lay me down»michael clifford (on hold)

7

"This is so boring" Michael whined to Mirakel in a whisper, trying to avoid the cranky teacher hearing him. Mirakel chuckled, taking her eyes off her notebook where she had been drawing a flower, to look at Michael. Neither one of them had paid much mind to the documentary playing on the smart board. The one the class was supposed to be taking notes on. To be fair, the two weren't the only ones disobeying the teachers orders. About three quarters of the class were either knocked out cold or sneakily texting away on their phones. At least Mirakel and Michael were awake and technology free.
"Is that a flower?" Michael asked, referring to the drawing she was working on. His cheek was placed lazily in his hand, and he leaned towards her to get a better look at the artwork. She nodded. Usually she got annoyed when people starred at her while she was drawing but, she made an exception for Michael.
"Pretty good." He said, impressed at its quality. It looked realistic with all its shading and detail. It was in black and white. It looked to be a rose, with one single petal falling to the flower.
"Thanks. Not my most creative work but, its still pretty" she chuckled, knowing she could do better. To her, this master piece that takes some people long frustrating hours to draw, was nothing more than a small doodle.

It had been a whole month since the party where Mirakel and Michael had bonded and since then they had been inseparable. Michael even switched seats with the kid who used to sit next to Mirakel just so they could talk during class. They had been drawn to each other like a bee to honey. Well, in school at least. They would meet in the court yard in the morning, walk each other to class, and then wait patiently for lunch to meet again. At the end of the day, they said goodbye and went their separate ways. In the month they've been friends they've never once got tired of one another. They would have small disagreements but no wrangles. Usually the arguments were about where they should go for lunch or which song they should listen to on their way to the place for lunch. Usually it was Mirakel who won these mini battles because Michael would rather have her happy and talking to him than her mad and ignoring him. Even though her silent treatments would last about seven minutes before he made her laugh and she forget why she was even upset in the first place.
Calum would constantly say they had a cute relationship, and it was soon to blossom into something else. Michael would wave him off claiming he didn't see her in that way. Calum would respond with a hum and change the subject.
"I'm hungry"
"You complain a lot"
"That's cause I have things to complain about"
"Mirakel and Michael!"
The two looked up at the teacher who was standing up at his desk scowling at them. He moved his finger to his lips, signaling them to be quiet.
"Sorry" Michael called out to him. They both turned back around, holding in their childish laughter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm off work today." Michael stated as the three teenagers walked out the doubled doors of the school. Mirakel knew where he was going with the statement.
"You guys wanna hang out"
Calum nodded his head, not looking away from his phone. Mirakel gave him a mixed look. She wanted to. But of course her step father would never let her. After the party he had made it clear for her to not ask to go anywhere else just because...well she didn't really know why. Plus, if he found out she was hanging out with a boy, especially of Michaels type, she would be dead before she knew what was going on.
"I can't."
"HA! she just rejected you" Calum taunted, actually looking up from his phone. Michael told him to shut his face and looked back at mirakel.
"Why not?"
She wanted to say that she was busy, but of course they would ask why and she didn't have a answer for that. So, she decided to just be straight up.
"My step dad doesn't really like me going out. Especially with boys"
Michael didn't ask any further questions. He just pouted.
"Well that sucks balls" he grumbled. Mirakel shrugged.
"Sorry"
"Its fine. I'll sneak you out someday" he smirked jokingly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Maybe I can get a job here" calum said to Michael. They had gotten hungry and decided to go to the bakery Michael worked at for food, since its cheaper considering he got a discount.
Michael shook his head.
"Mary wouldn't be able to handle your stupidity" He said referring to the bakery owner, Mary. Although she was a lovely old women, she could catch an attitude when you deserved it.
"Whatever." He muttered. He dropped the small left over piece of his blazed donut on his napkin, too full to eat the rest.
"So how's life?" Calum asked, whipping the crumbs off the side of his lips. Michael gave him a questioning look
"At home." Calum clarified. He knew of all the struggles Michael goes through on a daily basis.
Michael let out a sigh. There was so many things going on in his life right now. His mom wasn't able to pay the rent on time, so the land lord is threatening to evict them if they don't pay the money by next week. His sister had gotten caught with marijuana and has been in jail since Monday. They didn't have the money to bail her out, so of course she was stuck in there until Friday morning. Michael didn't feel even one ounce of sympathy for her. She should be in prison from what he has witness her do. The only one he feels sorry for his Dillon. Sorry that he has the mother he does.
"We might get evicted." He told him. Saying it out loud made the situation even more real, and scary.
"Holy shit. . ." Calum trailed off "what are you gonna do"
He shrugged. Its been running through his head all day. The rent was $700 not including the power bill, heat bill and cable. He had to find some way to get the money in less than a week and if he didn't, him and his mom would be left with no home to live in. His mom worked at a grocery store, and made only $340 a week. Most of that check went to buying diapers and clothes for Dillon and putting food on the table. The power goes out at least once a month, and the hot water is basically non existent in their household.
"I don't know. Between the money me and my mom make a week can be enough to pay half of it but, but he made it pretty clear that he wants the money by next week" he said sadly, speaking of his landlord. Calum let out a long breath, slumping back in his seat.
"Woah. I'm sorry man. If there was anything I could do..."
Michael didn't want Calum to feel sorry for him. The last thing he wanted was his friends to worry about him. Its just that talking about his problems is what helped him get through them. Keeping them in only made it worse.
"I'm sure we'll be fine. Maybe I can ask him to push the due date back. If he says yes then that can buy us a little more time to save up. I can work more hours at the bakery this week just to bring in a little more money"
"What if he doesn't push back the due date?" Calum asked. Michael thought. If he didn't get the money in, he didn't know what him and his mother would do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How was work, Derek?" Mirakels mother asked as her step father walked in through the kitchen entryway. He said nothing but sighed heavily. He loosened his tie harshly. He was obviously frustrated with whatever had went on at his job, which meant Mirakel and her mother would have to be extra careful. Mirakel didn't say a word, she just continued working on her homework.
"Is food almost ready?" He asked, ignoring her question and removing his gray blazer. She nodded.
"Just about." She rushed to the stove and picked the lid off one of the pots. She began stirring what ever was inside, which was most likely rice.
"Mirakel don't do your homework at the table." he told her. She looked up at him. He got up, reaching his hand up to the cabinet and grabbing a glass cup. He looked back at her as if telling her 'I'm not gonna ask you twice. She muttered an "okay" before quickly picking up all her books and papers to bring them to her room.

