Chapter 4: The Silence

Michelle awoke the following morning with a heavy heart. She looked to her side and saw Skips still holding her hand and she was comforted slightly, but she knew that it wouldn't be enough. It's going to take more than his hand to heal the pain I've had to endure for so long, Michelle thought sadly. Michelle wouldn't say anything though. She wouldn't give any indication that anything was wrong. She would smile and act like everything was working her way. That always worked for her in the past. Of course, as soon as she eased the pain in her heart by pretending to be happy, she'd find herself with another man. Time would pass and she would be alone and the cycle would begin again. I don't want the cycle to continue, but I also don't want to worry anyone. What do I do? Michelle thought.

As Michelle's worried thoughts swirled around her head, she felt the yeti by her side shift in his sleep. She smiled thoughtfully. One step at a time. The words of Michelle's father came into her head. He would always tell her 'One step at a time.' Michelle smiled and decided to break the cycle and do the one thing she had feared doing all this time. "Skips... Skips... wake up," said Michelle, shaking the yeti softly.

"Huh? What? Is something wrong, Michelle?" asked Skips, worry in his voice. Wait, why did that come out like that? I barely know her and I'm worried for her, thought Skips.

"No, no, Skips, nothing's wrong. It's just that I have something to tell you," she said. Skips was so compelled by her tone that he waited silently for what she had to say. This took Michelle off the trail of confidence. Her words were no longer coming as easy as she had planned. "Uh... well... you see I... you..." Michelle sighed heavily, feeling defeated. She took a deep breath and let out words she hadn't wanted to say, but were fitting enough to satisfy her for the moment. "Could you please ask the doctor if I can go home?"

"Where would you stay?" Skips wanted to offer his home, but that seemed too much. Michelle, on the other hand, wished he had asked.

"I don't know, Skips... I'm not the type to take anything unless offered."

Skips thought a moment. Then, he smiled when the idea came to him. "Wait, maybe there is a place for you and Renae to stay."

"What did you have in mind?"

"The park house has a spare room. I'm sure if I talked to Pops and Benson that they'd let you stay there until you found another place."

"That'd be great, Skips!" She wrapped her arms around his neck in an embrace. Skips was shocked at first, but just as he was about to return it, Michelle pulled away sheepishly. "I'm sorry, that was overstepping."

"Eh, it's fine." He smiled and got up to leave.

"Skips..."

"Yeah, Michelle?"

Michelle held her tongue again. Instead she said, "Thank you."

"No problem." With that, he left and Michelle was alone.

Michelle was soon released from the hospital with a clean bill of health (amazingly). Skips, Renae, and she headed back to the park to find some strange things going on. Apparently, Mr. Maellard had heard about the explosion of the bus and was making sure this would not cause him bad publicity. When he found out Michelle and Renae were fine, he was in a better mood.

"Well, Michelle, I'm glad you and your friend are all right. If you have any more problems like this, be sure to give me a call," said Mr. Maellard, shaking Michelle's hand.

"You're definitely on the list of will-call should there be any more problems," said Michelle with a smile.

"Good; now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go. I have a meeting I need to attend." With these parting words, Mr. Maellard left.

"Yeah, he's totally not on the top end of the list," said Michelle.

"Michelle! What are you doing back so soon?" asked Benson.

"Oh, well, I guess I was just in a state of shock... or something. Anyway, it was temporary and I sustained no injuries. Skips said something about a place where Renae and I could stay?" Michelle asked.

"Oh, yes, yes, the spare room upstairs in the park house has been outfitted with temporary furnishings until you can get something better," said Pops. He waved his hand and Renae and Michelle followed him into the house. It was only when they stepped into the spare room and Michelle looked behind her that she noticed the rest of the staff had followed as well.

"Awesome! Sleeping bags! It'll be like camping indoors!" said Renae excitedly. Michelle shuddered. "What?"

"Nothing, I just... had a few bad experiences with camping," Michelle replied.

"You're just being paranoid again. It'll be fine," said Renae reassuringly.

"Fine," said Michelle.

