Telescope Eyes

Micah sighed, tossing the latest issue of Nylon magazine to her bedside as she sat up to look at her best friend who was rummaging through her closet. Clothes were flying everywhere and the brunette kept huffing and groaning, making a complete disaster of Micah’s room.

“Addie, it’s not even that big of a deal,” Micah heaved, lying on her back. “It’s just a small house show. Everyone we see on a daily basis is going to be there.”

“Not a big deal?” Addison squealed. “Micah! I have just been dumped by the lead singer of the band we’re seeing tonight. I have to look perfect so I look like less of a fool.”

The blonde huffed and pulled herself from her mattress, walking to her closet. She grabbed a pair of green skinnies and a button up shirt, throwing it to her best friend. “Wear black flats and curl your hair,” Micah said, watching the brunette’s eyes light up.

“With a black clutch,” Addie responded, pulling the pants over her thin legs and discarding her exes’ ratty old band tee. “You’re so right. Man, this is why we’re best friends.”

“Totally the only reason too,” she giggled, nudging the girl as she fell onto the sheets next to her.

“Asshole,” Addison laughed, running a hand through her hair and sighing. “Do you think John is going to meet a new girl soon and move on?”

Micah shrugged, “I mean, eventually it’s probably going to happen, I guess. But you and John have this weird thing where you break up and get back together like, everyday,” she chuckled. “I’m sure you guys will work something out by the end of the weekend.”

Addie stayed silent for a moment before smiling weakly, “I hope you’re right.”

Micah looked at her phone, waiting for a text from Eric telling her to head to the party they were playing at. She just wanted to get to the show so she could stop talking about John and Addie’s break up.

John had told her when he dumped her that he needed someone else for a while. He didn’t want to spend all of high school with one girl—he was ready to try something new.

He didn’t tell her that he wanted Micah, and neither did she. Addison didn’t need to know and neither did Eric.

It would cause a mess and Micah knew John would move on quickly. He was John O’Callaghan; he had a line out the door. And she had Eric, and she was more than happy with that.

“Is Eric excited for tonight? Do you know what they’re even going to play?”

Micah smiled thinking about her boyfriend, he was more than excited. He hadn’t been able to shut up about this party for weeks now—it was all he could think about. “He’s so excited, it’s adorable,” she grinned. “John mentioned that he had a few songs but that was a while ago. I know they just talked about doing a lot of cover songs. He and Eric were working on something new last night though.”

Truth was, Micah hadn’t talked to John much since she got back with Eric. He seemed to be a hermit since his split with Addison. Eric said they’d have millions of new songs because all their friend was able to do these days was sit in his room, get baked, and write. He was obsessed. It was just going to depend on if John felt comfortable enough sharing them, and knowing John, Micah wasn’t so sure he would.

John wasn’t a very open person. Sure, he was popular, charismatic, and fun—but no one really knew him as well as she did. He didn’t really let people in and as Micah watched him tapping his foot anxiously in front of the small group of people they were now with she knew he was most likely not going to play his own songs.

The look of fear in his eyes as he stared at the floor nervously wouldn’t allow him.

Micah smiled as Eric came up and grabbed her hands, giving her a sweet kiss. “Well, hello there, baby girl,” he smiled, pulling her into him.

“How you feeling?” She asked quietly, feeling nerves racking off of his body.

A chill ran through the boy and he smiled sheepishly, “I’m a little scared.”

Micah cupped his cheek and grinned reassuringly, “You guys will do great. I know you will. And I’ll be right there if you get too nervous,” she smiled, pointing to the couch to the left of the makeshift stage Trey had made in the houses’ living room.

“I love you,” Eric said softly, kissing her nose and taking a seat next to John, who was still staring at his shoes.

The shaky boy guided his eyes towards hers, looking at her silently. Micah smiled weakly and gave him a nod before following his gaze to a girl who was walking towards him. She watched as the girl gave him a kiss on the lips before looking to Addison who was staring blankly at the two.

Addie walked over and fell onto the couch next to Micah, grabbing her hand softly. “Well, that was quick,” she sighed, looking at her lap.

