain that you had a lot to do with me getting first place at art."

"What do you mean?"

All the paintings were always anonymous. They would only show their work off at the end of the year. This way Mrs. Stillwater knew their ideas were original.

"You'll see," Michael smirked.

They just sat there for a while and Michael started to read a book on fire magic.

"Michael?"

Green eyes looked at him expectantly.

"Why do you hide your tattoo?"

He took his time with the answer. "You're special. I guess you get a lot of attention for it?"

Luke nodded. The school had over a thousand students and he was the only one with space magic.

"I don't want that. The attention. Not only at school but all the other people with more than one tattoo get more attention than I'd ever want."

"Why did you then told me about it?"

Michael gave him a small smile that made Luke feel important. Like it was a smile Michael had just for him.

"I was willing to sacrifice my secret to see what you'll do with it."

"That's stupid." Luke spat out.

"Yet here we are. Talking normally and I know I can trust you because you told no one about it."

That thought stayed with Luke and kept him awake at night. Michael did that to see if he could keep a secret. A big secret that was.

When he was on the phone with his mum the next morning he noticed a picture was pushed underneath his door. He picked it up and say a post-it note that was stuck to it.

There were two small boys, maybe his and Michael's grandparents, playing in the water. The note had said: ask your mum about this.

☽☽☽

I'd call it magic how they always find their way to each other.

Thoughts?

What's the most important thing you learned in their conversation?

Are you enjoying this story so far?

Love, Lucija ♡