Michael Clifford's Secret Sister

✖5 ✖

Maekayla's point of view

I was sat on the couch between Calum and Ashton. Michael and Luke were sitting on the other couch, cuddled up and watching the movie. Though they all seemed so engrossed in the movie, I wasn't, I wasn't even paying attention to it.

I wasn't blind, so I saw the subtle glares Michael would send my way. I looked down and bit the inside of my lip. I accidently bit too hard and I ran my tongue over the cut. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth and I shook my head.

After the, what I believe was the fifth glare Michael gave me, I cleared my throat. "I'm going to uh go outside," I said as I got up and they nodded.

I went to my room and slipped on a pair of white converse. I grabbed a pencil and my journal and made my way to the kitchen, where the sliding door that leads to the backyard was.

I walked out, smiling softly as the cool air hit me. I closed the door and walked into the backyard. I went to the giant tree in the backyard and climbed it a bit.

I sat down on a branch and got comfortable. I grabbed my journal and flipped through the pages. They were doodles and drawings I did when I was bored.

I flipped to my first drawing, which was unfinished. It had a boy and girl, both with bright green eyes, blonde hair, and the same age. The boy wore khakis and a regular white t-shirt. The girl wore a white dress with flowers on it.

I smiled sadly, remembering when I drew this. I just had to color in the backgrounds and rewrite the speech bubbles in ink. I slowly started adding more detail to it, remembering the day as if was yesterday.

This was my favorite drawing.

I stopped suddenly and flipped to the last drawing it did. It was just a silhouette of a couple I saw in the park a week ago. They were walking hand in hand together and had asked me to take a photo of them.

I flipped to a clean page and sat quietly. I didn't think when I drew, I just, did. It was like the pencil was the one who knew what to draw, not me.

I started drawing, I didn't know who it was, but it was a person, no, two people. I didn't think much as I drew, just tilting my head and letting my pencil shade and sketch.

Seconds passed. Minutes passed. And I was still in the tree, sketching the picture of two people. I smiled at the light sketching and made a mental note to darken it and finish it when I get in the house.

"What are you doing up there?" I heard someone asked and I looked down. I saw Calum standing there and I gave him a confused look.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked him as I looked back at my drawing. From the corner of my eye, I saw him grab on to a branch and hoist himself up.

"What is that?" He asked as I closed the book. "A drawing book?" He asked me and I nodded. "Can I see?" he asked and I thought about it.

I flipped to a page where I drew lyrics and showed them to him. "From the song 'When Did You Stop Loving Me' by Hunter Hayes. It's just a bunch of lyrics and some doodles here and there." I said and he nodded.

"That's cool," he said and pointed at the guitar. "I like how you drew this, it's so detailed. I can barely draw stick figures." he said and I cracked a smile.

"Do you only have lyric pictures in this?" he asked me and I shook my head. "Can I see one of the other ones?" he asked and I shrugged, why not.

I flipped through the pages and showed him the one of the couple in the park. "I drew this at the park after a couple asked me to take a photo of them. They were adorable," I said and he nodded.

"It's amazing," he said as he looked all over. I had colored it in aswell, so the playground was colored and the kids were running around. However, the couple were shaded in black. Silhouettes, as I had said before. "Does Michael know you can draw this well?"

"No," I said and closed the book. "He never really got into my stuff. He doesn't know a lot about me." I said and he looked at me confused. "I was never one to get really close to people."

"He's your cousin, you guys should be close. Not peanut butter and jelly close, but close." He said and I nodded. "Maybe you should show him one, they're amazing. You can make a living off of it."

"Maybe," I said. "I want to be an artist, or be in the music industry." I said quietly, not realizing I just told my brother's best friend my dreams. "Or both if I can," I said and he nodded.

"You could be," he said. "You could design your own merch, album covers, everything artistic wise and still be a singer or like a band member." He said and I nodded.

"It's just, I don't have a musical bone in my body. Michael was always the most talented one." I said as I twirled the pencil in my hand like drumsticks. "So it'll be hard to become a singer."

"Try hard enough and you can do it," he said and I nodded. I heard someone calling my name and I looked down.

"Maekayla, my mum wants you to help her cook dinner." I saw Michael say with his arms crossed. I nodded and Calum hopped off of the tree. I tossed him my journal amd I put the pencil behind my ear.

I hopped down and Calum handed me my book. I thanked him and went into the house. I set my journal on the table and went to the sink. I washed my hands and looked at my mum.

"I want you to stir the soup," she said and I nodded. I grabbed the giant black plastic spoon and started stirring the food in the pot. I stirred it carefully, making sure not to burn myself or spill it.

I kept stiring it until my mum came back in and said to stop. I took the spoon out and placed it in the sink. "Go," she said and I nodded. I went to grab my journal but it was missing.

'Where did it go?' I thought to myself and walked around. I went into the living room and Michael had a book open. Not just any book, my book.

Michael stood up and looked at me when I asked for my book back. "This picture," he said, pointing to the two little kids hugging and smiling. "Will never happen again." He said and ripped it in half.

One half was the boy and one half was the girl. I gasped and picked them up. It was my favorite drawing and it was destroyed. Tears sprang to my eyes and I looked at Michael, dropping the two halves on the floor.

However, I hadn't noticed they fell on top of each other and the only thing that separated them was the rip.

"You could have just said so." I said. "You didn't need to rip up the drawing I made of one of my favorite memories." I said, ignoring the staring of all the boys.

"It will never happen again Maekayla. That was the past." He said to me. "When we were stupid little kids giggling at the world 'butt' and picking daises in the lawn. Before I knew what happened."

"I-I know." I said and stood up, ignoring his last comment. "You've made it clear to me that my brother was long gone in grade nine." I said, letting the word slip out of my mouth.

"Maekayla Clifford-"

"Brother?" I heard the other three boys question loudly and I backed away as Michael looked at me angrily. I ignored the other boys and ran to my room.

"I didn't mean it! I swear!"