Mickey’s POV:

Despite my mom suggesting that Alex and I should be kept apart for the rest of the weekend, it really was only one day. What was that supposed to teach us? After Alex had asked me out and I had said yes to him, she just stared at me. She stared as if I was supposed to go run outside and tell him I changed my mind. But that definitely wasn’t going to happen. Hell, no. So, that just led to me not talking to her the rest of the day and the rest of that Sunday and Monday as long as I could. Of course, I kind of broke the unspoken promise I had made to Alex. Although I technically never said the words, the sole fact that I came back was a promise to him that I was going to fix things with my mom.

Anyway, just because she wasn’t supportive doesn’t mean that I didn’t think about the fact I was going on a date with Alex. It wasn’t the usual schoolgirl excitement. You know, where the girl gushes to her friends and they all let out high pitched screams and imagined what was going to happen and then make up an entire future for the two. No, for me it was more like an ‘oh-yeah-I’m-going-on-a-date-today-awesome’ kind of feeling. Ok, maybe, just maybe, if I had still been like thirteen-year-old me, I would have definitely acted like that, as I found out later.

But that's not where I was at now. First came me being taken out of class by the Principal. Yes, I know, I actually did go to classes now. Of course, I’d still occasionally skip, but what was the point causing myself to have to repeat the year again? It was way easier just pushing myself through it now and so leave the hell-hole faster.

Instead of calling me up over the intercom, Principal Adkins actually knocked on the door and personally escorted me to his office. I wasn’t exactly sure why he was doing it. Maybe he thought it would be more supporting if he came himself, or maybe he was just too afraid that I would walk out instead like I never had trouble doing before. Either way, I had to collect my stuff and walk with him silently to the office.

Once we entered the room, I felt like I was having a flashback. My mom was sat on the same chair as last time, but there was no cop in the room. It definitely wasn’t a repeat of last time, but something similar was bound to happen. I was determined not to walk out this time, but also not to just give in to everything. I needed to make sure that I told them what I wanted and how I wanted it.

I sat down on the spare chair as Principal Adkins went to sit in his chair on the opposite side of the desk. Although I didn’t want to make it too obvious, I refused to look in the direction of my mom.

“Ok, it’s been brought to my attention that things have gotten worse since our last talk,” Principal Adkins started, making sure to look between my mom and I as he talked. “Although I do believe you’ve now come back home, there was a little bump before that, right after our last meeting.”

“If you mean me going on a short drive, then, yes, that did happen.” I nodded and crossed my arms as I leaned back, noticing my mom’s eyes on me as well. “However, I also would like y’all to notice that I came back the day after. I realized that I was doing exactly what I was mad at my mom for; running away from my problems. So, I decided to be the bigger person and come back. I don’t really feel like my return was as appreciated as it should have been, though.”

“What did you expect, Mickey?” My mom shook her head at me, trying to get me to look at her by staring at the side of my face. “That everything would be happy and great as soon as you came back? That everything before could be forgotten? Because that’s not how things work. You have to see the consequences of your actions.”

“This isn’t a therapy session,” I groaned and rolled my eyes.

“It may not be, but nobody is leaving until this is fixed,” Principal Adkins interrupted, probably afraid that I was going to storm out again.

“Ok, I’m up for fixing this.” I nodded, getting surprised looks from both ‘adults’ in the room. “But, I am not willing to just let it all go and say I was wrong, since I don’t feel like that is the whole truth. I’m not the only one who did wrong here. I am not the one who relocated us the entire time--”

“Because you were being irresponsible and unmanageable,” my mom added as if that was supposed to justify all her actions.

This was the first time I looked at her. My left elbow was rested on the armrest, my head leaning against my hand. I just turned my gaze to her and gave her that look that showed her I wasn’t done with what I was saying and that if she wouldn’t let me finish, something would happen. And somehow, she knew exactly what my look meant, because she pursed her lips and shut up.

“So, as I was saying,” I continued, crossing my legs despite being slumped in the chair, “I’m not the one that constantly made us move away. I’ll admit, the things I have done weren’t always the best. The first time is probably the only time that was really a reason for us to move away. But, now we’re just moving away with every little thing you consider ‘out of line’. How about instead of running away to a new town you actually try to do something that will allow us to stay in one place for once? I ran away as well, but I saw that it wouldn’t do shit. So, if these past six years aren’t evidence of this strategy not working, well then I’m telling you right now.”

“Ok,” my mom agreed. “We will stay here. But it’s not just going to be that simple. We need to get your behavior to get back in line. So, we’re going to have to start with breaking apart from that friend group of yours. We need to cut out all the drugs and alcohol, and they’re the source of it.”

I frowned at her. There was no way she was talking about Rian, so there was only another group she could mean. “I haven’t seen them in weeks. I’m no longer friends with any of them, I never really was.”

