@ofgoodplace: continued from here
THERE’S NO MISTAKING THE WELT on the side of his face, right along his prominent cheekbone. he’d iced it earlier, whilst at school, but the makeshift ice pack had since melted and he’d had to throw it away. now he was home, thinking the coast was clear when he’d all but COLLIDED with his older sister. of course she would immediately notice the mark on his cheek, and he could only cringe in response. his eyes quickly darted around for any signs of their parents, and finding none, he returned his gaze to her’s.
“ IT’S NOTHING, ALRIGHT? ” BUT THAT was a lie and he knew that she wasn’t buying it. he also knew that it was more than likely that she wasn’t going to let up until he told her the TRUTH, so, with a loud sigh, and roll of the eyes, mike muttered out honestly what had happened. “ i… i got into a FIGHT today, okay? i didn’t get in trouble or anything since i was just defending myself and there were witnesses to prove it, but… ” he gingerly brushed his pale fingers over the bruising, swollen flesh, only to then pull it back with a wince.
“ LOOK, YOU CAN’T TELL MOM, okay? she’ll freak out. ” and that was theLAST thing that mike needed right now. he had full intentions of avoiding her all day if he could. but, he knew that come dinner time, that would be harder to do. hopefully by then most of the swelling would go down and maybe he’d actually be able to cover it up somehow, or something. that’s when the idea sparks into his head and he sends his sister a pleading look, complete with puppy-dog eyes and pout.
“ DO YOU THINK YOU COULD help me cover it up? ” he all but BEGS. “ PLEASE? ” he never asked nancy for very much, and he knew that they had more than their fair share of times when they would fight and bicker and argue, but… he REALLY needed her help. “ i don’t want anyone else seeing it, and, well– i’m no good with makeup and i can’t think of any other way to hide it, so—– ” a small pause, a breath and sigh, and, “ please? ”
Nancy wasn’t foolish enough to think that Mike was immune to bullies. He and his friends were all oddballs, and while she had no doubt they’d do just fine once they left school, the next several years weren’t going to be easy for them. Despite knowing all of this, when he basically plowed into her in the house as she was making her way to the kitchen, she couldn’t help but question him on the injury on his cheek. It was one thing to believe he was being bullied and another to see the result of the real bullying.
“That is not nothing,” she insisted, grabbing his chin and turning his face to look at where he was hurt. “Didn’t we talk about not lying to each other?” she reminded him, giving him a serious look, demanding with her eyes for him to be honest with her. When he told her the truth, she sighed softly. A part of her wondered if it would be worse or better for her to ask Jonathan or Steve to go and confront whoever was hurting her brother. It would probably not do him any good, so she let that idea go and focused on the issue at hand.
“Please. Give me a little credit here,” she scolded slightly, rolling her eyes. While she knew how to weigh the good of having someone intervene in Mike’s bullying against whatever consequences would follow, she doubted her mom would be as rational. The look Mike starts giving her is warning enough that he’s about to ask her for more than just keeping his secret. A frustrated sigh follows his request, her eyes rolling once more before she looked down at him.
“We can at least try, but I can’t promise I’ll be able to cover it completely. We don’t have identical complexions, after all,” she pointed out, then nodded towards the stairs. “I’m going to get some water. Meet me in my room and I’ll see what I can do okay?” she instructed, then went to head into the kitchen before pausing and turning back to face him. “Don’t touch anything. I swear, if even one thing is out of place, I’ll tell mom about the fight. Understand?”