Between The Books-Michael Clifford

Fifty Six

"Jax should be here soon. We're going to Scutter's." I say, pulling out my purse from under the counter.

"Doesn't Michael live there too?" Tyler asks. He's sitting on his stool using pencils for drumsticks, playing the drums on the counter.

We've had almost no one tonight. It started raining around 5:00 which kept most people home. Just the ones that were here before the rain, and most of them aren't checking anything out, just studying.

"Yes. Scutter, Michael, Marcus and Toby....and most of the time their girlfriends." I pull out my compact and check my makeup.

"Funny how you always say Scutter's." Tyler says, smiling.

Huh. That is funny.

"I think it's because when we first met them all, Jax was closest to Scutter and would always say, Scutter's. It isn't even his house. I mean he lives there, but the actual house is Marcus's."

Gum. I need some. I dig around in the bottom of my purse. I always have gum. I find a couple of pieces in a pocket. Seriously? This is all I have?! Well, that's just not ok.

I'm nervous about tonight. I'm so afraid Jax is going to freak out. I wouldn't blame him. If he figures out it's Michael....

"Hey, don't be nervous." Tyler says, bringing me out of my head.

I realize I'm just holding my gum staring off into space.

I look at him. "What do I do if he asks me who it is? Kyle said he's gonna know there's another guy."

"Yeah he will, most likely. Hmm, that's tough. If you refuse to say, that's going to have him thinking it's someone he knows. It won't take long for him to connect the dots...I mean everyone else in that house already have girlfriends. It might be better just to tell him straight up. Course you'd wanna be sure Michael's ok with that." Tyler is looking at Leo and smiling.

I look over to see Leo with his own set of pencil drumsticks, also playing on the counter.

Seriously bored out of our minds. This is the slowest it's ever been.

"Should I NOT go over there to do it? I mean, will that make him feel weird, like all those guys knew and didn't say anything?" Jesus, there's just no good way to do this.

"Well, they did." He says.

"Yeah but Jax's gonna think they chose to back Michael over him."

"Uh...which they did. Star, it's not gonna go down pretty. When Jax finds out you're with Michael, whether you tell him tonight or he finds out later, those guys and Jax are done. They'll back Michael because he's in their band. Even if they didn't take sides. You said they all wanted you guys to tell Jax before you did anything, which shows they were trying to be neutral...but Jax won't see it that way. If he goes balls to the walls, they'll stand behind Michael."

Yeah, they will.

I look at my phone. It's almost 7:00. I decide to text Michael, via Laney. She texted me an hour ago that Michael hasn't been able to find his phone, but that he's at the house so I can text him on her phone.

*hey, u sure I should bring jax there to tell him?*

I have to see if I should tell him it's Michael.

*what if he asks me who it is???*

"Star, you can go ahead and go. Thank you for coming in early and working for Melanie. Clearly we're too slow to have two people here." Ronnie says, walking up to me.

"Oh, ok. Thanks, Ronnie." I log out of my computer while Ronnie stands awkwardly beside me.

Ronnie's just so creepy. Even though he's paying no attention to me because he's on his phone....still I feel my skin stand up on the back of my neck.

"Well, I'm going to the office to get clocked out. If Jax shows up before I get back tell him I'm on my way." I say to Tyler.

Tyler acknowledges me with a wave of his drum pencil.

I walk out from behind the counter holding my phone in one hand and my purse in the other. I signal Leo that I'll be right back. He nods his head. As I walk up the steps my phone buzzes in my hand. It's Michael.

"Do it here. I want u safe if he's drunk or high. Tell him it's me. Relax, Baby."

Ok. Relax. Michael says to relax. It's going to be fine. So why do I feel like this is all going to blow up in our faces?