Michelle "MJ" Jones
"Be careful what you wish for." That saying was right under "expect disappointment" on my list of Mottos, Idioms, and Sayings to Live By (trademark pending).
During my junior year and after the blip, I decided to make more of an effort to make real friends, something I wanted to do for a long while. I got close to Ned, Betty, and Peter (even if I have no original pre-Spell memories with the latter). I got a bit closer to my fellow AcaDeca teammates. And what do you know? I actually made genuine friends. The downside to it all, though, was that I became something I did not want to become.
I became popular.
Over time, my reputation changed. I was no longer that weird super feminist left wing girl who did a wide range of things like keeping a record of secrets of everyone at school or leading a coven. I was now that weird super feminist left wing girl who was actually cool when people got to know her. And I didn't mind it at first. People wanted to be my friend, which was… cool, I guess. I was still on my guard most of the time, but I was able to sift through those who had good intentions and those who had ulterior motives. The problem was, there wasn't many places at school I could go to when I wanted some alone time. The roof was the only place there was, really. Within that problem was something even more annoying – I caught the eyes of many a guy and even a few girls. So many times I had to tell people no. Half the reason was because I just wasn't interested in them like that… and because, though I didn't quite know it at the time, I was hung up on this new regular who introduced himself by his first and last name and would turn out to be my boyfriend I didn't remember because of a spell. Other times, there would be something about them that would put me off.
Brad fit both categories.
See, most of the time, whenever I tell someone no, they get the hint. But Brad wasn't most people. He was like that one character you'd see in a high school show – the one who keeps asking out the girl over and over, hoping she'll finally say yes. More often than not, he'd try different ways to get close to me. AcaDeca was looking for new members? Brad tried out. It becomes known that I like to read up on infamous murderers? Brad is all of a sudden talking to me about The Son of Sam. I talk to Ned and Betty about a book I'm reading? Well, you can guess who suddenly had a copy of that same book the next day or so.
Had Brad's interest in my interest been genuine, maybe I wouldn't have been so annoyed. But I could tell it wasn't. He was only taking an interest because it was a means to an end, like devoting time to study for a class you didn't like so you could pass. He was just looking for an in with me, and he tried over and over again. As much as I wanted to, I never went off on him. Part of it was because I didn't like making a scene. Part of it was because, despite my gut feeling telling me otherwise, I figured he wasn't a bad guy, just misguided.
Well, tonight was the night that Brad went too far.
I was waiting with Craig, Ned, and Betty while Kitty was off helping Peter with the stain on his jacket when I heard Brad's voice.
"MJ!" I heard him call out. I looked over at him, seeing him walking quickly towards me. He had this look of… urgency on his face. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ned move to my right side. Ah, Ned. He was a dork on par with The Loser, but he was a great friend. I would have smiled at that, but Brad looked like he had something major on his mind. Once he reached me, he stopped in front of me. "MJ, I need to talk you about something urgent! It's about Peter!"
"Something happened to him?" Craig asked from behind me. I myself stiffened up. A million things came across my mind. Was he and Kitty attacked? Was he injured? Brad spoke again.
"No… well yes, but… this is something I need to tell MJ… alone."
"Dude, that sounds sketch," Ned spoke up.
"It's not, I promise."
I eyed Brad for a moment. I then tilted my head briefly. "Okay," I said.
"Alright, just follow me," Brad stated. He turned and walked. I followed him. I looked over my shoulder my friends, seeing the worried looks on their faces. I nodded at them before I faced forward.
We walked out of the gym. We kept on walking until we were at the doors that led to the football field. After he opened the door, he beckoned me to walk through. I did. After that, I looked over at him as he kicked a rock in the doorway, keeping the door propped open.
"So what's the deal with Peter?" I asked. Brad looked at me and frowned.
"I don't know a delicate way to say this, MJ, but… Peter is a scumbag," he finally said.
I blinked a couple of times. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Peter is a scumbag. I saw him in the bathroom with another woman. As a matter of fact, it was one your friends – the one with the red jacket."
"…Is that so?" I didn't believe him.
"I can prove it. I snapped a picture!" Quickly he pulled out his cellphone. After going through his phone, he showed me the screen. Sure enough, there was a picture of Kitty and Peter in a bathroom, hugging. I took in every bit of detail of the picture – every last bit of it.
I blinked once… and suddenly, I wasn't at Midtown High School. I was somewhere in Europe – I want to say it was London. We were definitely at a train terminal. It took me a moment to remember. This was the Europe trip I was on, put together by the school. Ned was right next to me. Everyone was looking at Brad. I blinked once more. I was back in the present, staring at the screen.
