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"What do I do?" Mickey asked Mandy.
"What're you talking about?" Mandy replied. She had never heard Mickey ask her for help before, causing her to get excited. Mandy was pumped knowing that she could help her favorite brother.
"Don't laugh."
Mandy nods.
"I like this-" Mickey pauses. "Girl. I like this girl and I'm too scared to tell her."
This was true, Mickey is scared, very scared. Of his father, of rejection, plus, he doesn't even know if this guy is gay! Mandy stares for a quick second. She couldn't believe it. Mickey? Asking her advice for a girl? Not only that but in a sweet and innocent way? Impossible!
"Well..maybe a nice gesture! You could buy her flowers? Chocolate?"
"That's stupid and cheesy! I don't think I can anyways."
"What? You steal all the time, but you can't for this girl?"
"No, No." Mickey's cheeks are a tinted red from embarrassed. "I can't tell them in person. That's the problem." Mandy's smile widened. Mickey was ready for her to laugh but instead she let out a quick awe. Mickey stared at the ground, God, could he get any more embarrassed?
"That's adorable!"
"No, it's not! Are you going to help me or what!"
"Calm down stupid, I am. Write it down on a sheet of paper and I can deliver it for you?"
Mickey thought about it. That sounded like a good idea, it was basic, but it could work! Until he remembered a big detail he left out. Ian was not a girl. Mandy couldn't deliver it, she'd know! And he surely did not want any classmates to deliver it for him either.
"That's not going to work either! She'll think you wrote it! Or something.."
Mandy sighed. She was thinking about ideas but couldn't think of anything. I mean what 12 year old has good dating advice anyways?
"Whatever. you'll have to figure this one out on your own, Mick."
Mickey let out a long, frustrated groan.
Mickey arrived at class. So what if he was 10 minutes late? No one likes math anyways!
He sits at his seat acting as if the teacher isn't death staring him. He grabs a mechanical pencil he stole from some girl in art class when she wasn't looking. He looked for a blank spot on his desk to doodle on. He always doodled in class, especially math. I saw something odd around one of his drawings. It was a drawing of a dragon setting some guy aflame. He liked that one and would not stop until he finds out who ruined it. but it wasn't ruined. Instead, he saw a compliment under the dragon's foot.
Hey, I really like this drawing! I wish dragons were real, they're pretty cool.
-Ian
Mickey's eyes grew larger as he thought about it. "-Ian -Ian -Ian" The thought of Ian complimenting HIS drawing? He could feel his head heat up. Then, he thought about Ian. His stupid freckles, messy but really curly red hair, the color of his green eyes (which turned dark blue in certain lighting). A new thought popped up. As he remembered his conversation with Mandy last night, he thought of an idea to confess. He could tell Ian through writing on the desk, Ian doesn't know that he was the artist, right? He thought about other people that sat at his desk but didn't care. He assumed they'd be too busy actually doing math work anyways.
yeah took me all class to draw pretty cool huh
Mickey stared at his response proudly. He shouldn't tell Ian right off the bat, that's just creepy. Well, he is going to confess through his school desk, but that's not creepy! Right?
Ian was in math class, as bored as always. He examined the drawings below him. He had always liked the doodles that were on his desk, always being able to look at new ones every day. He came to the obvious conclusion that this person hated math just as much as him. He liked one drawing in particular. A dragon breathing fire onto an innocent bystander, Ian loves dinosaurs, transformers, superheroes, basically everything overpowering. Dragons included. It had been there for 4 days now, and he stared at it all class. He finally gained the courage and commented on it. Making sure to use correct grammar and spelling, to not be embarrassed of course.
Hey, I really like your drawing! I wish dragons were real, they're pretty cool.
-Ian
He reread it over and over. He felt like Santa when he checks his list twice, except he didn't check it twice, he checked it 6 times. He let out a breath he had not realized he was holding. "Am I really freaking out over this?" He thought. Yes. Yes, he was.
