she looks so perfect // lh

0.1

"michael just give her the muffin."

"don't be a traitor, crystal." michael continued to hold the muffin over his head as i stood on my tiptoes trying to grab it.

"michael, come on. she wrote her name on it." when his girlfriend wasn't looking i stuck my tongue out at him, causing him to glare at me.

"you were literally there when i bought it!" michael turned to crystal to pout, letting his guard down. big mistake, bro. i took this as my chance to grab the muffin from his hand and quickly ran and hid behind the laughing girl.

"this house still has rules." michael rolled his eyes at my words and plopped down on the sofa, obviously defeated. this usually happened when him and crystal came to visit, her taking my side. michael just pretended to pout to get her to kiss him. gross.

michael was in his second year of uni. he was only home because he called my mum at nine p.m. saying he wanted to drop out and start a band with some friends he made in his music appreciation class. he was supposed to be staying at the drummer's house in melbourne for the long weekend, but he was forced to come home instead. apparently mum wanted to have a chat with him about all of this before he dropped out.

"katie, is mum going to be home soon?"

"she'll be here the same time she was yesterday, michael. she gets off at five everyday." i rolled my eyes at the childish boy and decided i needed a glass of milk to go with my chocolate muffin. it was only four thirty, meaning i had about half an hour to prepare for the arguments that would surely take place again tonight. michael was destined to convince mum that it was a good idea. that so far had ended in yelling every time. i ate my muffin quickly and downed my glass before retreating to my bedroom. i sat on twitter for 45 minutes before the front door opened.

"mum! how was your day at work?"

"michael i do not want to talk about your band right now."

and let the yelling begin.

-

crystal: come save me it's so awk out here sos

katie: i can hear it just fine from in here thx

crystal: pls i'll make you popcorn

katie: ...

katie: deal

as the yelling continued i made my way into the kitchen as quietly as possible. crystal was sitting on the counter as the popcorn popped in the microwave.

"your mom isn't going to crack with this, is she?" i just shook my head as i got out a bowl. michael was yelling something about a dream and i felt bad for him.

"crystal, could you come here?" michael sounded annoyed, so i'm assuming he was going to use mum's weakness to prove a point.

"oh fuck. please come with me?" i rolled my eyes, grabbed the bowl of popcorn, and started walking out to the living room. i heard a thank you, but decided not to respond.

"babe! hey, hi. you've heard the band play, right? tell my mom how good we are. please." crystal glanced at me nervously.

"mikey, don't drag her into this." i tried to make my voice as calming as possible, looking him in the eyes. all i got in response was a glare.

"you'd let katie do it," he yelled, pointing accusingly at me. okay hey now. i shrunk into the couch and shoved a handful of popcorn into my mouth, i'm not getting involved in this shit. my mum looked like she was about to say something when she stopped and just looked at me. i avoided eye contact and pulled out my phone.