Her Name Was December

Day 6

"So," Greyson said. He sipped cola out of his straw. "How's college treating you?"

Michael was Greyson's high school best friend, and this was the first time they'd seen each other since graduation. A small table separated their booths, and a plethora of greasy fast food was sprawled out between them.

Michael wiped mustard off of his bottom lip with the back of his hand. "It's been really great!" he replied. His shaggy, dirty blonde hair hung from his head like a mop was cut off under his ears. His bangs hung into his eyes, and he flipped them away with a shake of his head. "College is really great!" He took another big and sloppy bite out of his burger. "I've got so many stories." he mumbled through his food.

"Yeah?" Greyson said, dipping salty fries into a pool of ketchup.

Michael laughed. "There was this one time-" he said, cut off by a fit of laughter. Food-filled saliva sprayed out of his mouth and landed on Greyson's hand. No matter how disgusted he was, he tried his hardest to wipe it off slowly, without seeming too rude. Michael didn't seem to notice, though. He kept laughing in remembrance of this hilarious memory he held with his college buddies.

"There was this one time-" he repeated, pausing to catch his breath and swallow his mouthfull of burger. "Jimmy and I, we crashed some pharmacy major's bonfire," he said, chuckling again. "Brought some gas with us and squirted it on there when he wasn't looking. The thing grew sky high," His mouth was full again, and Greyson had trouble hearing the next part. "The thing nearly caught a tree! Isn't that crazy?" he asked, chewing the bit of food that wasn't stuffed in his cheeks. Greyson nodded, pushing in all the circle tabs on the cap of his soda. "Jim's arm got burnt up pretty bad, but that night was a great one." Michael said. "You should have seen that kid's face!"

Greyson looked up at him with his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. Michael sipped the last of his orange soda out of the bottom of the glass, making a slurping sound that lasted at least ten seconds. "B-R-B," he said, scooting out of his seat. "Time for a refill."

Greyson watched him walk over to the soda machine, tall and thin with a bit of muscle in his arms. He wondered what happened the Mike he once knew, with the goody-goody behaviour and a body built for playing video games in his basement. Michael filled his cup until the orange liquid flowed over the top, and Greyson convinced himself that that Michael was nearly gone. He'd expected for college to change him, but never this much. From what he could remember, there was no changing Michael.

Michael sat back down across from Greyson and crunched the wrapper from his burger into a ball. "What about you, Grey. What kinds of fun stuff have you been up to since a year ago?

Greyson stared into the wrinkles and kinks in his own wrapper, trying to determine what part of his recent life could be classified as 'fun'. "I moved out on my own, so that was cool. I've been making money at this really old bookstore downtown." he replied.

"Oh," Michael said in realization. "That place is a real dump. Can't believe you work there."

Greyson looked down at his hands in his lap and twiddled his thumbs around. "Yeah... it's stupid." he said, trying his hardest to sound convincing. Michael bought it, though. He chewed on his straw and tried to suck soda out of it at the same time, leading to little success.

"So, what about the ladies?" Michael asked, wiggling his eyebrows around. "Have you spied any hot nerdy chicks hangin' around that shop o' yours?"

Greyson looked at him as if he had found out his deepest, darkest secret. Eager to change the subject, he rubbed a greasy napkin between his fingers and said, "Not anyone that would be nearly as great as Natalie."

Natalie was Michael's newest girlfriend. She was all he'd talked about for the first half of their meal. Apparently, she had pink hair and an edgy look to her, but she really cared about Michael; him saying, 'She would die for me, I think. She's always telling me how cool I am.'

"You're right." Michael said. "Nat is really great, isn't she?" Greyson nodded insincerely for the thousandth time tonight. "There's no reason that we can't find you second best, right?" Michael told him, smiling with shiny white teeth. Greyson shrugged, and Michael sighed. "Come on, Grey! There's got to be someone out there that you've got the hots for."

When Greyson stayed silent, Michael sighed again and let his head hang forward. "I expected you to have taken a bigger hold on life, Grey."

Greyson looked up at Mike's hair, hanging down from the top of his head and falling in front of him. His heart started beating faster, and his insides twisted into knots at the thought of December. He sighed.

"Well, there is this one girl..."