~Something You Read: From Rick to Michonne~
“I cannot believe he actually logged into class this morning from his bed! I think he’d just woken up like five minutes before. He could barely hold his eyes open and had bed hair and everything. Who even does that?” Michonne scoffed.
Rick chuckled. “That sounds exactly like something Shane would do.”
“Mr. Horvath even had to tell him to put on a shirt...which got a lot of grumbling from some of the girls.”
“You included?”
Rick outright laughed at the look of disgust Michonne shot him through his phone’s screen.
“Richard Sutton Grimes, I am offended! You know I have better taste than that. No offense to Shane, but it would have to be the end of the world and we’d have to be the last hope for continuation of the human race before I’d even consider him anything other than a smug nuisance.”
“Ouch! So I’ll take that as a no.”
“Take that as a hell no!”
“Michonne Colette Richardson with the potty mouth! I’m gonna tell your mama and daddy.”
“What’s the worst that could happen? I get grounded and confined to the house and not allowed to go out with my friends? Too late, Miss Rona already beat them to that,” Michonne replied glumly.
“Yeah, it sucks. I can’t believe this is how we’re spending our senior year of high school. I thought everything would be back to normal by now.”
“I don’t even know what normal is anymore. I certainly hope this isn’t our new normal...going to school online, not being able to hang out and only seeing each other “face to face” through a screen in class or during phone calls.”
“I never thought I’d say this...and if you tell my mama, I’ll deny it...but I actually miss school. Not the work,” Rick quickly added. “I miss interacting with everybody, even Eugene and his mullet.”
“Really, Rick? Of all the classmates you could name, you pick Eugene...and his mullet...and not me?”
“You know you’re not just my classmate. You’re my best friend, Michonne. Of course I miss you.”
More than you even know, Rick thought.
“I miss you, too. The two of us haven’t been in the same space in what feels like forever and I’m over it. We don’t even get to go the mountains for Christmas this year,” Michonne lamented.
The Grimes and Richardson families were extremely close. The teens’ parents grew up together in King County and had been close long before Rick and Michonne were born. The families had been planning to spend Christmas break in a vacation home rented out for the holidays. But, now instead of a big Christmas celebration in the mountains, the families were doing as they had for Thanksgiving and keeping their celebrations small and confined to immediate family. Gift giving was even different this year.
The families decided to keep it simple and follow a modified version of the five-gift rule. Each household pulled the name of someone from the other household. The gift recipient told the gift giver what category they wanted their gift to represent. Luckily, Rick and Michonne pulled each other’s names. But even if they hadn’t, they would have managed to get a gift for each other a gift anyway. Michonne wanted “something you read” and Rick asked for “something you want.” Michonne’s gift was already wrapped and ready on Rick’s nightstand.
The canceled vacation and altered holiday routines were just another reminder of how different things were this year. Rick and Michonne had been inseparable since they were babies. They’d seen each other just about every day before pandemic brought their in-person interactions to a halt. The physical separation was something neither teen had really gotten used to even after so many months.
Michonne sighed. “You think it will be like this when we get older if everything does go back to normal and we can get on with our lives?”
“What do you mean?” Rick asked.
“We’re about to go off to college in some form or another and start the next phase of our lives. Do you think this is what it will be like...never seeing each other except through calls or whenever there is a holiday?”
“You think we’re going to grow apart?” Rick asked with a tilt of his head.
Michonne shrugged. “I don’t know. I hope not. But I never thought I’d live through a pandemic either. Life’s funny that way.”
“I know you want to explore the world and go to all these exciting places during and after college. But what about later? Do you think you’ll come back home? To your family?”
To me?
Rick had been in love with his best friend for as long as he could remember. He’d never quite found the words to tell her. He thought maybe he’d ask her to prom and do it then but prom most likely wasn’t going to happen this year. Rick worried if he’d even get the chance to hug Michonne again before they went off to different colleges next fall.
“You mean come back home to live?”
Rick nodded. “Yeah.”
“Is that what you’re going to do...come back home after college?”
“That’s been the plan.”
“Have you ever thought about living somewhere else?”
“Not really...but I guess I would for the right reason.”
And the right person.
“What reason would that be?”
You.
Rick shrugged. “I guess I’ll know when I know.”
Michonne looked away briefly before clearing her throat. “Oh...well, we don’t have to worry about that for a little while longer, anyway. Soon it will be Christmas break. And then it will be New Year’s Eve and we can put this hellish year behind us and start looking forward to the future...wherever that takes us.”
“Michonne, I---
A knock sounded on Rick’s door. It opened and his mom stood in the doorway.
“Honey, I know it’s distance learning but you still need to get some rest for tomorrow. Michonne, you do as well,” Mrs. Grimes added, knowing without question who Rick was talking to this late.
“Yes ma’am,” the teens replied in unison.
“Alright. Goodnight you two. Love you both.”
“Goodnight, Mama.”
“Goodnight, Auntie Suzanne.”