“Ok, but that also includes that guy, whatever you want to call him, your boyfriend or something. The one with the motorcycle and always smells like cigarettes and all sorts of drugs.”

“I broke up with him weeks ago. He was trying to steal a car, so I ended things there and then. I ended up walking home from one side of town all the way to the other. But then again, nobody was home anyway. God, do you even know what’s going on in my life?”

“You never tell me anything.” She rubbed her hands over her face while she looked like a million things were hitting her at once. Like she was realizing things she had never picked up on before.

“You never ask me anything!” I retorted. “I swear to god, I spend more time with Rian than I do with my own parents.”

“Ok, here’s what I suggest,” Principal Adkins stopped us before we could go down the road including another argument, “you two are going to have to spend more time together. I don’t care how you do it, but it’s obviously not doing anybody any good. Both of you are going to put in effort, because if this turns into a one-sided thing, it won’t work out.”

“I guess I can try and see if I can take some different shifts at the hospital, but I can’t promise anything. There’s a reason why things have been so hectic as it is, but I’ll try my best.” My mom offered.

“And you Mickey?” the Principal asked me after there had been some silence.

“Me? I don’t know. I guess just what I’ve been doing now. Going home some days, but also having some days for me to hang out with my friends. I don’t think it will sit well with Rian and the others if I just cut all ties with them.” I shrugged, making sure to use Rian’s name since my mom trusted him completely.

“Oh, yes, I wanted to talk to you about that,” he said as he remembered something else that was unrelated other than with me mentioning Rian’s name. “Alex Gaskarth.”

“What about him?”

“He doesn’t exactly--how do I put this--have the greatest track record of all. And I don’t mean horrible things, he just is a teenage kid trying to laugh his way through life, focused on graduating so he can tour with his band.”

“Ok,” I nodded, not seeing what this was supposed to be about, and turned to my mom. “See, I told you he was Rian’s friend!”

She chuckled and urged the Principal to continue.

---

I was impatiently waiting for Alex after school. He told me what time he was going to pick me up, but that was all. In the hurry of trying to go to our next classes, I couldn’t even ask him for more details. If I had had a phone or would have seen him again, I definitely would have, but all I had was the time. So, I was just sitting on the couch at home, waiting for Alex to show up. I was nervous and excited, and my stomach was doing weird things that I did not understand. Either way, my mom noticed the way I was feeling.

“The last time I saw you this excited was when we’d give you a cookie when you were two years old,” she commented with a laugh, eyeing me where I was sitting on the couch with my legs up to my chest and facing the front door.

“What?” I asked her, both trying to play it off and also not really having listened to what she was saying. All my focus was on the butterflies.

“I’m just saying I’ve never seen you this excited about a guy. I never thought it would have been possible.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!” I gasped defensively, but also in a not all too serious way.

Before she could reply, the doorbell rang. I wasn’t sure what exactly to do. If I did what I really wanted to do, which was run to the door and open it immediately, I’d come over like I had been waiting for him. It was exactly what I was doing, but I was known for being late and chill about everything. But not going straight away would be cheating myself.

My mom even noticed that debate going on in my head and suggested, “want me to open the door?”

“No!” I shook my head as I stared at her, my nervousness coming out. “I’m pretty sure he’s afraid of you by now.”

“Well, then I should open it. I don’t want him to be afraid of me… unless he decides to hurt my baby girl.”

“Oh my god,” I groaned and stood up, deciding now had been long enough for me to actually go to the door. “I’ll open it.”

So, I did. The roles were reversed this time. I was opening the door for Alex to come inside. Only, he didn’t push himself onto me and also didn’t start making out with me. It was only good, because that would have been a horrifying with my mom in the room. All he did was look at me and smile.

“Hey,” he said through his bright grin, still holding his car keys in his hand.

I tried to smile back just as brightly, but there was something bothering me. He looked great. Like, great for a teenager. A little more put together than normal, but also not full out fancy-date style. I just ushered him inside, “hey, come inside. I still have to get changed very quickly.”

Yeah, I made it sound like I wasn’t ready yet. No, that was not me trying to come off all cool about everything. It was actually me freaking out on the inside. Although he only looked a little different than usual--his hair looked like it had taken longer, his clothes were probably carefully picked--I did not look the same level of ‘fancy’. I was practically in my pajamas. Well, jeans and a jumper. I could not just go out like this.

“Oh, okay,” Alex nodded as he stepped inside.

I quickly ran up the stairs, going past my mom before I reached the steps. She was shaking her head at me, probably thinking that this was me trying to come over like I hadn’t thought about it the entire day. I repeat, that was not what was happening.

