An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Mike moves in his grandma’s house after his parents past away. Next to it was a forest—a place he’d always go to. It’s like a hang out spot whenever Trevor comes over, and thought it was pretty cool. One day, Mike gets into a petty argument with his grandma, and runs off the forest in the rain out of anger. Eventually, he gets lost, until he meets Harvey.
Chapter 2 of: Paper Rings
Harvey lazily swung his legs over to the bed when he heard the alarm on his bedside table, dragging his feet across the cold wooden floor as he throwns on whatever clothes he’s got in his closet. He looks over to the side and notices his little brother had woken up before him. Marcus would always wake up an hour earlier before Harvey.
Just a few more months before he gets out of elementary, and he’ll be in highschool. Just a few more months, Harvey repeated in his mind. He walks over to the mirror, combing his hair as he walks downstairs to the kitchen.
Rays of sun beamed through the little gaps of their blinds, with specks of dust just flowing in the air as it illuminated the appliances from across the counter. Then the sunlight meets Harvey’s deep brown eyes.
Harvey squeezes the bridge of his nose and sits down across from his father who is reading the newspaper. The seat was warm, and a tad itchy through his pants, while his mom was just making her own breakfast as he fought the urge to shut his heavy eyelids.
The woman glances over to her shoulder enough to know it’s Harvey. “Oh, hey there sweetie,” she calls, bringing him a plate of peanut butter jelly. “You’re finally awake.”
“Mhm,” he mumbled, and takes a bite of his toast. His brother was already halfway finishing his own while answering his homework on the side.
“You’re just doing that?” Harvey asks.
Marcus makes a grunt noise, nodding slightly and continued writing on his paper. Harvey could’ve swore he remembered Marcus making a promise to dad he’ll finish it on time, except he’s not, and he’s just completing it. Always cramming for no reason. How did he not get scolded? he thinks.
Harvey noticed the crumbs that fell on top of his shirt, noticing a faint stain of raspberry jam as it slowly seeped through the fabric. He shrugs it off anyway, and continued eating his own, making sure no mess gets on his shirt, then his mother takes a seat next to Harvey.
“So, where does your new friend live?” She asks.
“Next to the forest,” he replies while chewing. “I dunno about his school.”
“Gordon!” The woman exclaimed. Harvey could hear her light kicking against his leg under the table. “Don’t mind him. He better be good influence to you, okay Harv?”
Harvey nods. Silence follows, leaving only to their utensils scraping against their plates. His dad had bacon and eggs, same goes for the mother too.
Harvey always hated Mondays. The day before—he’d be having fun like everything is rainbows, until next day comes, he’s back in the building again in a blink of an eye, and then waking up in the morning to see the same classmates. Hell, he’d complain it all the time, then get hit on the ‘it’s normal, it’s just a phase.’
It’s not a phase. It’s like everyday it only gets more suffocating, and everything around him becomes so insufferable for no reason.
The kid finished his peanut butter jelly, while his brother still hasn’t taken the laste bite yet while doing his Math homework.
“Goodluck,” he murmured to Marcus, patting his back playfully. He knows his first period is Math. “Can I go now?”
The woman nods, and so did the father. He grabs his backpack from the coat hanger near the doorway and heads out to the door, grabbing his bike sitting in the garage. He makes his way towards the empty road as the warm morning breeze hits his face.
He didn’t like waiting for Marcus just so he could finish his breakfast. It’s his fault for not finishing his homework anyway, besides, he can bike on his own. He rears a corner until the central park came into view. There are a few people jogging around whilst talking to their partners.
It doesn’t take long for Harvey to arrive at his school. He places it aside next to the fences, and makes his way to the entrance. The murmuring and the metal clashing against the lockers when closed shut mixed together in the background as he walked down the hall alone, looking for his class.
The air around him felt like it had tension to it, so thick he could through it with a knife, and it felt suffocating as the dry and stuffy air entered Harvey’s lungs. Some people bumped into his shoulder without apologizing and moved on.
Suddenly, he feels someone’s grasp tight on his shoulder, and gets pulled aside to a locker.
“Harvey!” Donna exclaims. “You’re here early.”
