BEFORE THE MORNING CAME

.03 - august 13th

august 13th. a week after her practice in the twinkie with john b. a week before the beginning of her sophomore year of high school. her fifteenth birthday. out of everyone she knew, her birthday was the latest in the year. she somehow managed to make the cut off for her class, which made michelle reyes the youngest person in her grade.

not that anyone cared. she only had the three friends.

barry had made her breakfast in the morning, which was a tradition he never failed to keep. michelle woke up to the sounds of oil popping and her brother gasping out strings of explicit words, but that annoyance was quickly dismissed by the smell of bacon wafting through the house. begrudgingly, the fifteen-year-old girl rolled out of her twin sized bed, which was shoved against a wall, and nearly tumbled into her desk, which was on the opposite wall to her bed. it had been placed there after barry's old bed was moved out. her room was small, but she was happy to have it to herself.

as she stepped out of her dark bedroom, refusing the pull open the blackout curtains, barry continued to shout profanities, but began aiming them at her.

"yo, get the fuck back in there, i'm almost done." he ordered, eliciting a giggle from his giddy sister, who looked forward to her birthday breakfast each year.

just a few agonizing minutes later, the thumping of her brother's feet could be heard approaching her door. without missing a beat, barry knocked twice and immediately threw the door open.

"happy birthday!" he cheered, throwing his hands up in the air. after allowing his sister to laugh at him and "get her giggles out," as he liked to call it, he dropped the clown facade and told her to "get her old ass in here and eat while it's hot."

each year they would do this. it was not nearly as sarcastic as it had grown to be, but as barry got older, and michelle went through an "emo" phase, he did what he could do to make his sister happy. she gave her brother a tight squeeze around his waist, then ran to the kitchen, where she would make her plate.

her afternoon was just as great. jj had managed to convince pope to spend the day with them on the hms pogue. michelle had fallen into a state of panic when she began looking for a swim suit to change in to. it had been a week since she had seen john b, and the last time they saw each other, they had been kissing like they needed one another to live. she had never thought about what to wear, because everyone she saw had known her for a majority of her life. should she keep that same mindset and put on something clean? or were things different now, was she trying to appear desirable?

she was conflicted, but looked at the clock and discovered that she had to leave. in haste, she managed to pick out a skimpy black bikini, mid-rise and high cut, with a triangle top, and threw a t-shirt on over top. it was enough of her genuine style to make it seem like she wasn't trying so hard, but in reality, she was trying a little bit.

she rode her bike to the chateau, which was the code name for john b's house. the boys were already there, packing up the boat with coolers and sunscreen. her bike was propped up next to another, she assumed it was pope's, and michelle made her way towards the boat.

"good morning, ladies." michelle announced, coming around the corner.

"hey!" the boys called back, all turning to face her. they greeted her with chants of happy birthday, and jj even wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up off the ground.

before anyone could get too rowdy, the four kids set sail. john b. navigated the boat out of the marsh and into swimmable waters, and once the anchor was dropped, they began preparing for their day. pope had the aerosol sunscreen aimed at his face and let the mist cover his dark skin, while michelle was kicking her sandals off and pulling her oversized t-shirt off, tossing on top of her sandals.