Rebel: Michael Clifford

Chapter 14

"I'm glad that you ran out of contacts." Michael comments.

"I'm not," I roll my eyes. "I look so much better without these stupid glasses."

"You look the same, only you don't have glasses on.''

"Well it's good to know that I look stupid all the time." I say, stepping out of the car. I can practically feel everyone staring at my glasses.

"Trust me, you never look stupid."

"Whatever." I say, quickly walking to the school. We are running a bit later than I would like, but then again, I got a ride with Michael. He follows me, but at a much slower pace. I arrive at Calc almost a whole minute before he does.

"Hey nerd." Jenna teases.

"Stop." I say, looking at my feet.

"Oh, but your glasses are adorable." she says in a little baby voice.

"I've been telling her that all morning." Michael says from behind me. "she won't listen."

"Can you guys please stop." I whine. "It's me eighteenth birthday tomorrow and I'm trying not to let this one suck, but it's not really working out for me."

"It's just a pair of glasses." Jenna tells me.

"I know." I say, but I've never had a birthday that I enjoyed and I was hoping that this year would be different, but how can I have a good birthday if I'm unhappy with the way that I look?

"At least try to look happy." Michael teases me.

All of a sudden Jenna breaks out into song. "Cheer up Charlie. Give me a smile. What happened to that smile I used to know?"

"Please don't quote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory please. Ot gives me a headache." I groan, but can't help smiling. Leave it to Jenna to sing whatever song comes to mind when we are having a conversation, especially if we are having a serious conversation.

"Hey, it worked." she shrugs. "I got you to smile."

"I'm just amazed that you still remember that song." I tease her. "I mean, we did that musical like eight years ago.''

"I only remember it because I still watch the video of you as an Oompa Loompa."

"We can't all have main parts like you." I roll my eyes. "some of us need to be in the chorus."

By this time Michael is laughing his ass off. I shoot him a glare, which causes him to laugh even harder.

"Back to the main point though," Jenna interrupts his laughing. "Carm, you should wear your glasses more often because it pulls together your whole geeky chic look."

"My look is not geeky chic." I argue.

"Sweetheart, you are wearing a Star Wars crop top with a skater skirt." Jenna deadpans. "that is what I call geeky chic."

*~*

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" I hear Michael scream before he jumps I to bed next to me.

"What time is it?'' I groggily ask.

"Midnight." Michael informs me. "and I hope you are ready to celebrate for the next twenty-four hours."

"We have to go to school for eight of them." I say.

"You can afford to miss one day." Michael prods.

"I have perfect attendance." I tell him. "I'm not about to mess that up."

"Yes you are." he doesn't even give me a choice.

"There is nothing that I would miss school for." I say, rolling over and trying to get some more sleep.

"Even watching all of the Harry Potter movies consecutively?" he tempts me.

"We can do that on Saturday." I bargain.

"It won't be your birthday on Saturday." he reminds me.

"Why do we always have to watch Harry Potter?" I ask.

"Because those are your favorites." he states plainly.

"True."

"So you'll stay home?" he asks excitedly.

"Do I really have any other choice?"

"Nope." he jumps out of bed, pulling me with him.

"Can't I just sleep for another hour?" I whine.

"No."

I let out a groan but follow him downstairs anyway. Downstairs there is coffee already brewed and snacks set out. I look at Michael and he's smiling at me. "happy birthday." he says quietly, pulling me over to the couch. He pulls me down next to him and hands me my coffee.

"Thanks." I tell him as he starts the first movie.

"Anything for you."

"Yeah right." I roll my eyes. "you were just looking for a reason to skip school."

"I'm not gonna lie." he shrugs. "that is a perk, but I'm doing this for you."

"Uh huh. sure." I laugh and snuggle into his side.

We spend almost the whole day watching 19 hours of Harry Potter, with the occasional snack or bathroom break. I'm gonna be honest here, I didn't even think about school once. That's a new record for me because I'm almost constantly worrying about school.

"Can I go to bed yet?" I yawn.

"The twenty-four hours aren't up yet." he reminds me. "plus you haven't even opened your gift yet."

"Dude, you shouldn't have gotten me a gift." I laugh. "why did you do that?"

"Because I wanted to and I could." he answers simply. "I gotta go get it though." he runs upstairs. He's back within a few seconds with I gift bag. He hands it to me, with a huge smile on my face.

I open the present and a small gasp comes out of my mouth. "how did you know I wanted this?" I ask, inspecting the incredibly expensive camera that he just gave me.

"Jenna told me what your dad did to your old one," he says, "so I thought I would get you a knew one."

Happy tears start to form in my eyes and I can't contain my emotions, "this is the best gift anyone had ever given me." I exclaim. "I don't know how I'm ever going to top this."

"No one can too me." Michael says smugly.

I roll my eyes but pull him into a hug anyways. "thank you so much." I gush. "this whole day has been so amazing."

"You're welcome." Michael says, hugging me back.