“Yeah unfortunately,” he laughs, relieved. He thought it was one of the seniors from yesterday again.
The red-head turns and continued on shoving books inside her locker. “Have you done the Math homework Mr. Hotchner gave us?” she asks.
“Uh, yeah, why would I forget?”
She shrugs. “It’s nothing…” Her words drifted off, and grimaces. “I didn’t do it.”
A scoff slips out of Harvey’s lips, and the boy leans his body to the metal. “I can give you the answers. I’ve done it.
“Eh, it’s fine.” Donna shrugs it off and closes her locker, grabbing the top handle of her backpack then draping it over a shoulder. “Wanna know something?”
The girl let out a low chuckle and leans in slightly. “I heard someone new is gonna transfer here,” she says. “I don’t know about the gender though.”
A groan slips out of Harvey’s lips, and pulls away. “That’s it?” He complained. “And here, I thought it was gonna be something important.”
“It is important, Harvey!” She clicks her tongue at him. “It’s great to see new faces in a while.“
The boy scoffs. “We’ll see.” The girl exchanged him a smile as she playfully shoves his shoulder, and began to emerge herself to the wave of kids heading to their class.
Harvey lingered on that same spot for a while. He didn’t like to drown in random people’s sweat in there, especially the older kids… eugh, like that makes himself better. He didn’t even shower in the morning, but usually after school he does bathe.
He makes his way inside the classroom after the hall emptied out a bit. A few awkward stares followed and the teacher stopped mid-writing on the board to give the kid a lecture. After that he sits next to Donna while he unpacks his stuff on the table.
The teacher discussed about Biology, and asked to bring out their books. Harvey wasn’t instantly hooked, so he got distracted and started doodling on the pages that almost covered some of the texts there.
Harvey slightly leaned back in his chair, and rests one feet against the stretcher under the table. Donna gave him a side-eye, but still continued on listening. Yeah sure he has his eyes glued to the board, except his mind was somewhere else.
His thoughts drifts back to yesterday. The forest. The ice-cream. Mikey. The sudden click they had. He couldn’t stop repeating the nickname that randomly appeared in his head because he thought the name Mikey was cuter than his real name. And when he finally gathered his courage to talk to Mikey, it’s like a weight had lifted off his shoulders.
But those older guys had step in and ruin the moment.
Just as the teacher yapped, the principle suddenly walks in, and immediately, the kids inside stood up to welcome her. The old woman greeted them back, and asks for Mr. Reid outside as she waited by the door.
He carefully places the book on the table. “Give me a moment class,” he says, already heading out. “I’ll be quick.” Then he closes the door shut from behind.
When he finally got out, the class erupted into a loud murmur. Some students folded their arms on the table to sleep, while the rest had their fun.
Donna shifts her gaze to Harvey. “Do you think it’s gonna be the new kid?” She asks.
“You know… the one I talked about earlier.”
“Where did you even get that?” He retorted, and folds his arms across his chest.
“Through the grapevine,” she shrugs. “It’s been a while, haven’t been meeting new faces. That’s all.”
Harvey glares at her like she hadn’t been talking to her neighbor’s kids. He heaves a sigh and slumps back in his chair, holding his head up to the ceiling. It was a bit moldy, with a few water stains and a hint of yellow tint. He makes a face and looks down.
He didn’t want to acknowledge the ‘new student’ or whatever, all he wants is to graduate by the end of the year till summer comes. It’s not that big of a deal anyway.
A few minutes passed and the teacher comes in. The once loud class was then cut because of one single person. As Mr. Reid held the door, another figure walks in. The students around them stilled and stared. It was a boy, wearing a blue polo along with white horizontal lines, and a brown messenger bag on his side.
“This is your new pupil, Michael Ross,” he says, and walks over to the kid as he pats his back lightly. lWe’re very happy you’re here. And everyone, this is your new classmate.”
“Hi,” the boy greeted softly as he looked around the room.
“It’s his first day here, so please look after him. And Mike,” the teacher points to the empty seat next to the window at the very back. “You can sit there.”