She closed her door. She jumped onto her red and purple dotted bed. It seemed like no matter how hard she tried she would always get distracted from her homework. Something as simple as the tree swaying back and forth outside her window was enough to make her forget where she even was. She would doodle something on one of her binders and before she knew it it turned into a gigantic masterpiece.
She was in the middle of folding up some blank piece of paper she found in her bookbag when she suddenly heard the sound of laughter. The sweet giggles that she heard almost everyday coming from outside her window. She lived next door to a family who had a son that was a tad bit older than her. He was a very giddy friendly boy. He always had people over his house hanging out in his garage. And every afternoon she would hear them laughing and goofing around in their driveway. She had to admit he was quite the looker. He had curly dirty blonde hair and always wore muscle tees that showed off his tan biceps. She would see him all the time when he was outside mowing the lawn.
His name was Ashton. And he played the drums loudly on Saturday afternoons. She talk to him a few times because his mother was friends with her mother and they would come over for dinner on some occasions or they would go to their house for barbeque in the summer.
She envied him. He was confident, funny, goofy, good looking. Everything she wished she could be. She is goofy, but no one really got close enough to her to unleash that side of her. Except Michael of course.
So everyday she just sat in her bed, starring unknowingly out the window, wishing she could be the equivalent of Ashton. Wishing her shyness didn't get in the way of so many things.