The next day he quickly sat down and searched for his compliment. They replied! He couldn't help the slight smile that spread across his face.
yeah took me all class to draw pretty cool huh
He had to read it a couple times. At first, he read it too fast. There was no capitalization, no punctuation, no commas, nothing. At least Ian didn't have to worry about using any of that correctly anymore. He analyzed the reply. It's a question? "I shouldn't be rude!" He told himself.
definitely! I like dinosaurs too
Ian looked over his response. Over and over, just like yesterday. It's a little short, shorter than he'd like. To make up for that he drew a little dinosaur. It was Blue from Jurassic Park. He liked Jurassic Park, it was one of his top 5 movies. He liked Transformers and Marvel movies as well. Yet, his favorite movie was Scream. Horror wasn't his favorite genre, but he'd watch a horror movie with Lip now and then. Lip found it odd that he favorited Scream. He would bump shoulders with Ian and point to the TV whenever Tatum was on screen. "She hot ain't she?" Ian remembered him saying. That's not why he favored Scream, Ian himself couldn't tell why. Probably something about Billy Loomis. He put his focus back onto the drawing of Blue. It wasn't as good as the dragon, not even close. He thought it was decent enough and decided to try and sleep. He didn't get much, he stayed up with Lip all night until 2 AM. He can't even remember what they spoke about, something stupid most likely.
Mickey, for the first time in 3 months, entered class on time. He sat in his seat like he normally would, though his insides felt like they were doing backflips. Once he saw what Ian wrote he quickly lowered his head to read it.
definitely! I like dinosaurs too
"Dinosaurs? You don't need to ask me twice!" Mickey said under his breath so no one would notice. He picked a blank area and began to draw. The only dinosaur he knew was a T-Rex, so that's what he drew. He finished the sketch, then outlined, colored then shaded, and now he's finished. It was a quick doodle, but it was good. He thought the conversation was good so far, but he didn't want a friend. If he did, he'd threaten someone into being his friend. He held his breath and scribbled.
i made it cute like you
Gross. He couldn't believe he'd write something so..corny. It reminded him of pick-up lines guys in his school with no originality would use to get a girl. It never worked. The drawing wasn't cute either, but he was too lazy to change anything about it. Whatever, if Ian didn't appreciate it he can fuck off. He stared at the dinosaur and thought it was missing something. He tightened his grip on his pencil and added little specks all around its face. "Perfect."
Ian ran into class and quickly sat down, he was the first one there. The teacher looked up and smiled. "You're earlier than usual, is there a reason you look so excited?"
"My sister promised to buy me my favorite game after school!"
"That's sweet, now get out your homework and turn it in the bin."
"Ok."
Ian didn't do his homework, he wasn't getting any games either. Living in a house with Frank you learn to make up lies on the spot. He looked down and saw a new drawing, a dinosaur! It was a T-Rex with a big scaly tail, tiny arms and speckles all over the head. He saw writing to the side and grinned.
i made it cute like you
Eyes wide, he could feel the blush spread over is cheeks and nose. "Were they..flirting??" Anylizing the drawing again he realized something. Were the dots a reference to his freckles? He'd never met anyone that liked his freckles other than Fiona and Monica. His smile widened and his teeth started to show. He quickly covered his mouth and ducked down. He didn't want anyone to see him smiling over writing on a school desk. He thought of what to say then put his pencil on the desk and wrote.
thank you! i can see the freckles
He didn't want to flirt back. What if they weren't actually flirting and meant it as a compliment? He'd just embarrass himself! He sighed. It might just be another girl trying to ask him out. He wasn't the best looking kid, but girls would ask him out every other year. He never really talked to anyone, he didn't make any enemies. He was never mean to anyone, that's probably what attracted them. Or it was his height. He wasn't the tallest, but he was in 4th place. He overheard girls conversating about it once and ranked him 4th tallest. He still had a baby face too. Did that attract them or push them away? He's not sure but he hopes it's the second one. He hopes it's not a girl, but instead a really sweet guy who is too scared to ask him in person. And he was correct. Obviously, he didn't know this yet.
Mickey was beginning to get impatient.
thank you! i can see the freckles
Are you kidding? That's it? Even after the obvious flirting? Mickey couldn't take it anymore. The suspension of having to see what he replies with was killing him.
go the dugout at 7 pm tomorrow
Mickey stared at his response. Seemed kind of forceful, but who cares? It was straightforward, it got to the point, what else could he have written? He frowned, realizing he had to spend the rest of today and until 7 PM tomorrow until he could see Ian privately. So much for getting rid of suspension.