The boy thanked him. As Mike walked down the aisle shyly with his head down, carefully holding the stack of heavy books, Harvey’s gaze followed him and smiles that reached up to his eyes, excited. How did he not come across his mind, he thinks. Now he sounded mean for not caring, and looks back at Mike when he takes his seat.
Mike looked really pretty today, he thinks. Then the teacher goes back with the lesson, and picks up his book. Harvey could hear the whispers about Mike that started to form when Mr. Reid continued on with the lecture.
He heard one kid say to her seatmate ‘What do you think about Mike?’ followed by a few affirmations about his looks.
Admittedly, Harvey thought he was a pretty-boy the moment he even saw him to the point he got annoyed a bit, now that the image of Mike’s face wouldn’t go away now. Tsk, immatures, I found him first.
The red-head peeks over to her shoulder, glancing towards Mike. “He looks nice,” she commented. “What about you?”
“What do you mean?” He whispers.
“What do you think of him?”
Harvey shrugs. “I’ll just tell you later.”
After two subjects, the bell finally rings and it’s recess. Harvey waited until the hallway empties out so he could avoid kids, or anyone rushing themselves outside or bumping into him. A moment later he goes out to the playground, and sure enough—he sees Donna, Rachel, and Louis sitting together on the picnic table, chatting audibly even from afar.
Harvey walks over to them and sits next to Donna. He didn’t like to be seen sitting with Louis—ever at all.
“Hi Harvey,” Donna exclaims, her arms sprawled across the table as she plays with her hands.
Rachel peers at her shoulder slightly. “The new guy is all by himself,” she pointed out to the boy sitting on the bench, reading a book.
Harvey widens his eyes from the sight, as his stare lingered longer than necessary at Mike, hoping he’d look up and notice each other from afar.
Donna pokes her ribs on the side. “We should welcome him to our group,” she says as she flips her hair to the other side.
A smile tugs at the girl’s lips, showing her perfect white teeth. “You know what… alright then,” she hinted, and swings her legs off to the bench. “I’ll go and get him.”
A scoff slips out of Harvey’s lips as he watched Rachel approach Mike’s direction. Everytime a new person comes, she’d immediately go to them, and try to do small talk or a ‘I’ll tour you around.’ She’s also her classroom’s heart-throb.
“Go Rachel…” Louis murmured under his breath. “She always connects with the newbies.”
“I know right,” Donna says through a smirk. “Must be a real people person.”
Mike looks up at Rachel, setting his book aside as they talked. Both Louis and Donna cheesed over them while Harvey’s just there. Suddenly, Mike stands up while holding the book on his side as they make their way back to the picnic table.
“Gosh… That quick?” Louis complained.
Donna ignored him as they all stood up from the picnic table, and walks over to them. Rachel’s arm was wrapped around Mike’s shoulder, then pulls away.
“This is Mike Ross,” she introduced. “He’s gonna be in our friend group now. Mike: Louis, Donna, and Harvey.”
Harvey remained silent when the rest of the group welcomed Mike in. The boy looks up at him, and gives him a small wave. Harvey only smiled at him briefly.
“Are you not gonna say hi to him?” Rachel asks, furrowing her brows.
“We’ve met before, actually,” he corrected, and walks over to Mike and shifts himself closer to his shoulder. “At central park.” Harvey watches as Rachel widens her eyes, taken aback, and slightly moved back.
“What?!” Donna exclaims. “How come you didn’t say so?”
Harvey just shrugs it off. “No reason. Thought you guys would like the surprise.” The two boys exchanged a laugh.
The red-head pressed her lips into a thin line. “So, Mike,” Donna started. “When did you transfer?”
“Last week. I was in Brooklyn before.”
The group exchanged a nod except for Harvey, since he already knew.
“So you lived in an apartment?” Louis asks. “Isn’t that place a slum?”
“Louis!” Rachel pointed out, and looks over to Mike. “Sorry about him. He can be rude sometimes…”
Mike shrugs. “I don’t mind,” he protested, and looks at Louis. “It wasn’t that bad. Not much of a ‘slum.’”
A small laugh escapes Harvey’s lips, and brushes the tip of his nose with his index finger.
