Thursday, December 10, Gifted and Talented

Michael had skipped for what might have been – was – the first time in his life, and he couldn't have cared less. Did skipping to work on a project really count anyway?

He'd passed Lilly on the way to the Computer Lab and asked her to make an excuse for him in G & T. She'd agreed for the hefty price of getting his room once he went to college, and he had only said yes because he knew she would have gotten it anyway as soon as he had one foot out the door.

There really was no controlling his little sister.

He plugged in the access cable for the internet, as well as the power cord, and waited as his laptop connected. It announced its success with a bright trill and Michael eagerly searched for the forum he so desperately needed.

Mia's program was nowhere near finished and there was already a bug that caused it to crash halfway through the sequence. He didn't want to be midway through spilling his guts only to have the program go on the fritz and leave him hanging.

Michael thanked every divine being he could think of when he found a guy named GoblinKing who'd had the same problem and knew how to fix it. He saved the username for a spot in his e-zine to thank the guy after this had all blown over.

As his laptop downloaded the linked software patch, he glanced over at his notebook that he had cast off on the desk. The lab was empty, dim except for the glow of his laptop and the sunlight breaking in past the closed blinds, and so no one but he was around to see his sketches for Mia's palace.

He'd drawn trees and flowers and paths and walls and turrets and...it needed something more. Michael wanted to tell her how he felt, not just give her something pretty, and as he looked at the page of sketches and ideas, he had a brainwave.

He searched through his bag for a pencil, and as soon as one was in his hand he took it up and sketched in a little scroll-like banner.

He felt himself smile.

"Roses are red, violets are blue... Yes. You may not know it...but I...like? No...love you too..."

He'd cracked it.