What we used to be

Chapter 2

From here on out it's all my own work :)

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The next morning Michael wakes up and gets ready, then goes downstairs and eats breakfast. Barbara is already awake and he looks at her confused.
"What you doing up Babs?" He asks. She starts school at 9, and he starts at 8, so they never see each other in the morning.
"I have to go to your school today for a taster day or something." She says sighing.
"How do you get up this early every day?" She asks and Michael laughs.
"Years of practice." He says smiling.
"Would it be okay if I walked with you?" She asks and he smiles.
"Course Babs, I'm leaving in like, 10 minutes though." He says and she nods.
"I'll be ready." She smiles, running upstairs.

He finishes getting ready and waits at the door for Barbara. She comes down the stairs wearing skinny jeans and a hoodie that's a bit too big.
"You wearing my hoodie again?" Michael asks smiling.
"Yeah, its soft and comfy." She says smiling. They're always 'borrowing' each others clothes, the girls steal Michael's, Miles' and Ryan's hoodies and T-shirts, Miles and Michael steal Ryan's and each others hoodies and t-shirts, sometimes jeans or joggers too, and Ray and Dan wear anything they find. But they don't mind because they're family. Michael rolls his eyes at Barbara and opens the door.
"Bye Kara!" He shouts and Barbara shouts "Bye mum!"
"Bye guys, good luck Barb, love you!"
"Love you too!" They shout in unison and start walking to Michaels school.

They talk about random stuff on the walk to school and when they arrive Michael looks over at Barbara and notices she looks terrified.
"Hey, you'll be fine, don't worry, and if you see me during the day you can always come talk to me if you need to." He says wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"Thanks Michael." She sighs before adding "Where's the office?" She asks and he chuckles.
"Come on." He says and he leads her to the office.
"Hi Michael, who's this?" The receptionist asks.
"This is my sister Barbara." He says and she smiles at Barb.
"Are you here for the induction day?" She asks and Barb nods nervously.
"Alright sweetie, well everyone's meeting in the assembly hall, so make your way there. Michael, can you show her where to go?" She asks and he smiles and nods.
"Come on Babs." He says and she grips his forearm. Michael smiles.
It's not that bad Barb." He says and she shakes her head.
"I'm nervous, what if no one likes me? What if I don't make friends!" She says and he stops walking and puts his hands on her shoulders, looking straight at her.
"Barb, listen to me, you are funny and smart and talented and don't tell the others but you're my favourite sister. You got this." He says holding out his first. She fist bumps him and smiles.
"I got this." She repeats and Michael grins.
"There we go, that's the Barbara I know!" He says and he leads her to the hall. He stops outside.
"Right, I'm probably not allowed to actually go in there with you, but you'll be fine, okay? You're awesome, and you got this." He says and she nods, still looking nervous, but she fist bumps him again and smiles.
"Alright, can I hang out with you at break?" She asks and he smiles.
"You won't need to Barb, you're gonna have loads of friends in no time. Just be yourself, yeah?" He says and she smiles, nodding. Michael's about to walk away when she hugs him.
"Thank you Michael." She says and he smiles, hugging her back.
"You're welcome, meet me at the gate at the end of the day, okay?" He says and she nods, "Bye Michael."
"See you later Babs." Michael says and he watches as she walks in nervously and turns back to look at him. He nods encouragingly and she takes a deep breath, walks over to a group of nice looking kids and starts a conversation and within seconds they're smiling and laughing. Yep, she's got this.

By the time period 5 comes Michael's so fucking exhausted he nearly falls asleep on his way to class. He walks in and slumps down in his chair in the back corner. Mr Dooley walks in a few minutes later.
"Right class, todays lesson is gonna be a bit different. As some of you know we have some year 6 students here today as a taster day, and some of them are going to be sitting in this lesson with us." He says and Michael prays Barbara is one of them. A few minutes later a bunch of scared looking kids walk in and Michael sees the familiar blonde hair and hoodie. Barb sees him and smiles.
"Hey guys, why don't you find an empty seat and sit down." Mr Dooley says gently and they all find an empty seat. Barbara looks at Michael nervously and he nods her over. She sits in the chair next to Michael and looks at him excitedly.
"I'm so glad I'm in your lesson, I was so nervous!" She says and he chuckles quietly.
"So hows your day going?" He asks and she smiles.
"Its been okay, I keep getting lost but I made some friends!" She says and Michael smiles.
"Told you you'd be fine! So what are your friends like?" He asks and she smiles excitedly.
"Well I made quite a few but my main friends are Mica, Chris and Blaine." She says and Michael smiles.
"Good job Babs, I'm proud of you!" He says and she fist bumps him.
"Right class, I'm going to pair you up with one person from the class and one of the year sixes, maybe two depending on how many groups there are. Right, I'll partner my class first, Luke and Katherine, Jessica and Mathew, James and Lee, Gavin and Michael," sir says listing pairs and Michael sighs when sir reaches his name. Barbara looks at him confused.
"What's wrong?" She asks and Michael sighs.
"We just have a bad history." He says and she nods.
"So that's why you weren't talking to him yesterday?" She asks and he nods.
"Right, now for the youngsters, Michael and Gavin work with" He looks at the sticker on Barbs chest that says her name.
"Barbara, as she's next to Michael," he says and he goes on telling everyone else who to work with. When he's done he tells everyone to sit with their groups and Barb pulls her chair to Michael's side whilst Gavin walks over to Michael and Barbs table and pulls up a chair, sitting opposite them.
"You alright Micool?" He asks and Michael nods, looking out the window. Mr Dooley walks over to them and looks between Michael and Gavin.
"So how did the tutoring go yesterday?" He asks and Michael sighs.
"Fine, gonna need to go over it a few more times though I think, just to make sure he's got it." He lies easily and Gavin smiles at him slightly.
"Yeah, Micool's a good tutor." Gavin says. Mr Dooley smiles and walks away while Michael glares at the table.
"How long until the end of the day?" Barb asks breaking the short silence and Michael looks at his phone.
"Around 45 minutes." He says and she nods.
"So you have to do work now?" Barbara asks and Michael shakes his head.
"Not really in the mood to be honest Babs." She smiles sadly at him and rubs his arm trying to calm him down.