Halo - 2. Chapter Two

The bell rang and another school day had ended. I walked through the school with such fascination as if I were exploring the hallways and students in a whole new light. This was mostly due to my newly restored vision that still brought thrills inside me since the weekend during the house party. I don’t believe my vision was ever this good even with contacts and I had Mike to thank for that. Seriously, the man saved me from drowning, allowed me to wear his clothes when mine were wet and then gave me the treasure of perfect vision, I don’t know how I could ever repay him.

Of course, I haven’t forgotten about all the questions that I had about how the hell Mike was able to grant me my vision back without resorting to laser surgery. The only thing that I knew, or possibly knew was that something definitely happened to Mike since the decade he was missing. Just what exactly was still a complete mystery.

Another question that was circulating through my mind was why Mike decided to restore my eyesight. We didn’t know each other too well and he was closer to Dustin anyways since he was friends with Miranda even back when were both around ten. Regardless, I was going to appreciate this gift for all its worth and that means no more staring at computer screen while playing video games.

As I continued my walk through the school, I loosened my red tie of my uniform that also included a blue blazer with an embroidered insignia of the school, a white collared shirt, light beige pants and dark brown oxfords. I was currently attending a preparatory academy, one the most prestigious ones in New England, and was just one of the many benefits of coming from a wealthy family. It wasn’t always glamorous, I mean look at my life for example, but I was grateful for that things that I had for the most part.

I finally exited the school and walked onto the student parking lot where cars were beginning to line up. I usually walked to and from school, but I saw a familiar figure leaning against the hood of a SUV with his arms crossed and was surrounded by a Miranda and a bunch of her female friends who were similar uniforms to the guys, with red crossover bows instead of a tie, light beige, knife-pleated skirts and white, knee-high stockings. Mike was wearing another collared shirt, short-sleeved shirt with fitting denim jeans and the way he combed his fingers through the same medium length, reddish-brown hair as his sister made him look ultra-sexy. And I swear there was like this aura or light emanating from him, but it must’ve been just be the reflection of light on the car that was causing the illusion.

Without another thought, I walked to Mike who quickly saw me, waved his hand and gave me a bright smile. I smiled back and when I extended my hand out for a simple handshake, Mike instead grabbed my hand and pulled me into a strong embrace. This felt way more intimate than the hug I gave him during the weekend and my senses were on overdrive as I felt the hard valleys of Mike’s body along with the smell of country apple that must’ve been the scent of what Mike washed his body with.

“Duncan! How have you been, dude?” Mike said as he released our embrace much to my dismay.

“Oh, I’ve been great. Thanks for asking,” I said.

“Hey, are you doing anything today? I’ve just discovered this amazing Filipino restaurant that I want you to try during the evening. That’s when they serve their dinner specials and trust me when I tell you that their food is to die for,” Mike said with such enthusiasm.

“Wow, that sounds great actually,” I said that brought Mike to smile even wider.

“Mikey, I thought we were going to go to see that movie this evening,” Miranda said with hands on her hips.

“Oh, sorry, Miranda, but can Dustin take you to the movies instead? Romantic comedies aren’t really my thing.”

“Dustin is busy with baseball practice today and will be too tired to hang out with me once it’s over. Regardless, I’d rather spend my time with you right now,” Miranda asserted as she pulled on Mike’s arm.

“Miranda, we’ve been spending a lot of time together and I think we both could use our time now to spend it with other people,” Mike recommended.

“I haven’t seen you in ten years, Mike. I’m just making up for lost time here,” Miranda said, crossing her arms and pouting.

Mike scratched the back of his head and sighed. I wondered if I should decline on his offer to hang out since it would only cause conflict between him and Miranda. I really did want to spend more time with Mike, to get to know him better, but I didn’t want to be in the center of a sibling feud right then.

“Mike. Please,” Miranda begged.

Mike looked at both of us, most likely wondering who he was going to have dump and I was about to tell him to choose his own sister when someone called out Mike’s name from behind us.

“Claire?” Mike said.

“Mike? Is that really you? Oh, my God it is you!”

I turned my head to see my AP Literature teacher, Ms. Smith, walking towards us with an astonished look on her face. I stepped out of the way just when she leapt forward and hugged Mike who looked taken aback. She eventually then stepped back and looked at him with one hand on her elbow and the other holding her chin.

“My, my, my. And I though the rumors were just what they were. Rumors. But it’s true. You’re really back and looking better than ever,” Ms. Smith said.

“Yeah…you look good too,” Mike said, looking less than comfortable.

“Really? All you have to say is that ‘you look good too.’ I thought you died, Mike. My top student vanishing one day during summer break and now here he is ten years later. I thought you’d be happy to see me again,” Ms. Smith said, sounding hurt.

