Muke Fluff

Reverse Skunk

“Skunks are adorable,” Luke curses himself for his lame comment, but it’s literally the only thing that he can think of when Michael rounds the corner on the first day back after Easter Break and his hair is white with a black stripe through the middle. He thinks momentarily that he has offended him, because he doesn’t laugh and pinch his cheek like usual. Luke pushes off the wall and goes to repeat himself, but Michael turns his head and yells to someone over his shoulder, and Luke freezes when a tall, curly haired lad runs out from around the corner, and stops, panting, by his side. Luke frowns as Michael giggles and reaches a hand out to the boy, helping to stand him up straight. The boy chuckles deeply and pulls Mikey in by the back of his neck for a kiss.

He barely looks at Luke as they walk past him into the school with their hands intertwined, and it’s not like when it’s three in the morning and he’s too focused on his game to do anything more than demand that Luke snuggles him while he beats his pride to the curb, Luke has a gut feeling that something was wrong.

Michael comes into homeroom late, giggling and blushing and running a hand through his monochromatic hair. He sits next to Luke, and he breathes a sigh of relief because things are back to normal, curly-head is in the year above them. He leans over to Michael and repeats his skunk line even though the moment has past, because he knows Michael would appreciate it.

He flicks his eyes away from where Luke’s grinning, before he quickly goes back to smiling at his phone. That’s it. That’s all Luke gets before Michael goes back to texting curly-head.

Luke spends half of lunch by himself under the science window before he sees Michael. He a long way away, heading in the opposite direction towards the footy oval, but his hair is unmistakable as he walks off with the curly headed senior. Luke pulls his knees to his chest and wraps his arms around them, resting his cheek on top as he lets a single, silent tear fall. He reaches up and picks the year nine’s flowers, threading them together into a dodgy flower crown. He looks at it and realizes the red flowers would finally suit Michael’s hair.

He wears it all day, pretending everything is normal and Michael is giggling silently at him from wherever he is. By sixth period, he hasn’t seen him all day, spending his free period cooped up alone in the music room, and the flowers have fallen apart in his hands. It takes him that long to realize he’s jealous.