the propinquity effect

16

+ 16 +

"Alexa, God. Wake up!" I could hear someone's voice screaming in my ear as I tried to open my eyes but failed. The only thing I could do was open one and then tried to look at the person who was the source of the ear-piercing voice. I could see a shadow, two people and then a familiar white hair. I knew it was Michael but I was still tired so I turned on the other side of the small leather couch, hugging the small pillow.

"What time is it?" I was able to groaned out that statement. My throat felt dry and I knew I had a horrible morning breath. So I decided not to talk to him first, still hugging the pillow tightly and trying to fall asleep again.

"Midnight," Michael said lightly. As if waking up at twelve at night wasn't a big deal and if it was a normal routine for him. Waking up at twelve then he couldn't fall asleep again. I rubbed my temple then sat up, opening both of my eyes to look at him.

I had just woken up and I wasn't wearing my glasses. I had a poor eyesight especially when I just woke up. Michael's hair was a mess, his eyes red from the force he rubbed them. He wasn't shirtless anymore (I wanted him to be) because he had put on a T-Shirt. His face was full of worry and I panicked all of a sudden.

Did someone break into the house? Did something happen to his mom or sister? Or maybe it was just something small like he lost his Grand Theft Auto CD or something much more simpler than that.

One thing that I had learnt from Michael (that was somewhat important) he liked to enlarge small problems and he liked to reduce big problems. Michael sat down beside the couch, putting his arm on his folded knees and held his head.

"What happened?" I asked, pushing the thick blanket (that I guessed Michael put on me when I didn't realize it) from my body. He was crying, I could see it from the way his back contracted and expanded. He wiped away the tears from his eyes and I sat in front of him. I didn't know how to calm people down, let alone the fact if that person was Michael.

"I had a nightmare." Michael explained, putting his arms beside his body. I pushed the hair away of his face and he slapped my hand away. But I was still determined to see his eyes, the way it would glow even in the poorest light.

But they weren't glowing and they weren't alive. They were dead and I couldn't recognize them for the first few seconds. They were pitch black, like they had signed off from their work.

And it was sad, really. Seeing how vulnerable the full of excitement boy in front of me could be. That he (out of all the people) could be a big asshole on the outside yet a broken boy on the inside. I knew how it felt, my heart was aching for him. How could I help him?

I just extended my arms and let him in them. I wrapped my arms around him, squeezing his body so he wouldn't feel like he was going to die. Just a comforting kind of squeeze, like the ones I would love to receive one day. Michael cried on my shoulder as I held him like I held the world.

"What nightmare?" I asked him. I had experienced a few nightmares of my own. Michael rubbed circles on my back, comforting me as he continued on crying. I was confused, I was the one who was supposed to rub circles on his back not the other way around.

"My mom died." He pulled away and leaned on the couch. His arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed as I tried to read his expression. And his expression kind of told me to make him a hot cup of tea or milk so I stood up. Tied my hair into a ponytail and smiled at Michael, walking to the kitchen as I tried to make tea at midnight.

In the poor light and because I wasn't wearing my glasses it was a hard thing to manuevuer around the kitchen. Especially when it wasn't your own kitchen. So for the first few seconds I kept on varying which body part I should stub on. I stubbed my hip on the counter then my head on the shelves. I kicked my toe to the fridge and closed the door with my thumb in. It was a painful experience and I tried to contain my curses because Michael was sad. I didn't want him to know that I was stubbing my body parts on things.