It Just Happened That Way

Have you ever had an imaginary friend?

Did you ever find that there was someone there when you were a little lonely?

Did they come with their own personality? Did they have their own physical aspects, a whole different background and lifestyle? Did you want to follow them everywhere? Did they mind?

Did that friend share secrets with you? Did they tell you what they wanted to be when they grew up, or their favorite color maybe? Did you pretend that you were superheroes with that friend and fight ‘bad guys’ when you were stuck inside on a rainy day or maybe just watch TV?

Did your family know about your little friend? Did you ever ask your mom to make them a sandwich along with yours for lunch time, or kiss them goodnight too? Did you get told that you were talking crazy and was sent to therapy? Did you continue talking about them because you knew that they weren’t just a figment of your imagination?

Did you fall in love with this friend from the very beginning? Were there feelings created between you and this being over time that you couldn’t act on because it you didn’t want to scare them away? Did you believe that there was something there, something in your heart that you just felt was right?

Well what if that friend, that person, was real? What if they weren’t just in your mind or in some drawing you did in the first grade? What if they were standing right in front of you in the coffee shop that was right down the block?

What would you do?

Mother dropped me off for a minute or two at the coffee shop while she went to run an errand or something. I'm actually surprised that she had left me alone. I'm never alone. Ever.

For the most part of my life I've been constantly followed and watched because my family and numerous psychiatrists I've had don’t believe that I'm sane. I've been insistent that there was a boy who lived in my bedroom with me and that he is the love of my life and that boy was Mikey.

Mikey’s been the cause of all of my problems. He’s the reason my mother only decided to have one child! She tells people I'm a quiet boy but behind the scenes warns me not to talk to anyone in fear that I might tell them about my little friend! My father doesn’t bother with me and although it’s better than smothering me it still kind of hurts that he doesn’t want to be in my life. Because of Mikey I have meetings with my school counselor twice and week and a therapist every day. I've been put on different pills and medicines and ‘treated’ by different doctors. I live in the confined space of my bedroom with bare walls and plain furniture because mother strives for me to be normal. But I don’t blame him for any of it. In fact, I adore him.

I didn’t have any friends and nobody talked to me other than Mikey. Or, well, he did talk to me. Ever since we’ve hit our teenage years he’s become more and more distant. It broke my heart but I didn’t blame him for that either. He must have been scared of mother and her ways, I know I would have been! I am, actually… But all I wanted to do was protect my Mikey and his stick figure frame. If mother could see him she’d probably snap him in two! It made me glad that she couldn’t for that reason alone.

Along with being ghastly thin Mikey also had glasses that he sometimes liked to keep at the brim of his nose. When he felt like he actually needed to see he always sniffled and then pushed them up which always made me giggle. His mousy brown hair was sometimes jelled up straight, in his face or combed back. Either way he always looked handsome. His tee shirts hung off of his body and belts could barely hold up his super skinny jeans and he always looked amazing. I just wanted to love him. That’s all.

The coffee shop was filled with different people of different shapes and sizes and I was glad. They knew nothing about me and by my appearance they couldn’t assume anything other than the fact that I was here to enjoy a nice steamy cup of caffeine that mother usually wouldn’t let me have! I waited in the overcrowded line and once I got my deliciousness I turned around to go find a seat and wait for mother when I spotted a sight I never thought I'd see outside of my own bedroom.

Mikey.

What was he doing here? From my understandings he couldn’t leave my bedroom never mind my house! I mean, there were no set rules or anything but it just didn’t make sense! Did he follow me here maybe? Could he have somehow slipped away from the keepings of my room and run off to this very coffee shop? Or, more importantly, how the heck did he have a coffee? If nobody could see him, which I've tried to show people who he was before and it’s never worked, then how was he sitting in a coffee shop and with a coffee? He couldn’t order anything or pick anything up and wouldn’t someone have sat on him?

I blinked a few times to make sure I just wasn’t seeing things. It sure looked like the Mikey I knew… I tried to inch closer to analyze his appearance a bit more and I could tell for sure. It was his eyes. Those were definitely Mikey Way’s eyes…

Suddenly he was laughing. At what, I couldn’t tell you, but that only made my conclusion more precise. This was in fact Mikey, the boy of my dreams! He was sitting right in front of me and this could be my chance! If I got to talking to him, then maybe…maybe I could show my mom that he is real and that we are meant to be together! It was a good sign that everyone looked at him when he laughed too. Sure they were looking at him like he was insane, but that was a normal aspect in my life! It happened to me every day!

I straightened my back and attempted to relax my neck. My hands began to shake, which made my coffee also shake a little bit. I bit my lip wring, nervous. I took a deep breath in and held it while I squeezed my eyes tightly and then opened them just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I let it out and decided to do it. I was going to say hi. I walked over and stood behind him.

“M-m-Mikey?” was all the stuttered out of my mouth. I felt like smacking myself! I am such a spaz! His body tensed up, but he didn’t turn around so I did something carefully but quickly. I reached over and touched him! I couldn’t believe that I was actually able to make contact! This has never happened before!

He looked up at me and a gasp escaped his perfect lips. He seemed just as confused and as nervous as I did which was good in a way. I mean, sure, it could have just meant that he didn’t recognize me what so ever and was wondering why in the world some stranger knew his name. Or he could be going through the exact same thing I was at this very moment! I was now excited but my nerves took over and I probably looked like a total mess. He parted his lips…

“Bob?”