anacampserote » m.c au

three

Here’s life summed up in one word: risks.

When you’re walking home alone late at night, about to walk through a dark alley and you feel goosebumps covering every inch of your skin, you could either choose to continue walking or you could turn back and hail a cab. The former is clearly a risk because we all know dark alleys are what you should never venture into at night and hence, you’d be risking your safety. The latter, contrary to popular belief, isn’t a safer choice either. There’s a higher risk of you getting into an accident, given the premise that the presence of drunk drivers is more abundant at night.

This happens in any – or, if you aren’t too convinced, most - other things you do in life. With every step you take, you’re compromising your safety and your welfare.

But I was never one to back down because my mum always told me that the risks you take define your bravery.

So logically, when I woke up on the day of Ms McAuliffe’s engagement party, I brushed off the unsettling feeling at the pit of my stomach and went ahead to get dressed up anyway. I didn’t know why I was hesitant about coming, considering my parents and Calum had previously convinced me that the worst thing that could happen was for me to get kicked out, which was true. It wasn’t as if I would mind getting kicked out; it wasn’t as if I was getting kicked out of my own – or someone of particular importance’s to me - party.

But as I sat in the backseat with Calum rubbing the ends of my fingers on his lap, I grew more bothered. It wasn’t a feeling you could describe – it didn’t give me nausea like anxiety would and neither did it make my fingers tremble like fear would. It was a feeling just tugging at the corners of my chest all the way to my lower abdomen. It was as if I could feel something different was going to happen that day.

“You okay?” Calum whispered into my hair. That was one of the things I loved most about him - it was as if my feelings were tuned into his mind and he would know if I was feeling any stranger than usual.

I gave him an assuring smile though really, I was trying to assure myself.

Next to him, Kael was snoring and we broke out into laughter, watching his jaw drop each time he inhaled.

My dad glanced at us through the windshield, smiling. “Are your parents and sister there yet, Cal?”

He instantly dropped my fingers, checking his phone. “Yeah, they just texted me saying they’ve been there for about ten minutes now…” He trailed off, though I wasn’t sure what else there was to say. He continued staring at his phone, his eyebrows furrowing. I scooted closer to him in an attempt to read his text but before I even got to it, he angled his screen away from me then shoved it in his back pocket.

“Everything okay?” I asked, hesitant.

“Yeah,” he nodded though his lips were pursed into a thin line, “Everything’s just fine.”

For the rest of the car ride, he was jumpier and more fidgety than usual.

-

It was grander than any other engagement party I had ever been to. It looked as if she refurbished the whole place just for the sake of the party. Antiques were kept in a corner in the hall and the rest of the place was full of decorations being strewn across the floors and walls. Even the white sofa had blue and purple buntings that spelled ‘Engaged!’ on it. If I hadn’t known any better, I would assume that it was a baby shower. But who was I kidding? Ms McAuliffe had always possessed an exuberant and youthful taste in party themes and decorations for her age.

“I think we’re underdressed,” my mum muttered beside me. She adorned a turquoise evening gown and I was dressed in my mid-thigh black bodycon dress. Looking at everyone else’s outfits that were sparkly and really eye-catching, I had to agree with her. We were the seaweed in Great Barrier Reef.

“I think we all look fine, don’t worry about it,” Calum snuck behind us and put his hands around our waists. “Hey, I’m gonna catch up with my parents for a bit, okay? I’ll bring them over here but they seem a little too immersed in catching up with Ms McAuliffe.” With a kiss on my cheek, he set off.

“What’s with him today? He seems a little…”

“Not him,” I completed her sentence. “I don’t know. Figured it’s something to do with his parents. They texted him something and he got really weird after reading it. Hey, I’m gonna get you guys some drinks. Wait here.” I turned to Kael and both my parents.

I observed inches of the house I hadn’t visited in years as I made my way to the drinks station. The walls that were once pure white had turned slightly more yellow and duller. But I understood. Before Michael slipped into a coma, he was the only member of his family who was willing to paint the walls. And now that his dad wasn’t around anymore, I guessed Ms McAuliffe couldn’t find anyone who was willing enough to do the job. And she probably couldn’t do it herself because it’d bring back too many memories of watching her son stand on the ladder painting the same wall.

The dining table, previously ever so pristine and clear of scratches and chipped off edges, now looked vintage. I could remember sitting on the chair closest to the kitchen island with Michael beside me and both his parents opposite us. We’d laugh at the most nonsensical things in the world, from the way the soup spoon would slowly sink into the bowl to how trashy our lives in school were. Not once did I leave their dining table without a smile on my face. They were my second family.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I continued walking towards the drinks station. But once again, I stopped in my tracks. Not because I was reminiscing, but because I was looking at the real thing.

His broad shoulders and ever so familiar hair, though now a different colour. His arm muscles were still prominent. Still the ones I loved. He still bit his straw - a habit he grew up with. He was still him, except there was a different aura attached to his body. Something different.

I was aware of the music blaring through the house but I couldn’t stop myself from saying his name.

“Michael?”

-

ooooo snap

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