The Neverland Inn : One-Shot Collection

NL Valentine's Day

"That's just disgusting.."
Shan says with her nose turned up to the couple across the campus yard that were excessively making out under a tree.
Dee looks up from her phone and snarks,
"Gag me with a spoon."

Faith sighs, "It's that time of year.."
The girls have never really celebrated Valentine's day at Neverland. They knew Michael wouldn't approve of them bringing some creep over to the house so they always vowed that when lovers day rolled around they'd stay with Michael.
"Girls do we even have any plans for Valentines Day?" Dee asks
The both shook their heads. Faith rose her hand asking,
"Does watching re-runs of dumb hallmark movies count?"
Dee sighs and says, "Same.."
Shan lightens the mood saying, "Atleast we can spend the day with Michael?"
The girls perk up and Faith begins giggling.
"Its always been my dream to spend Valentine's with Mike.."
The girls break in a bout of laughter and Dee gasps,
"Yeah since I was like 13!"
Shan cackles saying,
"We are such fangirls!! We are the epitome of moonwalker!"
Dee tries to breath from the laughter and she says,
"Michael is always pranking us with his ghostly walk-through-walls stuff, ya know?"

*Shan stood in the shower humming to the pandora station that played until that ghostly chill came to the air, causing her eyes to shoot open. "MICHAEL!" Mike rushes through the open bathroom saying,
"Sorry! Its easier to get to the loft this way!"
Shania snarks, "I am in the shower!!!"
Michael passes though the opposite wall answering, "Like that even bothers me, Shan?!"

Faith rushes to get outside and to her car after missing her last alarm with twenty minutes till her morning shift. She fumbles with her keys cursing to the bitter morning dew on her new shoes and she unlocks the car only to notice something in the drive way behind her silver sedan. Michael's illustrious train set, now chugging along on its plastic tracks that stretched for several feet and Michael sat transparent in the middle, the sun rays poking though him.
She scoffs, "Michael I'm late!"
He giggles saying, "Look Faith, I got the smoke stack to work. Isn't that cute!"
She rolls her eyes in defeat leaning against the door.

Dee rolled over in bed being jolted awake for the fourth time that night. She stomps to go investigate the obvious racket from the staircase. Michael stood at the top with his slinky and watched it flop down with a hard metallic clank at the bottom. He giggled entertained and she growled, "It is 2 am Michael. Is this a joke?!"*

"....We need to get him back!"
Faith and Shan raise their hands agreeing. "Get him good!!"
~~Valentine's Day~~
Dee stood in her mirror with the plotting grin across her face. She applied blush to her cheeks and the cold chill of Mike enters the room. She then starts on mascara asking smart, "Yes Michael?.. "
He appears sitting indian style on her bed and he looked into Dee's mirror as she saw the familiar white suit.
"Looks like all three of you guys are going out tonight..."
Dee nods and clears her mind, knowing Michael could read her thoughts if he wanted.
"Yep.." she says capping her mascara and she stood up in the short red pencil dress.
She puts on red heels and Michael asks looking sadly,
"So what time will you guys be back?..."
Dee acts like she's thinking and shrugs,
"I'm not sure. Our dates are going on all different places."
She began to exit and Dee looks to Michael. He looked down sad. He took a seat at her vanity where the music box sat and he coos, "Well have fun. I'll be here. Be safe." She almost spews all the plan details right there and a piece of her heart broke. Shan and Faith poke their head in the door and say their false goodbyes.
They all begin down the steps and the rush to the pantry. The day before, one of the girls had to distract Michaels spirit upstairs while they snuck his Valentine's Day present into the kitchen, then the pantry. They all worked quitely in the kitchen and placed the pieces onto the counter. Several vases of cut sunflowers. Shan giggled as she sat his giant floppy elephant plushie on the dining table and they all begin yelling,
"Oh mister, applehead!"
"Would you come to the kitchen, please!"
"Calling mister Jackson, to the dining room!"
Michael appears indian style on the counter and sits with arms crossed. A swish of air makes his spector and he says,
"I knew you guys didn't have dates. I knew it! What's really going on?" His grin grew a little wider with each word and they introduce.
"Well. We had to trick your omnipotence somehow so we could get you a Valentine's Day gift. We know you don't like roses..."
He looks to the table and sees the aray of sunflowers in vases. He plucks one soft from the gray water and he brushes across its smooth yellow petal. He chuckles and says, "Girls. You didn't have to. I know I've been more on the bugging side lately."
Faith perked up,
"Yeah you've been on our nerves more than usual." They all laugh but she digresses 
"..But how could you think we'd trade a night of bugging and annoyance from our one true idol, to be with some lowlife in a suit telling us what we wanna hear?"
He smiles wide and he gushes,
"I do love you. Happy Valentine's Day."

