That's Not My Name
Alright, so another one of my ideas just hit me a few days ago, and I'm finally getting around to writing it for you guys. The title is based on the song by the Ting Tings, and that's where the idea came from, but that's all they have in common. It's not a true song fic. There is one sex joke near the end, hence the rating, but I trust you didn't just skip ahead to read it. Doesn't make sense without the middle anyway, so ha. Anyway, I've babbled long enough, so go read it already!
Disclaimer: None o' dis stuff be mine except de idea, y'hear?
As Mitchie sat on the couch in her basement room, her mind wandered to thoughts of her many monikers. Mitchie had always been proud of her name. It was unique, she'd never met anyone else who had it. Her mom had wanted something kids couldn't easily make their hurtful nicknames out of, and she'd clearly succeeded. Try as they might, her fellow elementary schoolers couldn't think of anything worse than insinuating that she was itchy, which wasn't so much hurtful as just plain strange and a wee bit comical. Being their only option though, it stuck, and the first name people called her was 'Itchy Mitchie.'
The next name she'd been saddled with had come soon after. At some point during the summer before she started middle school, she'd been home with just her mom, who was busy showering. She didn't remember that day, but according to her older sister Dallas, she'd somehow found her way into Dallas's room, and decided to discover the wondrous world of makeup and beauty products. She'd tried out a little eyeliner, some lipstick, various shades of eye shadows and blush, and then Dallas came home. Imagine her surprise when her little sister was sitting in front of her vanity mirror covered in more colors than a kid who'd vomited an entire pack of Skittles onto himself. She knew, she'd seen that before too, and she'd been told that the rainbow didn't taste nearly as good the second time around. Luckily for her, Skittles had never been a favorite candy anyway, so it was no huge problem to give them up. They were screwy anyhow. What kind of rainbow doesn't include blue? But we were on the names. After that day, Dallas had taken every possible opportunity to call her younger sibling 'Clownie' as a reminder of that very special day. The joke had worn off after a couple of weeks, but it still showed it's ugly and quite colorful head whenever Dallas had trouble thinking of a good comeback.
Strangely, as she thought about it, her mother herself never really used the unique name she'd put so much effort into coming up with for her daughter. Mitchie was always 'my little girl' or 'sweetie' or some other loving pet name. The only time she was 'Mitchie' was when she was wanted specifically, without her sisters. That was usually for discussions about her career though, so that was cool. It was when she heard 'Michelle Devonne Torres!' that she knew to be worried. She was only full-named for serious trouble. It had only come out a few times, but none of them were good. Like the time she and her childhood best friend Josh had been playing catch up and down the stairway and had accidentally broken the light bulb with their ball. That didn't end well. Other times she didn't even deserve it. Once, on a day trip to an old fort up north, they'd been waiting at an intersection. She'd been patiently waiting behind her mother, humming herself a tune, when it rang out.
"What?" she'd inquired, looking quizzically at the woman. Her mother turned around, apparently surprised herself. As she told the story, she'd seen a girl about Mitchie's age, wearing similar clothing, dart across the oncoming traffic and onto the opposite sidewalk. That story was still pulled out whenever she felt like embarrassing her mother or she was blamed for some random offense.
Lots of her fans liked to call her 'Rock Star' when they got to meet her at the concerts she held periodically. Her music had gotten quite popular after she'd moved out to California. With a few of the over-excited female fans she'd even been called 'My Hero' a couple times, a title she still wasn't fully comfortable with. She was definitely glad they saw her as a good influence though. And it was truly better than the male fans. Those who retained the ability to string together sentences without stuttering uncontrollably around her usually just called her 'Babe' or 'Hot Stuff.' It was always a fun time when they were in line.
Her friends at school tended to call her 'Strings' due to her affinity for all things musical, and her tendency to get very stressed out over things at times. Her friend Nate also called her Sonny at least twice a week. Sonny was her twin sister, and Nate seemed to be the only one who couldn't tell them apart. Sonny's boyfriend Shane, Nate's brother, had tried to show him the seemingly obvious differences, a mole here, a different hairstyle there, but he had given up after Nate had failed to get it for an entire month. At times Mitchie thought he might be joking, but if he was he was very accomplished at seeming stupid and innocent, and she didn't think he'd want to act that way all the time if it wasn't truly him. If she was that good of an actress, she certainly wouldn't. She'd be using her talents to help out the tiny drama club her school had. There were like ten people in the thing, and it's extremely hard to get funding or a suitable full length script with such a small number.
Her sister Sonny loved to call Mitchie 'Twinkie', though she pronounced it 'Twin-kie.' She seemed to find it hilarious to name her sister after squishy snack food, and thought herself extremely clever for discovering the slight pun. Mitchie's enthusiasm for the name had worn off after about a week. She was starting to see why puns were the lowest form of comedy, as all funniness was squeezed out of that one joke. She loved Sonny though, so she never said anything. Others seemed to easily pick up on her dislike of the name, and enjoyed using it with the girl around so Mitchie didn't dare to retaliate. Shane in particular always found this hilarious for a few hours until he ran into the practical joke she'd always set for him later the same day. Those usually ended with him all wet. It seemed fitting with his sense of humor.
A charity was her newest project with her newly gained fame and fortune. She'd always wanted to give back, and now had the ability to do so on a larger scale then she'd ever dreamed. The Russo Foundation was started just two months ago with her one million dollar donation. The people there liked to call her a 'great philanthropist' and 'just an all-around good human being.' The truth was, though, that the real inspiration for the Foundation was Alex. Alex had bounced around in foster homes for much of her youth, and though Mitchie was somewhat glad she'd ended up where she had or the two might not have met, Alex had shared stories with her and neither girl wished that life on anyone else. So the Russo Foundation helped all the foster kids they could find good, loving homes.
Alex, the girl who was the reason for the whole thing, was Mitchie's girlfriend, if you hadn't guessed by now. They'd been dating for three years, and Mitchie was very much in love with her. She loved the other girl's spunk, that passion for things she loved and the determination to go after her dreams that not even all those random families had been able to strip her of. It also didn't hurt that she was the most incredibly beautiful person, object, building, work of art, or anything really that Mitchie had ever seen. Alex didn't really have a special name for Mitchie, besides calling her 'Mitch,' or 'hotness,' both names she'd heard before, but they only felt right when Alex's wonderful lips uttered them. No matter what that incredible young woman called her, from 'girlfriend' to possibly 'Bob' if she ever felt crazy, it would truly be Mitchie. She knew her true name, the one that would really stick with her all through life, was whatever Alex would call her.
"Hey," Alex purred, coming up behind her and stroking up her sides while kissing at her neck, "I hear you're the one to come to if a girl wants to have fun."
"Alex," she squealed, standing and smacking the girl's arm, "my family's all upstairs, they'd hear us."
"Aww," Alex whined. "but Twinkie, I wanted to find your cream filling." She smirked over at Mitchie, who instantly felt her face go red and her temperature rise.
"Oh you are so bad." She smiled, striding over to kiss Alex and backing them into her bed so they fell over.
Even when Alex borrowed other people's names for her, they still had special meanings to Mitchie. Of course, the others certainly didn't use those names the same way Alex did. She was awesome that way.
So there's that, which is most likely the last thing I'll be writing this month. You never know though, know that I've started writing the ideas don't seem to want me to stop. I've got a list of them I can't even start on because things keep popping into my head and jumping straight to the front. Anyway, please, for the love of bacon, (that's really serious) push the magic blue button & let me know what you thought. All story and no review makes the Gravy Man a dull boy. ~SGM