Moments with Michael

Picnic at the beach

It's the year 1979. Your family and the Jackson-family have been friends all your life, and today you are all having a picnic together at the beach. You talk most with the girls, as you are kinda nervous around the boys - especially Michael.

"Argh!" I scream. A splash of cold water just hit my back. I turn around to the sound of La Toya and Janet laughing their butts off. For a second I just stand there with red cheeks, before lifting my own glass of water and throwing it after them. Most of it just spills on the ground, but some hits La Toya right in the face, and both me and Janet starts laughing like they did before. After only a short moment, La Toya laughs too. She forgives so easily, and is so nice to everyone, it's hard not to like her.

My mom calls on us all that there's dinner now, and laughing and smiling and pushing each other a bit, we all run to the table where Katherine is busy placing the last plates right. We all sit down, and I end up squashed in between La Toya and Michael. That results in me sitting very close up La Toya in an attempt to not touch Michael the slightest.

I have been best friends with all the girls in the Jackson family almost my whole life, given that my mom and Katherine have always been close friends, and that have resulted in our families being together a lot. Like now, having a picnic-like evening at the beach together.

But even though I love all the Jackson girls, I have always been closest to La Toya. She's three years older than me, and as the only child I am, I found a big sister in her. She would play with me and laugh with me and stand up for me when someone was bullying me at school. When I got older, I would come to her with my problems. I would tell her that I thought I was too fat and ugly, and she would tell me it wasn't true. I would tell her no man could ever love me, and she would tell me I that if they were that stupid, then I didn't need one. I would tell her how much I loved her and that she was my best friend, and she would hug me and say she loved me too.

It's different with the Jackson-boys, though. I have always been a bit insecure around them - most of them are older than me, and they are in a popular band and have to practice or perform all the time, so I don't see them much. Even today Joseph and the oldest boys, Jackie and Tito, are gone to some interview or something.

But my general nervousness around the boys is nothing near my nervousness around Michael. I don't know why, but I just don't like being too close to him. It's like everything goes wrong when he's around. I get clumsy, I stutter...
And to your information I does definitely not have a crush on him! I can't have...

A light tap on my shoulder gets me out of my thoughts. La Toya is handing me some salad, and I take it and put some on my plate, before sending it over to Michael, careful with not touching his hand as he takes the bowl.

The atmosphere is great and relaxed, everyone is talking and joking and just having a good time together. I do too, and for a short time I totally forget about my nervousness, or the fact that Michael is sitting right beside me, much closer than I would have found acceptable under normal circumstances. But well, this is not normal circumstances, this is two families (even though one is small and the other isn't complete), gathered around a relatively small table.

When the meal with all it's fun and talking is over, we all help collecting the dishes and putting them away in some baskets that contained the now-eaten food. The baskets are then put in the back of the car, and are ready to be forgotten by everyone for the rest of the evening.

I'm playing with the other girls near the water, running around and splashing at each other, when I suddenly get the feeling of someone standing behind me. I turn around, and there is Michael. Unable to get a word out, I just stand there, waiting for him to say something.

"Uhm... Could I... I mean could... Gry, can I talk with you for a minute?" He asks, stuttering just like I do when talking to him. I just nod, still speechless.

I go with him, walking by his side as we goes along the beach in silence. For a long time, none of us says a word. Finally, when we're out of hearing distance from the others, Michael decides to break the silence.

"Gry, there's... there's something I want to tell you" he starts, and I give him an encouraging look, asking him to continue.

"I... shit, I don't know how to say this!" He mumbles, looking down at the sand.

"Say what?" I finally manages to get out, and he looks up and into my eyes. I see his fill with courage as he opens his mouth to say the for him so difficult words.

"I like you" He just bursts out. "I really like you! Man this is embarrassing, but... Gry, I honestly think I'm in love with you!"

Once again, I'm speechless. My whole I-do-not­-have-a-crush-on-Michael-front just melts away at the sight of those lovely, brown eyes, filled with worry for my reaction. Not knowing what to do, I just stutters:

"I... I like you too, Michael. Like, really. I have been trying to hide the fact that I was maybe, maybe not falling for you for at least a year!"

My voice gets more confident as I speak, and I see his eyes light up with happiness, see that beautiful smile take over his face, making it shine more powerful than a thousand diamonds in the setting sun.

He pulls me in for a hug, and I hug him tightly, overly enjoying the feeling of finally being close to the man I have stayed away from for so long. I don't ever want to let go, but after a little while I does anyway. I look up in his eyes with a smile on my lips, and he smiles back at me.

We sit down to watch the sunset, and the beautiful red, orange and yellow colors will forever be seated in my mind as a memory of the day the love of my life first confessed his feelings for me.

I lay my head down on his shoulder, just to know what it feels like, and I almost instantly has the craziest de-ja-vu. I quickly lifts my head again, and Michael looks down at me, confused.

"I have tried this before" I say, and his face does certainly not look less confused after those words.

"One time, when I was little..." I start explaining, trying to remember exactly what had happened. "I was maybe six years old, and I was at a beach with my best friend. His name was Frederik, and our parents were friends so we had been together at least once a week all our lives. We were sitting like this, watching the sunset... and I laid my head on his shoulder. My parents have the cutest picture of it" I end with a little giggle.

"Sounds nice" Michael replies, a small smile playing on his lips. "Were you gonna marry him?"

"Yes, that was the plan. You know how it is when you're that little, if you have a friend of the opposite gender, you're gonna marry them. We had planned to live on a farm when we grew up..."

"What happened?" Michael asks, placing one arm over my shoulder and gently stroking it.

"His parents got divorced. He moved with his mom to a different city, and we stopped seeing each other that often. His mom got married again, and got two more kids, along with him and his little brother. We saw them maybe once a year, and I never saw his dad again. We just... got out of touch, I think"

"That's... sad" he says, and I can hear all the emotions in his voice. It surprises me a bit, that he feels so much with it.

"It's a long time ago. I got new friends, wonderful friends. And now I've got you" I say, adding the last with a teasing smile.

"Yes, now you've got me" he replies. "And I will never, ever, leave you!"

"Thank you" I just say, not knowing what else could be said. In a moment like this, words are not enough to express my feelings.

Michael gently takes my hand and leads it to his lips, kissing it lightly before returning his gaze to me. I hold onto his hand, sitting even closer to him than before.

And in the last rays of the dying sunshine, his lips meets mine.