SkyGirl5
Cadet
Chapter 7
By the time Sydney arrived back at her hotel room she was livid and seriously regretting her decision to tag along on the trip to Vegas. Mostly, she was furious with Michael for succumbing to the peer pressure from his idiot friends. She could not believe he was being so stupid. Usually when his friends (typically Andrew) came up with harebrained schemes Michael ignored them or at least did not participate. This was…well, this was flat out ridiculous!
“Syd c’mon its not that big of a deal,” Michael groaned when he walked into the room about a minute behind her.
“NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL?!” she shouted. “Michael, you just volunteered me to get married to you! Have you lost your freakin’ mind?!”
“No,” he said unconvincingly. “C’mon Syd I don’t wanna lose all that money. Do you know how much their bar tab is gonna be?! Probably like a thousand bucks!”
“Then you shouldn’t have agreed to this stupid bet in the first place!” she hissed. “God! What is the matter with you?!”
“Syd, seriously, you’re blowing this way out of proportion,” Michael said calmly. “I mean, its not like it’s a big deal. Weddings in Vegas don’t really mean anything.”
“What are you? Phoebe from Friends?? Vegas weddings are real weddings!! They result in actual marriages not matter how drunk or sober you are!” Sydney insisted.
Michael growled slightly. “I know that! I simply meant they can easily be undone – you can get them annulled two days later. Just look at Britney Spears; she did it.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s really a person you want to be using an analogy right now Michael,” Sydney snapped. “Me and Britney – we’re practically twins!”
“That’s not what I meant! Besides, think of it this way if we get married you probably won’t have to listen to Jas tease you all week for being Sandra Dee,” he rationalized, trying a different angle to convince her.
“I, unlike you apparently, do not fall subject to teasing and peer pressure, Michael.”
“Oh so you like it when they ridicule you then?”
“Of course not,” she sighed. “But I don’t hate it enough to get married – which is a big deal!”
“Seriously I think you’re making too big a deal out of this. I mean, god, its something fun – something spontaneous. Who knows, a few years down the road you might even look back at it and laugh,” Michael told her.
Sydney shook her head at him still in disbelief he was pressing the issue. Sighing, she sat down on the edge of the bed, her back to him. “You wanna know why I really don’t want to do this? The truth?” she asked softly, not sure if she was quite ready to admit the next words out of her mouth.
“That would be nice, yeah,” Michael said, mirroring her soft tone as he sat beside her very gently.
“Well it’s silly really…god, I mean, I’m such an idiot,” she laughed softly, covering her face with her hands. “But the truth is that I’ve had this…this crush on you for a while. I mean, it was just this little schoolgirl crush I had…at least it was back in high school and it’s just kinda gotten worse and…ridiculous over the years but…but I love you and that’s why I can’t marry you…if that makes sense,” she laughed slightly as she turned away from him, knowing her face was turning eight shades of red.
“Oh Syd, I love you too,” Michael sighed, putting a gentle hand on her back.
“No, Michael no,” she said, standing up and moving away from him. “I don’t just as a friend love you – I love you.”
“Yeah I know I love you too,” Michael repeated.
At this information, Sydney’s throat went entirely dry, her heart began pounding, and she was convinced she had stopped breathing. After staring blankly at Michael for a full minute, she managed to croak out, “What?”
“I love you, Syd,” he repeated.
“Are you just saying that so I’ll marry you?!!” she exclaimed with horror.
“NO! No of course not…I’m not that stupid,” he laughed.
“So…,” she said very slowly as she sat down on the bed once more. “You have… romantic feelings…for me?” Michael nodded his head. “I thought you always thought of me as your sister!” she insisted, squeaking slightly.
He couldn’t help but laugh. “No…well, maybe I did a little bit when we were younger, but I’m well aware you’re not a blood relative.”
Still staring at him wide-eyed, Sydney could not believe what she was hearing. “But I don’t understand…why didn’t you ever…”
“Ask you out?” he continued her thought. She nodded. “Oh I dunno Syd,” he groaned. “I guess…I guess I didn’t think you’d say yes. Keep in mind, I didn’t actually realize I loved you until recently. Actually, it was while you were dating that Bio major guy who always looked like he had waxed paper covering his front teeth,” Michael laughed softly. “Plus, I didn’t want to mess up our friendship.”
“And you think marriage is the way to do that,” Sydney said dryly.
“I told you its not a real marriage!” he laughed. “Oh c’mon Syd, doesn’t a little tiny part of you want to know what it’d be like if we got married? Just think how much our moms will freak!”
“That is true…,” Sydney laughed at the mental image of her mother’s eyes bugging straight out right before they rolled back into her head. She glanced over at Michael and saw him grinning at her enticingly; she bit her lip. On one had, every logical part of her body was screaming, “NO!” Yet, on the other hand, she never did anything spontaneous, and this certainly was spontaneous… “Okay,” she agreed finally. “Let’s do it.”
“Serious?!”
“Serious. But if anything goes wrong I’m blaming you completely,” she told him sternly.
“Deal,” he laughed softly. Then, to seal their agreement, he leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss onto her lips.
Sydney pulled back, surprised. “That was…different.”
“Bad different?”
She shook her head. “Nope, just different.”
“Oh ok good,” he laughed softly. Then, he leaned in and gave her another, slightly longer kiss. “C’mon. Let’s go tell Andrew he’s gonna have to pay his own bar tab.”
