Misfit Parade

03

We had hit the first milestone, getting the latest clothes and styles yet I completely forgot that I would have to match them together to create actually decent outfits. 'We' probably isn't the right pronoun to use considering I'm alone but if a two letter word has the power to make me feel as if there is someone with me, I'm going to use it. The summer air that had captivated us for the past month had taken a hold to let the rain that was currently beating down onto my window happen and I wasn't complaining. It's so god damn hot and humid all the time that some actual water is a nice break to the hair destroying air that we had all grown accustomed too. Although there was water literally falling from the sky the doona on my bed was still useless and the very little amount of clothes I was wearing was way too much.

Basically, it was still 38° and it wasn't holding off anytime soon.

I stand in front of my now extremely full draws, still not knowing what to do with them. Sighing tiredly I lay down on my bed, sprawling out in a starfish shape. 

"Mali!" I yell and hear her walking down the hallway before walking into my room, my door already wide open. 

"Whats up Mug?" She asks as she sits in my spinny chair, spinning as she talked to me.

"I have the clothes but I don't know how to make them look good," I whine not because I'm a spoilt brat- I love the fact that I was able to get the clothes that I do have- just because I was almost about to quit and just throw a bad tee on, but I kept strong and knew Mali would be more than happy to help. And I was right. Without a second of hesitation, she rips open my draws and cupboard, matching pieces with pieces while throwing tips at me to the point where I couldn't keep them in my head anymore. 

After she had run around my room a million times she came to me with a pair of striped shorts and a plain black crop top along with rings for days that matched the metallic flats she handed to me which I quickly changed into while she set up her hair straightener, ready to get to work on my long mop of unbelievably thick hair. 

Having dressed to Mali's standard I sit down in front of her while she sections my hair and sprays product onto each of the sections and starts straightening my still long hair. 

"What are you getting Calum for his birthday?" I asked Mali and she bit her lip in thought while she did the mindless yet therapeutic act of straightening my hair (or that's how she liked to describe it at least.)  She waited a little longer before answering.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I have a couple Ideas but they're like crazy expensive," She explains and I turn to her with a sudden excitement in my eyes.

"How much exactly?" 

"Like $300" she responds, not completely invested in the conversation as she was trying not to burn me with the scalding hot piece of metal she was moving around near my face.

"Whats the idea?" I ask, thinking that we could buy it together if it was something he would really enjoy or get a lot of use out of. I finally had enough money to get him a good present.

"A pair of comfortable noise cancelling headphones for when he travels but maybe when I'm famous," She says with a chuckle and turns her straightener off, grabbing a hair tie and gathering my hair  into an intricate bun on tp of my head before placing one of the silver hair band covers Michael made me get.

"We should get em' together," I say, standing up and looking at myself in my floor length mirror covered in hundreds of stickers and photos that are all covered in an extremely large amount of dust as they had been on their since I was around six years old.

"Hmm?" Mali answers, looking up from her phone that she had been focused on seconds before.

"We could get it for him together, like, a joint present." I propose as I continue to ridicule myself in the mirror. Except, I liked how I looked. I looked put together and feminine, like I was ready to sit down at my secure office job or run out to play soccer with my friends. The outfit made me ooze confidence and it was so foreign and surprising. I never wanted to go back to how I felt before. I was always just there and just wearing clothes but now I was here and excited about the clothes I was wearing but it still didn't didn't look 100% finished, it was just my face that didn't look up to par with the rest of my appearance.

"That's actually a great idea, we should totally go to the shops like right now. Let me just go put my face on I'll be out in like an hour." Mali yells, bringing me out of my thoughts before giving me a hug and running into her room. I chuckle at her excitement and pull my own phone out of my pocket and selecting Michaels contact, going to facetime him.

The ring on my phone continued up to 5 times before Michaels pixelated and blurry smile showed up on the small ass screen of my iPhone 3GS Calum had kindly given to me after receiving a 5 for Christmas a week ago. He was so ridiculously nice to me and I couldn't have asked for a better family. We were all so close even though Mali was 22  and I was 14. We all felt loved and happy, it was the ideal family and we had it. It might not have been ideal in other people's eyes but to ours, it was all we could ever ask for. 

"Little Hood has called upon me!" Michael exclaims, excusing himself from the other boys and facing his phone directly. "Whats up P?" He asks, looking concerned at my tired appearance.

"Nothing, I'm just tired is all," I explain, giving him a small smile to seal the deal. I could still hear the boys rehearsing in the other room and suddenly became worried about the fact that he was supposed to be in there too but instead he was talking to me. "Sorry for bothering you Mikey, I forgot you guys were busy rockstars. I'll see you on the 23rd, have a good New Years and travel safe!" I say, trying to finish the conversation quickly but Michael doesn't buy it.

"Nah uh, Whats up little one?" He asks, the concern in his voice even heavier than it was the first time. Rattling comes from the other side of the phone as Michael disappears from the screen and then suddenly reappears moments later, getting comfy on one of the large, luxurious seats in the room he was currently in.

"Michael, it doesn't matter. Get back to rehearsing and I'll call you tomorrow," I dismiss and move to hang up my phone yet his face just goes from worried to deeply concerned at my words. 

"Paige it's fine, we're not even rehearsing right now. Tell me all your problems baby G" Michael presses, turning Texan halfway through his sentence and I can't help but giggle at his stupid jokes. He always knew how to make me laugh.

"Really, the only reason I called you is because Mali is getting ready right now and the outfit you picked out for me is cute as," I say and try my hardest to show him my outfit and he gets really excited that I appreciated his handy work.

"Oh my god!" He screeches like an excited 12-year-old girl trying to be cool which in turn scared the life out of me.

"What!" I yell just as loudly.

"You look so good!" He says, his voice still rising a few decibels.

"It's all because of you's,  thank you very much, Michael Gordon Clifford, You might be the reason that I have a social life this year," I thank again as infinite thank you's would never be enough for the things he has done for me.

"It's nothing Little Hood," Michael dismisses, moving his blonde hair back to where he thought it should have gone as he looks off the camera where someone had obviously just walked into the room.

"Alright Michael, bye! I'll see you on the 23rd," I decide that this is going to be the end of the call, giving him a big fake sloppy kiss over the phone before he answers me.

"I'll see you before that Pp," He says with a laugh and a wave before he hangs up, not giving me a chance to process the words that had just come out of his mouth. I wasn't seeing for another month, that was the reason for all the tears on my part as they left for the airport yesterday morning. They were coming back for Calum's birthday and Australia day, then they were off until school started up again. 

What did he mean, I'll see you before that? Was he planning on showing up in my dreams or some shit?

///

So... this is another chapter! Paige and Michael aren't dating, dunno if I have already cleared that up but nah uh they're just really close friends. That's all I gotta say, so please vote, comment, and all that good shit! Hope you enjoyed1