hey jealousy // michael clifford

three

THREE YEARS EARLIER

Michael really wasn't sure why he'd agreed to come to this party with Luke and Calum. He assumed that for the two of them things like this still held some appeal, getting wasted at some strangers house, all the while knowing what they were doing was illegal. But Michael was eighteen now, he could buy his own alcohol and he could sit at home and drink it in an environment where he didn't feel completely out of place and uncomfortable.

He'd still gone though and now that Calum and Luke had ditched him he was genuinely considering leaving.

Not only was this really not his scene, but besides the two friends he'd come with he actually didn't know anyone at the party. Luke had been invited by this guy, Ashton, who had gone to a different school to all of them before he'd graduated the year beforehand. Michael still wasn't even sure how Luke had met Ashton but he also didn't really care, it wasn't important. What was important was the fact that Michael was alone in a corner and he hadn't even had a drink.

He weighed up his options; he could stay exactly where he was and do absolutely nothing which didn't sound appealing at all or he could go and try to interact with some of the strangers that were littered around the kitchen which sounded terrifying. He chose a compromise instead. He walked into the kitchen, grabbed himself a drink, and then headed back to his corner.

Michael was a little embarrassed for himself, he was eighteen years old and the thought of talking to people he didn't know still scared him a little bit.

He knew that most of these people were his age or a few years older and that Ashton seemed like an alright guy so his acquaintances shouldn't be too bad either, but he just couldn't make himself talk to any of them. Michael took a swig of his beer and shook his head at himself, he was so lame.

When he looked up again it was just in time to see a girl walk through the front door. Michael had no idea who she was but it didn't take him more than a few seconds to figure out that he certainly wouldn't mind getting to know her, and by the looks of it most of the other guys in the room felt the same way.

It wasn't a surprise really, not a lot of girls in Western Sydney looked like that. If Michael had to guess, he'd say that she was a year or two younger than he was but she had this air of confidence about her which made her seem older. Her hair was thrown up messily in a bun and he let out a slight chuckle at the sight of the bandanna which was keeping her fringe out of her face (he figured she had to be a friend of Ashton's because he'd never really seem anyone else wear bandannas in this city). Without wanting to sound crude her jeans made her ass and legs look amazing and Michael was more than a little impressed by the Def Leopard tank that was hanging loosely from her frame.

Without a conscious decision on his part, Michael's eyes followed the girl as she made her way around the room. His suspicions about Ashton were all but confirmed when she threw her arms around the blonde boys neck and he pulled her into a hug. Michael realised suddenly that he was staring like a total creeper and decided to instead become incredibly fascinated by his drink.

When he decided that it was reasonable enough to look up again he caught sight of her saying something to a few guys that had surrounded her before she sent them all a quick smile and walked off. This girl was so effortlessly cool, and indisputably comfortable in her own skin that it made Michael a little jealous.

As Michael finished off his second beer of the night he could already feel the alcohol starting to affect his brain (even though two beers was barely enough to slow his thoughts, he could still tell the difference between this and being sober). He decided against another one, knowing that he'd probably need to look out for Luke and Calum later on and he wouldn't be able to do that if he was stumbling all over the place and barely able to form a coherent thought.