Part Of His World {MJ}

15

Day Five~

Michael's POV:

Bruno and I came into the house after his morning walk. I unclasped the leash from around his neck.

"Hey, you're back." Jewel said as she came into the living room from the kitchen.

"Hey." I said. "I would've taken you with me, but you were asleep when I left. Ms. Daphne was out there too, so it was probably good that I went alone."

She let out a small laugh. "Oh yeah. She seems nice." She said.

"She is. She's just... I don't even know." I said with a shrug.

"I get what you're saying." Jewel said.

That was surprising to hear from her.

My phone rang in my pocket.

"Is that your phone thingy?" She asked. I chuckled. "It is, yeah. Let me get this real quick."

I checked the caller ID. It was my brother.

"Hey, Marlon." I answered.

"Hey Mike. Everyone's going to be at Mom's house today. Jackie was just going to grill some burgers and we could all hang out as a family. You can bring Jessie too if she's up to it." He said.

I stopped myself from getting sad at the mention of her name. "Jessie won't be with me. Someone else will." I said.

"Oh. Well okay then. So you're going?"

"Yeah. I'll be there."

"Great! See you then."

I brought the phone down from my ear and hung up.

"Who was that?" Jewel asked.

"My brother. He told me about a barbecue my family is having. You want to go?"

"What's a barbecue?" She asked.

"It's like a mini gathering with a bunch of food." I said.

She perked up. "Can I go?"

"I was about to ask you." I said.

She grinned. "Oh, I can't wait!" She said.

She was so cute. I couldn't help but smile.

"You'll get to meet the whole Jackson family." I said.

Her excited expression turned to confusion. What possibly confusing about that?

"The Jackson family?"

"Yeah..." I said.

"Why Jackson?"

"My last name is Jackson." I said.

"You have two names?" She asked.

"Well, actually three." I said.

"Why so many?" She asked in pure confusion. "Why don't I have three?"

"You only have one?" I asked.

She nodded. "That's all I need. What's all three of yours?"

"Michael Joseph Jackson." I said.

She widened her eyes. "If you have three names how am I supposed to know which one to call you?"

I laughed. "You still call me Michael."

"Why is it like that?" She asked.

I shrugged. "That's just the way it is."

"I want three names." She said. "Can I just use yours?"

"Jewel Jackson?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. Jewel Jackson."

It had an oddly nice ring to it. It rolled off the tongue.

"If you do that people are going think we're related. Or married." I said.

"What's wrong if they think we're married?" She asked innocently.

I chuckled. "Nothing, I guess. I'd just have to clarify that not. We're not."

She frowned slightly. I hoped I wasn't hurting her feelings. That wasn't my intention at all.

"Listen, my family opens their arms to all. Once you meet them, they'll most likely claim you as an honorary Jackson." I said in attempt to make her feel better,

She smiled again. "I'd like that."

~~

Jewel's POV:

Michael led me toward a big, beautiful house. He told me this was the house he and all eight of his siblings grew up in.

It was so much better than the small renovated shipwreck I lived in under the sea.

He knocked on the door and waited for someone to let us inside.

A woman who was related to Michael opened the door. "Hey!" She said. "Come on in you two!"

She led us into the house and we followed her to the other side of the house where the backyard was.

Michael wasn't lying. There were a lot of Jackson's.

They all greeted Michael, and I was introduced to every brother and sister. Soon after, they started pestering him with questions.

"Wheres Jessie, Mike?" Tito asked. I knew that question was going to trigger that sadness in him again.

"We-uh- we broke up." He said.

"Aw man," Jermaine said, sympathetically. "At least you found a new girl."

Michael sighed. "Jewel isn't my girlfriend." He said.

"Well, we've never seen her before. Where'd you two meet?" Janet asked.

"On the beach." I answered for him.

She smirked. "Romantic."

Michael shook his head. "Not exactly."

It probably would've been romantic if I wasn't passed out.

"Well anyways, Mom made her potato salad for all of us. You better come and get some before it's all out!" Janet said.

I followed Michael to the table. Janet handed me a plate and put some of the yellow and white gooey stuff onto it.

"What is this again?" I asked.

"It's potato salad." She said.

"Oh. I've never tried this before." I said.

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

"Really." I said with a nod.

"It's really good. I think you'll like it. Try it!" She said. She handed me a plastic four pronged stick.

I looked at the stick and I instantly remembered what it was. I thought it was pretty weird that she'd hand this to me when I was supposed to be trying the salad, but I thanked her nonetheless.

I set my plate on the table and began running the stick through my hair. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy and gave each other confused glances. Everyone except Michael.

"You don't use it for that." He said, taking the stick away from me. "You use a fork to eat."

I was now giving him a confused look. I stuck the fork into the food and picked it up. "Like this?"

He nodded. "Yeah, like that."

"Oh." I said. I bit the potato salad off the fork. "It's good." I said with a nod.

"Thank you." His mother said as she came over to me. "But what's potato salad without anything to go with it?"

At that, Jackie came over to the table with food from the grill.