The rest of the group was instantly drawn into him, and was continuously asking him questions as it got a bit personal. Like, how was his previous school—or any friends he missed when he moved. Mike then announced he was a valedictorian in his last school which left them a good impression. I guess he really is smart, huh, he thinks. None of them believed he memorized every book he touches either, so he wanted to flex.
Mike hands him the book to Rachel. It was so heavy it almost slipped frm her delicate hands. “You have to be lying,” she protested, holding it with her arms.
“Go open up a random page,” he says pointedly. “Read me something. Anything.”
Rachel flung the cover of Jane Austen—Persuasion—open, her hands flipping through page after page, and lands on a random chapter. “Anne had not wanted this visit to Uppercross to learn that a removal—“
“—From one set of people to one another, though at a distance of only three miles, will often include a total change of conversation, versation, opinion and idea,” the boy added.
The girl’s mouth was slightly apart, and looks up as she hands it back to him. “How did you know that?” She asks.
“I told you. I like to read,” he shrugs. “Mostly books that are a classic.”
Harvey kept himself quiet, secretly impressed and grinning. Everytime he’d try to speak, he’ll just get get cut off. Mike even mentioned he’s really good with numbers. ‘Emphasis on the really good,’ Mike says. His words, not anyone.
“Oh really now?” Rachel taunted him through a knowing smirk, and scoffs, not believing him entirely. “Alright… what’s sixty-seven times five?”
“Three-hundred and thirty-five.” Mike pulled at the seams of his polo awkwardly as he swung his body around slightly.
“Okay…” Rachel drifts off, glancing around like it’s going to give her questions. “Ninety times fourty-two?”
“Three thousand and seven-hundred eighty.”
“I don’t believe you,” the girl glares at him with a playful sneer. “How will I know that’s correct?”
The boy shrugged, pushing his glasses at the very top of his nose bridge with his finger. “I dunno,” he says. “You’re the one who came up with the equations.”
“Come on,” Mike teases. “Give me something hard. Believe me or not—I really don’t care.”
As Rachel was about to speak, Donna interrupts her as she grasps her shoulder. “Alright—my turn,” She exclaims. “What’s fifety-five times ninety-nine?”
“Five thousand four-hundred fourty five,” he says almost instantly, like some vocal stim he memorized 24/7. “Why is it just multiplication?”
A scoff slips out of Donna’s lips. “Okay hot-shot… what’s fourteen divided by—“
Harvey steps in and interrupts her. “That’s enough,” he gruffly says, holding Mike’s shoulder and shifts him nearer. “If you don’t wanna believe he’s naturally smart, then don’t force it.”
“I don’t mind really,” Mike says. Harvey insisted anyway, and the bell rings, signaling them to go back to their class as a few kids bolted inside. The rest of the group agreed on walking together, except Mike and Harvey, saying they’ll wait until they’re gone.
“I didn’t know you study here,” Mike says, fidgeting the strap of his bag around his body. “I though you’d be a private school type.”
“My parents thought about it actually. But since they both studied and met here, they made us enroll at this school.”
“Us?” The kid repeated. “You have a sibling?”
“Yeah, unfortunately. Younger brother,” Harvey corrected. “Just a grade below us.”
A moment later they fell silent. A bird flew past them, it’s wings flapping audibly from the sky. Mike glanced around the empty playground as the footsteps in the hallway slowly faded, now that they’re the only ones left.
“Should we go…?” He asks, exchanging gazes from the door to Harvey.
He nods. “Yeah.” They both walked together and pushed the door of his classroom. Luckily, the teacher hadn’t arrive yet and his classmates are still making noise, so they both make their way back to their seats.
Harvey sunk in his own chair, tipping his feet as he slowly leaned back and stared into the ceiling he once thought disgusting. Donna didn’t care and continued on doodling on her notebook. At this point she should get a sketchbook when she’s bored.
The chair collapses back to the ground, and sits up straight. The classroom was loud. There is a small group of students from a distance, seats in a circle as the three talked. He envied the ones who have their complete friendgroup in the same class, while his are from different sections, except for Mike. And Donna of course, she was first.
