Chapter 16: Mikey?

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July woke up the next morning around eleven. She got up and got dressed. She had a mission: go shopping, get clothes, and try to find an auto shop. She knew part of the town now so she shouldn't get lost, or too lost at least. The fact that her pocket was feeling very heavy after the trip to the bank yesterday tempted her, but she going to do her best not to let it go to her head.

She was digging around in her bag when her hand grabbed onto her cell phone. She frowned at it, figuring she'd left it at home. Turning it on, she found she didn't have any text messages, but there were a couple voicemails. She listened to the messages. All four of them were from her 'parents' asking her to come home or at least call them to let them know she was all right. She decided she would call them that evening to stop their worrying; she owed them that at least.

Slipping on her shoes, and grabbing her keys on the way out, she went downstairs and programmed Arnold's phone numbers into her phone just in case she got lost. Checking to make sure she had her wallet on her, she considered herself ready and left the house, headed straight for the mall.

About an hour into shopping, July had already made one trip to her car and was sitting at the food court eating when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"JJ?" the voice on the other end asked. A familiar voice.

"Mikey?" she asked excitedly.

"JJ! Where the heck are you?" Mike asked.

Mike was her best friend from back home. They met each other in the fifth grade and had been best friends ever since. They had a lot of history, maybe more than they should have. They had gone out before and were each other's firsts for a lot of things, but a year after getting together, things were awkward and they both confessed they didn't feel the same anymore. They had broken it off and decided to just be friends again, surprising everyone around when it worked out. They were more like brother and sister than anything now, thick as thieves.

"If I tell you, promise not to freak out?" she asked knowing he was going to freak out anyways.

"Promise."

"Well, right now I'm in the middle of the food court in a mall…in LA." As soon as the last word was out of her mouth she knew she was in for it.

"LA! Are you crazy? What are you doing there?" Mike screamed at her and she flinched reflexively, holding the phone away from her ear for a moment before bringing it back.

"Well, you see I found something out." July took a deep breath and confessed everything to Mile, almost ending in tears.

"Oh JJ, I didn't know," Mike replied, his voice quiet.

"Well, now you do. I'm okay now," she said, Mike scoffing at her. "Well, I am doing better."

"So what's in LA?" he asked after a moment.

"Well, I own a house now, and oh oh, guess what?" she said, excitement infusing her voice again.

"What?"

"Guess who's the owner of not only a Nova, but also an imported Toyota Soarer?"

"No way!"

"Yeah, my real parents owned them so now they're mine."

"You lucky piece of poo," Mike mumbled dejectedly.

"Hey, cheer up. Once I get them running and you come out, I'll let you have a spin."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I still have to work on them though, they have been sitting in that garage for like ten years, so I got my work cut out for me," she added, knowing Mike would be as, if not more, excited about the cars than she was. Mike was about as obsessed with cars as she was. He helped down at the shop sometimes but he wasn't as good as a mechanic as her.

"So LA?"

"Hey, it's not as bad as you think it is."

"If you say so."

"Hey Mikey?" she murmured. July was the only one who got away with calling him Mikey.

"Yeah JJ?" he said, using her nickname.

"How are they?" she asked in a small voice.

"July, I'm not going to lie to you. It's pretty bad. Your parents wouldn't tell me anything so I didn't know why they were all gloomy. Sam closed the shop for the week and Mary hasn't gone to work. They are just sitting at home, I guess worrying about you. You even got me to worry about you," Mike said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh and I bet you didn't sleep at all," July replied sarcastically.

"You know it!"

"So school is starting soon," July prompted.

"Shut up, Miss I-got-to-graduate-early."

"Ha, you're just jealous."

"Damn straight. Now quiet before you make me admit it." Mike took a pause at that. "Wait, damn, you just made me," he added, making her laugh.

July missed this a lot. Mike was really funny and it felt so good to be talking to someone she knew. Thinking about it, she realized everything with Mike was real, none of her memories of Mike were altered and that made her feel better. She had met him in the fifth grade, when I was nine, a year after the accident. She would have hated it any of the memories of Mike were not true.

"It's good to hear your laugh."

