The Teacher's Pet | Slowburn MJ FanFic

• | Chapter Twenty-Nine | •

| Friday Night ~ December 31st. . .

Riley laid in the opposite direction of her bed with her feet propped up against the black upholstered headboard and her phone hovered above her face as she mindlessly scrolled through Twitter. Her toes donning red nail polish tapped rhythmically to the beat of It's the Falling in Love flowing from her earbuds.

She hummed quietly in tune until suddenly her phone vibrated with a call and Michael's picture popped up on her screen. In the midst of her inner fangirling and excitedly trying to answer her phone, she lost her grip and let out a small yelp just as she quickly turned her head. The phone smacked her cheek.

"Dammit." She muttered before she sat up and rubbed the stinging flesh. She finally answered the FaceTime call after gathering herself.

"Hey, gorgeous." Michael smiled into the screen of his phone. She could hear commotion in the background but she didn't see anyone since he appeared to be in a study. Some of his curls were tied back into a low ponytail while the other half rested among his broad shoulders.

"Hi, Applehead." She cheerfully greeted and he chuckled. "What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be with your family?"

Michael scoffed and rolled his eyes as he got comfortable on a pile of throw pillows on the couch. "I've been with them all week, I need a break."

Her soft laughter lasted for a second before slowly trailing off and feeling the sadness trickle in. "It must be nice, though."

She wished she could go back to the days where her family would actually celebrate the holidays and have a huge feast in the kitchen just for the four of them, or sometimes with Tia and her family. But ever since her brother's death, holiday celebrations instantly ceased to exist in their household. She would barely get any recognition on her birthday except for some of her other family that would call or text.

Wrinkles formed on Michael's forehead when he furrowed his eyebrows. "Have you been doing anything at all this winter break?"

Riley forced a small smile and shook her head. "Family-wise, no. Working and practicing, yes."

"You haven't done anything with your family? Not even a dinner or something?"

She shook her head again. "Nada. I've just been binge-watching Netflix and Hulu, and hanging around the house. I'm actually debating if I want to order pizza, but then I just realized... a lot of places are closed right now. Shit."

She sighed and pulled her legs into a crisscrossed position as she looked back at her phone. She noticed a smirk on his face and she raised one of her eyebrows. "What's on your mind, Mr. Mischievous?"

He grinned before biting down on his lip.

"You would do that when I'm not around you." She narrowed her eyes at him, causing him to chuckle.

"I was thinking..." He rubbed his chin as he sat up straighter, "we could spend some time together before New Year's. I'll make you a plate, come pick you up, and we can go do whatever. What do you say?"

It was Riley's turn to bite suggestively on her lip and tilt her phone at an angle to give a glimpse of her cleavage in her tank top. "I think you know my answer."

Michael smirked, then licked his lips with a nod. "So it's a yes."

"Mhm," She smiled before getting off the bed. "Is it just for the night or are we hanging out until tomorrow sometime?"

"If you want to stay the night, pack a bag. I don't mind." He shrugged and she responded with an excited grin.

"Finally, I can get out of this boring ass house!" She left the phone on the bed and immediately grabbed her blue duffel bag to pack some extra clothes, some accessories, and necessities.