"Are you okay, MJ?" Brad asked as he put his phone away. "I know this must be hurtful and all. If you need a minute…"
"I… don't," I said, shaking my head, clearing my mind of what I just saw. That was weird, but it wasn't important at the moment. No, what was important was this conversation. I took in a breath. "Well, that settles it. I'm going to march right in there and I'm going to tear Peter and Kitty a new one."
Brad tilted his head. For a moment, I saw the brief smirk on his face that he was trying to hold back. He thought his plan worked. "Are you sure?" Oh, look, he even sounded a bit concerned. If this was a high school movie, I'd be the dummy who'd piss away a good relationship over something that could've been easily solved with critical thinking skills.
I smiled widely, deciding to play along for a bit. "I am positive. And after I do that, I'll go home with you."
Brad's eyes went wide for a moment. He then smiled. "Really?"
I nodded, wide smile still on my face. "Really, Brad. We'll make love until the sun rises. We'll go off to college together. We'll get married, have kids, and grow old together. We'll live happily ever after." I quickly wiped the smile off of my face as I glared at him. "Is that what you're expecting?"
Brad's eyes went wide again as his smile disappeared. He slowly shook his head. "I-I-I-I don't know what you mean. I was j-j-just…"
"'The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world'." I crossed my arms. "Do you know who said that?"
Brad looked at me in confusion. "That's… That's George Orwell," he said slowly. He got it on the first try, and rather surely, too. I was almost impressed.
"You got it." I nodded. "I'm going to be honest with you, Brad. Ned is right. This is sketchy."
He chuckled nervously. "There's nothing sketchy going on, I assure you!" I almost smiled. He was starting to crack already.
"Well, you have me here, away from everyone else, showing me a picture of my boyfriend and one of the few friends I have outside of Midtown hugging. Now, Peter and Kitty are not here to defend themselves. However, you're here, so what about you, Brad? Why do you think it's cool to take pictures of people in the bathroom?"
Brad started sputtering. "I-I-I-I-I was just using the bathroom w-w-w-w-when I saw them k-kissing and stuff and… And…"
"A likely story," I deadpanned as I sneered. "It's almost believable. But, you see, the problem with your story is that those are clearly the stalls in the background, which is basically the first thing you see when you enter the bathroom. Add to the fact that I know Peter and Kitty well enough to know that they wouldn't backstab me like that, and well, your math is not mathin'!" I bowed my head slightly, still glaring at him hard. "You know what I think, Brad? I think you saw Peter and Kitty leave. I think you followed them to the bathroom and snapped a picture of them when they weren't paying attention. I think you quickly hauled ass to find me. And I think you brought me all the way out here as quickly as possible so Peter and Kitty wouldn't see me leave with you, probably because you think you might've got caught."
Brad was at a loss for words. He tried to speak again. "…I can… You see…" He was looking sheepish as he continued to sputter. I closed my eyes briefly and took in a breath. I was done. I didn't know if he was purposely being malicious or if he was just a misguided idiot. I didn't care either way. Believing one or another didn't change the fact that I needed to put Brad in his place and set a boundary – something I should've done a long time ago.
"Brad, just shut up!" Brad quickly went silent. I scowled at him. "Brad, I almost don't even know where to begin with you. Time and time again, you tried shooting your shot at me, and time and time again, I said no. A part of me thinks it's my fault. Maybe I had too much faith in you eventually getting the hint. Maybe it was too much to expect you to realize that what you're doing is not cool. Maybe I should've told you off somewhere between Attempt 3 and Attempt 40!"
And of course, Brad took this time to speak up again. "I asked you out that many times?"
"Brad," I said through my teeth. "Interrupt me again, and I'll kick you in the dick so hard that even your pelvis will be fractured!" He quickly shut his mouth. "Anyway, you didn't get the message. Instead, you kept pushing. Fast forward to tonight, and what do you do? You basically stalked my boyfriend and someone I consider a sister through the halls, waiting for an opportunity to snap a picture that makes them look scummy. And you show me this picture, thinking I'll fall for it hook, line, and sinker like an idiot!" I huffed out a breath. "Not only are you being a fucking creep, you basically shitted all over my intelligence. So you know what? Do me a favor. Stay away from me, and stay away from my friends! I want nothing to do with you!"
"But MJ – "
"Only my friends can call me MJ! And you just lost that right!"
With that, I stormed off. I went through the door and purposely kicked the rock away. I kept on walking, breathing in and out to get myself to calm down. The only thing I wanted to do was find Peter and…
"MJ!"
