Project Archangel Book One: The Conspiracy Project

Chapter 12

I woke up and checked my phone for the time. Instead, I found a text message. It was from Michael.
Hey Kelsey.
I ignored it and put my phone back on the table. About 15 minutes later, I got another message.
Still ignoring me, huh?
“Yup...” I muttered aloud, putting the phone back.
Twelve or so minutes later, my phone went off again.
It'd be great if you would tell me what I did.
I rolled my eyes. Like he didn't know.
A couple of minutes later, another message came. It was from Sammy. Can you and Michael just settle this already? I'm getting tired of hearing about it.
I replied. There's nothing to settle.
Brenda here. It's not like he's your boyfriend or anything. Just forgive him.
That's not the point. He agreed to go with me, not Ashley. If he wanted to go with Ashley, then he should have gone with Ashley.
I opened another message from Michael after that.
Do I have to stand outside your window and hold a stereo over my head? Because I can.
I couldn't help but to laugh at that. Someone had been watching too many romcoms.
He sent another. We can do this the old fashioned way. I'll even play your favorite song.
I shook my head and put the phone back down. I laid in my bed, staring up at the ceiling, until I dozed back off to sleep.
I awoke later to the combined sounds of clinking at my window and my phone going off. I groggily picked up the phone and checked the message from Michael.
Just realized I don't have a stereo that's small enough to carry. Is a phone okay?
“What the hell?” I mumbled sleepily.
A moment later, I heard Alive blaring from my window.
“Oh my god...” I groaned. I ran to the window and opened it. I looked down to see Michael standing below, waving his phone like he was at a concert. “Michael! Turn that off!” I hissed. “You're gonna wake my parents!”
“Not ‘til you come down here and talk to me!” he called back.
“No! You have to leave! Now!”
“I won't go until you come outside.”
“This is borderline stalking, you know! I could have you arrested.”
“You won't.”
“You're such a brat!”
“I'm not the one ignoring people for no reason!”
“You know the reason!”
“No, I really don't!”
I gritted my teeth in irritation. Maybe he really didn't know. His back was to me after all. He probably thought I hadn't seen anything. “Fine! I'll come down! Just turn it off!”
“Come on then!” He looked up at me with a smug smirk.
“I have to get dressed.”
“Hurry up!”
“Damn it, Michael!” I grumbled. I quickly changed into jeans and a t-shirt, put on and laced up my shoes, and sprinted to the window. He still hadn't turned that damn music off. I put one foot outside of my window to find some footing and proceeded to climb down the side of the house as quickly as possible. When I dropped to the ground in front of Michael, he turned off the music and gave me a perplexed look.
“You could have just used the door,” he said in a surprised tone.
“And increase the risk of waking my parents? No thanks.”
He shrugged. “I guess I didn't specify how you should get down here.”
“Yeah. So, I'm here. What do you want?”
He gestured towards the car that was parked on the side of the road. “Get in.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you crazy? I'm not getting in that car with you.”
“I'll knock on your door and ring your doorbell until your parents wake up. Maybe I'll even shout until the whole neighborhood wakes up.”
I glared at him. “You wouldn't dare.”
He nodded towards the car. “Get in.”
I really didn't want to. I didn't want to see him or even talk to him right now, but it looked like I was stuck. If I didn't do what he said, I would be in serious trouble with my parents, and I didn't doubt for a moment that Michael was just crazy enough to follow through with his threats. With an exasperated sigh, I angrily marched towards the car and opened the passenger door.
“Spoiled brat...” I mumbled as I sat down in the seat with my arms crossed.
Michael closed my door and got in the driver seat. He started the car and pulled back out onto the road.
“Alright,” he sighed. “What's up?”
“The sky,” I muttered. “The clouds, the stars, the sun. Anymore stupid questions?”
“I mean what's up with you, Kelsey. What did I do?”
“Nothing.”
“So you've been avoiding me since the dance, and now you're snapping at me because of nothing?”
“Well, you did just basically kidnap me. And who says I'm avoiding you?”
“Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that you won't reply to any of my texts or answer any of my calls?”
“Maybe I was asleep. Some people do sleep sometimes, you know, even if you don't.”
“Okay. What about the fact that your friends are mad at me for something and won't tell me what?”
