The Miracle of You

The sound of her voice calling out his name, his old nickname that she often called out of affection, made Michael’s heart skip a beat.

A long time, indeed. He had waited for this moment for so, so long.

Fourteen years of waiting to meet her again.

She could never imagine how much he had missed her.

“Lange nicht mehr gesehen,” Michael said with a smile, skillfully concealing his true emotions from his expression. “Long time no see, Hailey.”

Camille’s mouth opened in surprise. “You… You know German?” she said, clearly caught off-guard.

“Yeah. I studied in Germany for a while,” Michael said. “Do I sound awkward?”

Since Hailey’s father was of German descent, she mentioned that he would talk to her in German sometimes at home, that he had been doing it occasionally ever since she was a child. She picked up on the language soon after, and she sometimes she used it to speak to Michael jokingly, knowing that he had no clue about what she was saying.

At times, she would even scold him in German, which made him feel relieved that he didn’t exactly know what she was saying. After all, it was better to be scolded in a different language.

‘Ignorance is bliss, like they say,’ he thought.

But now, Michael no longer had the weakness of not understanding. This time, he learned some of the language, and he could finally show off his knowledge to her.

‘Funny, I feel like I’m sixteen years old again…’ Michael thought to himself in amusement.

“No, not at all…” Camille swallowed slightly. “I remember I used to make fun of you by talking in German when we were in high school. I guess you really thought ahead this time, huh?” she joked.

“Ja. I’m not so easy to fool anymore,” Michael said with a smirk. “Anyway, shall we order first?”

Camille nodded, relaxing slightly at Michael’s casual tone. It somehow felt like nothing had changed between them, that the years hadn’t gone by and they were still the same old good friends back in high school.

She was grateful that he started the conversation this way. The awkward atmosphere had dissipated somewhat, and the knots in her stomach began to loosen.

While they were in the middle of choosing from the menu, Camille took this chance to look at Michael. Indeed, his appearance had changed and became much more mature, just like what she saw in the photos on the news and the internet.

But it was a different story when seeing it with her own two eyes.

When they were in high school, Michael used to dye his hair in different colors. It used to annoy her back then, so she would scold him about it every time. After all, it wasn’t appropriate for a student from their prestigious school to stand out like that.

Plus, it was like he was practically commanding attention to him and planning on making everyone feel intimidated towards him. Such attitude was unacceptable, in her opinion. She believed that every student in the school should follow proper conduct and attire.

It took her a long time to finally convince him to get rid of the hair dyes. She didn’t know exactly what made him change his mind, but one day, he came to school with his original brown hair color, and he even stopped being a troublemaker, little by little. The sudden change surprised her a bit, but it was a welcome transition nevertheless.

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“Now you look much better,” she remembered telling him that day. “Your hair looks good this way. Why did you even keep changing it?”

“Nothing,” Michael responded with a shrug of his shoulders. “I just felt like it.”

Hailey folded her arms across her chest as she pinned him with a stern gaze. “So am I to presume that you stopped dyeing your hair simply because you also felt like it?”

“Not really.” Michael sent her a mysterious smile. “I won’t tell you the reason why. Not yet, anyway.”

–

Of course, her curiosity was piqued, so she tried to get him to tell her the truth. However, he was, unsurprisingly, stubborn about it. So, in the end, she gave up.

Back then, Michael was a tall kid with an unusual charm. His features were boyish yet elegant, and there was something about the cold, indifferent expression he always wore on his face that drew the girls to him. He was the typical cool, tall, and handsome boy, but with quite a few quirks of his own.

But now, Michael McGregor was no longer that kid from back then. His features became much more mature, strong and chiseled. His jawline was more defined, and his high cheekbones were prominent. His eyes were an attractive, dark shade of honey, framed by long lashes and neatly shaped eyebrows. Even his complexion seemed clearer and smoother than hers.

There was also a hint of a stubble on his chin that gave him a rugged, masculine look.

‘What a handsome guy you became,’ Camille thought to herself with a secret smile.

She then quickly averted her eyes before he could notice that she was staring.

After ordering, Michael propped his elbows on the table, gazing at Camille closely. This time, it was him who was observing her, which made her feel a little embarrassed.

‘He’s really doing it outright, isn’t he?’ she thought uneasily. ‘He’s not even bothering to hide it.’

Then again, he must feel like he was looking at a complete stranger. After all, she went through measures to change her identity as well as her appearance. She didn’t want to look anything remotely like ‘Hailey van Gowen’.

Camille, feeling more awkward at his intense stare as time passed, decided to speak up.

“It’s weird, isn’t it…?” she said slowly. “We’ve finally met after a long time, and now… My name is different, my looks are different…”

“Du bist noch sehr schön,” Michael said, his voice as warm as his gaze. “Don’t worry about it.”

Camille felt her cheeks instantly burn in response, and she could barely keep her lips from parting in surprise.

‘You’re still very beautiful’ in German.

Since when had Michael been such a charmer?