december 10th, 1990

i walked out of school only to be called right back again;

'vic!' it was mike, and standing next to him was dustin

i smiled when I saw him and went over to them

'hey, kiddo! and dustin; what're you guys doing after school?'

mike smiled at me and dustin waved a little bit

'well, apple, that was exactly what we wanted to ask you. wanna come down to the movies with us later tonight? it's friday and we were thinking to go get some food before then..'

dustin smiled and winked at mike, while mike was waiting for my response

'i'd love to' i answered and smiled

mike smiled back

dustin picked up his bag that was previously thrown on the ground and began to leave me and mike alone,'well, see you guys later! gotta catch the bus!' he said and ran to the bus

'so, it's just us now, apple..' mike said and looked down at his feet

'sure is, giggles' i said and smiled a little

a moment of comfortable silence passed as we were both quiet, but then mike spoke up again,

'do you want me to walk you home? y'know, in case of any danger you might come across?'

'because derry is so scary?' i asked him sarcastically with a smile on my face to show that i was joking

'i- uh..' mike stuttered a little bit

'i would love it if you walked me home, mike'

he smiled of relief as we began to leave the school property, but was quickly faced with a small obstacle

richie was right in front of us, and it seemed as if it was on purpose

'wha-? hey guys! what are you two little love bugs doing here?' richie asked sarcastically

'we go to school here, richie. now leave us alone' i told him as we walked past him

'wait!' richie yelped out as we walked further and further away from him

we both ignored him.

after we were a considerable distance away from the school and richie, mike spoke up

'what's his problem, apple? does he want you back?' he asked

'giggles, even if he does i would never want to even be with him in a million years. he hurt me so bad, it still haunts me to this day. you'd never think that you're being hurt until you realise that it's already too late. he's taught me that i deserve the best of the best, not scumbags like him.'

'if i could, i'd give you the world, apple. and not even to be cheesy'

we both smiled as we walked to my house

our hands intertwined as we walked in silence the rest of the way back home

as we arrived back at my house, i asked mike,'wanna come in? we can hang out until we have to meet up with dustin?'

'sure'

we went inside an empty house, sat our things down, and walked back into my room

i sat down on my bed as mike walked around my room, taking it all in

'your room's really nice, apple' he said as he sat down on my chair in front of me

'thanks, mike'

a moment of silence passed as mike came and sat right next to me on my bed

it was clear what we were both thinking, but it was mike that started talking

'can't we just cut the crap, apple?' mike asked me in a nice way

i smiled, knowing exactly what he meant,'what do you mean, giggles?'

we both smiled at each other as blush crept up on both of our cheeks

mike breathed in and began talking,'I really like you, vic; and i'm hoping you also like me back, too-'

i cut him off,'i really do, mike,'

'well, do you want to be my girlfriend?'