chapter six.
more weeks went by. weeks turned to months. still, the most michael and i had done was slept together. not slept together slept together. not fuck. just sleeping together in the same bed.
his arms wrapped around my waist, my face pressed to his chest, inhaling his wonderful cologne scent that remained on his skin through the dead hours of night. sometimes my long legs got entangled with his longer ones. i loved it. it was innocent. we were innocent.
now it was around late december. michael's birthday had passed, so he was eighteen. he was officially the qualified age to drink. no more worrying about getting in trouble at parties for him.
i sat in my room with my music blasting from my laptop speakers. most of the students went home for christmas break, so nobody was going to come yell for me to turn it down. i had decided that i didn't want to go back for the break. i needed some alone time for a change. things were finally seeming to get better. i was caught up on my work from my two-week break few months before.
days had passed since michael left for home. he didn't live that far from the campus, maybe only an hour. he texted me a lot, though.
it was december 24th when my phone rang. the call was coming from michael. i picked up my phone from beside me on the bed.
"good morning, angela. may i ask why you're wide awake and blasting music at this fucking ungodly hour? everyone staying for holiday must hate you," michael greeted me jokingly. a small grin spread onto my cheeks.
"couldn't sleep. how's it going, mike?"
"well. how is it on campus?" he asked.
"boring. nobody's here to hang out with."
"yeah, about that," michael began, "my mom wanted to know if you'd like to join us for a day or two. we wouldn't want you to be stuck at campus alone on, like, the greatest holiday of the year."
"oh...i don't know..." i trailed off.
"please, ang? i don't want to have to spend it all alone with my mom," michael begged.
"hey!" i heard in the background.
"sorry, mum," michael said quietly. i laughed and then hesitated.
"fine, for you," i replied. i could practically hear him smiling through our phones.
"hell fucking yes. i'll be there in an hour. and turn down that damn music. you're gonna go deaf."
"shut up."
i could just imagine michael with his mom, drinking coffee in the morning while sitting around the table. she would ask him if there was anyone special. he would pause before saying yes, then he would spill to her all about me. then she would ask what i was doing for christmas. he would say that i wasn't doing anything. she would beg him to call me and invite me over because she wanted to meet me. he would give in. sadly, that was probably all my imagination. ashton, cal, and luke probably just didn't want to hang out with him.
an hour and two minutes after the phone call, michael pulled up to the front of the dorm building. he was driving a small black car and his windows were rolled down. he had a huge, cheeky grin on his pale cheeks. i put my bag in the trunk and sat down in the front seat. he gave me a quick hug and started the car again. "you're late. nice pajamas," i complimented, noticing his black t-shirt and patterned bottoms with green camouflage printed on them. his lazy ensemble was complete with a black beanie in which he covered all of his hair.
"thank you," he said. he took his hands off the wheel while the car was still parked. "do you remember about two months ago when you said i should dye my hair again?" he asked. i nodded in response. michael picked a bag up from the back seat and pulled a box from it. it was electric blue hair dye. i covered my mouth and laughed.
