Adopted By Michael Clifford {Book 1}

3- Shopping

Maya's POV

I was trapped in a basement. In front of me were two people and a guy in a mask. He tied me to a chair.

"We love you, sweetheart. You'll always be our little girl," the woman cried.

"Mum?"

"That's right. These are your parents, and you're going to watch them die," the man said.

He shot my mum and dad. I fought against the restraints. I kicked and screamed, but it was no use.

The man took off his mask. It was Michael. He laughed bitterly and pointed the gun at my head before pulling the trigger.

My eyes shot open as I woke up from my nightmare.

"Mum, Dad," I whimpered as I began to cry.

Knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep, I slipped out from under the covers and walked out the door into the hallway. I walked into one of the guy's rooms and realized it was Calum's. I went over to him and shook his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Maya?" He asked, pushing himself onto his elbows.

"I had a nightmare. I'm scared," I told him.

He moved over and patted the spot next to him on the bed. I lay down next to him with my head on his pillow.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.

I nodded but remembered he couldn't see me.

"I was in a basement with my mum and dad. Michael made me watch as he shot them. H-he shot me," I said and started to cry again.

"It's okay. It was just a dream. You're okay," he said, wiping away my tears. "Don't worry. I'll be here to protect you."

I snuggled into his arms and instantly felt safer. He started singing, and I fell asleep to the sound of his voice.

Michael's POV

I went to wake up Maya in the morning, but she wasn't in her room. I went to Calum's and saw them lying down on his bed. I walked over and shook Maya.

"Come on, Maya. You gotta get up," I said.

She looked up at me and flinched.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing. I'm fine," she said and gave me a fake smile.

She was clearly not fine. What did I do, I wondered.

"Go get ready. We're leaving once you eat breakfast," I said. She got up and ran out of the room.

"Calum, wake up!" I said and hit him with a pillow.

"What the hell? I'm up," he groaned and looked at the empty spot next to him. "Where's Maya?"

"She's in her room getting ready. Why was she in here?"

"She had a nightmare last night," Calum said and told me what she said.

"She's scared of me," I said, my heart breaking at the thought.

"She'll be fine, Michael. Just give her some space," he said.

I nodded my head and walked out of the room.

Maya's POV

I was putting on my shoes when someone knocked on my door. I turned and saw Calum leaning against the door frame.

"I told Michael about what happened last night," he said.

"Why?" I asked angrily.

"Don't get mad at me. He was concerned. He doesn't want you to be afraid," he replied.

"Alright. I'm sorry," I said.

"It's okay. Let's go eat."

I followed him downstairs. The rest of the guys were there waiting.

"Morning, Uncle Ash. Morning, Luke," I said and walked over to my dad. "Morning, Dad. I'm sorry about earlier."

"It's alright. Here's your breakfast," he said.

He gave me a plate, and I ate quickly. When I finished, we got in the car and left.

*~*

"Where do you want to go first?" Dad asked when we got to the mall.

"Can I dye my hair?" I asked.

"Sure. Let's go."

We went towards the salon as the guys entered Hot Topic.

"Hello. What would you like today?" the woman at the desk asked.

"She wants to dye her hair," Dad said.

"What color?"

I showed her the color on Dad's phone once I was in a seat.

"I have to go do something. I'll be back in twenty minutes," Dad said.

He left, and the woman started working on my hair.

"Was that your brother?" She asked.

"He's my dad," I said. She gave me a strange look. "I'm adopted."

"Oh, I was going to say. He looks too young to have a daughter your age."

I said nothing as she worked on my hair until Dad came back. He handed me a new iPhone 6.

"Our numbers are saved into it along with some of our family. It's all yours," he said.

"Thank you so much," I said and smiled at him.

*~*

We met up with the guys when the woman was done with my hair. I smiled at them as they stared at my blue hair.

"It looks great," Luke said and showed me what was in the bag.

They had gotten me some band shirts, bracelets, and posters. We went to some more stores and bought clothes and shoes.

At the moment, I was trying on bathing suits. It was so awkward. The guys kept on messing around and picking out the ugliest ones. I was getting frustrated at their childish antics in public.

"Okay, that's it! All of you leave except for Ashton," I yelled.

"Excuse me?" Dad said, squinting his eyes as if he was daring me to repeat what I said.

"You guys are embarrassing me. Can you just go and wait until I'm done?"

He looked like he was going to say something but Luke cut him off. 

"Come on, Michael. Let's go to the food court."

He handed me some money and pulled Dad out of the store with Uncle Cal. I went back to looking through the racks.

"You didn't need to yell at him," Ashton said.

"I know. I'll apologize later," I sighed, grabbing a bathing suit and heading to the changing rooms.

We headed to the food court once I bought one that I liked. I surveyed the large area, moving towards them once I saw Uncle Cal. Luke handed me a slice of pizza when I sat down.

"Dad, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you guys. I was just getting frustrated," I said. 

"It's okay. Just don't yell at me again. You can yell at Luke and sometimes those two, but not me," he said.

"Hey!" Luke said, causing us to laugh.

We finished our lunch and started walking away. A girl's voice stopped us in our tracks.

"It's 5SOS!"