Harvey was most closest to Donna. Hell, they’ve been friends since grade one before she introduced him to the rest of her friends. He always found his circle of friends small, but it’s enough to keep him happy. He really liked them, and it got better when Mike came along.
Rachel is the foody girl, and the most sociable—or what Harvey likes to say is a people pleaser. Donna is… Donna. She knows everything. And Louis… God, not him. Harvey never liked him. He has this strong distaste towards him, and likes cats. Thats pretty much it. But still, he never expresses his hatred to him since it’ll ruin the friend-group.
Then there’s Mike. Harvey doesn’t know a lot about him yet, but he really wants to get along with him the most.
The final bell rang, and immediately, the students rushed outside of their classroom until the hallway was full of kids itching to get out of that hell hole. Even Harvey is trying to get out too, but he decided to wait in the library for a while until it empties out. He doesn’t even read books, and definitely not as smart as Mikey.
He was impressed by his intellectual skills, let alone his quiet presence that made him instantly drawn to Mikey. Harvey wanted to be his friend, not because he’s getting sick of his own friend group or anything, it’s just something he somehow couldn’t put a finger on. But still.
The boy looks up at the clock that hung above the entrance of the library. Mikey should be at home already, he thinks. The kid tips his chair far back almost touching the bookshelves, stretching his arms out tiredly as he watched the old librarian head out with her belongings.
Harvey walks up to the windows, peeking through the gaps of the blinds as his eyes searched across the pavement from a distance. Then, he heads out of the library, grabbing his bike and went on, the gust of wind immediately hitting his face.
He followed down the path as he got more farther away from the school, and pedals onto the bridge, the tires humming faintly against the worn planks. The railing runs low on his side, just enough to keep him from drifting too close to the edge, and he glances over it anyway—down at the slow, dark river moving beneath him. The water carries bits of dried leaves along it’s surface, slipping around rocks and catching the light in uneven flashes.
A faint breeze rises from below, cooler than the air above, brushing past his face and pushing lightly at his shirt as he rides. Once he reaches to the other side, the sound of his wheels went back to the gravel. The path gets wider and trees start lining both sides as it gets slightly blown from the air.
Harvey liked biking especially when he’s alone. He found it more relaxing and fun rather than riding on his dad’s car, because all he does in there is sit and gaze out of the window, not kicking his feet against the pedals or anything. It was boring, he thinks. He’d always have the window down too, letting the wind stroke his hair a bit with his head resting against it’s side.
He slows down his pace slightly, taking in the sky and the branches that stretched overhead since his parents might still be at work, so he doesn’t rush himself immediately back home. Hell, he doesn’t even have plans. All he does is stay in his room and do homework, except none of his teachers had assigned them to do anything yet. And really, he has nothing to do the rest of the day.
Suddenly, wheels started cycling behind him, coming towards his way as the sound got closer. He peeks over to his shoulder, and immediately the bike drives over next to him. The kid looks up and it’s—
“Mikey,” he says through a faint smirk. A scoff slips out of his lips, almost relieved seeing Mike on the opposite side. He thought he was about to get kidnapped.
“Hi.” Mike gives him a small wave, a smile tugging at his lips and shifts his gaze towards the path below.
“I thought you already went home?”
The boy hesitated to answer, Harvey’s words lingering between them a bit. “I was waiting for you by the gate,” he says. “I thought we could go home together.”
“Oh.” was the only statement he could thought of. Harvey apologizes after, dipping his chin down. Sweat drowned in the handlebar of his bike, shifting it around slightly. Silence follows.
Harvey figured they’d hang out a bit longer considering they’ve reunited once again, even though they just met yesterday. He regretted not speaking to him when Rachel introduced him to the friendgroup even though he made it clear he met Mikey first. Okay, maybe not clearly, at first, but still.
Questions flooded his mind but chose not to speak—do you miss your friend? And I mean that boy I often see you with in the forest? Why live with your grandma? Would you go back, and why did you move in with her?