"We hope you two are comfortable. Mordecai and Rigby are in one room down the hall and I'm in another room down the hall," said Pops. Then, everyone parted except Skips, who remained.

"Yes, Skips?" asked Michelle.

"So, uh, what are you two going to do now? Benson thought you two would be gone longer, so he gave you both the day off," said Skips.

"Are you working?" asked Michelle.

"I'll probably see if Benson has something for me to do, why?"

"I hope you won't think it weird if I ask if I could watch you work."

"Why would you want to watch me work? It's not very exciting, I'm sure."

"Well, I could keep you company, get things for you that you might need, you know, just be there."

"I'm not sure I-"

"Please, Skips? I promise I won't get in your way and you can believe me when I say that because I don't promise very often."

"Well... sure! Why not?"

Michelle beamed brightly at him. "Thank you, Skips! You won't regret this!" Michelle and Skips left and Renae stayed in her room, knowing that the two could use some time together.

It turned out Benson had a job for Skips after all. One of the gardens needed to be completely redone. So, the old plants had to be taken out and replaced with new ones.

"I can see why they needed replacing, these plants look rotten," said Michelle. Skips skipped over to the garden and started examining the plants. "So, is there anything you'd like me to do?"

"Nah, just sit back and let me take care of things," said Skips.

"Oh, nonsense! You're just thinking about how I just got out of the hospital. What? Do you think I'm too feeble for this job?"

"Well, I, uh..."

"Skips, I insist."

There was a pause before Skips said, "Okay, but if it gets too much for you, just let me know."

"Believe me, Skips, I'd sooner work into a heat stroke than admit defeat. I'll be fine."

Skips and Michelle both grabbed tools for raking out the old plants. They both had gloves on for the stubborn ones that wouldn't come out by tool alone. It was slow going since some of the plants had very stubborn roots. Michelle eventually decided to just do it by hand and save the tools for loosening the ground.

After a little while, they were both sweating and Michelle was wishing the sun would hide behind a cloud. They had finally gotten all of the old plants out and Michelle noticed the soil was well raked. It just needed some water, then the new plants could be put in. Michelle got out of the garden and asked, "Do you want me to get the hose?"

"Nah, you look tired. You let me get the hose and you take a break," said Skips.

"It wouldn't be any trouble..."

Skips put up a hand. "I insist." Michelle was silenced with that.

"Okay, I'll just wait right here for you then." Michelle sat under a tree's shade and leaned against the sturdy trunk. She watched Skips skip off and she let her eyes droop. Before she knew what had happened, she was asleep.

Skips returned a short while later and noticed Michelle curled up asleep in the shade of the tree. "She must have been more tired than I thought because she's definitely not the lazy type." Skips shrugged after saying this and got to work on watering the soil.

Michelle tossed and turned a lot in her sleep. She eventually made her way over to the damp soil and when she landed in it, she woke up. She jerked awake and looked at herself in dismay. "Well, I wasn't expecting to get this dirty," she said.

"Do you want me to hose you off?" asked Skips. He had been about to put the hose away, but thought better of it after seeing Michelle's predicament.

"Sure," she replied. When the water came at her, she let out a squeal. "That's really, really cold." She scrubbed the dirt off with her hands and soon, the majority of the dirt was gone. Michelle stood shivering and said, "I think after we're done planting that a shower would definitely be in order."

Then, Skips's walkie-talkie started buzzing and Mordecai's voice came from the other end: "Skips! Skips! We need your help! There's a wild bear loose in the park!"

"Yeah, Skips, it's really huge!" said Rigby.

"Okay, just tell me where you guys are and I'll get over there as quickly as I can," said Skips. Of course, Michelle was already running through the park on her way to Mordecai, Rigby, and the bear.

"We just ran past the snack bar. Hurry, Skips!" said Mordecai frantically just before the radio cut out. The silence was not a good indicator for their situation. Skips's eyes widened and he hastened to head in the direction he had been told they were going. Little did he know, Michelle was already on the heels of that bear.

"AH!" both Mordecai and Rigby screamed. They had collapsed on the ground and the bear loomed over them. It let out a roar and just before it could strike, Michelle jumped onto the bear's back and caught its throat in a choke-hold. The bear thrashed back and forth, trying to get its attacker off of its back, but Michelle wasn't letting go easy.

