Michael and Me

Alessandra Has No Patience for this BS

Michael makes a loud whistle as I walk down the path in a short blue dress with my hair pinned up.

"Stop making me blush." I feel Michael's eyes on my back as I enter the car.

The driver speeds us down to Alessandra's country club home. She and Robert are co-residing to Dad's consternation.

I feel a heavy silence over Michael, not as though he's angry, but rather like he's refusing to tell me something. I steal a glance and catch him wiping his hand over his face.

He only does that when he's doing some hard thinking, I note.

Soon, we're in front of the lit two-story house and its flowery lawn.

Michael and I walk inside, hand-in-hand. Immediately, as it ALWAYS does whenever we attend something like this, the girls start side-eyeing me. I pull Michael close to me as we find our friends in the living room.

"Do you like all those girls looking at you?" Mikayla, my best friend, asks, handing me a red cup.

"As long as Michael doesn't return their stares," I huff.

"I would never do that," Mike protests. His buddy, Milo, claps him on the shoulder.

"Sure. You wouldn't, Michael. Neither would I...oh, hey, how you doing?" Milo eyes the back of a brunette's dress. "Remember that girl flirting with you the other day? You smiled at her."

"I was just being nice."

"Nicole, let's find your sister," Mikayla says before I could give Milo a piece of my mind. She drags me to the kitchen.

Alessandra's sitting on top of the counter, a glass in her hand, laughing her head off with five guys around her.

"Excuse me, Alessandra? Your sister's here," Mikayla shouts.

Aless comes down and walks over to us.

"Hey, cuties! Thanks for coming to my engagement party!"

"Engagement party?" I scrunch my eyebrows.

"Yeah, well, Robert isn't here and I wanted an excuse to have a good night, so I made up my engagement party!"

"Wouldn't your father want to host a party for you?" Mikayla asks.

"Yeah, no. He hates Robert and asking him for something like that would just be futile. So, anyways, where's Michael?"

"He's with Milo, flirting with some girls," I joke with a smile. Alessandra winks.

"Just make sure you're the girl he goes home to. Gosh, Mikayla, I wanted to invite Mike's sisters but this girl over here told me I couldn't. What's going on? One minute you're friends with them, the next you're not comfortable."

I hide my sudden sadness. "I... just think because of, you know, your thing with Rebbie, you didn't have to invite them."

"That's just Rebbie. But I would've invited her just for you. We do need to make a good impression on the Jacksons."

I sigh.

"What's the matter with you, Nicole? You've been giving me weird vibes ever since you got here," Mikayla complains.

"It's nothing, really—"

"Oh my god. Did you tell Michael about what I said to Rebbie?" Alessandra stares.

"Yeah, I did. And then his mother calls me the next day, yesterday actually, and wants to have a talk with me." I glance over my shoulder to make sure Michael's not there. "And Katherine Jackson basically calls me materialistic and thinks I won't be faithful to Michael or something."