Mordecai sighed, pushing the covers off him and throwing them to the floor. He stepped over them. Oh, well. I'll pick them up later.
He caught sight of himself in a mirror on his way downstairs. It shocked him how dead he looked. His feathers were all tussled and his eyes were so… blank. He knew the rejection would hurt, but he never expected it to take such an emotional toll on him. He always told himself to expect it and not let it get to him, but he broke that promise.
"Please," he said to himself. "It's not that easy to just not let it get to me." He half expected his reflection to snap at him for breaking his promise, but it didn't happen. Instead, it stared back at him, its listless eyes boring into his soul.
Mordecai turned away from the mirror, unable to look at what he had become, and continued his journey to the living room. Rigby was finished with the vacuuming and was enjoying a well deserved break playing video games. The vacuum was lying on its side near the couch; leave it to Rigby not to pick it up.
"Hey, Mordecai," he said when he heard the last step creak. "Want to play with me?" He shook a controller over his head.
"No."
"Come on, dude. It's no fun playing by myself."
"No," Mordecai repeated. "I don't want to."
"Dude, when are you just going to accept it? You knew it would happen, didn't you?"
"Leave me alone. I need some time to myself."
"You had all day!"
"Whatever."
Mordecai opened the front door, walked out, and slammed it. Skips, who was patrolling the park area, looked up. He said nothing as Mordecai walked past him.
"I'm so stupid," Mordecai kept saying to himself. "I'm so stupid. I'm so stupid! Why did I have to go and ruin everything? Stupid heart, stupid brain! Why couldn't you two agree on me not telling her? I ruined everything!" You may have been rejected, but you wanted to tell her. You were trying to all night.
Mordecai ignored the painful pounding of his heart and continued walking. He stopped by a tree, falling beside it, seeking refuge under its shade.
He looked up at the sky and desperately wished he could fly. He wanted to fly away from here, away from the pain, and arrive someplace new where he could meet a new girl and fall in love with her. And she would love him back. She would sit with him underneath the shade and hold his hand as he thought about how lucky he was. But…it was only a hopeless dream. He couldn't fly away from his troubles; he could only avoid them for so long. Even if he could fly to a new land and find a new girl, he would definitely not be thinking about lucky he was; he would be thinking of all the things he left behind. He would think about Rigby, Benson, Pops, Skips, High-Five Ghost, and Eileen. Hell, he would even think about Muscleman! But, he would think about Margaret the most. He knew deep down in his broken little heart that no one could replace her. He knew that even if he did find a new love, she would always be the one.
Mordecai closed his eyes, allowing his thoughts consume his troubled mind.
Teenage Mordecai and Rigby stood outside a massive high school. Both of them looked up at with amazement and fear.
"Dude, are you ready to take the first step into adulthood?" Mordecai asked, keeping his eyes on the school.
"Yeah," Rigby replied, balling his hands into fists.
"Alright."
They took a deep breath, reached out their foot, and stepped into the school.
There were a bundle of students, walking around, greeting friends they haven't seen for a few months, and sitting down eating breakfast.
Mordecai and Rigby glanced around, excitement filling the nerves rather quickly.
"Dude, this is awesome!" Rigby declared.
"Yeah, I know!" Mordecai nodded.
They walked through the sea of students, taking in their surroundings. Almost at once, the nerves started to come back as they saw more and more people.
"Do we make the first move?" Mordecai asked nervously. "Or do we wait until someone approaches us?"
"I'm just going to wait. I don't want to seem desperate."
"But, you are!"
"STOP TALKING!"
Mordecai shook his head, smirking. "Alright, alright." He and Mordecai sat down on a small brick wall that was built around a garden. "We'll just wait."
They waited and waited until finally they just stopped caring. They were about to get up and go to their first class, until a voice called out to them.
"Hi," a girl said.
Mordecai brought his head up to meet her eyes, and he was smitten. "Hi."
"Are you new here, too?"
"Yeah."
"I'm Margaret," she said, holding out her hand to shake his. It took Mordecai a few seconds to reach his out too.
"Mordecai," he replied. "This is Rigby." He jerked his head toward Rigby.
"Yo," Rigby said, giving her a wave.
"Well, it's nice to meet you! I think class is going to be starting soon. I hope I find you guys during lunch." Margaret waved at them as she ran off to join a small group of friends, one of which was a small mole, who looked just as scared as Mordecai and Rigby did when they were facing the school.
"Did you see that girl?" Mordecai asked Rigby once Margaret was out of earshot.