Once his mother closed the door behind her, Rick turned back to the screen.
“Rick, what were you about to say before?”
“Oh...umm...just that I hope you like the Christmas gift I got you.”
“You always pick out the best gifts, so I’m not worried. Well, I guess we better head to bed. Talk to you in the morning before classes?”
“Of course. Goodnight, Michonne.”
“Goodnight, Rick.”
The best friends ended their call and Rick slouched down with a sigh. He had been about to confess his feelings to Michonne right then and there. Her conversation about them growing apart scared him. He didn’t want to lose her.
But what if telling her how I feel pushes her away?
Needing to get his feelings off his chest somehow, Rick tore a piece of paper from his notebook, grabbed a pen and began to write.
Dear Michonne,
You’ve been my best friend since before we could talk and I hope you remain so even after I tell you what’s in my heart. Michonne, I love you...I’m in love with you. Whew! It feels good to FINALLY say that. I’ve loved you since...well, honestly, I can’t think of a time when I didn’t love you in some way. Every moment that’s meant something in my life has had you in it...holding my hand when I was scared on our very first day of school, when you helped me study for and win the spelling bee in third grade, when we took down the school bully, Phillip, on the playground in fifth grade, being each other’s first kiss in sixth grade and each other’s date for our first high school dance, sitting and crying with me when my grandpa died from the virus, stressing about applying to college early decision and celebrating together when we both got into our dream schools. The serious moments, the fun moments and everything in between...you’ve been there. And somewhere along the way, my love for you grew beyond friendship.
I can be my whole self with you because you bring out the best of who I am and you inspire me to want to be even better. You’re the one person I can tell anything and everything to without hesitation. You’re the only person I want to tell everything to. So, you’re probably wondering why I never told you how I feel. Well, I haven’t told you for the same reason your question about us drifting apart scared me...I don’t want to lose you. I can’t imagine...I don’t want to imagine...us not being in each other’s lives. I didn’t want to risk pushing you away or making you feel weird. I still don’t want that. But this year has taught me more than ever that life is short, time is precious and you have to let the people in your lives always know how you truly feel about them while you can.
Whatever you feel for me, please know that your happiness and our friendship are the most important things to me. And I want us to always remain friends, and in each other’s lives, whether or not we ever become a couple. I know we’ll be walking different paths for the next few years, but I hope those paths always lead us back to each other.
This is my first love confession I’ve ever written so I’m not really sure how to end it. I guess, thank you for reading it.
Love always,
Rick
P.S.- If you don’t feel the same way, you don’t have to say anything. We can just pretend this never happened.
Finished, Rick neatly folded the paper in half, wrote Michonne’s name on the front, and placed it on his nightstand beside Michonne’s gift.
Now the question remains if I’ll ever give it to her.
*****
Before Rick knew it, there was only one more week until school let out for the holiday break. He’d decided to have a change of scenery and attended school in his dad’s study today. Returning to his room, Rick plopped down on his bed and reached for his phone that he’d left on the nightstand. To his horror, the phone was there, but Michonne’s gift...and more importantly, Michonne’s note...were both gone.
“MAMA!”
“What?! Why are you yelling?”
“Mama, where’s Michonne’s gift?”
“Your Aunt Sheila and I did our socially distanced gift exchange this afternoon. I dropped their gifts off on their porch and ours were waiting there in a box. I already put them under the tree.”
“So you got Michonne’s gift from me off of my table?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to the piece of paper that was there as well?”
“Well, it had Michonne’s name on it, so I put it in a nice envelope...since you neglected to do so...and added it to her present.”
“Oh, Mama, you didn’t,” Rick groaned.
“Yes, I did. It was beside Michonne’s gift. It had her name on it. It was meant for her right?”
“Yes, ma’am. It was.”
“So why are you looking like I just destroyed your world?”
Because you may just accidentally have.
“Uh...it’s nothing,” Rick hedged. “I uh...I just wanted to exchange gifts in person.”
Mrs. Grimes nodded sympathetically.
“I know sweetie. We all wanted to do that this year, but we have to take the necessary precautions to keep everyone safe.”
Unfortunately, my heart might have just become collateral damage.
The morning after he wrote it, Rick had decided not to give Michonne the letter. He still felt the same way, but he just couldn’t run the risk of his confession altering their friendship in a negative way. However, now all he could do was wait and hope Michonne didn’t take an early peek at her gifts like she used to do when they were kids.
Rick looked at the date on his phone...December 10...fifteen days until Michonne opened the letter. He smiled wistfully at his lock screen. It was picture of him and Michonne that she forced him to take on the last day they saw each other before their world got turned on its head. They were lounging in the hammock in his family’s backyard just talking about their hopes for senior year and beyond. It had been a perfect afternoon. He’d almost told her how he felt then but backed out at the last minute. Now the decision to tell had been taken out of his hands.
Man, I hope I didn’t make the biggest mistake of my life.
