Broken // Michael Clifford [Finished For Now]

Chapter Nine

MIchael's POV

We made our way through the crowded lunch room to our table in the back corner. I noticed that Luke and Calum were already seated and eating their food.

"Hey guys!" waved Luke.

"Hi." I replied, giving Cal an odd look. He was usually making funny faces at me or Luke, and when he wasn't doing that he was attempting to make some funny joke. Right now he just sat there, staring down at his food blankly.

Diana must have noticed that something was off because she gave me a sideways glance that was full of confusion.

"I'm not sure what's wrong with him, so just try to ignore him for now." I whispered to her as we sat down next to each other and across from Luke and Calum. She nodded slightly before beginning to eat her lunch like the rest of us already were.

"What kind of drama is happening with everyone?" Luke questioned in a high pitched voice, pretending to act like a girl twirling imaginary hair and swinging his legs causing the table to shake from their extreme length.

"Well, I, for one, feel like a complete dick for being a nosey ass to someone who I barely even knew." stated Calum as he dropped his fork onto the table and gave Diana, along with the rest of us, a very serious look.

"I mean, I want to apologize for what we did, but I don't know how to. You can't just say 'oops sorry for digging into your past and figuring out how much shit you went through instead of just waiting for you to tell me like any other sane person would do.' I feel horrible for searching things about you when I could have given you a chance to explain yourself. Do you guys not feel any remorse for doing what we did?! You're just sitting here and acting like nothing ever happened!" said Calum as he stared all three of us down like a hawk.

"When I asked about drama I was just trying to start a conversation, not some deep emotional circle." spoke Luke.

"Well, I didn't know how else to put it, so I just said the first thing that came to mind about the subject because something had to be said."

***

Diana's POV

I was surprised by what Calum had revealed to all of us. I was happy he said it though, because I was afraid nothing would ever be done about the first events that unfolded between all of us.

"You could have been a little nicer about it though! I get that it's awkward, but blowing up at us about snooping like that in front of the girl that we snooped on wasn't the best way the handle it! " joined Michael.

"I needed to say it in front of her so she understood exactly how awful I felt!"

"No offense Michael, but Calum has a point. He wanted me to know how he felt and he told me. I have no clue what you and Luke think about what you guys did, or your other friend-Ashton I think-for that matter. I get it if you don't want to talk to me about it, but you need to understand that it would be awkward if you didn't tell me things like that, like how you really feel about this situation." I spoke up.

"See!" commented Calum, flailing his arms in the air for emphasis.

"Seriously Cal, I don't need your sass about this!" Michael said while he raised his voice and began to stand up.

"Are you mad at me because I agreed with him?" I wondered.

"I don't even know what I think about anything!" He responded as he walked towards the boy's bathroom.

"I didn't really think anyone was going to take my discussion topic seriously." mumbled Luke after a minute of silence.

"Should one of you go talk to him? I would, but I'm not sure how other guys would react if they saw me in there..." I asked. "Do you think he's mad at me?"

"I don't know why he would be. I think he's just frustrated about the whole situation because he wants to be friends with you, but he also hates himself for not letting you tell him about your mom and last summer." answered Calum.

"He's right, I would know because I kind of feel the same way." realized Luke while looking down at his feet and chewing on his lip ring nervously.

"It's really okay Luke. I really do understand that you didn't know how to say you were sorry for what you did and I'm not going to hold that against you. This whole situation sucks and there isn't really much you could have done about it because I probably would have tried to figure out what the person was hiding too. You all seem like good people and I want to be friends with you, but we have to get over this bump first, and that may take a little bit of time." I reasoned.

"I'm willing to wait a little bit longer to be friends with you if it means that we can sort this out." piped a voice from behind me, causing me to jump from my seat and turn around, receiving a few odd glances from the other students in the cafeteria as well.

I had noticed that Luke and Calum stopped looking at me and began to look behind me when I was talking, but thought nothing of it. Apparently they had been looking at Michael who had stood behind me the whole time I was speaking. He didn't make a single sound while he approached, which scared the crap out of me.

"Jesus Christ! When did you get there?!" I questioned, trying to calm down my racing heart.

"A few minutes ago." he chuckled. He seemed much happier than when he had stormed out and into the bathroom only moments ago.

"Does he experience mood swings often?" I aimed at Luke and Calum who were stifling laughs at their end of the table.

"I think he's PMSing." laughed Calum as Luke nodded his head in agreement.

Michael's pale face reddened as blood rushed to his cheeks in anger and embarrassment. "That's not even a thing!"

"I'm pretty sure it's a thing Michael. Would you like me to explain it to you?" said Calum while raising one eyebrow.

"It's not a thing for guys!" he defended.

By this time Michael's whole face was almost as red as his hair and Luke, Calum, and I could no longer hide our laughing.

This small argument continued and I decided that I was happy with this idiotic group of guys. I was genuinely laughing again when I was with them. It was a nice feeling that I didn't want to end, but feared wouldn't last as long as I would hope for.