Ian happily skipped into the classroom. He wasn't as early as yesterday, but that's because he and Lip hung out in the bathroom. He dropped down into his seat quickly, almost falling off. He looked down with a small smile.
go the dugout at 7 pm tomorrow
What? Ian was uneasy. They had only been talking to each other for what, 5 days? He doesn't know who it is! He grabs a blank piece of paper and writes down the pros and cons.
PROS CONS
Cute guy You're getting kidnapped
A friend? They're a murderer
Some girl Some girl
Free drawing classes It's a prank
They don't show up
Ok..so what if there are more cons? It might be southside Chicago but how BAD could it really go? He might never be seen again but it might be his only chance to socialize. Or at least change his life a bit. Ian takes a deep breath in then out.
7:19 PM
Mickey sits on the floor of the dugout wearing an oversized hoodie. It's the best thing he could find if he needs to hide himself from embarrassment. It's been 20 minutes and no sign of Ian. Mickey stares at the ground disappointed, maybe his expectations got too high? He zones out, noticing all the messy dirt marks baseballs players left behind. He jumps when he hears nearby footsteps. Are they Ian's, or some 8th grader stopping by for a smoke? Mickey's heart starts racing. he doesn't know if he should get up and greet them or stay in the same position. He pussied out and stares and the ground intensely. Ian walks around the corner and looks at the blob of black clothing on the ground.
"Hey, sorry for being late. My older sister made me stay for dinner."
Mickey's nerves calm down. Thank God it wasn't some rando.
"I uh- I never caught your name?"
Mickey looks up and Ian's eyes widened. Mickey? Milkovich? The kid everybody in school does their best to avoid? Mickey can tell his cheeks are a bright red, he can feel it. He's relieved the dark blue shade of the night hides that.
"Mickey."
"What'd you invite me here for?"
Ian walks over to Mickey and sits down beside him. Mickey looks to the side, Ian's head is tilted with a grin that makes his freckles bunch up together on his cheeks. He'd never seen those freckles so close up before, he'd only seen them from across the hallway whenever they crossed paths. Or if he pasts the Gallagher house and finds him and his older brother (Chip? Whatever) outside swimming or playing catch.
"I wanted to say thank you for complimenting my drawings..but in person this time."
"Course' dude! They're cool as shit, think you could draw Optimus Prime sometime? He's my favorite Transformer."
"Sure. Gonna need a reference though."
"Lip's got a laptop, I can show you a picture later."
Ian turns away and looks forward. Mickey, confused, does the same.
"Member' when you pissed on first base?"
"Shit, you heard about that?"
"Heard? I was playing second! Had the best laugh of my life. Too bad you got kicked out."
"Yeah."
"Ya' know, I think people overreact about you."
"What'd you mean by that?"
"You're not mean or scary like people say you are. You're actually really nice, they're just pussies."
Mickey looked back down at the ground then back at Ian. Ian notices and turns back, the same smile still glued on.
"Have you ever-" Mickey clears his throat. "Er- dated anyone?"
Ian's eyes open up wide.
"What?" He says while chuckling. Mickey doesn't answer. Ian notices he might be uncomfortable, or embarrassed.
"Nope. Never found the right guy." Ian says fluently, not realizing what he had said.
"Guy?"
His eyes shoot open in realization.
"Shit, I uh- listen don't tell anyone ok? Nobody knows, not even Lip!"
Ian tenses up, he starts breathing heavily, stuttering on words. Mickey doesn't know what to do, he's never been in a situation like this before. The closest thing he can relate this to is comforting Mandy when she cries, but that's his sister! Not his crush!
"I like you."
Ian stops talking and stares at Mickey.
"What?"
"I like you and I have for a while now but I was too scared to tell you in person. When you said my drawing was cool and I took the opportunity which somehow gave me the confidence to do..well, this."
Ian's breathing normalizes and his eyes start to rest, as well as his body. He tilts his head slightly and a smile spreads across his face.
"I like you too Milkovich."
"You do?"
"Course' I do!"
Ian leans in and pecks him on the lips. They scooch next to each other and talk for hours until Ian has to go home before Fiona starts getting worried.
Soon, this became a habit, and they would go to the dugout after school almost every day.