Mirrors//m.c

step one/ chapter ten

Step one- Making friends

Michael picked up Ariella at 1:00. He helped put Jack, her dog, into the back of the car and then they took off.

The car ride was actually quite awkward. Michael couldn't stand the silence in the car, so he turned on the radio, and glanced at Ariella, then turned to look back at the road.

Michael had planned a few things out. He invited two of his friends that he helped out a few months back. One was Jessica, a small, mute girl who always wore a braid. And the other was Kaylee, a girl who was socially awkward around most people and sufferers from anxiety.

The two girls who would be waiting at the abnormally large tree in the center of the park that was covered in carvings. They knew they were meeting Ariella, and they knew what to say. Michael talked to them on the phone for hours last night. He didn't want anything to go wrong. He wanted to get Ariella better so badly, no matter the cost.

"What kind of Music do you like?" Asked Michael, turning down the radio slightly. "Because this music is sorta crappy."

Playing on the radio was some crappy rap song, the guy seemed to never rhyme, and on top of it the chorus was some girl repeating the words "take me and lets get wack, because once you go black, you never go back".

"I didn't want to say anything about it, because I thought this was your jam." Ariella said, her eyes moving away from the window, and to Michael. Ariella really liked Michael. He was funny, caring, smart, amd most of all, he actually liked her back.

"If I ever listen to this I give you full permission to slap me." He joked, and took another quick glance at her. "But really, you can change it, I don't mind."

Ariella flipped through a few stations. She never really listened to music. She found herself most of the time thinking. She didn't know what bands she liked, what songs. So she stopped on a channel, listened to it for a brief moment, and left it.

"Green day?" He said and looked down at the radio. It was indeed Green Day. Ariella had no clue who they were, so she just stayed quiet and sunk in her seat. She didn't know if he liked them, or if he actually despised them by his reaction.

"It's official, you're awesome." He said and turned it up, so it was completely blasting. Ariella took a peek at her dog in the back and smiled.

It wasn't often she took her dog out. It wasn't often she went out either. And this was the first time she was in someones elses car.

It was actually thrilling.

Michael parked the car in the almost empty parking lot, quickly jumped out and opened Ariella's door, who gave him a thank you smile and  let her dog out, hooking him on his leash.

"Whats his name again?" Michael said as she started walking, Ariella getting pulled in front by her monster German Shepard dog.

"Jack!" She yelled, getting pulled so she was basically running behind the dog, tugging the leash. Michael grinned, and jogged up next to Ariella.

"Need help?" He asked, keeping pace and she nodded, her hazel eyes widened. Michael reched his hand out to hold the leash, and for a brief moment, their hand brushed against each other. Ariella, with her cold skin, and Michael, with warm hands. It was only a second, but they both touched. Which was not only new for Ariella, but it was like they became closer some how.

Michael tugged the leash and the dog tried pulling him, but Michael cooly and calmly walked, and Ariella stared in amazement.

"How did you do that?" She said and tilted her head.

"I'm magic." He smirked, and shrugged,  making his way to the large tree. Ariella noticed the girls, but she had zero clue that she was gonna meet them.

Michael walked the dog up to them and Jessica kneeled down, petting the dog.

"This is Ariella. She is a wonderful girl. You guys will like her."

Ariella shook her head and looked at the floor. She was a little upset, mainly because she was seeing these people. She took a deep breath and placed one sweater cuff covered hand on her cheek.

The mute girl looked up and waved. Kaylee nodded and put on a smiling, and as well waved.

Ariella kept shaking her head, she sighed and took a small step back.

"Michael..." She muttered and placed another hand on her face. It seemed that he didn't hear her though.

"My name is Kaylee." She smiled. Michael helped her a while back, so now she was able to more easily make friends. Michael always had his ways with people that just made them want to get better. Most people did get better, but a few people just gave up.

"And her name is Jessica, feel free to call her Jessy though." Said Kaylee, pointed to Jessica, who gave a weak smile.

They seemed to be nice people, but Ariella still felt odd. She wanted to leave. She felt betrayed by Michael.

"I...I have to go." Ariella said, taking the leash from Michael and started walking, throwing up her hood.

"Ariella!" Michael called out. She began running, and so did Michael.

Kaylee looked at Jessica, and they watched as he chased afer this poor girl. Kaylee wondered if they were in love. Were they? They barely knew each other, and Ariella was pushing Michael away. But, maybe thats what people do when they were scared to get close? Maybe she did like Michael. And Maybe she didn't.  She had no answer.

Michael eventually caught up to her, and put an arm around her stomach, pulling her back close to him. She gasped a little and realizing her grip on the leash wasn't strong. She tried to fix the way the leash was on her hand, and tried shrugging Michael off of her, struggling. Michael wasn't moving though.

"Get off of me!" She yelled and struggled some more.

"Stay with me." He said simply, his voice flat and Ariella's eyes widened again. She never heard someone say that to her.

"I..."

"Ariella. I'm trying my best to help you, okay? I need you to get better. And I'm not giving up. You pushing me away doesn't mean I'm leaving. Whether you like it or not, I'm helping you, final."

Ariella sighed and she leaned her head back onto his chest, and stared to cry.

She cried and Michael put his hand on her shoulder, patting her. He put his lips near her ear, mumbling some encouraging words in her hair.

"You'll be okay.." He said to her, as he took the leash and wrapped it a around his hands, pulling Ariella even closer to him.

"You'll be alright when you meet them, you're a beautiful, wonderful girl, okay?" He said and she nodded softly, although, not fully agreeing.

With a hand on her lower back, amd the sky beginning to drizzle, they walked back to the large tree a d back to Kaylee and Jessica.

Jessica was listening to something Kaylee was saying, using her hands while she talked and smiling.

Ariella sighed, then forced a smile and looked over to them. She sat next to them both and listened to Jessica's story, which was about some guy who one time touched her butt and she didn't know what to do. Frankly, it was awkward listening to that story.

But, she actually found out they were good people. At the end of the day, they exchanged numbers in the rain. She actually thought they were interesting people, too. They had many fun stories to tell, and Ariella loved listening to them.

She considered them friends of hers, actually. Which was 100% new.

She had friends, and possibly Michael was something more?  She didn't know what he meant.  She didn't understand the signals. But, that wasn't the point. The point was that she made friends. The point was that she wasn't afraid of people any more.