“They didn't tell you?”
He shook his head. “They told me to talk to you about it.”
“Well, it doesn't matter.”
“Apparently it does.”
“Nope.”
“I'm not going to apologize unless you tell me why I'm apologizing because I literally have no idea.”
“Then forget about it. Don't apologize. I didn't ask you to anyway.”
“Why? So you can go back to ignoring me?”
I shook my head. “There's no reason for you to apologize for anything. It's not like we're dating.”
“Whoa! Where did that come from?”
“Well, we're not. So you didn't do anything wrong.”
“No, we're not,” he confirmed. “But now I'm very curious about what I did to make you say something like that.”
“It's nothing,” I insisted. “Just drop it.”
“Nope. Tell me.”
I sighed and finally uncrossed my arms, dropping my hands to my lap. “I was just upset because you were there with me and you kissed her... that's all.”
He looked extremely confused. “Who?”
“Ashley.”
“Ashley who?”
“Ashley Ellis!”
“I have no idea who that is or why you think I kissed her, but I'm pretty sure I have all my memories from that night, and I don't recall kissing anybody.”
“Well, you did. But it's fine. Whatever.”
“Not really. I seriously don't know who you're talking about, but I didn't kiss her.”
“Ashley Ellis! The girl you were outside with at the dance.”
He was silent for a moment before he suddenly said “Oh! You mean that skinny brown haired girl?”
“Yes.”
“Now I know who you mean. But I still didn't kiss her.”
“Sure looked like it.”
“Then I have no idea what strange angle you were looking at. Were you standing on your head? Maybe the blood rushing made you hallucinate.”
“Haha. Very funny.”
“No seriously. We were just smoking. She happened to come outside while I was there. She's definitely not my type.”
“I saw you.”
“I don't know what you thought you saw, but that wasn't it.”
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms again, glaring out the windshield. There was no sense in talking to him.
We drove in silence for a bit longer, until he came to a stop at the top of a grassy hill, overlooking a town below. He cut the engine.
“I think I might know what you saw,” he said with a sigh.
“Oh yeah?” I couldn't help the acid in my tone.
He nodded. “It was really windy, right?”
“Yeah, so?”
“And based on where you would have come out of the school...”
“What?” I was starting to feel sick. Maybe I was wrong.
He shrugged. “I think you saw me giving her a light.”
The nausea intensified, and my face grew hot. “What?”
“The wind kept messing with the flame on her lighter, so she asked for a light. I gave her one off of my cigarette.”
“But...” I was starting to feel really stupid. It had seriously looked like he was kissing her. Had I really gotten upset over nothing?
“Picturing it from where you would have been standing, I can see how it would look that way, but I promise you it wasn't.”
I looked down, my face burning, and I began to fiddle with my hands. “I guess maybe I should have said something...”
“Or asked me instead of ignoring me?”
“Yeah...”
“Maybe you also shouldn't jump to conclusions.”
I sighed. I knew my face was red from embarrassment, and the fact that Michael was right, and I was an idiot. “Well, I feel stupid now.”
“Don't.” He leaned over and laid his hand on my cheek, turning my head so that I was facing him.
“Why not?” I demanded. My eyes were stinging now too. I started to explain my reasoning for feeling the way I did, but he cut me off when he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine.
He tasted just like he had the first time we ever kissed, complemented by a faint smoky-metallic flavor, probably from the last cigarette he had smoked, which I doubted was very long ago. I didn't even want to fight or object, so I just closed my eyes and let him kiss me, enjoying the feeling of his soft warm lips against my own as a few tears crept out of my eyes and down my cheeks.
When he pulled away, I opened my eyes. All I could think to say was “you taste like an ash tray.”
He smirked. “Good. Consider it your punishment for jumping to conclusions and ignoring me.”
I smiled faintly. “I'm sorry, Michael.”
“I accept your apology, but don't do that again, okay? If I do something that bothers you, talk to me about it. Please. Nothing pisses me off more than being ignored. My parents do it all the time.”
I nodded. “I will. I'm sorry.”
“Thanks.”
We fell into silence, and I turned my gaze out the windshield, to the faint city glow below us. After a moment, I asked “where are we anyway?”
Michael shrugged. “I don't know. Just outside of town, I guess. I found this place during one of my night drives.”
