Second Chance

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

He stood in the downstairs bathroom, the change of clothes out of the suitcase and set on the commode. The tuxedo and rest of the ensemble were hanging on a hook on the door. He stared into the mirror and shook his head at his reflection.

“Now what do you do?” he asked it. “Do we take the relationship to the next level? Do we press her to take it to the next level?” He was unsure of the next course of action. He was a teenager who had told his girlfriend that he loved her. He was scared.

Micah looked into the mirror and hoped the Presence would come to him and tell him what to do. He called out to it, but only heard silence. “What a time to abandon me.”

He sighed heavily, not sure of what he did was right. His gut told him he did though. He reached down and finished dressing.

Before they left for the prom, Mister and Misses De Fiore told him that they had snacks in the pantry for him, had Dr Pepper in the refrigerator. He stepped out of the bath and put the suitcase in the back bedroom, the one in which he was to sleep. He exited and jumped.

“God, I love you,” Antoinette said. She jumped and wrapped her arms around his neck. She planted several kisses on his face before meeting his lips with hers. The deep kiss was soulful and a perfect expression of their relationship: cute and playful at first but now a level higher.

She stopped the embrace and hopped down from him. “I love you, too,” he whispered. They hugged tightly, both didn’t want to let go. He feared that if he did this all would end. His being there and her love for him would all become a dream.

“Do we go and talk about it?” she asked.

“I think so.” Both teens looked down at their feet, believing that once they discussed what they said on the dance would be ending.

The Presence returned, “Don’t worry about it.” Micah felt a change in it. Gone was the confusion emanating from it. Gone was the rough sounding, almost fatherly, tone whenever it spoke.

How do you know? I’m scared here. I don’t want to lose her.

“Micah, everything’s going to be alright. I can feel it. You’ll just have to trust me. Did I fail you when I helped you with her ex?”

No, you didn’t fail. You helped me get rid of him, and for that, I am grateful.

“Go with her, follow her lead. She’s just as scared as you are. She doesn’t want to end this either.”

Micah smiled and looked at his love. She raised her head and smiled uncomfortably. “Whatever we say to each other, nothing’s going to end our love.”

A tear ran down her cheek. “That’s all I wanted to hear.” Antoinette reached her arms around his neck once more and pulled him down. She kissed his cheek and whispered, “I love you.”

He opened the refrigerator door and peered inside. “Now, what do you want to drink?” he asked to liven up the mood.

She rolled her eyes at him. “We’ve been together for two years and you don’t know? How can that be possible?”

The two laughed and nudged bodies. He reached in and grabbed a bottle of grape soda for her and a bottle of Dr Pepper for himself. She walked into the pantry and grabbed two bags of potato chips. “Get the dip,” she said as she walked past him. She waited for him at the bottom of the back stairs, the most direct route to her bedroom.

“Go with her,” the Presence whispers to him.

Micah, with the drinks and dip in hand, followed his love up the stairs and into her bedroom. He gently placed the bottles on her desk and tossed the dip to her. She opened it and placed it on her bed.

She patted her comforter, a spot next to her. “Come sit with me.” He slowly joined her on the bed and crawled to her. She leaned into his face and kissed him.

“I never thought I’d be on here again,” he said, remembering the last time he was alone with her, how her father walked in on them as they sat innocently and talked.

“This is different. Now that we admitted we love each other, this feels right.”

“I know it does.” He pulled her close and kissed her lips again.

She sighed as they broke the embrace. “It’d be nice if we could do this for forever, but we do need to talk.”

He nodded. He slid off the bed and retrieved the soda. He opened then handed her the grape. “What do you think we should do?”

She took a big sip. “I think we should spend more time together. I mean, we should talk to each other on the phone more, when I don’t have work and neither of us have school, we should spend that time with each other.”

“I’d love that.” He took a gulp of his drink and looked at her. “Can I admit something else to you?”

“Of course you can, Sweetie.” It was the first time she called him by a term of endearment and not either Micah or Chance.