He’d often glance over to Mike as his heart thumped loudly against his chest, shifting uncomfortably in his bicycle seat. What if he goes to the other path, and now they can’t hang out? Would it be too late? He looks forward to the road then back to his friend, his grip on the handle getting tighter. It’s already too awkward to start the conversation now, he thinks.
The kid clears his throat anyway. “What are you gonna do now when you get home?” He asks almost hesitantly, the words just slipping out of his tongue, and now he regrets it.
Mike turns to him and shrugs. “I dunno,” he murmured. “I usually don’t do anything… besides reading—“
“Then good!” Harvey exclaims. He stares ahead of the road as they reared a curved path, noticing a young girl standing behind a booth. Everyday after school he’d always go to the same path. He already has the whole place engraved in his head since he usually bikes in his free-time, but never remembered a booth being there.
“Hey, Harvey,” Mike says, pointing at the stand ahead of them. “We should go there. I think shrms selling cherries.”
The kid nodded, shifting his bike nearer to Mikey as they slowed their pace in front of the small booth. The girl wore a red bandana that draped over her dark hair, greeting the both of them and introduced the cherries she’s selling, saying she just started doing her business a week before.
Harvey wanted to pay, but Mikey insisted as a ‘thank you’ for yesterday. Harvey didn’t force him. The girl hands him the boat tray of cherries after receiving his money, placing them in his basket and drove off.
“Let me have some,” Harvey says, reaching his hand out to the basket.
Mike clicks his tongue at him, and shifts his bike slightly to the side. “Later. We gotta find a place to eat them.”
The kid pouted his mouth. Harvey wanted to joke around a bit, taunting Mike and attempting to hook atleast one cherry from the tray, but failed—multiple times. Mikey had to bike his way ahead of Harvey, taunting him back with his tongue out.
Harvey scoffs. “I cannot believe you,” he murmured under his breath, taking it a bit too seriously as he pedaled his way next to him, finally taking a piece of cherry and throws it onto his mouth, taunting Mike again.
“Hey!” He complained through a smirk.
The kid nudges his shoulder. “Race you,” Harvey exclaims and laughs, rushing his bike ahead of Mike as the sky stretched overhead until they weren’t able to catch their breaths. Mike took it as a challenge while the other did it for fun, and laughed the way through.
They stopped near a tree, panting, tossing their bikes next to a trunk and plopped on the grass. Mike gently placed the tray between them, wiping the sweat off his forehead as they ate together in silence, watching the river across them move slowly, reflecting bits of light from the waves.
Harvey takes a bite of the cherry, breaking the delicate skin with his teeth, while stripping the stem off and tossing them to the side carelessly.
“So… what do you do besides reading? Harvey asks.
The boy shrugs. “I dunno,” he says. “Walk around I guess.”
Harvey picks up another cherry then plucks one out. “Mikey. Open.”
He tosses the other piece in a high arc into Mike’s mouth, catching it immediately with his teeth. The sweet tartness explodes across his mouth. They both exchanged a laugh and turned their gazes to the river.
“How was today?” Harvey asks.
He shrugs. “It’s alright I guess…” his words drifted off, fiddling with the tall grass below him. “It was a bit scary though—he shrugs—a new school without someone I’m close to.”
“You can still see him at weekends.” The words easily slipped out of his mouth without any thinking. Oops. Maybe he shouldn’t had said that, now he looks like a creep who had been watching him. “Or her.”
A small smile tugs at Mike’s lips. “Yeah. At weekends we hang out in the forest, I suppose. I find it hard to let new people in, but Rachel’s nice.”
Silence fell between them. Mike kept his gaze towards the grass, but could tell Harvey would often look over to him. Sometimes he’d catch his stare, then smile as they exchange a small laugh.
“Do you go here a lot?” Mike asks, voice cutting through the awkward stillness.
“Yeah. With Donna most of the time.”
Must be the red-head, he thinks. What impressed him was that her hair stood out the most, probably the school’s heart-throb or something.
“I’m not close with her,” he says. “We talk sometimes. Why, you like her?”
Mike shakes his head breifly and stayed silent, picking up another cherry then shooting it into his mouth.
“Did you understand biology?” Harvey asks, shifting his body a bit nearer to Mike. “All I heard from Mr. Reid was that a woman and a male should be inlove to have a baby.”