"Go! Go!" said Michelle, hanging on. Mordecai and Rigby took the chance and ran. They didn't go far though, just beyond the tree line. They watched as the bear stood up and tossed its head back and forth. It threw its body against several trees. Every hit made them wince because the bear was hitting Michelle dead-on. Michelle still had her hold on the bear's neck though.

Then, after what felt like forever for Michelle, the bear collapsed, belly first, onto the ground. Michelle kept her hold for a little bit, shocked by the ordeal. Then, she wrenched her arms from underneath the beast and got off of its back. She was panting hard as she came up to Mordecai and Rigby. "Are you guys all right?" asked Michelle.

"Yeah, we're fine, but, Michelle, that was amazing!" said Mordecai.

"Yeah, that was really cool how you took down that bear! Where'd you learn that?" asked Rigby.

"Oh, you know, you learn a few things when you're out and about," said Michelle.

"Uh huh," said Rigby. Apparently, Michelle's answer wasn't all that impressive.

"Well, are we gonna wait until the bear gains consciousness again or is someone going to call animal control?" asked Michelle.

"Oh, right," said Mordecai, taking out his phone and doing just that.

Just then, Skips arrived. "What happened?" he asked upon seeing the bear on the ground and everyone intact.

"Michelle totally caught the bear in a choke-hold and brought it to the ground!" said Rigby.

"You what?!" asked Skips shocked.

"Yeah, it was no big deal. I've faced bigger creatures than that and come out fine," said Michelle.

"But that bear was huge! What could be bigger than that?" asked Rigby.

"I have such a long arsenal of monster stories that it would take many volumes of books to cover them all," said Michelle.

"Animal control is on their way," said Mordecai, who had just gotten off of his phone with them.

"So, you really took down that bear by yourself?" asked Skips skeptically.

"Are you jealous, Skips?" asked Rigby. There was a pause. "Oh! You are! Skips is jealous! You jealous! You jealous! You J-E- OW!" Rigby got cut short by a punch from Mordecai.

Michelle rubbed her arm, embarrassed. "Look, if you would have rather taken it down yourself, I would have understood. I just tend to take action quickly when it comes to big creatures terrorizing others," she said sheepishly.

"It's fine..." said Skips.

"Are you sure?" asked Michelle.

"Yeah, it's fine," said Skips.

"Okay," said Michelle. Then, a cell rang and it turned out to be Michelle's. She took it out of her pocket and said, "I have to take this, so... yeah. If you'll excuse me..."

"Sure, yeah," said Skips.

"Thanks," said Michelle. She walked away as she answered her phone. Skips, Mordecai, and Rigby stood in silence for a few moments.

Skips said, "I should probably get going too. If you need anything, come and find me." He skipped off, leaving the troublesome twosome alone.

"Dude," said Mordecai.

"What?" asked Rigby.

"That was really awkward just then," said Mordecai.

Rigby scoffed. "If Skips accepted the fact that a girl taking down a bear is cool, that wouldn't have been awkward."

"No, dude, that was awkward because Skips is too prideful to let anyone else help. He wants to solve problems by himself and if anyone else does, he feels bad."

"Oh," Rigby said in realization. "So?"

Mordecai groaned. "Come on, it's probably nothing anyways." He walked off and Rigby followed him. The bear was picked up by animal control and, for the next few minutes, it was normal.

Over the rest of the day, there were multiple problems that arose that it was usually given upon Skips to fix, but every time, Michelle took up the reins and fixed the problems herself. Mordecai took notice of these things and was slowly coming to a conclusion. He voiced his conclusion to Rigby that night when their video game was on pause.

"Dude, I think this is a problem," began Mordecai.

"What do you mean?" asked Rigby.

"Skips isn't the only hero around here anymore. Now that Michelle is taking up some of the work, it's making him feel less special."

"Why should it be our problem?"

"It's our problem because Skips is our friend."

Rigby groaned. "Yeah, you're right... so what do we do?"

