Dare || m.c.

➵ 4.6 - michael

this got kinda long...sorry

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Sunday came faster than Michael could've thought. One minute he was dropping Jade off at Ashton's house and the next he was waking up in a cold sweat, anxious for what the night would bring. Not only was it prom, but it was also June 16, meaning there was only five days left before they all graduated. Five days before high school was officially done and they were on their own. Not a comforting thought for Michael. If the band didn't work out, he knew he was screwed.

"Morning, Mom," Michael said when he walked into the kitchen Sunday morning. Karen had set a plate of freshly made pancakes for him at the table, with a tall glass of orange juice. He honestly loved his mom.

"Good morning, honey," she smiled at him warmly. Between school and band practice and Karen's own job, they didn't get to see each other too much. "Are you excited for tonight?"

"You've no idea," Michael smiled back through a mouthful of pancakes. "Did you get the corsage?"

Karen nodded. "It's in the fridge. I think it'll go well with the dress, hopefully Jade won't hate it."

"She won't," Michael assured her. Then her words fully registered with him and he blinked at her. "It's in the fridge? Since when do people put a corsage in the fridge?"

"I do," Karen retorted and stole half a pancake from Michael's plate.

"You're so weird, Mom," Michael laughed.

"So are you, kid." Karen missed up his hair and kissed the top of his head. "I have to get groceries and run some other errands, don't burn the place down."

"Noted." Michael stood up and gave her a quick hug. "Love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, sweetheart." Karen left soon after that.

Michael contemplated going over to Ashton's house so he could give the corsage to Jade, but decided not to. He could just give her it later. Instead he sat on the couch and watched all the YouTube videos they'd put up. He had to admit, they were awful. He didn't know why anyone would like them or be willing to pay for their music - if they ever got to that point.

Before he knew it, it was three o'clock and he'd wasted his day watching meaningless YouTube that wouldn't help him get ready for tonight. Speaking of which, he had no idea how to tie a tie. That was the next search on YouTube. Turned out, it was a little harder to learn than Michael had thought. For starters, there were too fucking many kinds of ties - Windsor knot, half Windsor knot, Trinity knot, Eldridge knot, etcetera. He found one titled How to Tie aTie Like a Ninja and knew that was the one he was meant to watch. The man had a strong accent and instructions that were too hard to follow, but after watching it about a hundred times, Michael got the hang of it all.

Next, he had to dye his hair because that was the cost he was paying to have Jade go with him. He really liked his current hair - it was colorful - but he'd promised Jade he would go black and he couldn't back out now. So Michael spent the next hour in the bathroom, applying hair dye and then waiting for it to settle before he could wash it off.

"Michael!" Karen's voice called sometime later.

"I'm in the bathroom, Mom," Michael yelled back, typing away on his phone. People actually followed him on Twitter now - well, it was mostly girls, but he wasn't complaining. Some of them would occasionally tweet him about the shitty music on hemmo1996 and they would have a nice little chat. It was happening right now.

"I've got something for you," Karen replied.

Michael furrowed his eyebrows. He hadn't asked her for anything that she'd be so excited about. He got up from the toilet and walked out to where Karen was. "What is it?"