“Fuck me,” he moaned, leveling me with a defeated glare. “You’re just like . . .” He stopped in his tracks.
“Like Jennifer?” I accused.
“Fuck no,” he stated. “What are we doing, Coop?”
I turned away from him to gather my thoughts, making an attempt tocontrol the fear that he wouldn’t love me like he said he would. For the first time in our friendship, I felt powerless.
I took a breath and faced him once more. “I don’t want to feel like I forced you togive into me, Mikey,” I stated, more aggressive than I’d intended. “So how aboutno thanks? I think I’ll pass.”
“You can’t pass on us, Coop,” he said, stepping toward me. “I’ve waited too long for this.”
My eyes saucered. “You’vewaited too long?” I questioned. “You? It’s you who had to wait?” I raged. “Bullshit, Mike! That is total bullshit.”
My harsh words and the fact that I’d cussed stunned him and he staggered back in disbelief. “Alright, Coop. Yeah. Mmm-hmm, yeah,” he stammered, his eyes frantically moving around the neighborhood like a trapped animal. “Oh yeah. Okay. So now you don’t want me, is that it?”
“I didn’t say that,” I defended.
“You don’t like this me? I’m weird? I’m different? Is that what I’m hearing?” he raged. “Maybe Hastings is better for you? Is he who you want now?”
“Who I don’t want is this,” I said, gesturing to him and his out-of-bounds accusations.
“Well, that’s just perfect,” he steamed. “Then that is exactly what you’ll get.”
Mikey skulked back up the sidewalk and slammed the door behind him after he entered his house.
So much for being mature and wise.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: Mike
“Michael? Honey? What’s wrong?” Mom asked after I barged through the front door, slamming it hard and cursing like she’d never heard before.
Mom was sitting in the middle of the living room while a hypnotic, calm voice was urging her to relax and center her stress into a circle that she could push away from her mind.Fuck that!
I stormed past her, blinded by fury as I tried to wrap my mind around what had just happened on the curb.
“Michael!” she called, raising her voice and most likely expanding her stress circle. “I asked you a question.”
I was halfway up the stairs seeking another door to slam. “I’m fine!” I yelled. I got to the top of the staircase and stopped, turned around and added, “And I’m not accepting company or calls.”Mature for sure.
I decided not to slam the door, instead choosing to pathetically pace back and forth in my bedroom, stopping every other lap to peer over my desk and out my bedroom window at Cooper’s house.
“I’m so fucked,” I grumbled. “So goddamned fucking fucked.”
I headed toward the door, wanting to scream at the person who had caused my problem.“Oh, yeah, she said,”I muttered.“Go drink this stupid potion. Find him in another universe. Be fucking seventeen again.Fucking bullshit,” I hissed before slapping the closet door.
“Michael?” It was my mother’s voice outside my bedroom door. “Honey? Bad day?” she asked, her voice slightly muffled by the wooden door. “Can I do anything?”
“You’ve done quite enough, Mom, so thanks a whole hell of a lot,” I stated, forgetting I wasn’t twenty-seven in this world and was speaking to a mother who had zero idea what the fuck was going on.
“That is quite enough from you, young man. Do not take your anger or disappointment, or whatever this behavior is, out on me.”
“Arrgghhh!” I yelled, squeezing the sides of my head and wanting to smack something. I was normally a calm individual so this outburst caught even me by surprise. Was I acting calm? Not exactly. Did I have a good reason to be pissed off? Possibly.
Then it hit me. I was stuck here. I was a soon-to-be thirty year old man who was stuck in the past and had no plan for what came next. Mom hadn’t thought through my journey to the unknown. I’d kept a promise that was ridiculous at best. I was so royally screwed they should crown me king of the idiots.
“Dammit,” I hissed.
“Enough of the language, Michael.”