"Well it's good to hear your voice," July said, sobering up.

"Hey, there's still like, what, three week till school starts, want me to come down?" Mike asked.

July started to chew on her lip thinking about it. It would be great to have Mike here, even if it were just for a little bit. Mike broke her out of her thoughts when he spoke again.

"Quit gnawing on your lip and tell me to come already."

"How did you know I was chewing my lip?" she asked with a pout.

"July, how long have I known you now and you think I wouldn't know your habits?"

She gave a grumbled. "Fine. I don't know about it though Mike. I don't want you to be wasting money on coming down here."

"JJ, fine, I'm coming whether you want me to or not."

"What about Vanessa?" she questioned, knowing that might be the only thing that would keep him there. Vanessa was his current girl friend and also a good friend of hers. It wasn't that she didn't want Mike to come; it was that she didn't want him to be dropping everything because of her. She didn't want to feel like a burden and it was as if Mike had read her mind when she heard what he said next.

"JJ, don't worry. You aren't a burden to me or to anyone. I'll talk to Vanessa, you know she will understand once I explain to her."

"Mike…don't tell everyone yet, just Vanessa and maybe your mom. Let my parents tell everyone when they are ready. Okay?" she asked. While she was still angry, she didn't want to bring them any more pain.

"Okay."

"I'm going to call them tonight," she admitted.

"Are you going to be okay doing that?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm just going to be talking to them, not seeing them."

"Yeah, but July, don't let them make you feel bad about your decision. I would have done the same thing if I were you."

"I know." July cleared her throat, deciding to change the subject. "So when are you going to come?"

"I'll leave tomorrow, probably be there by Monday and then I can help you on the cars."

Mike and July talked for a while longer, straightening out all the small details. She later hung up with a smile on her face. She was going to see Mike in two days and be working on the cars together. It was enough to put her in a permanently good mood and help her get through shopping.

As she continued shopping, her attention was caught by a tattoo parlor. Biting her lip, she entered the shop and chatted up a guy about getting a tattoo. Ever since she read that her real parents had called her firecracker, she had thought about getting it tattooed, as if it would make the connection she wanted. The man offered her a lot of information and gave her one of his business cards for the future.

After the tattoo parlor, July continued her shopping, and once she was loaded down with bags, she made another stop to her car. While she would have considered herself done, now that Mike was on the way, she wanted to grab a couple more things. She ventured back in, stopping at the last store to buy some CDs and her priciest purchase of the day, a Gamecube, along with a couple of games. She had bought everything she would need and then some.

She realized she had spent more than she ever had in her life, but this would probably be a one time thing, along with the car parts. She usually wasn't one for spending a lot, unless it was on her car, and even then she was picky about what she spent her money on. She was a natural penny pincher, as Mike liked to call her.

She returned home around two and unloaded everything into the foyer. From there, she took things where they went. She put all her new clothes away and then went back downstairs and began putting everything else away. She set up the Gamecube and put the games on the entertainment center next to it.

Looking at the clock, July saw it was almost three.

Crap, Mia is coming over at four to get me!

July raced upstairs, took a quick shower, and dressed into a new pair of black cargo capris and a red tank top. She put on her newly bought black sneakers and stared at her hair in the mirror, wondering what to do with it. She brushed it and decided to leave it down again, running her hands through it so it fell in gently waves down her back.

She dabbed some lip gloss on and then put some black eye liner on. She had just stuck her wallet into the back pocket of her pants when the doorbell rang. Checking herself in the mirror for the last time, she considered herself as good as it was going to get and went to answer the door. Opening the front door, she saw Mia standing there in a pink floral print dress.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Hey."

"You ready?"

"Yeah," July answered, stepping out and locking the door behind her. Mia gave her a smile and began leading her over to her own house.

The walk to her house was too short; before July knew it they were walking through Mia's house to the backyard. The two chit chatted as Mia showed July around downstairs real quick. When they entered the kitchen, Mia passed July a bowl of potatoes salad to carry out. July gripped the bowl nervously as Mia started to open the back and couldn't help but wonder what she had gotten herself into.

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tbc…