Broken Half: A Tom Holland Story

I Tried This New Thing Called Emotions... They're Cool

"Wonderful! ... We are so proud of you Tom. This is really a big step for you, and your Dad and I are so proud because of that."

I smile into the phone, "Aww... thanks, Mum. I'll talk to MJ about meeting up and I'll get back to you,"

"Sound's great Tommy, can't wait for your response."

"Okay, talk to you later," I kiss the phone, "Love you,"

"Love you too,"

"Bye!"

I pocket my phone and walk back into the family room, seeing that MJ has already set up a movie, "So, MJ!" I rub my hands together, a nervous habit, "How would you like to-"

---

"MEET YOUR PARENTS?!" I scream, baffled. "Wait, wait-" I make a timeout sign with my hands, "I don't even know your middle name and you're already doing all these nice things for me. You want me to meet your parents on the second day? Don't get me wrong, all these things are fantastic, but it's... I don't know, weird I guess."

Tom smirks at me, as if anything I just said was remotely funny, "My middle name, really? That's why you don't trust me?"

"Yeah... uh, sorry." I mean, when he said it like that it did sound pretty stupid, "It was a thing that us kids back at Stockwell did. Basically, if you each knew each other's middle names it was like the ultimate bond of trust." My eyes drift to my shoes, "It was stupid, I mean-"

He cuts me off, "I think it's great." I look up and he's smiling back at me like he was formulating some kind of plan; to the point that I could almost see the gears turning in his head. He readjusts himself on the couch so he's facing me now, "So, MJ... since according to you we barely know each other, tell me something about you."

I jokingly roll my eyes. It was going to be a long 2 months. "What? You want me to tell you all my deepest darkest secrets?"

He laughs, "Haha, no. Just the simple stuff, unless you want to talk about the deep stuff. Just things like... a favourite colour, food, movie, etcetera."

I turn to face him on the couch, sitting cross-legged. "Easy, cerulean blue, falafel, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, you?"

He makes a face, "Huh, never would have thought you were a retro movie kinda girl."

"What can I say, I'm a sucker for classics," I say shrugging.

"Okay, for me it would be, cool grey, my mum's lasagna, and the first Avengers."

I chuckle, "Okay... So now... Favourite book and favourite series. Mine is the first Chaos Walking book and the Percy Jackson series. You?"

Tom scratches the back of his neck, "To be honest I'm not much of a reader. Well, I read Lord of the Flies recently and I enjoyed that, as for a series, I couldn't tell you." He was holding something back, it was obvious.

"Really? You've never gotten through a full book series?" I say smirking.

Tom thinks for a minute, "Well, I did get through Harry Potter, but I was way young and it took me forever." He cracks a smile, and that's when it hits me; it didn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure it out. He had dyslexia, that's why he didn't like reading. Great job MJ, way to rub it in his face.