~2 hours & tubs of ice cream later~
"..so after we'd finished dinner. We paid the waitress, I couldn't tell her thank you cause she only spoke Thai. I didn't know what to think being in a Thai restaurant."
The girls and Mike laugh listening but Dee continues,
"We're walking home. They streets dimly lit and such. Moment was right, but god love me, my stomach wasn't feeling that way. I was sweating. Face was flushed..."
"Don't tell me..." Faith pried and she got very attentive.
"Dee you didn't.. " Shan cooed.

Dee sighs and finishes,
"He turned to kiss me but I turned away to lose my cookies in the street and not on his shoes."
They all gawk disgusted and Dee blushed in their reaction muttering,
"It was my worst Valentine's Day ever."
Mike giggles and he asks,
"Did he ever call you again?"
Dee shakes her head but adds,
"But I did get him to drive me home after that."
Faith leans closer and she says, "Mike, we've been going on with all this talk for hours. Let's let you talk for a while. What was one of your valentines days like?"
He shrugs and the girls begin giggling,
"This should be good."
But Dee interjects,
"Now we shouldn't clutch. Let's be considerate of Michael's privacy."
He shook his head and he says low as he stroked one of the ears on the plush elephant,
"I really don't mind. But to be honest, none of my Valentine's Day's have been that exciting or worth telling. They've been sorta mellow. And almost boring."
The girls all look to each other but Shan speaks,
"That doesn't mean we won't listen. What was your favorite one like?"
Michael hummed thinking but Faith speaks up, "A word of caution, we don't talk about Lisa in this house do we?"
They all began grinning and Michael laughs, "You won't hear any from me. I ain't about to."
He thinks more and he says,
"But. She did tell me she wanted a divorce two days before Valentine's Day."

The room grew quiet as they felt him becoming more serious and he goes on,
"That day. I believe it was '94 that Valentine's Day. I was working in a studio with John Landis and Eddie Murphy. Eddie made actual mix tapes and demos for rap groups back then. The rap artists and their industry was really becoming big. I was stepping out and I got inside and already I had a phone call. I got so annoyed but it was Janet. She told me to meet her in her downtown suite in L.A. and I got so irritated I hung up on her. Frank, one of our sound technicians, said she had called the studio all day looking for me. So I broke down and went over there. I went through the usual routine I hated. Going through the back, making sure the coast is clear, taking the stairs and not the elevator, letting the security go first. I got to Janet's door and her body guard opened up and I could barely get in. Everywhere, on the floor, on the bed, everywhere were these letters. Letters and flowers. My divorce had made headline news. Janet took the time to gather all the mail my fans had sent me in those past two days  and bring them to me to read. And I did. I read every single letter. I felt like a new man. I felt like crying to some of the letters. But I felt so loved as well. She hugged my neck and told me to never forget it. That valentines day was one of the best I ever had."
The girls awe to themselves and Faith asks, "Mike, can you do your illusion for five seconds?"
He looks confused and blinks his eyes in that spectral way. His figure becomes full form and the girls gather to hug his neck.
"You're our Valentine, Michael. We do love you!"
He smiles in that caring way and hugs them back, patting their heads.
"I love you more."
The grandfather clock in the foyer chimes ten times and the girls all check their watches.
"Dang. I didn't realize we had sat out this long."

Michael smiles and says,
"Thank you guys again. I know you all have work and lectures tomorrow. Get some rest. I'll be here."
They all dragged themselves upstairs to their rooms. Under the duvets they slept but Michael being restless in his new existence, he loomed the hallways. He carried the plushie elephant and put it with the other stuffed animals in his game room window. He strokes the elephants sewn on ear once more and he lets himself dissapate into his smoky fog apparatus. His energy for full form being done for the day. He levitated down the steps and stands outside the patio door. He lingers beside the swing set and carousel, going further into the Neverland garden. From his personal rose bush he kept beside the train station, he plucks three single roses and brings them inside. In skinny, glass vases, he rested them beside each of the girls bed. On the nightstand he stood the flower in its vase and with a fountain pen he scibbled onto a bed and breakfast business card to each of them.
"To one of the many loves of my life or death, I wish you a wonderful Valentine's Day. This one and many others are to come. I love you.
- Applehead."
He left their rooms still being his phantom mist and little did he know. The girls lay turned away, but the half asleep grin of knowing he was there never left their lips.