"What about her?"
"She's gorgeous, isn't she?"
"She was alright."
"Alright? She was beautiful!"
"Dude, calm down. I think you might be falling for her," Rigby laughed.
"I think I am."
"I was kidding around!" Rigby shouted.
"No, no, I'm not. I think I am," he repeated.
"Ugh! Come on, Mordecai. We're going to be late!"
They got up from the brick wall and hurried off to their class, getting lost once or twice.
Over the next coming months, Mordecai's feelings for Margaret grew rapidly. Rigby, meanwhile, had his hands full with Eileen, the shy mole, who had taken quite a liking to him.
"She's driving me nuts," he whispered angrily during lunch one day.
"Dude, come on; she's cute," Mordecai whispered back.
"She's freaking me out."
"Doesn't Margaret look nice today?"
Margaret was chatting away with Eileen, unaware that Mordecai was admiring her from afar.
"You're really into her, aren't you?" Rigby asked.
"Rigby, can I confide in you?" Mordecai asked, a hint of hope in his voice.
"Sure?"
"I think I might be in love with her."
"What?" Rigby shouted.
Everyone at lunch turned their heads to see what was going on. Mordecai grabbed Rigby by the arm and pulled him away.
"Nothing to see here, folks; just messing around," Mordecai said to everyone as they walked to a small tree. "Rigby, what's your problem?" He growled, punching him.
"Ow!" Rigby cried, massaging his arm. "Sorry. I was just shocked, that's all. You haven't known her that long."
"I know, but she's so nice and beautiful. I've never met a girl like her before."
"Morde…"
"Mordecai?" Margaret asked, standing in front of them, Eileen right behind her.
"Oh, hey, Margaret!" Mordecai said, laughing apprehensively. "What's going on?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to know if you were alright. You left so suddenly."
"I'm fine! Just fine!"
"That's good. I was thinking you might be sick or something. I wouldn't want that." Margaret smiled. "We're going to head back to the table."
"Sure thing," Mordecai said, watching Margaret and Eileen sit back at their table. He sighed, looking over to Rigby. "Dude, I'm in love with her."
Mordecai busied himself with the tassel on his cap as he waited in line to be called for graduation. Margaret was standing right in front of him. God, I'm so nervous. She's right there! Damn it, Rigby, why'd you have to drop out?
"H-hey, Margaret?" Mordecai whispered.
"Yeah?' She asked.
"Um… I… well… congratulations."
"Same to you, Mordecai."
Dude, just tell her! What are the chance you're going to see her again?
"I hope we meet again someday," Margaret continued.
"M-me too."
"How many times are we going to get threatened in one day?" Mordecai asked Rigby.
"I don't know. That Benson guy's a little tightly wound."
"Well, I don't know about you, but I need a break."
"Me too! Let's go somewhere!" Rigby shouted, and he started walking toward the park's exit.
"Alright."
They were both feeling slightly overwhelmed as they stepped out of the park and into town. They had never been exploring here before. Many people were walking through the streets, men, women, old, and young.
"Hey!" Rigby yelled. "There's a coffee shop!" He pointed to a cute little coffee shop that was on the opposite side of the street.
"Hmmm… Coffee does sound good right now," Mordecai agreed, nodding. "Let's go." They walked across the street and into the little shop.
"Hello," the waitress said. She stepped in front of them, holding a notepad in her hands.
"H-hi," Mordecai choked out. He couldn't believe it; she was here, now? She was standing in front of him?
"Oh, my god. Mordecai?"
"Hey, Margaret."
"It's been so long!" Margaret squealed, throwing her arms around his neck, which greatly shocked, but pleased him.
"I know!" And my feelings for you are flooding back.
"Oh, I better get back to work," Margaret said. "We'll catch up! Nice to see you two again!"
"You work here?" Rigby asked.
"Yup!"
"Then, we'll be seeing a lot of you. Mordecai and I just got jobs at the park!"
"Oh, really? That's awesome, guys!"
"Can we get two coffees, please?" Mordecai asked.
"Sure thing!" Margaret hurried to get the coffees ready.
Mordecai and Rigby sat down at a large table in the middle of the coffee shop. Mordecai's eyes were on her.
"Dude, the feelings are back," he said without looking at Rigby.
"Seriously? We haven't seen her in like five years. You still love her?"
Mordecai's eyes opened. He must have dozed off. Yawning loudly, he brought himself to his feet.
He rubbed the back of his head as he walked back into the house, back upstairs, and back into bed, his dreams making him feel worse than ever.