“It was really awkward,” he laughs. “Everybody there was cheesing. But yeah I get it, it’s easy.”
Harvey nodded, humming in approval. Of course he gets it. He’s a valedictorian, and bets that his previous school was private, so his lessons there are probably advanced already. But still. They joked about the lesson, saying that Harvey heard about it before and heard his parents do it in the other room, while Mike laughed his ass off.
“No joke,” Harvey says through a smile.
“Okay—I get it!” Mike exclaims, his mind drifting off again when he realized they din’t have anything to talk about. “Mr. Reid says love is the best feeling too, especially in the making of babies.”
“Have you ever been in love?” Mike asked randomly, the words slipping out of his tongue easily without hesitation at all as he leaned in a bit.
“Must be nice,” Mike grimaced. “What does it feel like then?”
“I thought you’re with Donna?”
“Then you should know about love.” Mike protested. “Don’t you think it’s weird you don’t know?”
Harvey looks away awkwardly, the sun showing his neck on the side. Then he looks back at Mike. “You ask too many questions,” he says. “What about you then?”
Mike hesitated for a moment, his adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he gazes at the river that stretched across the other land. “You don’t wanna know.”
A groan slips out of the kid’s lips, tugging roughly at his sleeves. “Come on,” he exclaims. “Tell me!”
He shakes his head lightly. “No, seriously, it’s nothing.”
Harvey continued pouting and tugging at his sleeve, hoping he’d give in atleast once, then promise they’ll never talk about it ever again. But Mike krpt protesting, saying it’s nothing serious, and that they ended on bad terms. That’s all, except Harvey wanted to know the whole story about it.
Mike pulls away from his grasp. Not that he’s getting annoyed or anything. He actually likes having Harvey around, but couldn’t stand someone forcing out information against him. It often irked him. The boy stares into the sun that was about to set, then at the clouds that began to fog up the sky.
He checks his watch. 5:58 PM, it read.
“I gotta go,” he says, already standing up and grabbing his backpack by the top handle. “It’s getting late.”
Harvey stayed still, his gaze still following Mike’s figure as he walked up to his bike. “Alright. See you tomorrow.”
“See you then,” Mike replied giving him another small wave, then drove off to the pavement.
Slowly, he realizes he might have regretted it, since he’s already getting tired reeating the same routine after school. Wash up, change clothes, eat dinner then sleep. Nothing fun going on in his life now that his parents are dead. Suddenly, wheels began to cycle behind him as it grew closer and closer. Looking up he sees Harvey. Again.
“Hey,” he says breathingly.
“Are you seriously gonna go home now?” Harvey complained, pouting as he shifts his bike nearer to Mike again.
He shrugs. “I guess so. I have nothing to do anyway.”
The kid playfully shoves Mike’s bike without accidentally kicking him off to the side, but enough to urge him, and to play a bit. “Come to my house,” he repeated.
Mike scoffs, and shoves his back with a little force he had intended. “Oops.”
“Race you again,” Harvey says, winking, and pedaled hurriedly ahead of him, taunting Mike again and laughs.
He heaves a sigh. “Not again…”
When they arrived in front of Harvey’s porch, the sun had already fell and the sky darkened in a deep blue.
They tossed their bikes on the grass as the kid held Mike’s hand, leading him down the path inside his house. Stairs came into view, and inside there weren’t any lights except for the living room whose unaware that the light from their television is reflecting it off.
The boy peeks over behind the door frame, and sees a woman slumped on her couch, facing towards the TV. It’s noises were audible and loud, it’s screen flickering and changing in every scene.
“Mom, I’m home,” Harvey shouted across the room.
“Okay,” the woman yelled back without looking at him.
Harvey folds his hand with Mike’s, leading him upstairs to his room, pushing the door off. Immediately, Mike’s gaze locks onto the opposite side of Harvey’s. Must he his younger brother’s bed, he thinks. His side was slightly messy, sheets wrinkled and stuff-toys scattered across his bed, while Harvey’s is clean. Minimal, and next to it wasa bed-side table, then his desk.
