Morganville (Justin Bieber)

Chapter 21

Dinner was uncomfortable. Dad made noncommittal grunts about the quality of the chilli. Justin looked like he was barely holding on to his laughter most of the time. Eve was so nervous that I thought she would jitter right out of her chair. Micheal was the calm one. The adult.

"So, Micheal." My mother said, nibbling at a spoonful of chilli. "What is it you do?"

Haunts the house where he died. I thought to myself. I took a sip of my cola.

"I'm a musician" he said.

"Oh really" she brightened up. "What do you play? I love classical music!"

Now even Micheal looked uncomfortable. Justin coughed into his napkin and drained Coke in huge gulls to drown his hiccuping laughter.

"Piano and guitar" he said. "But mostly guitar. Acoustic and electric"

"Any good?" My dad asked. Justin's shoulders were shaking.

"I don't know" Micheal said. "I work hard at it"

"He's very good!" Eve jumped in, eyes bright and flashing. "Honestly, Micheal, you should quit being so humble. You're really great. It's just a matter of time before you do something big, and you know it!"

"Someday" he said, and sent me a look. "Hey, Justin. Thanks for dinner, good stuff"

"Yeah" Eve said. "Not bad"

"Spicy" Dad said, as if that was a flaw. I knew for a fact he ordinarily added tobasco to half of what he ate. "Mind if I get a refill?"

Eve jumped up like a jack in a box. "I'll get it!" But dad was already at the end of the table, closest to the kitchen, and he was already in his feet and heading in that direction.

Micheal and Justin exchanged looks. I frowned, trying to figure out what they were looking so alarmed about.

They sat in silence as the refrigerator opened, bottles rattled, and then it closed. Dad came back, one cold frosted Coke in his hand. In his other hand he held a beer. He sat it in the centre of the table and glared at Micheal.

"You want to explain why there's beer in a refrigerator with a seventeen year old in the house?" He asked. "Not the mention that none of you are old enough to drink it!"

I had two days, and only because Dad agreed to allow me to go to the admissions office and file transfer paperwork. Micheal tried his best, but when angelic looks and complete sincerity weren't good enough this time. Justin had stopped finding it amusing at some point, an started yelling. Eve had gone to her room. I had cried. A lot.

I was so angry, in fact, that I could barely cared that Mom and Dad were driving out of Morganville in the dark, unprotected and unwarned. Micheal took care of that though, with a story about carjackers stealing SUVs in the area. That was the best anyone could do.

Dad looked at me like I was a disappointment. I'd never been a disappointment before. And it totally pissed me off because I didn't deserve it.

Micheal and Justin stood in the doorway watching my parents hurry to their SUV in the dark. Justin, I saw, had a big hand carved cross and was ready to charge to the rescue. He didn't need to though. Micheal closed the door and turned to look at me.

"Sorry" he said. "That could of been better"

"You think?" I shot back. My eyes were swollen and hot, and I felt like I might fall apart. "I'm not leaving! No way!"

"Ana" Micheal reached out and put his hands on my shoulders. "Until you're eighteen, you really don't have the right to say that, okay? I know you're almost eighteen, you're smarter than ninety percent of the whole word-"