Bus Ride // Michael Clifford AU

06

Michael

Michael waited at the bus stop the next morning. Once the bus came, he hopped on.

Michael walked down the aisle and noticed an empty seat. It was the same seat Lil sat at.

He had a confused look on his face and quickly glanced at the back. Ella was there, but Lil wasn't.

"Huh." Michael remarked as he sat down.

Even though it was the second day of being on that bus, people still looked at him strangely. Geez you'd think they'd seen colored hair and tattoos at least once in their lives.... Michael scoffed inside his head.

"Hey marshmallow!" He heard a mocking voice yell from the back.
Michael had an inkling it was directed at him so he turned around and saw Ashton smirking at him. He raised his eyebrows in response to the obnoxious boy.

"Sorry to hear about your friend." This caught Michael's attention.

"Luke?" Michael questioned.

Ashton rolled his eyes as if Michael should know already. "No. His Asian friend."

Michael couldn't remember his name. "Refresh my memory?"

"My sister's 'friend'!" Ella yelled from beside Ashton, putting air quotations on the word friend.

Michael rolled his eyes at Ella. "What happened?"

Ashton shrugged. "Ask Lil, maybe."
After that, Ashton stopped talking to him.

Michael turned back around and looked at the spot beside him near the window. Where she would have sat.
Was that why she wasn't there? Because of her friend?

How bad was he hurt?

Millions of questions roamed Michael's head. He almost didn't notice the bus stop at the school.

~

Michael walked to his locker as people walked and ran through the hallways.
He grabbed his binder for his first three periods and headed to homeroom.

He walked in and sat down at his desk. Slowly turning around, he saw Lil's other friend, Thomas Michael remembers Luke telling him, looking nervous. He paced slowly back and forth until he locked eyes with Michael.

Michael swiftly turned around and faced the front of the class. There were only five people in the room, including him and Thomas.

Thomas suddenly appeared in front of Michael's desk. Michael looked up to Thomas's worried expression.

"Was Lil on the bus?" He asked.
Michael shook his head.

"Was her sister on the bus?" He elaborated. Michael nodded.

Thomas sighed and walked to the back of the classroom.

Michael stared at his desk awkwardly when he heard arguing voices entering the room.

"I'm fine!" A male voice whined.

"No you're not!" A female voice insisted.

"It's just a broken arm," The male voice groaned.

Michael looked up and saw Lil and her other friend. He had a sling with a cast and held an annoyed expression.

"And a black eye!" Lil continued to argue as he walked back to his desk.
He looked at Michael for a split second, but it had a look of anger to it.

Michael awkwardly glanced to the side, avoiding his eyes.

Why would he be angry at me?
Michael wondered.