“Night drives?”
He nodded, following my gaze to the city lights. “When I can't sleep sometimes, I just get in my car and drive. It relaxes me.”
As we continued to sit in his car together and talk, the radio began to quietly play Ed Sheeran's Perfect. Michael turned up the volume and got out of the car, leaving his door hanging opened.
He came around to my side, opened the door, and offered me a hand. “So... May I have this dance?”
I blushed. “Michael, you don't have to--”
But he had already taken my hand and helped me out of the car. He pulled me in close to him, holding me around the waist. Shyly, I slid my arms around his neck, and our eyes met briefly before I looked away.
“Hey...” was all he had to say to make me look back up at him. He flashed me a warm smile, and I smiled shyly back up at him. I felt our bodies begin to sway together as he began to lead.
As the song continued to play, Michael and I continued to dance, somehow getting closer and closer as the song neared the ending. By the time the last part was playing, he was holding me against his body, and my head was resting against his shoulder. I could hear his heartbeat and feel his breathing as we moved. I could smell the delicious smell of his cologne, that familiar spicey smell with a faint musk. It was a smell I had come to love.
The song ended, and some crappy pop song began to play on the radio, but we stayed where we were, locked in each other's arms.
After a bit, I heard Michael sigh. He softly kissed my bangs before pulling our bodies apart. His hand lingered on my arm as he started to walk away. He went around to the front of the car and took a seat on the hood. I followed after him and sat down on the hood of the car beside him. He was gazing up at the sky, and we just sat together in a companionable silence until I finally spoke.
“Looking for aliens?”
He smiled. “Nah. I'm sure they're out there, but I can't imagine they'd really want to abduct any of us idiots down here. They're way smarter than us, so what could we possibly have to offer them?”
I shrugged. He had a point. “I read somewhere that they can't reach enlightenment, and that's why they want us. They want to make human-alien hybrids that can achieve things like that.”
He chuckled softly and glanced at me. “No more science fiction for you.”
I looked back at him. “Are you really okay, Michael?”
He nodded and looked back up to the sky. “Yeah, just thinking about stuff I guess.”
“Like what?”
He shrugged.
I figured he didn't want to talk about whatever was on his mind, so I didn't press. He would say something when he was ready.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Michael faced me and asked “do you like me?” His expression was scarily serious.
I blinked in surprise. “Uh... Yeah.”
“I mean like really like me.” His eyes burned into mine.
I laughed. “Of course I do, Michael. I wouldn't be here if I didn't.”
“Really? I thought the only reason you were here was because I threatened to wake your parents up if you didn't come outside.”
I shrugged. “Well, that may have had something to do with it.”
He smirked.
“But honestly, I'm glad you made me come outside. I mean, we resolved our argument, and I still got a dance.”
“That first part was your fault.”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
“But I mean...” he sighed. “I don't know. Sometimes I wish I could just be normal.”
“What do you mean? You are normal.”
He shook his head. “I'm the kid who went missing for six years, the boy everyone forgot about.”
“Or the sexy bad boy,” I teased.
He smiled and nudged me playfully with his shoulder. “Shut up.”
“Listen, Michael, you may be a bit mysterious and even weird at times, and sometimes I don't know whether or not to believe everything you say, but you're really nice, and kind of cool. You're not afraid to do whatever makes you happy, whether it's driving a flashy car in the middle of the night or buying gifts for random people, and I really like that. I really like you, and I'm happy that we're friends.”
He looked down, but I had already seen the faint pink on his cheeks.
“Thanks, Kelsey,” he muttered. “That means a lot to me, especially coming from you.”
“Well, I won't lie to you,” I assured him. “Everything I said is true. That's how I really feel.”
He looked at me and smiled faintly. “Thanks. It's just that sometimes I feel like I don't fit in anywhere.”
I laid my head against his shoulder. “I think we all feel like that sometimes.”
He pressed his cheek against my hair. “You'll always fit in with me, Babygirl.”
I smiled, blushing a little bit at the name, but it didn't bother me. I was happy that he had made me come here with him, and I was enjoying both his company and the warmth of his body against mine. I honestly didn't want to go home, though I knew I would have to eventually. I just wished I could stay here with Michael all night, sitting here and talking until the sun came up.
