Michael Clifford Imagines

The neighbors son

The Neighbor's Son (Michael Clifford Imagine)

By: hnzll1dbaby

Finally. I finally got my 4-year-old brother to sleep after 2 hours of singing him lullabies. I walked into the hallway trying not to let the floor creek and wake up Jeffery. When I finally made my way into my room, I cuddled up to my pillow with my newest book, If I Stay. Other than taking care of my brother, reading is how I spent most of my time. It was the only way I could escape my reality. I got a text from my mom telling me that she was working a double and wouldn't be home until 3 or 4 in the morning. She had been working so hard since dad left 4 months ago, and I just kept thinking...its only a matter of time before its too much for her too.

 Everyone thinks it was because of the snow, and in a way, I suppose that's true. I began reading when I heard the all too familiar beat of music. God Damnit. We lived in the suburbs where the houses were only like 5 feet apart and I could always hear the neighbor's son's band practicing in the garage. I really didn't mind during the day, but I had just gotten Jeff to sleep. I hate to be that girl, but I had to walk over there and talk to Mr. Clifford.

I ran across the yard trying to return quickly so my brother wouldn't be alone for long. I could see that the garage door was halfway open so I bent down to look under it. There were four guys all together in the garage and I read the name of their band off the drum set. 5 Seconds of Summer. There was this tall, stalky blond boy standing in front singing and a dark haired boy with a ripped shirt on bass. I could barely see a curly haired boy with a bandana on his head playing the drums, and then there was Michael, the neighbor's son. He was a somewhat tall guy with crazy colored hair and a guitar strapped over his shoulder. They finished the song they were playing and Michael turned his head and looked directly at me. I went under the door and found myself in the garage with the boys.

"Look boys, it looks like we have our first fan." Michael smirked. All the boys turned to look at me and I just stood there and awkwardly waved. "Guys, this is Jamie, my neighbor." Michael continued. I finally got the courage to speak up. I wasn't one to start any drama so this was hard for me.

"Hey guys, I'm sorry to be a jerk, but I have a 4-year-old brother and he is trying to sleep. I was just wondering if you guys could maybe practice earlier?" I said quietly. The rest of the boys seemed to understand where I am coming from seeing how it was really late, but Michael responded with disgust.

"That's not my problem," he scowled at me, "We can practice whenever we like."

"C'mon mate, its already after 11, and we are pretty loud." The tall blond one said.

"Shut up Luke!" Michael snapped and Luke fell silent. "Her family didn't seem to care when they were yelling at 3am and waking me up!" I remember the exact night he was talking about because it was the night my dad left. My parents were screaming at each other for hours so I wasn't surprised the neighbors could hear. Hearing of that night only brought back bad memories, and I quickly turned around and ran out of the garage. I was crying at the memory of my once whole family, and I ran back into my house and slammed the door behind me, locking it.

*The Next Day*

I rolled myself out of bed and realized that I was going to be late to drop my brother off for a play date with the little girl down the street. I quickly ran into his room and found him sitting on the floor playing with his G.I. Joe dolls.

"C'mon buddy, we need to get you dressed to go see Lottie!" After I got him dressed, we started the 10 minute walk over to the Tomlinson's house. I wouldn't be picking up Jeff for a few hours so I was hoping I could get some serious reading done. I had my book in my hands, not wanting to part with it for a minute. I was still walking when I decided to open the book and try to read and walk. After a few minutes, I noticed small drops of water covering the pages. Oh great, rain. I closed the book and started to run. I finally reached my porch and the rain was pouring heavily. I fumbled around in my pockets for my house key. Oh my god. I was standing in the rain getting soaked with no way into my house. I turned when I heard the roar of Michael's car in his driveway. Please don't see me, please don't see me. Before I knew it, Michael was standing in front of me.

"You know, you're going to freeze to death if you stay out here." He said sarcastically.

"I forgot my key, why do you care?" I wasn't the least bit happy with him after last night.

"What's under your shirt?" he asked curiously pointing to my book I was trying desperately to save from the rain.

"My new book. More like my ruined book now." I said with disappointment.

"C'mon." he said reached his hand out to me.

"What?" I said a bit irritable.

"I'm not just going to let you sit out here and freeze to death. Let's go." I reluctantly grabbed his hand as he helped me up and we ran to his garage. He led me through the door into his kitchen and over to the stairs. I soon found myself being led into his room. He walked over to his bathroom without a word and threw me a towel. I felt bad for dripping all over his carpet so I tried to get as much water off me as I could, but it was so cold. I was practically shivering when Michael returned with a tshirt and a pair of boxers for me to borrow.

"Here change into this and I'll go downstairs and make us some hot cocoa." Why was he being so nice to me? He was such a jerk to me last night. I quickly changed into the clothes instantly felt warmer. I walked downstairs to find Michael in the kitchen. He must have heard me come down because he had turned around and greeted me with a smile.

"You look pretty good in my clothes." He said looking back down at the stove.

"Thanks?" I said almost sounding disgusted. I was still angry with him, and no amount of compliments was going to change that.

"Look I wanted to apologize for last night. I have been under a lot of stress with college and everything, and the band is the only way I can relax." He was looking at me with soft eyes and I could tell that he was being sincere.

"Its ok. I understand. I'm like that with reading too. Without it, I don't know what I would do." I was smiling now. Maybe the neighbor's son isn't that bad after all.