Micah squeezed her best friend’s hand reassuringly before looking back to her friends and listening to the sound of guitar strings.

The mystery girl John had kissed walked over to the side of the couch, standing close to Addison. She gave him a shy smile and tucked her hair behind her ear. Micah was surprised; she wasn’t John’s normal type. She wasn’t slutty or overly confident. She seemed sweet and genuine—or at least that was the way she carried herself.

“Hey guys, thanks for coming tonight,” John spoke nervously. “I uh, this is my first time doing this so don’t be mad if we sound like shit.”

Everyone laughed, and Eric started strumming the chords to an old Tom Petty song. The set went on for about a half hour before it was coming to their last song and Micah couldn’t have been more proud of the boys. Although they were nervous they played well and John’s voice sounded perfect—a sweet rhythm of rasp and melody.

“This is going to be our last song. This is one I actually wrote myself. If you don’t like it, well, you can kiss my ass,” John smiled, staring at the ground. “It’s called Undressing the Words.”

Micah sat up excitedly, anxious to hear the new song. John had always shared his rough stuff with her but she’d never actually heard one of his songs completed. Eric started strumming and John’s foot tapped. He closed his eyes and grabbed the ends of his overgrown hair, brushing it out of his eyes.

“Oh, this suggestion may be a bit suggestive but I've had it on my mind all night. And you're attentive but you're dying for attention; girl it takes two just to feel alright,” he sang, causing Micah to smile.

“It isn't real if it's just one night. I'm tryin' real hard. Oh, just be real. The love on my lips, sweetheart, I'm sorry but you're not the first. With lust in my eyes I'll be undressing you with every word.”

Micah looked to her boyfriend who was quietly singing along with John, but giving her a wide smile. He looked so happy—she had only seen him this happy once before and that was the day he told her he loved her.

Micah tore her gaze away from her boyfriend when Addison nudged her side, whispering in her ear. “Who do you think this is about? Me or her?”

“I think I'm coming onto to something quick. My words are flyin' right over your head. Oh, there's a lot more to it than this. I'm not just tryin' to get in your bed.”

It made sense to be Addison—he wanted something real with her and he showed that through a relationship. But maybe, it applied to the new girl? Maybe he wanted something real with someone else.

But, with the odd way his eyes lingered over Micah’s body, she really wasn’t sure it was about either of them.

”With lust in my eyes, I’ll be undressing you with every word.”

Micah shrugged her shoulders and gave her worried best friend a sympathetic smile, assuring her it would be okay. John and Eric gave their thanks before being swarmed by people in the house, mostly girls.

“Come on, let’s get a drink,” Micah smiled, grabbing Addie’s hand and leading her to the kitchen. She made a drink with Malibu and orange juice before handing it her friend. “Tonight is going to be fun. Now, stop worrying and drink.”

Addison nodded her head before drinking half the glass. “She’s not even that pretty right? Like, I’m prettier?”

“Yes, but that is the last thing I’m going to say about her, okay?” Micah instructed. “We’re going to find you a cute boy to dance with and forget about the rest of this.”

“What’s this I hear about finding a cute boy?”

Micah laughed and turned to the voice, being met with Kennedy Brock. “We said cute Kennedy, not delusional,” she giggled.

Kennedy laid his hand across his chest, “I am offended!”

Micah smiled and kissed his cheek softly, “Make Addison smile, I’m going to go find my boyfriend.”

She could hear Kenny using pathetic pickup lines on Addie to try and make her smile as she walked away, and she felt a little better when she heard her best friend chuckle a bit.

Micah found the boy she was looking for and wrapped her arms around his body, hugging him from behind. She leaned up and kissed his neck gently, causing goose bumps to rise on his skin. “Hi, I’m looking for the guitarist that just played,” she whispered in his ear. “He was extremely attractive and I just have to have him…now.”

Eric grinned and turned in her arms, wrapping his own hands around her back. “Well, I don’t know how to tell you this miss, but he is taken.”