I got to my closet and opened it wide. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I knew I needed something. You see, I never was the one to freak out about my outfit other than when my mom forced me to wear a floral dress, but now I was having one of those movie moments. The one in which the girl was throwing around all her clothes to find something to wear while frustratingly yelling ‘I have nothing to wear!’

And, yes, I had nothing to wear.

Looking at all the clothes thrown onto my bed, I ran a hand through my hair and felt like punching a wall. Before I could do so, though, I looked out of the window and saw Rian standing in his room, questioningly staring at me. Maybe he would know an answer! I really was desperate.

‘Help,’ I mouthed at him, to which he just looked at me more quizzically. Of course, he couldn’t see what I was mouthing. We lived on opposite sides of the road.

I grabbed a notebook and a sharpie instead, drawing each individual letter on one page to spell it out for him. Just writing a note wouldn't work either, hopefully he could read the large letters. I turned the sheets one by one, pressing them up against the window. After going through the sequence twice, he gave me a thumbs up and disappeared. I was almost afraid that he was actually going to come over. However, just a little later I heard the phone ring and my mom came in just another few seconds later.

“Rian’s calling,” she told me as she held the receiver to her chest and looked around at the mess. “Do you have time?”

“Yes,” I stated bluntly and grabbed the phone from her, pushing her out of the room.

“Ok, what do you need?” Rian asked me as I looked out of the window and saw him standing in his room again.

“So, Alex just came to pick me up for our date and he actually looks better than usual. And I need to get to that similar level. Right now I’m not there. And I have a shit load of clothes around me. And I can’t find anything. And I’m out of breath. And I really need help. I can't find anything!” I ranted, using wild gestures as I continued to look at him.

“Ok, ok, calm down,” he slowly said through the phone. “First of all, I didn’t know you guys were going on a date. Why the hell did I not know?”

“It’s been a hectic few days…” I sighed, trying to take a deep breath.

I could see him nod to accept my answer as he continued, “second of all, are you really coming to me for fashion advice? Have you seen me?”

“I’m in dire need, Rian!” I whined.

“Ok, umm… wear the dress when my parents and I came over for dinner to welcome you guys to the neighborhood.”

“Dress I wore when you guys came to dinner?”

“Yeah, the one with the triangles!”

“Oh, the deathly hallows one!” I immediately turned to the few clothes still in my closet and pulled it off one of the racks. “You said you had a girlfriend.”

“What does that have to do with this?” He asked as I held up the dress in front of the window.

“You paid attention to my appearance! How can you know such a detail if it didn’t make an impact on you!”

He interrupted our conversation briefly to say, “yep, that’s the dress,” before continuing with defending himself. “You practically attacked me and offered me a blowjob before telling me you’ve had sex with a shit ton of people. I’m pretty sure I’m mentally scarred. And, yes, I do have a girlfriend. You just never really expanded your horizons to the other people at our table.”

“There’re other people at the table?” I questioned as I sat down to take off my shoes.

“Yes! How did you not-- Oh my god.”

“I don’t pay attention to things I’m not interested in. You could have been sucking face with her and I wouldn’t have seen just 'cause seeing you make out with somebody doesn’t exactly tickle my fancy.”

“Well then--”

“We’ll continue this later, ok?” I took hold of one of my curtains. “Thanks for helping me, but I’ve got to change. I’d rather do that without you looking.”

He said goodbye before giving me a salute as I closed my curtains.

Shortly after, I was bouncing down the stairs to meet up with Alex again. He was sitting on the couch I had been sitting on while my mom was sat on the edge of the recliner. It wasn’t as tense as I had expected it to be. It was more like the usual first-date-pick-up tense. Like I knew what the usual was… I had never experienced it before.

“Ok, I’m ready to go,” I chirped as I grabbed my leather jacket from its hook.

“Awesome,” Alex smirked as he took in my appearance. He stood up and slowly joined me.

“Be back by ten,” my mom ordered as I opened the front door. “If you’re late, I’ll make the decision if there will be a second date or not.”

“Don’t worry,” Alex assured her. “If anything, she’ll be home a little earlier.”

“Don’t say that!” I exclaimed and dragged him away to his car.

The last thing I saw before getting in the passenger seat was Rian giving me a thumbs up through the window that looked out from their living room.

Notes

Ok, so, just a heads up. I'm not writing the actual date. I never planned on writing the actual date. This chapter was more about Mickey bonding with her mom and Rian while bringing Mickey and Alex's relationship into movement. Although the next chapter won't be the date either, there will be more Alickey, Micklex, Gaskings (full credit to Newyork_xo), or anything else you guys come up with (which one you think is the best). So, no need to worry.

If you guys reeeeaaallllyyy do want an actual date to happen, I will happily write it cause I do have a perfect date idea. I just didn't think now was the right time.

Also, it's the season of super long chapters again! I found a pattern. I keep going through phases of short chapters and then long chapters.