Ventura, CA, two years four months prior:
Micky shivered under his jacket, stamping his feet as the other team scored again, causing the crowd to boo and hiss, and the cheerleaders to rally the crowd with shouts of "That's okay!" And "Good effort!"
Watching the band teacher, Micky got his drumsticks ready to begin the count off to play some game-time music for the team.
He enjoyed being in band, he'd made some new friends and he liked playing music at football games and stuff, but now that November was rolling in, it was getting too cold to stand outside for the entire game.
He smiled as the teacher nodded to him to start playing, and as he played, he thought briefly that it was a good thing this was the last game of the season.
During the third quarter of the game, the Teacher told everyone to take a break, and they would get back to playing at the start of the fourth. Without wasting any time, Micky got up from the school drum set and ran up to where Peter was sitting, watching the game with Micky's mom.
"Hi Peter, hi mom!" He said brightly. "Are you having a good time?" Peter nodded and smiled, and Micky's mom shrugged. "You know I don't understand a thing about football," she said. "I'm just here to hear you play."
Micky laughed and the three of them talked for a few minutes before Micky shivered again. "I'm gonna go get some hot cocoa," he said. "Want anything?" "Sure," Micky's mom said, reaching into her pocketbook and pulling out a dollar. "Get me one too, will you?" She asked. "Sure thing, Ma," Micky said, turning and taking off through the stands.
Even with the weather as cold as it was, the bleachers were filled, and there was quite a crowd to maneuver his way through. Football was very important to the people at Micky's high school.
But Micky was fast and nimble, and he reached the concession stand in a matter of moments. There he saw Jenna, who was standing near the front of the line, talking to her friends.
"Hi, Jenna!" Micky called over cheerfully. "I'm sorry!"
He had made it a point to apologize every time he said hello, simply because she hadn't forgiven him yet. Jenna rolled her eyes and turned away from him, paying for her hot dog and walking away with her friends.
Micky didn't think anything of it, this had been normal behavior for Jenna for several months. He waited patiently for the line to move up, running in place to keep his blood moving.
"Two hot cocoas, please!" He said, putting the money down on the counter. The girl took the money and began to fill two cups with the steaming liquid. Handing them to Micky, she smiled. "Here you go," she said. "Thanks!" Micky exclaimed, taking one cup in each hand.
The heat from the cocoa already was burning his hands, and Micky was grateful for the warmth as he made his way back through the crowd toward the bleachers. He hated cold fingers.
Before he made it to the first row, however, he was suddenly aware that his name was being spoken somewhere nearby. He could hear it, and the voice was unmistakable. Jenna had just yelled his name.
Turning, he made his way to the source of the sound, which was a small crowd of teenagers gathering behind the bathrooms, all yelling excitedly. That didn't make any sense, you couldn't even see the game from back here.
Pushing his way through the crowd to the center, he stopped, stunned by what he saw.
Jenna was fighting, and by the look on her face, he recognized that this was no play fight. She was genuinely angry, as she scratched and hit and generally creamed her opponent.
But that wasn't what really surprised him. What made him stand there frozen in shock was who she was fighting with.
Shrieking and trying to defend herself from the fiery young girl was Penny, who was quite a sight, her hair messy from being pulled and her face smeared with mustard and relish.
Micky couldn't believe what he was seeing, he seriously just could not believe it. It was barely even registering in his mind that his sister was beating up his girlfriend. The Cocoa in his hands forgotten, he stood there with his mouth open, watching the scene unfold.
Finally, someone seemed to notice he was there. "It's Micky!" He exclaimed, and everything got quiet as the onlookers waited with baited breath, excited at the drama about to unfold.
Jenna looked up at Micky's horrified expression, and something like concern flashed through her eyes. She paused in her attack and Penny ran back a few feet, glancing from Micky to Jenna in panic.
"M-Micky!" Penny said, her voice higher than it usually was. "Micky, I'm sorry, really, I am! P-please, it was an accident, I swear!"
Micky blinked. "What?" He asked dazedly. This didn't make any sense.
"She's cheating on you," Jenna said bluntly. "I caught her sneaking off behind here with Tony Baker, so I followed her, and they were kissing."
Micky shook his head. "No," he said quietly, not believing it, refusing to believe it. Penny wasn't a cheater, she couldn't be a cheater. Penny was sweet and funny and good and helped him write beautiful music. And Tony was a friend of Micky's, they were in the same science class and usually sat together at lunch. They would never betray him like that.
Penny was crying now as Jenna fidgeted nervously. "I've heard the rumors for awhile now," she admitted quietly. "But I never thought they were true until now."
Micky couldn't believe it. There were rumors that Penny was cheating on him. It was the stuff of gossip. That meant people knew about it, it was well known, and he hadn't suspected a thing.
"Micky, I'm s-sorry!" Penny cried, and Micky looked at her. "Is it true?" He asked, hoping, praying that she would say no and have some sort of explanation, so they could forget about these horrible lies and get back to the way it had been.
