Pretend

Middle School - Part 2

"Hey! Jer-bear!" Michael shouted across the school yard, making everyone within a 20 feet radius turn to him and raise their eyebrows, not that he cared.

"Does he always have to make my birthday such a big deal?" Thought Jeremy irritably as he stiffly walked towards his best friend as quickly as he could to shut Michael up.

Michael jumped down from the ledge that he was sitting on, a friendly smile plastered on his face "It's your birthday today, do you know what that means?!"

"Please don't sing," Jeremy groaned, even though if he was truly being honest with himself, Michael has a pretty good voice.

Michaels smile turned into a fully-fledged grin as he laughed. "Tempting, but no. It means presents!" He said excitedly, swinging his bag around his shoulder "Close your eyes!"

"You got me something?" Jeremy said surprisingly, suddenly feeling guilty for what he thought earlier.

"Of course I did! Don't I always?" Michael replied, reaching out to ruffle Jeremys hair "Now, close your eyes I said!"

This time Jeremy obeyed, closing his eyes, a smile slowly forming on his lips.

"Hold your hands out," ordered Michael.

Jeremy did, his mind racing with possibilities with what Michael could've gotten him. He hoped it wasn't a puppy, his mom would freak and he wouldn't put it past him.

Then, he grabbed what felt like a piece of paper. Tickets perhaps?!

"Okay," Michael said, almost giddy with excitement, "Open them"

Jeremy opened his eyes and looked down. In his hands was a ticket to a Weird Al concert, his favourite artist at that time. He couldn't believe it, his mouth open with shock. He looked up to see Michael grinning from ear to ear, nervously shuffling from one foot to the other.

"Weeeell," Michael said, drawing out the word as long as he could, "Do you like it?"

"Like it?!" Jeremy said in a high pitched tone, "Michael, this is amazing! I love it! Thank you!"

Michael blushed, trying to pull himself together. "Wait, it gets better," He said with a nervous giggle, pulling out a second ticket from his pocket with a flourish. "I'm coming too!"

"Oh my God!" Jeremy said, this time his turn to be excited. In a spur of a moment decision, he hugged Michael, causing some people nearby to point and stare but for once, Jeremy didn't care.

Michael stood there, in shock, before hugging Jeremy back, his glasses slightly askew. "I'm glad you like it," He said warmly.

Suddenly, Jeremy realised what he'd done and let go of Michael as if he was burned, uncomfortably adjusting his shirt. "Yeah, well, thanks again, really, I love it"

"Don't mention it," Michael said, savouring this moment, but Jeremys attention had already been diverted to a pretty girl, who goes by the name of Christine Canigula. He looked at the way Jeremy looked at her, at couldn't help but wish it was him. Michael felt a hot, prickling sensation at the back of his eyes and knew it was time to go. 

"I'll, uh, see you at lunch," Michael muttered, turning away to go to the boys bathroom, where he could hopefully calm down.

"Yeah," Jeremy replied dreamily, still staring at Christine, "See you soon,"

In the bathroom, Michael let the tears fall freely in his cubicle. "Why can't he see?" He thought despairingly, "Why can't he see that I could make him happy? Happier than she could anyway." He took off his glasses and wiped his eyes. "Oh well, back to pretending everything's fine," Was his last thought before the bell rang, signalling the start of first period.

Meanwhile, Jeremy had a thought: "Michael doesn't even like Weird Al,"