Mordecai assumed his thinker pose. After a few "hm's," he clapped his hands together. "Got it. I totally got it, dude."

"All right! So, what's the plan?" Mordecai leaned in and whispered it into Rigby's ear and Rigby's smile grew wide. "Dude! That'll totally work!"

"Yeah, it will!" They both made sounds of agreement and set to work on their plan.

It turned out, that same night the gang was going out to Cheezer's to hang out. Mordecai and Rigby got everyone except Skips and Michelle together and Mordecai laid out his plan. It was multi-phased and kind of complicated, but if it worked, it would work out well for everybody.

So, the gang all met up in Skips's van and they headed to Cheezer's. Skips and Michelle were in the front seats while the rest of the gang was in the back, rehearsing the plan one last time. Both Michelle and Skips were suspicious, but they shrugged it off.

After they arrived at Cheezer's and got their orders put in, phase one of the plan commenced. This involved everyone except Mordecai and Renae leaving so that Skips and Michelle had wing-men/women. Of course, this immediately aroused suspicion.

"Okay, what's going on here?" asked Michelle.

"Hey, chill, we just..." began Renae, but Michelle cut her off.

"This is an intervention, isn't it?" asked Michelle.

"That's kind of a harsh word..." Renae began, but Michelle gave her a look. "Okay, it's an intervention."

Michelle groaned. She took a deep breath, then sat up straight and said in the most civil manner possible, "I'm sorry I took all of those jobs, Skips, but I was feeling restless. I needed something to do. I'm used to doing a lot of work... a lot of 'big job' type of work. I realize that in doing this, I have made you feel less important, but I didn't think you'd mind so much."

"I don't. I didn't even think this was what we were going to be talking about," said Skips.

Michelle eyed him and said, "You still have a chest full of pride, don't you?"

"What do you mean 'still'? You just met me, how can you say I'm 'still' anything?" asked Skips.

Michelle was silent a moment. Her eyes moved about as if she were thinking about what was the best thing to say. She finally decided on going with her initial instinct. "You don't remember, do you?" she asked.

"Remember what?"

Michelle put up her hands. "You know what? Don't bother. If I'm so completely unmemorable as all that, then I don't think I need be here." She got up and threw her napkin on the table. She took a shaky breath and said, "Tell everyone else that I give them my kindest regards, but that I am no longer willing to be the invisible one anymore. Good night."

"Michelle..." said Renae, getting up to follow her.

"No! Don't follow me! Don't even look at me! You are not even worthy to call me your friend! You know nothing about me!" said Michelle, tears threatening to fall.

"I know plenty of things about you, Michelle."

"Name one!"

"Well... you once told me you had a job as a stripper."

"Oh ho! So it finally comes out! Well, Renae, guess what? You failed the friendship test."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I've been telling that lie for years. I'll beef it up like it's some big secret, but the truth is, I'm telling people that 'secret' to see how good the friend is at keeping it. You just now voiced it aloud for everyone to hear!" She walked off toward the door. Before she left, she got in one final word though. "Oh, and by the way, I only stripped for money once and that was for therapeutic reasons, so you can get that out of your head."

"Michelle, I'm sorry, I..."

"You probably wish I was silent again, don't you? That makes things a lot easier doesn't it? Wait, you know what? That's what I'm gonna do. From now on, I won't say another word unless I get the correct prompting and good luck with that because with any luck, you'll never see me again! Good-bye!" She slammed the door to the establishment and Renae was too afraid to follow her.

The rest of the park staff came back into the establishment. "Well, that plan sunk," said Muscle-Man.

"I don't get it! Everything was supposed to go way different from that," said Mordecai. He then looked at Skips and noticed the yeti was staring at the door in concentration. "Skips? Is everything all right?"

"She... knew me," said Skips.

"What do you mean?" asked Mordecai.

"I mean, she knew me from before," said Skips.

"Before what?" asked Benson.

"Before any of this. Before I met any of you guys. A long, long time ago..." Skips's mind went back in time and he did remember her.

Well, you guys made it this far, so I'm hoping you can go a little further with me. Won't you? I hope so :) Please keep reading and reviewing, thanks :D