Penny hesitated for a moment, before she nodded, still crying silently. "It w-was an a-accident," she said. "I d-didn't mean to cheat on you, r-really, I didn't."
"How?" Micky asked, still too stunned to really register what was happening. He had meant "How could you do this to me," but Penny seemed to think she was asking how she'd come to cheat on him.
"I-it was at Kelly's p-party last week," she said. "You were g-gone on that trip with the b-band, and I was there alone, and T-Tony was alone, and we... we..."
She didn't get any farther, Micky turned and began to walk away. He didn't want to listen anymore, he wanted to just get as far away as possible, as fast as possible.
"Micky!" Penny called, running after him. "M-Micky, please, I'm s-sorry!"
Micky looked at her again, the shock was ebbing away, and he was beginning to feel the hurt, heartbreak and betrayal that was associated with being cheated on.
"How could you?" He asked her, and she flinched. "I didn't mean to," she said. "It was an accident. We just... fell in love, all of a sudden. We couldn't help it!"
Micky stopped and looked her in the eyes, as if he could read her soul through them. "When were you going to tell me?" He asked quietly. Penny hesitated again, and her eyes told him everything.
She hadn't planned to tell him, she was going to lead him along and keep him in the dark, a fool of a boyfriend, oblivious to the fact that the girl he loved was playing with his emotions.
"Please forgive me!" she whispered, and Micky wanted to. He wanted to forgive her and tell her that it was alright, that they could forget this and go on with their happy lives. He wanted to forgive her so bad that it hurt.
But first, Micky had one more question. "Me or him?" He asked. Penny paused. "W-what?" She said. "You heard me," Micky said, frowning. "Me or him. You have to choose."
Penny looked at him, mouth open, as if she couldn't think of the right thing to say.
"Come on, it shouldn't be that hard!" Micky snapped. "Make your choice! You have to choose. Either you choose me, or you choose him. If you choose him, then congratulations to you both, you deserve each other. And if you choose me, I'll forgive you."
"I'm not saying we'll still be together," he said. "But we can be friends, and one day, maybe things will work out between us. But first, you have to choose."
He waited, unable to breathe, feeling his heart race as she looked at him, still crying.
He could feel his fingers shaking, despite the forgotten hot cocoa he still held tight. This was it.
He saw the answer in her eyes before she spoke. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Then she turned around and walked back over to where Tony had been standing by, watching the exchange worriedly. His face was red and he looked at Micky, as if he also were asking for forgiveness, but Micky didn't give him the same choice. As far as he was concerned, they could both live and die together, and never talk to him again.
The Washington Rhymer was gone from his life, along with all her beautiful words.
Turning away in disgust, he walked back up to where Peter and his mom were waiting. He could tell that they realized something was wrong, but he wasn't ready to tell them what had happened just yet.
"Hey, Jenna!" Micky called, running up to where his sister was saying goodbye to her friends before climbing into their mom's car.
The game was over, the other team had won, but Micky had barely noticed. He'd been focusing completely on playing his best when the band played, and keeping himself warm when they weren't.
Jenna waited for him and her friends left as he ran up. She didn't say anything, but she didn't roll her eyes or deliberately ignore him, which was a marked improvement.
"Jenna," Micky said again as he reached her and slowed to a stop. "I wanted to thank you, for today," he said. "If you hadn't caught her, with him, I don't know when I would've found out."
"No problem," she said awkwardly, staring at the ground. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment, before Micky spoke up.
"So... I thought you didn't care about me anymore," he prompted. Jenna looked up at him.
"You're still an annoying immature dork," she said. "But... you're my brother. Nobody uses my brother and gets away with it."
Micky smiled. "You mean you forgive me?" he asked excitedly. Jenna tried to keep her serious expression, but a half-smile managed to slip through.
"Yeah," she said. "I forgive you. And guess what?"
"What?" Micky asked. Jenna broke into a full grin now. "When I caught her kissing that jerk, I shoved my hot dog in her face," she said. "And I think she got some mustard up her nose."
Micky laughed bitterly. It was a small condolence, but a condolence none the less. "Well," he said. "Thanks for having my back. I'm glad to have you as a sister."
"And I'm glad to have a brother again," Jenna said. Then, doing something that was a little bit out of character, she suddenly lunged forward and hugged him, tight.
"Take care of yourself," she said. "Don't make me bail you out again, got it?"
Micky smiled, hugging her back. "Got it," he said as their mom smiled at them from the front seat of the car. She was happy that they'd finally made up.
After a second longer, Micky pulled away from the hug and forced a smile. "Well, I gotta go," he said. "Peter should be done picking up all the garbage around the bleachers by now, he's probably waiting for me." Jenna got into the car. "Bye, Micky," She said. "Bye, Jenna," Micky replied, almost adding his now-standard apology to the end of his farewell, simply because it had become a habit.
But there was no reason to say it now, she'd finally forgiven him. Sighing, he turned to the field and began to look for Peter. He was tired from all that had happened and was ready to go home and sleep.