When Did Your Heart Go Missing?

My eyes narrowed.

"Why?" I asked nervously. Mikey scratched the back of his head.

"I-I'm here because...because of your mom."

I felt all color drain from my face.

"M-my mom?" I asked. He nodded. "Why? What does she want? What did she say? When did you talk to her? Is she here? She's not here, is sh-"

Mikey cupped his hand over my mouth.

"She called my house earlier this morning," he said softly. My eyes went wide. "Don't worry, my parents don't know about it." I relaxed a bit. "She wants you to take all your stuff out of her house. She threatened to burn them if you don't go before 5 o' clock."

He removed his hand from over my mouth.

"What time is it now?" I asked.

"Twelve," he said. "We could walk there."

"Where's Kelsey?"

"In her room waiting for you."

I nodded and stood from the bed. This is me on autopilot. I'm scared as hell to see my mom again. I'm scared to be alone with Mikey for that one hour it'll take to walk all the way over to my--er, my mom's--house. I think I'm scared generally to live with this heavy heart.

Oh, wait. I don't have a heart anymore.

"Are you okay, Layla?" Mikey asked, coming up behind me as I opened the door.

"Yeah," I breathed, feeling my eyes well up with tears. "I'm fine."

"No."

"Yes."

"I'm not hungry!"

"Miss, you have to eat something."

"No, really, M, I'll starve myself, I don't care."

Kelsey hit me. Mikey laughed.

"Guys, stop," I stated. "I'm just not hungry."

"Are you sure?" M said softly, ready to shove a stack of homemade pancakes down my throat.

"Yes. I'm sure."

"Then let's get going," Mikey said, standing from the couch and extending his hand out to me. I grabbed it hesitantly. Kelsey and M led us out the door, waving at us as we walked together, hand-in-hand, down the street. Once they were out of view, I pulled my hand away from Mikey's.

"So, what did Kelsey say to you?" he asked. "You two were so quiet when you were in her room..."

I smiled.

"Nothing," I told him. When, really, she told me not to let Mikey, Frank, or anyone else for that matter pull her clothes off of my body. I was wearing torn jeans and a simple baby blue tank top (that matched my hair, go figure), but she was still being idiotically protective. She also told me to let Frank make a move and stop "rejecting" him. Because, and I quote, "You'll never find your heart any other way".

"That explains why you look distant and you can't seem to stop smiling," Mikey said sarcastically. "Thank you for keeping things from me. I'm so honored to have such a great friendship with you."

I laughed helplessly. And at the same time, I didn't want to laugh. There was an empty space in my chest and my stomach hurt from not having eaten a decent meal in a while.

"Mikey, it's girl stuff," I stated, knowing just what to say to go along with Mikey's maturity level. His eyes went wide and he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Okay, then," he said. "I don't wanna know."

I smiled. But there was something else eating at me. After a few minutes of walking in silence, I decided to just go for it. It couldn't hurt...could it? I'd been meaning to for a while and, at this point, the tension has demanded it. It's inescapable.

"Mikey?" I said softly. He looked up at me, shooting me one of those cute little smiles. "Do you have feelings for me?"

Awkward...

Mikey's smile faded so quickly, italmost made me feel quilty. His eyebrows furrowed almost angrily and his face turned red. He looked away.

"Didn't I already answer that question?" he said softly, defensively.

"It's not that hard a question to answer again, Mikey," I stated.

He let out a sigh. "I used to like you."

I didn't know whether I should be surprised or flattered.