Micah pouted, “Is he really? How unfortunate. I really wanted to do some nasty things with him.”

He grinned and kissed her lips before grabbing her hand and pulling her outside to sit on the sidewalk. They took a seat, Micah leaning into his side as he put an arm around her shoulder. “So, how did we do? Honestly.”

“You guys did really well,” Micah answered, looking at him comfortingly. “I was very, very proud to be your girlfriend.”

Eric blushed and looked down at his shoes, playing with some dirt using the tip of his Converse sneaker. “Did you like John’s song?”

She nodded her head. She was proud of him for playing something of his own—courage was what made an artist. “Yeah, it sounded really good,” she replied. “Addison is freaking out about it.”

Eric chuckled, “Of course she is.”

“Who was the girl with John anyways?” Micah asked, curious as to her the new woman in his life was, and why he hadn’t bothered to tell her about the mystery girl.

“Her name is Molly. He met her at the grocery store I guess,” he laughed. “His mom made him go shopping for her and he came back with a new girlfriend.”

“Lucky dog, that never happens to me,” Micah joked, nudging her boyfriend in the side.

“I wasn’t aware you were on the market,” Eric laughed. “I’ll try to set you up sometime.”

“That’s so sweet,” she giggled, kissing his jaw gently. “So, was the song about Molly then?”

He shrugged, “I don’t really know. He started writing it the day he and Addison broke up…so I mean, I guess it’s about her. I didn’t really ask. It’s his business. We don’t really talk about that shit.”

“Boys are so weird,” Micah sighed, laying her head on his shoulder.

“Why do you say that?” Eric chuckled, looking down at her.

“You guys don’t talk about shit. Like, you guys don’t have heart to hearts with your best friends. You smoke weed and play music, that’s all.”

Eric smiled, “I don’t understand what’s so bad about that. I’m not going to tell John everything. I mean I tell him a lot about my family and our common friends and such, but like, I’m not going to tell him everything about you and I.”

“I tell Addison everything though and it’s not a problem,” Micah replied.

“I guess, but like, I don’t want John to fall in love with you,” he chuckled. “If I told him everything I knew about you it wouldn’t be special to me because John would have it too. You know what I mean? He doesn’t tell me the things you two talk about either and that’s fine.”

“Don’t you ever get jealous or anything though?” Micah asked, sighing.

“Of John?” Eric asked.

Micah nodded her head slowly, somewhat quiet. Eric had reason to be jealous of John, he just had no idea he should have been. Was he anyways though?

“I mean, of course I am,” he sighed, shrugging his shoulders. “I trust you though. It’s not a jealousy that like, I’m scared you’re going to cheat on me. I’m just scared he’s going to realize that he loves you so much.”

Micah’s gut tightened. “What do you mean loves me so much? The way he loves me is…platonic.”

Eric chuckled softly and looked down at his shoes. “Right. Strictly platonic.”

“Why did you scoff?” She asked worriedly.

He sighed and stood up, brushing his butt off. “Nothing, let’s go inside.”

“Talk to me, Eric,” Micah instructed, feeling upset. Did he know something that wasn’t aware of?

“It doesn’t matter, Mic,” he groaned, stepping towards the house.

Micah grabbed both of his hands, forcing him to look at her, “Eric Halvorsen, speak to me. We promised we would talk to each other more…”

Eric took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Micah, you think I don’t see the way he looks at you? You don’t think I don’t worry every single day that you’re going to realize how good you guys work together? I worry every god damn day about losing you.”

Micah frowned at the boy and looked down to her ripped Toms. “I’m sorry,” she whispered gently.

The boy sighed and pulled her into his arms hugging her tightly. “Baby, don’t be. You haven’t done anything wrong—neither of you have. This is why I didn’t want to have this talk. It’s not important. I know you love me, okay?”

She nodded her head guiltily, burying her face in his chest. She wanted to tell Eric, she should tell him but she couldn’t—it would ruin everything. “I love you too much,” she whispered, kissing his lips fully.

Maybe sometimes you had to lie in order to protect the ones you loved.