“I miss you terribly when we’re not together, not talking on the phone.”

“I do too.” She reached over and hugged him.

“Do you have a copy of your work schedule, so we can make plans to meet?”

She inhaled through her teeth. “I don’t get my schedule until Friday the week before, but I usually work after school on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, and in the morning on Saturday and Sunday.”

“We can meet on Saturdays after work. I can pick you up.”

She glared at him. “Yes you can.” She shook her head. “How come you weren’t doing it before?”

“I wasn’t allowed to drive alone,” he said. “I didn’t have control of the car. My parents thought I wasn’t responsible enough to be out alone with it.”

“Told you insurance was too high, I bet.”

“How did you know?”

She chuckled. “It’s the same excuse my parents give to me.”

“Now you have no excuses, especially on Saturdays.”

He blushed. “You’re right. And on days you have off, I can come here and visit.”

“I’ll have to check with my parents,” she joked.

He shook his head. “You do that.”

There was a brief moment of silence between the two. Antoinette reached over and opened a bag of chips. She took one out and dipped it.

“What are we going to do about the fall?” he asked. Both of them were attending college in September, but at different schools. She had been accepted at the State University College at Potsdam while he was staying home, attending Schenectady County Community College, more so due to the fact that he could not find enough funding to attend a four-year college.

“We can write each other,” she sorrowfully said.

“Yes we will,” he added. “But will that be enough?”

“I don’t know. I want this to work. God, I wish I told you earlier that I loved you. Maybe that would have made a difference in where I was going to attend.”

“I don’t think so. It’s me who should have said something earlier, or better, should have looked into scholarships and loans last summer, like you did.”

She looked like she was about to cry. “I don’t want us to break up.”

“We won’t do that,” he reassured her. He took her hand in his and pulled her close. “We won’t.”

“You’re right,” the Voice said to him. “Now that you two have admitted your love for one another, nothing’s going to break you up.”

How sure of it are you?

“I’m surer now than I was on the dance floor. Micah, nothing’s going to stop you two from being in love.”

Inwardly, the teen smiled, but kept his emotions from his façade.

“I hope so,” she said. She pulled him into another kiss, allowing their tongues to meet. Antoinette moaned softly as his hands encompassed her body.

She pushed him away and looked at him. She looked at him with panic in her eyes. “But what if we meet other people at school?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think we’ll fall out of love that quickly, Toni.”

“I don’t know. This is all new to me.”

“It’s new to me, too, but Honey, together we can get through the distance.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m not 100% positive, no one can, but I have a feeling we won’t be ending what we have soon.”

“Good answer,” the Presence told him.

I have a great feeling nothing’s going to keep us apart, not the distance between us, not someone we meet at school, nothing.

The Presence was silent on his statement, causing Micah to wonder if it knew something, but he let slide. Antoinette flung her arms around him, causing both of them to be close to falling off the bed.

She laughed. “That was close.” She kissed his lips before pushing away and off the bed. She walked to her closet and pulled out a wrapped box. She handed it to him.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a present silly man. Open it.”

The box was the size of the one a shirt would come in. He shook it and heard something rattle. “Oh I wonder what it is.” He pulled the paper off and opened the box. He looked and smiled confusingly. Inside, a pen was inside a clear box, and a suede book sat alone.

“It’s a journal,” she said. “I remembered that you had a dream of being a writer, and thought this would help you return to it.”

He grabbed her and hugged. “Oh it’s perfect.”

“I want you to use it, to put down your thoughts, write down your story ideas. I want you to use it on stories you think I’d like to read.”

He looked at her and into her eyes. She was honest. “What kind of stories do you like?”

“Anything you write me,” was her quick answer.

Micah knew she was just humoring him, but didn’t press it. He would ask her later, but now, he just wanted to be with her.

“Come here so I can kiss you,” he said.

She shook her head and smiled devilishly. She turned and closed her door. She locked it and slinked to the bed. “I love you,” she cooed as he pulled her into his arms.