“No, I do, Claire. I really do. It’s just really difficult for me to return to my life here since everything has changed so much,” Mike explained.

“Of course. Wow, I’m sorry, Mike. Here I am thinking only about myself and here you are trying to acclimatize back into a world that you haven’t seen in a decade. I can be so selfish sometimes… Hey, how about this? I’ll take to you to a lovely Japanese restaurant in the downtown area of the city that serves the best sushi in the world. We can eat and can catch up for the all the years we haven’t seen each other. What do you think?”

“Actually…I’d love to. I really want to talk to you and explain my side of things,” Mike said with a smile.

“Wonderful! The restaurant is called Kiki’s. We can both drive ourselves there before six today, is that okay?”

“That’s perfect,” Mike said, lifting his thumb up.

Ms. Smith giggled and placed a hand on Mike’s cheek before turning with her high heels and walking away.

“Well, crap you two. I guess I can’t hang out with either of you. I’m sorry,” Mike apologized.

“But, Mikey…”

“Sorry, Miranda, but I need to talk to Claire and getting everything organized with her. I hope you’ll understand.”

Huffing, Miranda said, “Fine. I guess I’ll just sit on the bleachers and watch Dustin practice instead. Let’s go you all.”

Miranda walked away with her friends giggling as they followed behind her.

Mike placed a hand on his forehead and blew out a breath. “Jeez.”

“It looks like you have a handful here,” I inferred.

Mike chuckled. “Yeah, especially since I had my hands tied behind my back with Claire. I’m sorry we can’t spend time together today, but I’ll make sure to make room in my schedule, so we can eat at that Filipino restaurant next time.”

“That’ll be great,” I said as I tried hide my disappointment.

“Awesome. Right now, though, I need to prepare for my talk with Claire. She was a student-teacher when I was attending this school and we became close as she was my English teacher.”

“Um…close how?” I dared to ask.

The fact that Mike called Ms. Smith by her first name showed more than I wanted to see about the possible relationship he had with my AP Literature teacher. He would’ve been around sixteen and even though she was just a student-teacher back then, it still felt rather creepy if what I was thinking was true even in the slightest.

“Oh, it was strictly professional,” Mike said.

“Oh, okay.”

I didn’t believe he was telling the truth, however it was between him and her and I wasn’t a person who liked to involve himself in other people’s dramas and personal lives. The only disappointing thing was that I wasn’t the one going to spend time with Mike as we have great food and get to know each other. Then again, the world wasn’t ending tomorrow and I could wait until Mike was available again.

“Well, I guess I should be going now,” I said, not knowing what else to do.

“Yeah, hopefully we’ll see each again soon,” Mike said and combed his fingers through my hair once again.

I felt flutters inside my body from that gesture as I smiled at him. I then turned around and walked away before he saw my blushing face. With my hands in my pockets, I trekked out of the parking lot and walked for thirty minutes until reached I reached my home in suburbia.

During those thirty minutes, I thought about my reasons for wanting to spend time with Mike. It was actually pretty obvious. I was hoping that as I spend more time with him and capture his attention any chance I got, I would have more access to his presence which would mean being able to get physically closer to me and have him be mine in a way.

Great, now I sounded like the creepy one. I guess I just wanted someone that I knew I could never have, so instead I just relish on what I can have. That sounded like miserable way to live, but I was used to not getting what I really, truly wanted and instead thinking about the what ifs like when I wanted to pursue ballet when I was younger, but my father quickly put an end to that dream. So, I just would watch ballet performances online and dream about what could’ve been.

God, why couldn’t I just like girls and be into sports like Dustin? My life would have been so much easier. Being by brother’s side as the other popular twin was something I fantasized as well sometimes. But I can’t change who I am and what truly interested me and that was a bitch.

At my home, I entered through the front door and was greeted by my step-mother and my father’s third wife, Stephanie, who was dusting some framed pictures on the wall.

“Hi, Duncan! How was school today?” Stephanie asked.

“It was all right,” I said plainly.

“Great. Are you hungry? I can cook something for you if you want,” Stephanie offered.

“That’s okay. I’m still full from lunch. Thanks though. I’ll just be in my room, doing my homework.”

“All right then,” Stephanie said, smiling and resuming her dusting.

I walked upstairs and went into my bedroom where I kicked off my shoes and collapsed onto my bed. Nuzzling my face in the fresh pillowcase that Stephanie recently cleaned, I then turned onto my back and looked up at the blank ceiling.

With nothing in my head, Mike once again reappeared in my thoughts. His hunky body and handsome face entrancing me, however his friendly and kind nature was what also drew me to him. He was so perfect in every way and all I wanted to do to right then was dream about being with him, truly being with him and never wake up in the process.