 
---
The sky was just fading to gray when we got back to my house. Michael parked his car at enough of a distance that my parents wouldn't see us if they were up -- they probably weren't anyway -- and close enough that I didn't have to walk very far.
“Thanks for tonight,” I said with a smile.
“Thanks for coming with me, even though I kind of forced you.”
I laughed softly. “I'm glad you did.”
“Me too,” he agreed.
“Hey, Michael?”
“Yeah?”
“You said you go for night drives sometimes, right?”
“If I can't sleep sometimes, yeah.”
“Um... If you ever don't want to go alone, you can call me, okay? I'll go with you, if you want.”
He smiled. “I'll keep that in mind.”
I nodded. “Well, goodnight, Michael.”
“Night, Kelsey.”
I reached for the handle but stopped. Instead of getting out, I leaned over and gave Michael a quick peck on his lips, earning me a surprised look from him that turned into a warm smile.
I blushed and smiled shyly, opening my door. “Night!”
“Night, Babygirl,” he said quietly.
My face was probably completely red by now, but I somehow managed to get out of the car and scamper back into my bedroom window. Michael waited until I was safely inside, and then he left.
 
I flopped onto my back on my bed with a contented sigh. Homecoming may have been a bust, but this night had been amazing, thanks to Michael, and I didn't want it to be over. I wanted to just relive the night over and over again.
As I lay in bed reminiscing, my phone went off. I picked it up and checked the message. It was a picture of Michael without his shirt on. The text read I don't know if you care, but I made it home safe.
Of course I care! I sent back. I'm happy you made it home safe.
Yeah, but now I can't sleep.
Why not?
My phone rang, and I didn't even have to look at the caller ID to know who was calling. No one else would be calling me at this hour. I answered on the first ring.
“Because I'm talking to a cute girl,” he said. I could just hear the laughter in his voice.
“Michael, quit flirting and go to bed!” I fussed. I was smiling though. I couldn't help it.
“All flirting aside, I really can't sleep.”
“Do you ever sleep?”
“I do sometimes. When I crash.”
“Insomniac.”
“Beautiful.”
I blushed. “Shut up!”
“Why? I'm giving you a compliment.”
“Because...”
“Because you like it, and you're blushing?”
“M-maybe...” Well, he wasn't wrong. I could literally feel the heat on my face.
He laughed quietly. “Good.”
“Are you drunk or something? You're being really weird tonight.”
“No, I'm just happy. I haven't been this happy in awhile. I think you're good for me.”
I smiled shyly. “Michael...”
“I had a great night, aside from all the drama.”
“I did too,” I admitted.
“I just wish it didn't have to be over.”
“Yeah...”
“Do you want to hang out again later? Maybe after you wake up? We can run away for a little bit or something.” He paused and then quickly added “It's okay if you don't want to though.”
“No, I do. I want to see you again, and I'd love to run away for a little while.”
“I want to see you too. Hell, I wish you were here with me right now.”
“Why?”
“There's too much empty space in my bed. I don't like it.”
“Michael...” My heart rate picked up. There he went, saying those weird but sweet things again. I loved it when he said things like that, things that made me feel like I was someone special to him, like I was the only other person in his world.
“I mean it.”
“Maybe one night I can stay over... I'll have to tell my parents I'm at Brenda's or something though.”
He laughed quietly. “I really am a bad influence, aren't I?”
I smiled. “Just a little bit.”
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't be. I've spent most of my life being a good little Christian girl. I don't think a little excitement is going to kill me.”
“You never know. But if it does, I promise I'll kill myself so that I can be buried with you.”
I laughed. “You really need to stop.”
“Why?”
“Because I... I don't know...”
“Because you like it? Because you're scared that I'm going to make you fall in love with me?”
“Because it's weird and a little creepy.”
“But you like it, don't you?”
“Yeah, Michael,” I admitted. “I kind of do.”
He sighed. “By the way... I think I'm gonna quit smoking.”
“Really? Why?”
“Well, it's unhealthy, you don't like it, and I learned tonight that it can apparently cause a lot of unexpected problems. I don't want anything like that to happen again.”
“Are you sure it's not just because you want to kiss me everyday?” I teased.
He chuckled softly. “That might have a little bit to do with it.”