“Okay,” she agreed with a laugh.
By the time Sydney arrived back at her hotel room she was livid and seriously regretting her decision to tag along on the trip to Vegas. Mostly, she was furious with Michael for succumbing to the peer pressure from his idiot friends. She could not believe he was being so stupid. Usually when his friends (typically Andrew) came up with harebrained schemes Michael ignored them or at least did not participate. This was…well, this was flat out ridiculous!
“Syd c’mon its not that big of a deal,” Michael groaned when he walked into the room about a minute behind her.
“NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL?!” she shouted. “Michael, you just volunteered me to get married to you! Have you lost your freakin’ mind?!”
“No,” he said unconvincingly. “C’mon Syd I don’t wanna lose all that money. Do you know how much their bar tab is gonna be?! Probably like a thousand bucks!”
“Then you shouldn’t have agreed to this stupid bet in the first place!” she hissed. “God! What is the matter with you?!”
“Syd, seriously, you’re blowing this way out of proportion,” Michael said calmly. “I mean, its not like it’s a big deal. Weddings in Vegas don’t really mean anything.”
“What are you? Phoebe from Friends?? Vegas weddings are real weddings!! They result in actual marriages not matter how drunk or sober you are!” Sydney insisted.
Michael growled slightly. “I know that! I simply meant they can easily be undone – you can get them annulled two days later. Just look at Britney Spears; she did it.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s really a person you want to be using an analogy right now Michael,” Sydney snapped. “Me and Britney – we’re practically twins!”
“That’s not what I meant! Besides, think of it this way if we get married you probably won’t have to listen to Jas tease you all week for being Sandra Dee,” he rationalized, trying a different angle to convince her.
“I, unlike you apparently, do not fall subject to teasing and peer pressure, Michael.”
“Oh so you like it when they ridicule you then?”
“Of course not,” she sighed. “But I don’t hate it enough to get married – which is a big deal!”
“Seriously I think you’re making too big a deal out of this. I mean, god, its something fun – something spontaneous. Who knows, a few years down the road you might even look back at it and laugh,” Michael told her.
Sydney shook her head at him still in disbelief he was pressing the issue. Sighing, she sat down on the edge of the bed, her back to him. “You wanna know why I really don’t want to do this? The truth?” she asked softly, not sure if she was quite ready to admit the next words out of her mouth.
“That would be nice, yeah,” Michael said, mirroring her soft tone as he sat beside her very gently.
“Well it’s silly really…god, I mean, I’m such an idiot,” she laughed softly, covering her face with her hands. “But the truth is that I’ve had this…this crush on you for a while. I mean, it was just this little schoolgirl crush I had…at least it was back in high school and it’s just kinda gotten worse and…ridiculous over the years but…but I love you and that’s why I can’t marry you…if that makes sense,” she laughed slightly as she turned away from him, knowing her face was turning eight shades of red.
“Oh Syd, I love you too,” Michael sighed, putting a gentle hand on her back.
“No, Michael no,” she said, standing up and moving away from him. “I don’t just as a friend love you – I love you.”
“Yeah I know I love you too,” Michael repeated.
At this information, Sydney’s throat went entirely dry, her heart began pounding, and she was convinced she had stopped breathing. After staring blankly at Michael for a full minute, she managed to croak out, “What?”
“I love you, Syd,” he repeated.
“Are you just saying that so I’ll marry you?!!” she exclaimed with horror.
“NO! No of course not…I’m not that stupid,” he laughed.
“So…,” she said very slowly as she sat down on the bed once more. “You have… romantic feelings…for me?” Michael nodded his head. “I thought you always thought of me as your sister!” she insisted, squeaking slightly.
He couldn’t help but laugh. “No…well, maybe I did a little bit when we were younger, but I’m well aware you’re not a blood relative.”
Still staring at him wide-eyed, Sydney could not believe what she was hearing. “But I don’t understand…why didn’t you ever…”
“Ask you out?” he continued her thought. She nodded. “Oh I dunno Syd,” he groaned. “I guess…I guess I didn’t think you’d say yes. Keep in mind, I didn’t actually realize I loved you until recently. Actually, it was while you were dating that Bio major guy who always looked like he had waxed paper covering his front teeth,” Michael laughed softly. “Plus, I didn’t want to mess up our friendship.”
“And you think marriage is the way to do that,” Sydney said dryly.
“I told you its not a real marriage!” he laughed. “Oh c’mon Syd, doesn’t a little tiny part of you want to know what it’d be like if we got married? Just think how much our moms will freak!”
“That is true…,” Sydney laughed at the mental image of her mother’s eyes bugging straight out right before they rolled back into her head. She glanced over at Michael and saw him grinning at her enticingly; she bit her lip. On one had, every logical part of her body was screaming, “NO!” Yet, on the other hand, she never did anything spontaneous, and this certainly was spontaneous… “Okay,” she agreed finally. “Let’s do it.”
“Serious?!”
“Serious. But if anything goes wrong I’m blaming you completely,” she told him sternly.
“Deal,” he laughed softly. Then, to seal their agreement, he leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss onto her lips.
Sydney pulled back, surprised. “That was…different.”
“Bad different?”
She shook her head. “Nope, just different.”
“Oh ok good,” he laughed softly. Then, he leaned in and gave her another, slightly longer kiss. “C’mon. Let’s go tell Andrew he’s gonna have to pay his own bar tab.”
“Okay,” she agreed with a laugh.