Speak of The Loser.
I stopped in my tracks and looked to my left to see Peter coming down the intersecting hallway, along with the rest of my fellow American Idiots. I turned and walked towards him. As we walked towards each other, Peter spoke.
"Look, MJ, I don't know what Brad told you," Peter started to ramble out. "But please believe me! Kitty and I would never – "
I didn't let him complete his statement. He didn't need to. As soon as I was close enough, I grabbed the sides of head and crushed my lips against his. It took a moment, but he moved his lips against mine. I kept kissing him for God knows how long before I pulled away. I took in his expression, seeing how dumbfounded he was.
"It's handled," I declared.
"…Oh." Peter took in a breath before he nodded. "Okay."
"Are you okay?" Kitty asked in concern.
I looked at her. "No, not at that this moment." I looked over my shoulder. "I dropped the hammer on Brad."
"How badly?" Betty asked.
I looked forward at her and grimaced. "He lost 'MJ' privileges."
"Oh shit!" Ned chuckled out as Betty mouthed a "wow".
"Will you be okay?" Craig asked. "If you want to dip, just say the word. We can do something else for the rest of the night."
"No," I said with a shake of my head. "I'm not going to let Brad ruin our night."
Emphasis on "our night".
Had it not been for the others, I probably wouldn't have been here. I probably would have been at home, reading a book, watching some documentary, or just drawing in my sketchbook. But, I was here mostly for my friends. I wanted Peter, Craig, and Kitty to have some semblance of an eventful senior year of high school, something they were robbed of for reasons beyond their control. I wanted Ned to have that group date he's been wanting for a while. I wanted Betty to see us have fun. And I wanted to create memories with them.
Well, shit, I'm actually sentimental.
Don't tell the others.
Oh, who I'm kidding? They probably already know that.
"Okay," Craig said. "Let's go back in shall we." The six of us walked back towards the party. During the walk, Craig pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. After he checked it, he looked back towards us. "Hey, DJ Veras is about to slow things down a bit. Is there any song request y'all got?"
"I say MJ should decide," Kitty suggested. She looked over at me. "Go ahead."
I frowned. "Are you sure?" I asked. "Because what I have in mind… I don't know…"
"Go for it," Peter urged. He took my hand in his own and gave it a squeeze. I looked at him. "We'll dance to whatever you choose." I turned my face away and looked towards the ground. I was warm in the face, because of course The Loser could make me blush with such a simple statement.
"Okay," I relented. I looked over at Craig and told him my request. He sent the text. By the time we reached the door to the gym, he got a reply. He gave me a thumbs-up. I smiled as we returned to the dance. The song that DJ Veras was playing had come to an end. A few moments later, my request played. Realizing that I was still holding Peter's hand, I pulled him along. "Come on, Loser."
Peter walked with me until I found an empty spot on the dancefloor. After that, we held each other. Peter's hands were on the small of my back. My forearms were resting on his chest as my hands were laced together against the back of his neck. We moved slowly, just as the lyrics began.
This world will never be what I expected
And if I don't belong, who would have guessed it?
I will not leave alone everything that I own To make you feel like it's not too late, it's never too late
"Are you having a great time?" I asked Peter.
"I am," he replied. "You?"
"I'm having the time of my life."
Peter smiled at me. He then tilted his head up and closed the gap between our faces before he gave me a small kiss. I smiled against his lips as I kissed him back. I then pulled away and rested my forehead against his. As I slowly swayed with him, I forgot about Brad. Instead, I was savoring this moment. And how could I not? So much was thrown at me the last few weeks. I reconnected with Peter. I had to cope with the fact that Peter had memories of our time together that I no longer had because of The Spell. I befriended superheroes, one of which I sort of helped rescue. And because of all that, I was now involved in a world where, at any given time, I could be dragged out of wherever I am by some government agents – or, at least, that's' what my paranoia is telling me.
It was a lot.
The world we knew won't come back
The time we've lost can't get back
The life we had won't be ours again
But I wasn't thinking about any of that at the moment. The only I was thinking about was Peter and how happy he looked. Gently, I rubbed the tip of my nose against his. I pulled my face away, seeing him smile widely. I smiled back him.
Even if I say, "It'll be all right"
Still I hear you say, you want to end your life
Now and again we try to just stay alive
Maybe we'll turn it all around, 'cause it's not too late, it's never too late
As far as I was concerned, this was our moment in time.
After the song ended, I pulled him into a hug and held him tight against me.
"I love you, Tiger," I said into his ear.
"I love you, too, Em," he replied.
