Who Are You Now?

Who Are You Now? Chapter 4

                “Mikey?” I questioned. I gazed at him with wide eyes. I hadn’t seen him since the middle of my freshman year!

                “Yeah! Well, I go by Mike now,” he gave me a big smile. I was so surprised I didn’t really know what to say.

                “What… what are you doing here?” I asked him. He laughed and brushed his hair back with his hand. I gazed at his wavy blonde hair, when did he get so good looking?

                “What am I doing here?” he laughed. “The real question is what are you doing here? I heard you were moving here, but I didn’t believe it was actually you. Last I checked you were in the grade above me,” His dark brown eyes gazed down into mine.

                I blinked at him, “When did you get so tall?” I said. I had always been pretty short, I stopped growing at five feet four inches, but last time I saw the kid he was the same height as me! Now he was at least six feet tall.

                “That’s what happens when a guy grows up, Mandy,” he gave a half smile, obviously catching on that I changed the subject on purpose.

                “And you don’t have braces!” I said, just baffled that he was standing in front of me, being as… grown up as he was.

                “I know! That happens eventually too sometimes,” he just kept smiling at me, and I felt bad that I wasn’t as happy to see him. “Do I get a hug?” he asked.

                “Well, yeah! I guess…” I said hesitantly. I didn’t want to start anything with him. The last time I saw him I was popular and was a very good girl. He may have changed physically, but I was all around changed for the worse.

                He stepped towards me confidently and leaned down to me. My heart got caught in my throat as he wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me in a bear hug. He lifted me off of my feet and I squealed, not expecting it. I giggled a little as I put my arms around his neck, hugging him back as hard as he hugged me. It was the best hug I had ever had, and it made me feel so… loved.

                He spun me around and I closed my eyes. I breathed deeply, taking in his smell of soap and cologne. He smelled different than I remembered, but then again it had been almost four years ago.

                When he set me down we both had big smiles on our faces. I looked at the ground, realizing I couldn’t remember the last time I had smiled like that.

                “It’s so good to see you,” he grabbed me again and kissed the top of my head. I comfortably wrapped my arms around his torso and looked up to his face.

                “You, too,” I said quietly. I knew I had said I didn’t want to get involved with him, but he had always been an amazing friend to me. Having a friend like that—whether I could tell him the truth about my past or not—would be a good thing; I hoped at least.

                “I should really be going,” I said, stepping back from him. The smile faded from my face. How could I drag him into my mess of a life so easily? That was unfair to him, hell, it was unfair to me. What if something happened to him? I wouldn’t be able to take another loss.

                “Actually, I came back into the school to find someone… to give me a ride home,” he started. I sighed, of course he did. We just had to spend more time together, huh. “I know we haven’t seen each other in a really long time, but my car’s battery is absolutely dead and it has to be towed.”