Chapter 8

Be alone with Michael? All the signs say yes.

I nod my head and Michael grins, giving me another kiss.

"Let's go."

He leads me out of the house and we walk to the backyard. There's a lake and some lawn chairs. We take a seat in them.

"So, when did you get here?" I ask him.

"About half an hour ago. I only came because I knew you would be here."

I feel my cheeks redden and he smiles at me.

"What? You entice me," He says.

"Oh stop, you're too kind." I laugh and grab the lawn chair, shifting it closer to his. I cross my legs and look at the small ripples in the water.

I lay my head on his shoulder and he slips his arm around my waist and lifts me into his lap.

If it was any other guy, you better believe I would have slapped his arm away and told him to know his boundaries.

But this is Michael. He's different. I feel so comfortable with him.

Michael's long fingers reach up and play with a curl of my hair.

"You know, I love curly hair." He chuckles and bounces my curls.

"I'll remember that and make it curly more often." I reply.

He kisses the space between my eyes and I let out a giggle.

"Your laugh's adorable," Michael whispers.

"And since when did you become Mr. Charmer?"

He rubs my shoulder all the way down to my hand and interlocks our fingers. "Since always."

I hum happily and kiss his cheek. "Can you believe we're graduating this-- Oh wait, I keep forgetting you're younger than me." I glance at him.

"I guess that shows that a man doesn't always have to be older to know how to treat a woman."

Before I know it, he's crashing his lips onto mine, holding my face in his soft hands.

I move my lips with his, keen and eager to feel his mouth on mine.

He slides his hand under my legs and stands up, setting me back down swiftly on the grass.

I tilt my head up and place my hands
on his chest, kissing him passionately.

He pulls away from me and puts his lips against my forehead.

"That kiss made me dizzy," I laugh and he blushes.

I pinch his cheeks. "Awww. Cute," I smile.

"Ummm, now that you two are done with your little face-sucking session, how about you come back inside with everyone else?" Cera says, tapping her foot impatiently.

We were sucking faces?

I laugh and look at Michael. "Cer's right."

"We'll be right in!" He says.

She arches a skeptical eyebrow. "Ya'll better not have too much fun."

I blow her a kiss. "Love you Cer-bear!"

"Making me sick," She grumbles before walking back into the crowd of teens.

I turn back to Michael. "Alrighty, we should go."

"I just need one more kiss," he whispers and we lock lips for a good ten seconds before pulling away.

I grin at him and we walk into the party.

The air feels humid inside. So many people, so close together.

I wave at familiar faces and take the drink that Cer gave me from her hand.

"There you are, I was looking for you." To my left, Collin was coming towards me with a smile.

I give him a friendly hug when he approaches me. "This is a great party Collin."

The compliment was out of courtesy. Basically, since I've got here, the only thing I've done is kiss Michael.

He's looking pretty good. He's got on black jeans, dress shoes, and a blue shirt. He flashes another smile at me.

However, I don't get weak at just one look at his smile. Michael? Yes.

"I'm glad you think so. Dance with me Aniko," he holds his hand out and I take it, walking with him.

It's just a friendly dance. I didn't see any harm in that.

Jungle Boogie was halfway through as we started to dance. He is pretty light on his feet.

"I love this song!" I spin around and move my body to the beat, swaying my hips.

"Jungle boogie, jungle boogie," I sing and clap my hands.

"Looks like you have more talents than just running fast," He grins as the song comes to an end.

"Thanks," I giggle, then realize that Dancing Machine is playing next.

"Michael! It's your-" I frown when I don't see him. I turn back to Collin.

"Excuse me, I'm going to go look for Michael." Collin nods, and with that I turn around and scope the house.

I find him perched against one of the sofas. I walk over.

"Hey, you alright?"

I take a seat next to him and his fingers grasp his drink.

"I'm great." His voice sounds deflected. My heart drops a bit.

I look at him skeptically for a moment. "No, you're not."

Michael shrugs.

"Can we walk? Please?"

He sighs and we both rise from the sofa, leaving the party behind us once again.

The breeze outside is light and the moon has come out.

My inhale the fresh night air.

He finally speaks after minutes of silence. "Why did you dance with him?"

I suppress a smile. Of course. I hadn't thought of it before. I'm pretty sure that question had a hint of jealousyyy.

Is Mike being corrupted by the green monster? I think yes. And I find that extremely sweet.

"Aniko? Why?" He asks again, his eyes meeting mine.

"We're friends and it's his party. It was just one friendly dance, that's all I intended it to be." I reply.

"You know he likes you though."

"I don't return those feelings Michael. Most everyone knows that."

I like you.

He shoves his hands in his pockets and kicks a small pebble that skids down the sidewalk ahead of us.

I stop Michael in his tracks by taking hold of his forearm. I just need to know.

"Michael?"

He looks up from his polished loafers and into my eyes.

Such beautiful eyes. I can get lost in them anytime.

"What are we?" I ask him hopefully.

He opens his mouth slightly and licks his lips, thinking of what to say.

"I don't know. Whatever you want us to be."

My hopeful heart plummets. Straight down into my stomach.

Whatever I want us to be? That's the most cliché answer in the book.

I rub my arm up and down. "Oh."

He frowns at my reaction. "Ani? Was it something I-"

"Don't worry about it Michael." Tears fill my eyes slowly. I get the urge to get out of here, now. I'd be even more hurt if he saw me break down in front of him.

"Enjoy the rest of your night." I whisper and walk quickly into the house before these unwanted tears fall.

"Aniko!" He calls out but I refuse to stop.

I frantically push past people, my eyes searching around for Cera and Regina.

"Cer!" I run to her, as close as running can get in these wedges.

She turns to me, her eyes instantly softening when she sees my expression.

"I want to leave." I say desperately.

"Aniko, what happened with Michael? What did he do?" She demands.

"Cera please," I start to panic, seeing that Michael is looking around, probably for me.

"Just take me home. You can come back if you want to but I feel like crying and he-"

"Shhh. Ani, okay okay." She reaches in her handbag and gives me the car keys. "I'm not coming back with you like this. Go wait in the car. Let me just find Regina and we'll be out of here."

She gives me a comforting hug. "Go."

I tighten my grip around the keys as the tears threaten to fall.

Opening the car, I get in and shut the door before they start to flow.

Its clear. I was falling for Michael Jackson, and falling hard.

--

Chapter 8

Do you think Aniko overreacted? Or was Michael wrong in what he said?

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~Joy ✌🏼️