||Informality|| (Michael Mell x Reader) [Be More Chill]

||Chapter Three||

"It's like a page from a book." Michael seemed skeptical.

You just sat there, reading it word for word.

You were stunned, to say the least.

"Where is this from..?" You graze the page with your hand, touching as if you didn't fully believe in its existence.

Michael looked confused.

"Huh? But it's just a piece of paper. It's nothing special, right? Why does it matter?" He looked back up to you.

"Michael, it's not just any old book. This is a narration of my life." You said, your voice hinting at slight fear.

Michael looked taken aback. "What?"

"It's a page from a book, but the book is about ...me?" You looked slightly terrified.

It was one-sided, with the words printed near perfect. The paper held a golden shine, and seemingly glowed.

It seemed otherworldly.

The left edge of the paper seemed torn, as if it was ripped out of its original resting place.

You traced the torn edge with your finger. "This... isn't the only one, either."

Michael looked as confused as you were.

Wait.

The page made Michael retain his past memories, but they were never his to begin with.

The Squip said everything was a simulation, right?

"Michael... what do you remember from the past?" You looked up to meet his gaze.

He paused for a moment, gathering his words.

"Just about everything, I guess. The worst part was when you'd disappear. I'd come home one day, and you'd never be seen again. Or, I'd even blink and you'd be gone. Right in front of me." His eyes clouded as he spoke. "Your aunt and I ordered a search party... we even called the police, but not a living trace of you was ever found."

"You were gone, but for a moment I swore that I could feel you. Like, your agony, sadness, despair... and then it suddenly went away, like someone blew out a candle. You were gone." He clenched his fists, fighting his own feelings.

"I remember you getting hit by that car. I remember getting sick. I remember beating up Jeremy. I remember all of it. It's overwhelming. Did I really do all of that? Did I really die?" He frowned and looked at you for an answer.

You looked away in guilt.

"But... I feel like we're okay now. You're here. We're okay." Michael said solemnly. "I don't want to lose you again."

You smiled a little. "I never really got to thank you. For saving me, I mean. From the car... and the earthquake."

"I think I learned a lot about you through all of this. Like, who you really are." You said.

Michael's face dusted with pink. "I'm... not usually that violent. I think it was the Squip, you know?"

"WAIT!" You shouted, startling Michael. "What if this paper is linked to everything else?! What if this paper is the answer?!"

Michael raised an eyebrow. "Is it worth it, though? Everything seems normal now. Why risk it?"

"Yeah, you're right."

Shortly after, you hear footsteps.

It was Chloe, with Brooke tailing after her. Your nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Those are two faces I could've lived without seeing again." You grumbled.

Michael furrowed his eyebrows as painful memories were recalled in his mind.

Your mind raced with solutions to cheer him up.

"Hey, why don't we go get something to eat?" You smiled.

His face lit up cheerfully. "Oh! Yeah, sure!"

You didn't really have any knowledge on where to eat around here, besides the mall. Michael seemed to pick up on this.

"There's this really good soup place near here. Or we could go to my place and chill out?" Michael offered, the second option said in a quieter voice.

You considered your options.

"Soup actually sounds kinda good right now. We can still hang out afterwards, too." You said with a smile.

You looked at the time. "Well, it's about 4pm. Do you want to go now?"

Michael just shrugged.

You stood up. "I've got nothing else to do, why not?"

Michael stood up after you, and began to lead you to the restaurant.
_______

When you both ordered and got your food, you noticed how Michael was eating.

He seemed to eat one type of thing at a time, and when it was gone, he'd move onto the next thing.

You ate all of your favorite things first, and left the things that you didn't like in the bowl.

"So... School starts in two days, right? Or something like that." You looked up and met his eyes.

"Yeah. Should I just show up to school without concealer? Or do some kind of reveal?" Michael pondered out loud.

"Well... How do you feel about it all?" You asked.

Michael gathered his feelings and turned them into words.

"I'm just nervous, you know? It's not a huge deal, ...but it is to me. What will people say? I mean, I'm not very popular to begin with, and this isn't helping my case."

You tried to raise his spirit. "Well, for now, maybe you can start with small steps. Like, sit around in your house without it. Go to Seven Eleven without it. Then, out in a large public space, like the mall. And so on."

Michael nodded, seeming satisfied with that plan.

"So, what're you feeling like? With that paper stuff?" He asked, turning the subject around.

You looked back down at the paper that you took with you into the restaurant.

"I think that the weirdest part about this thing is that it's written in 2nd person." You examined it further.

"What's that mean?" Michael asked.

"Like... instead of it being I, me, we... it's you, your.... I don't know. It's hard to explain. Like... the writing is talking about you, the reader." You explained with many pauses.

"And yet, the writing still talks about the feelings of the reader. That's not common in 2nd person writing." You say.

You thought that was wild. Weirdly uncommon. You shivered.

"It's got a lot of characteristics that are found in 1st person writing."

"How do you know all of this?" Michael's lips twitched upwards.

"I read a lot." You answered, shrugging your shoulders.

But then, when you looked back to the page....

...New writing began to form before your eyes.