Cat and Mouse | m.c.

chapter 3

Michael’s house sat in the corner of Manson Avenue, a street that intersected with Carnor Street, where Mouse lived. She never realized he lived so close to her, their houses being about a five minute walk or a two minute run away. To be honest, Mouse expected Michael to live in a more drabby neighborhood, where there were run down houses and barbed wire fences. Anything but this.

His house was anything but run down, the garden was well tended, with several rose bushes growing against the vanilla white walls and the occasional vegetable plant breaking out from the dirt. The lawn looked freshly mowed, the grass being a bright green. He probably stole his house right out of a Disney movie.

“My grandma does the gardening.” He stated, noticing her gaping at the picturesque exterior of his house. Mouse looked at him in surprise. “Your grandma?” She always thought Michael Clifford was some angst teenager aspiring to be punk rock that lived with his drug dealing older brother. Turns out, he lived with his grandma who, by the looks of it, probably liked to bake chocolate chip cookies, canoodle her grandson, and garden as a hobby.

“Yeah, my grandma.” He said nonchalantly as he took out his keys to unlock the painted white door. “Why?”

“I thought you lived with your older brother.” She said as he pulled the door open. He laughed.

“I don’t have an older brother. It’s just me and my grandma.” He motioned at her shoes. “Take off your shoes before you come in, my grandma doesn’t like it when people dirty the floor with their shoes.” Mouse couldn’t help but smile at this. “Someone is a grandmomma’s boy.” She giggled.

Michael opened his mouth to retort only to falter when she giggled, his eyes widening in amazement at the sound.

“Oh my god, you’re was so fucking adorable.” He blurted out. “That was cute. Like really cute. Makes me want to make you laugh more often.”

Mouse could feel a blush creeping up her face as she awkwardly followed him in the house. The inside of his house was just as cleaned up and polished as the outside. Cute little plants sat on every flat surface and it smelled like how Mouse thought home in Disney movies should smell like: warm, semi-sweet and fresh. She subtly slid across the smooth wooden floor in her green socks, smiling a little to herself and relishing the feeling as she didn’t have that leisure since her house had a carpeted floor. If she looked at Michael then, she would have noticed him smiling at her antics as he led her to his room.

“My grandma isn’t home so don’t worry about meeting her. Bingo night, you know?” He said, putting down his backpack on a chair, before noticing her awkward standing as she didn’t what to do. “Just put it right there.” He motioned for her to place her backpack on the floor. “So, Fault in Our Stars?” Mouse nodded as she took in her surroundings.

Posters of what seemed to be various music bands flooded the white walls of his room. Neatly and securely pinned on, she noted. His bed sat in the center of his room, dark blue sheets and folded blankets, and a large flat screen TV was placed in front. Gaming consoles were orderly placed inside a see through drawer under the TV. Three guitars were laid against the wall on the side of his bed.

Mouse wasn’t sure what she expected: maybe something like a messy room with his clothes thrown down on the floor, disheveled blankets, and different hair dye bottles on every flat surface but it was apparent it was the exact opposite.

“You’re so….neat.” She commented.

“Better than messy.” Michael said. “Sit down.” He patted down on the spot next to him on the bed. The remote control settled its place on his lap and movie started to play.