As Mike looked around like he has his own world already, he notices Harvey had been glaring at him across the room, sitting in front of a piano near the door.
“I didn’t know you play the piano,” he says softly, standing behind the bench.
Harvey stood up in front of the piano, grabbing his portfolio, while Mike played with the keys a bit underneath, his fingers landing on random keys as the pitch slowly got higher. Below the keynotes, Mike notices three pedals, and decides to step on one of them, except his attention shifted to the photoframe sitting on top instead.
Inside the frame was a photo. A family photo. From what Mike could tell in the background, they must be standing behind a festival, or an event because of it’s stalls with kids lining up.
He holds the display up, scanning them and sees Harvey standing in the corner awkwardly, hair slightly messy with his mother’s arm around his shoulders. A laugh slips out of his lips, then suddenly he hears a voie cut through.
“Stop playing with that,” Harvey pointed him out, setting the portfolio open across the music desk then placing the photo frame back to where it belonged, but this time it wasn’t facing forward anymore like it used to. “Do you play the piano?”
“I don’t play any instrument, let alone sports…” he mumbled.
“I can tell.” Harvey scoots over, patting the leather of his seat. “Come here.” Mike nods and plops right next to him.
They sit side by side on the leather bench, knees almost brushing one another, and the piano taking up most of the space in front of them. Mikey never worked with a piano before, but he has seen the television of people playing them.
Mike leans in closely, both hands sitting on his raised knees as he watched closely.
“Okay—start here,” Harvey says, leaning over a little to Mike’s side. He taps a key with one finger, then the next. “Play these two first.”
The other nods, eyes fixed on the keyboard like he had done it before. His fingers hover for a second before pressing down hesitantly, unsure. “Like that?” He clarified.
Harvey gently folds his hand with his, guiding him to where he should press the keys next. “Yeah, but don’t stop inbetween,” he says. “Just go.”
Mike attempts again, a little smoother this time, but still slow. The notes seemed like it came out spaced apart, like he’s thinking too hard about each one—even though Harvey only asked him to play a few keys. (They’re five.)
“Keep going,” Harvey added, already starting his own part. Mike looks over slightly at his process, and his hands moved more easily.
For a few seconds of playing, their notes almost lines up, then it doesn’t.
Mike misses a key and immediately pulls his hand back nervously, the heel of his palm pressing againdt his knee. “Uh, sorry.”
“It’s fine,” the other says quickly, and smiles. He seemed like he’s enjoying helping Mike. “You’re getting close. Just don’t overthink it.”
He huffs a little and nods. “Okay.”
They start again. This time, Mike doesn’t stop when he messes up, and instead he kept going, trying to match the rhythm besie him. It still wasn’t perfect, but it actually sounded good anyway. Besides, Harvey hadn’t point it out yet, so it should be fine.
After a few notes, he glanced sideways. “Am I doing it right?” He asks.
Harvey doesn’t look up, and nods, fingers hovering across the keyboard. “Yeah.”
A smile forms in Mike’s lips that reached his eyes. Small but real, and he keeps going. Mike handled the small notes on the side while the other did the bigger parts since he doesn’t know anything about the basics of piano yet, but it entertained him.
And at some point, the both of them looked up for a second, possibly by accident, and catch each other’s eyes in the reflection of the piano.
It throws them off immediately, as they both pulled away laughing. Harvey playfully shoves his shoulder while Mike grasps the bench of it’s side, hoping to not fall.
“You distracted me!” Harvey exclaimed.
“No I didn’t,” Mike protested. “It was you!”
Harvey scoffs. “You looked first.”
They both erupted into giggling properly. Then their hands drops onto the keys again with a soft sound.
“Again,” Harvey says on the right after pressing the second note, then nudging Mike lightly with his elbow.
“Okay, but slower,” he says. “Like, actually slower.”
“Fine. Since you’re just a beginner.”
“Hey! I’m actually a fast-learner if you think about it.”
Harvey snorts. “Sure, whatever.” He taps the starting notes again, more gently this time, then he looks over to Mike. “Here. Ready?”
“Yep,” the boy exclaims, popping the ‘p.’
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