*****
As the days to Christmas dwindled down, Rick didn’t notice a change in Michonne or their interactions. They still spoke every morning and every night and she acted the same as always. Rick didn’t know if that meant she hadn’t yet read the letter or that she had and was just not saying anything because didn’t have any romantic feelings for him.
Rick had tried to bribe Michonne’s younger brother, Noah, to find and destroy the letter. But that ended in utter failure. Noah couldn’t find the letter and he got yelled at by Michonne for snooping around her room. But Noah was true to his word (and the fifty dollars Rick sent to his cash app) and never implicated Rick in the plot.
~Christmas Eve~
Rick’s nerves were shot.
One more day until I know if I need to ask to go live with Granny Grimes down in Florida to finish out senior year.
Rick hadn’t spoken to Michonne at all today, which was a rarity.
Maybe she’s avoiding me.
Rick trudged glumly down the stairs so lost in thought that the sudden ringing of the doorbell scared him.
“Did y’all order food?” Rick called out to his family.
“No! It might be a package though,” his father yelled back.
Assuming the delivery person left the package on the porch, Rick pulled open the door without hesitation. He nearly fell over when he saw who was waiting.
“Michonne?! What are you doing here?” Rick started to push open the storm door, but caught himself. “Wait, a second.”
Rick grabbed his mask off the hallway table and put it on before stepping outside. The teens stood on opposite ends of the porch.
Michonne offered a small wave. “Hey, Rick. I came over because I wanted to see you.”
“Why? It must be important if you came in person.”
Oh, man. Is she going to break my heart in person?
“I promise to explain. But, first, I need you to answer some questions.”
“Questions? Why?”
“You’ll see.” Michonne pulled out her phone and unlocked it. “Okay, have you experienced any of the following recently...fever, cough, or headaches?”
“No.”
“Good. Fatigue...muscle or body aches...loss of taste or smell?”
“No.”
“Sore throat...nausea...diarrhea?”
“Michonne!”
“Rick, just answer the question.”
“No.”
“Has anyone in your family experienced those symptoms recently?”
Rick shook his head. “No.”
“Where have you been in the past fourteen days?”
“I’ve been home.” Stressing out over a letter.
“You haven’t gone anywhere outside? Not even to the grocery store?”
“Other than the porch or backyard, I’ve been in the house.”
“Good. I’ve haven’t gone anywhere for the past fourteen days either. I’ve been in the house and avoiding anyone who doesn’t live in my house...basically a self-imposed quarantine.”
“Why?”
“So I could do this.”
Michonne removed her mask and walked over to Rick. She reached up and removed his mask, smiling at the question in his eyes before leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on his lips. After a moment of shocked delay, Rick quickly responded by wrapping his arms around Michonne and deepening the kiss.
Needing a breath and a moment to process it all, the couple slowly broke off their kiss and stared at each other with twin smiles on their faces.
“I take it you read the letter?” Rick asked.
Michonne nodded. “Exactly fourteen days ago.”
“You read it the first night?! Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I’ve never had anyone confess their love for me before...at least not outside of a daydream. I needed time some time to deal.”
“And do you feel the same way?”
“Rick, I quarantined for fourteen days just so I could kiss you. What do you think that means?”
“Maybe I just want to hear you say it.”
Michonne rolled her eyes but couldn’t keep the smile off of her face.
“I love you, too, Rick.”
“Romantically?”
“Yeah.”
“For how long?”
“For as long as I can remember.”
“Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
Michonne shrugged. “It’s the same reason you didn’t. I was scared and I didn’t want to lose you in case you didn’t feel the same way.”
“But we both feel the same way. So...we’re a couple?”
“Almost. There is something you have to say first.”
“What?” Then it dawned on Rick and he flushed, suddenly shy. “I wrote it in the letter.”
“Maybe I just want to hear you say it.”
Rick chuckled at his words being thrown back at him, before he turned serious.
“I love you, Michonne.”
Michonne’s face lit up with a smile that took Rick’s breath away.
“Now, we’re a couple,” she declared.
Rick took Michonne’s hand and led her over to the porch swing. The couple drew close under the blanket Rick’s mom kept there for the chilly winter nights.
“Guess I won’t have to open any gifts tomorrow.”
“What do you mean?” Michonne questioned.
“Christmas came early. I have everything I want now.”
Michonne smiled and pulled Rick into a hug. When they separated, a sudden question occurred to Rick.
“Hey, did you open my actual gift I got you to read?” Rick asked.
“Not yet, I was waiting until tomorrow. I only opened the letter because I thought it was a card. I’m glad I didn’t wait though because that letter was truly the best thing I’ve read in my entire life.”
Rick blushed happily at Michonne’s words.
“Well, maybe you’ll read something even better one day.”
“Like what?”
“Our wedding vows.”
Michonne’s eyes widened before she smiled sweetly, “Yeah, maybe one day.”
The couple shared another kiss before they cuddled against each other and slowly rocked in the swing, enjoying the Christmas lights shining across the neighborhood.
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