Chapter Text
“Mikey!” My loud ass voice sounds over the whole plaza in front of the campus building, not one, not two, not three Mikeys, but all of them turn around. Mine as well. Well, I mean, he’s not mine mine. He’s Mikey, my best friend since sixth grade, ever since the teachers put him right next to me. We’re thick as thieves, always have been. So much so that we actually applied to the same college, both got accepted and now we live on campus. In different dormitories though, because obviously men and women can’t be roommates on site. But between us we don’t have enough money to get an apartment off campus and- I’m rambling again, aren’t I?
“Mikey.”, I say again as I approach him. He’s waiting for me, backpack slung over one shoulder. “What’s up, cupcake?”, he asks me which makes me roll my eyes. “Don’t call me that. You’re not forgetting about the Halloween party tonight?”, I tell him. “Don’t worry, Ems. I’m gonna be there, right after practice. 8:30, right?” I nod. “Yes. You got your costume?” He sighs, but his smile stays on. “Yes, Ems. I even got a costume.” – “Good.”, I say and feel the short rush of satisfaction I get whenever he does what I tell him to. I stare up at him, grinning from ear to ear. He grins back and I can’t take my eyes off him.
I’m not blind, I see what everyone else is seeing. Michael is good looking. Not in the “guy next door, every mother in law’s dream” kind of sense. He’s got too many tattoos for that. Every penny that Mike has extra, he puts towards his next tattoo. They’re works of art, really, and some of them he even drew himself. Together with his long dark hair, the gauged ears and his grungy style he looks like an intimidating guy, but you know, in a handsome way. Also, he’s a real teddy bear (at least now, it hasn’t always been that way).
I snap out of my own thoughts and say: “Well, gotta go now. Don’t be late!” – “I wouldn’t miss it.”, he says with that kind of grin that always makes my stomach flip. And I ignore it. As always. I wave goodbye and head in the direction of the dormitories. There’s a pep in my step and I know exactly where that’s coming from. Halloween season is the best.
I watch her skip away and even though I can’t hear her anymore from this far away, I know that she is humming some kind of tune that is stuck in her head right now. She’s in a good mood because nothing hypes her up more than getting to dress up for Halloween parties.
The sway of her hips as she crosses the plaza, heading to the dorms, has my mind going into a dirty place. Shit. I tear my eyes from her and pull my shirt down to hide the tent I'm sporting right now. Fuck. I'm obsessed with her. I didn't want to realize it for years, because she’s my friend. My best friend, and those are kind of hard to come by. And she doesn't even know. She doesn't fucking know what she does to me. The smile on her face when I just told her that I had a costume instantly brightened my mood and all I wanted to do was swoop her up, spin her around and press a kiss to her lips. I can only imagine what she tastes like, how soft she feels, how it would be to have her weight on me. I got to stop those thoughts or else the boner won’t go away until I have practice. And practice is the only other thing in my life that’s important to me.
If it wasn't for the sports scholarship, I never would have gotten into that college. But I had to, I wanted to, with every fiber of my being. Because I couldn't have her leaving, because I couldn't imagine staying in the city where we grew up without her being around. In the long run, this meant that I realized she is the girl of my dreams, and the time after that that I didn’t know what to do about it, because I’m her friend.
So, I got just the plan to get her to see me as a guy to want, as a guy who wants her. Not just her teddy bear Mikey. There is a real chance that I mess it all up. That she doesn’t see me as more than a friend, and never will. And that I might lose her friendship over all this. And her friendship means so much to me.
It's the typical story, right? The 'bad boy' gets put next to the timid A-student, so she will keep him in check. But she actually saw me for me, not the delinquent the school was making me out to be. She would even share her lunch with me. She split the cupcake her mom always packed her as a little treat in two and gave me the bigger part. Until one day she had two cupcakes in her lunch box. One for her and one for me. At this point she had already won me over. But that didn’t prepare me for the first time when she invited me over to study for an English exam. She opened the door with a spot of dough on her cheek and flour dusted over her apron and clothes. It only dawned on me right then that they were her cupcakes. Cupcakes that she made and was sharing with me. I was totally floored by that. I just sat in their kitchen all afternoon eating cupcakes and cookies while Em explained the English homework to me. In the evening I got invited to dinner, her mom made chicken and dumpling soup and her dad talked to me like a real human being, not some kid who didn’t come from the best home. She and her whole family showed me friendliness when nobody else in my life would. That cemented my friendship with her. A friendship that I’m about to risk if today goes horribly wrong.
Why am I doing this then?, you might ask. Rightfully so. It’s because I can't stand it anymore. I can’t stand not being with her and I sure as shit couldn’t see her with another guy because it kills me. It’s unfair to her as well. I’m right beside her every day, my feelings towards her have changed some time ago, but I was just too scared to do anything about it. Until tonight. I've got to take my chance tonight before another fucker thinks, he has chance with her while I look over his shoulder, watching his every step and move to make sure he doesn’t hurt cupcake.
So, I'm putting everything on one card, and a risky one at that. I know what kind of thirst trap she likes on social media. She didn’t hide those for her followers and friends. And I’ve seen the books she reads. She never wants to tell me what she reads, yet I can see the blush on her cheeks when she’s got her nose between the pages of a book. She always deflects when I ask her about them, too ashamed to tell me what they’re about, but I see the titles. And I googled some of them. Oh little Miss Innocent, she is into some kinky stuff.
If what I have planned doesn’t let her see me in another way, then I don’t know what to do. Then I give up. But I’ll shoot my shot, tonight at the party, if she lets me. If she’s a willing participant. I grin to myself as I make my way to practice. I can’t wait to see the expression on her face when she sees my costume. My excitement mixes with a splash of fear. I can’t wait for tonight.