thunder -- michael clifford

chapter seven

>> seven.

I still had a smile on my face when I got back to the house. I couldn't stop thinking about Michael; my mind replaying the exact words he had told me. I was losing my mind over the boy. 

"What are you so smiley about?" Beau asked.

"Nothing!" I said through teeth.

He gave me a look of disbelief. "Yeah, okay. Is it something with one of those boys?"

I couldn't tell him about what had happened between Michael and I. He'd flip the fuck out. "No, I talked to Sophie earlier. I missed her a lot, so it made me happy. Is that a problem?" I shot back.

"No, damn. Calm down."

I just shook my head. "I'll be in my room if you need me. I'm gonna go kinda check out everything in the city tonight, to get myself familiar with it, okay?"

"Uh, no, it isn't. Who's going with you?" 

"The guys."

"You know I don't trust them, Lia! You're not going!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure I'm not. I'm so sick of you! You don't control me, Beau. I'm going."

"No, you aren't."

I was fuming. The heat flushed through my cheeks, and I erupted. "You're such a fucking asshole! You don't have the right to tell me what I can and can't do! You aren't my dad, and you have no control over me! We're the same fucking age! You wanna know where I'm really going? Huh? Michael and I are going on a date. Michael and I kissed earlier, and now he's taking me out. And you're not gonna do a single fucking thing about it! You always say you don't want what happened with Ian to happen again, but you don't even know what happened, Beau! I didn't try to kill myself because I loved him so much or any of the bullshit I told you. I did it because he raped me, Beau. He raped me. I'm not a whore like he tried to say I was, like you believed. I'm not this over-attached emotionally distressed suicidal kid that wants to off myself because some dumb boy broke up with me. Just fuck off, okay? Just leave me alone. Go off and push yourself up Ian's ass or something since everything he says is religion to you." I stormed up the stairs and slammed my door tight. 

The clock read 7:17pm. Michael was going to pick me up at 8. I gained my composure and used all of my strength to keep myself from crying. I had to get ready.

I pulled my phone from my pocket so I could turn on some music, but a text caught my eye instead.

From: Michael

Dress up tonight. I wanna take you somewhere nice. xx

It was amazing how those few words brought a smile to my face, even after what had just happened with my brother.

Clearly, I wasn't the best at picking out nicer clothes, so I decided to call Anna up.

"Anna!" I yelled out my door. I heard her footsteps come down the hall from her own room.

"What?" She asked as she came in.

"I have a date tonight and I need your help. He told me to dress up."

A smile spread across her face. "Michael?"

I nodded quickly.

"Okay, then you need to look super hot. Fuck, I'm excited for you. Let's find something for you to wear."

She flipped through my closet, but she never stopped on anything. 

"Lia, what the hell? Come with me." She grabbed my hand and pulled me into her room, over to her closet. 

"What?"

"You're wearing one of my dresses, okay? Here. Put this on." She handed me a black skater dress. It had a see-through lace top, long sleeves, and midriff, with regular black fabric wrapping the skirt and the chest area. 

I took off my Pink Floyd t-shirt and shorts and slipped the dress on. "Well?"

Anna's face brightened. "You look better in that dress than I do, Lia, and I look hella nice. That's perfect."

I turned around to my sister's full-length mirror hanging on her door to her bathroom. It came down to about mid-thigh. Honestly, I thought it looked fantastic. Anna was right.

"I love this, Ann. Thank you so much." I grinned.

"Anything for my baby sister. Now, we have to go do your makeup. What time is Michael coming?"

I checked the time on my phone. 7:29. "Uh, in about thirty minutes."

"Shit. Come on, we have to hurry."

Quickly, we made our way back to my room. Anna instructed me to sit down on my bed while she messed around with my makeup.

After a while, she backed away from me and smiled. "I love it. What do you think?"

I looked at myself in my mirror. Anna had done it again. She always made me look better than I ever could. My eye makeup was minimal, with only a little bit of black eyeliner and mascara, and my lips were bright red. "It looks so rad!" I said with a smile.

"Great! Now, do you have any ankle booties? Like, wedges?"

I thought for a minute. "Um, yeah. Black ones."

"Perfect! Wear those. You're completely ready, so once you get them on, come on downstairs and we'll wait for Michael."

"Uh, alright."

My sister smiled once again. "Seriously, Lia, you look stunning. I know you used to have, like, self-esteem problems, but believe me, you're gorgeous. And Michael will literally fall down once he sees you."

"Thanks, Anna." I blushed, slipping the booties on my feet. "Now, let's go wait for Michael."

I followed Anna down the carpeted stairs and into the living room where Beau was seated on the couch. I decided not to start anything with him, not wanting to get too upset before Michael showed up, so I sat on one of the recliners while Anna took a seat on the loveseat. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my Tumblr dashboard to avoid conversation.

I heard a sigh, and Beau started speaking. "Lia, I-I'm really sorry, okay? I didn't know. If I would have known, I would have killed Ian. I'm so sorry I didn't do anything. I didn't protect you like I promised myself I would. I know sometimes, I'm a little bit over the top, but I just.. I don't wanna see you upset, like you were then. I... I'm really sorry." He said, his voice cracking. "You're just... You're basically all I have, you know?"

I looked over to my brother, noticing his glassy eyes. "It's okay." I replied softly. 

He stood up and opened his arms for a hug, which, reluctantly, I accepted.

"I love you, sis. I really do."

My lips curled into a smile. "I love you, too, Beau."

"You look great. Michael isn't gonna know what to do when he sees you."

I blushed again. "Thank you so much."

Beau opened his mouth to speak, but the sound of the doorbell interrupted him. I felt my heart speed up as I watched Anna rush over to answer it.

"Lia, Michael's here."