Bad News | Punk Michael Clifford

twenty three

"Where are we going?" I asked Michael as I crossed the seatbelt over my body. He had parked his car a street over to avoid getting caught by my mother.

"It's a surprise." Michael answered with a smug smile.

"You're not going to murder me, right?" I asked.

Michael laughed and shook his head no. He then handed me his phone and asked me to plug it into his car and play some music. I hit shuffle, and the first song to play was The Irony of Choking on a Lifesaver by All Time Low: one of my favorites.

Michael and I belted out the lyrics with the only exception being that he actually sounded good, and I sucked.

After the song ended, Michael looked over at me and gave me a small smile before reaching over to rest his hand on my thigh. As cliché as it sounds, his touch gave me butterflies. Everything about him was just so damn perfect, and I couldn't get enough.

Twenty minutes later, Michael pulled up to a small parking lot by a beach. The sun was just starting to set, and the view was absolutely breathtaking.

"Come on," Michael grabbed my hand and a blanket out of the back of his car. I pulled off my shoes and let the sand squish between my toes.

We sat on the blanket and watched the sun set beyond the horizon. The colors of red, yellow, and orange reflected onto the dark blue water creating the most beautiful sight I have ever seen.

"This is absolutely gorgeous, Michael." I stated in awe.

"Yeah, but it's still not as gorgeous as you." Michael replied while scooting closer to me.

I couldn't help but blush from his comment even though it was cheesy. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks, so I turned my head to bury my face in his chest. Michael let out a short chuckle at my actions and wrapped his arms around me tightly. He kissed the top of my head, and I snuggled deeper into his safe embrace. There was no where I'd rather be.

"Alyx?" Michael asked after a few minutes.

I tilted my head up to gaze upon his face. There was a mischievous grin on his lips.

"Michael..." I knew what he was going to do, and I didn't like it at all.

Before I could protest, Michael had lifted me off of the ground, slung me over his shoulder, and was running towards the ocean.

I was screaming at him to put me down, but he wouldn't listen. The water was cold as it tickled my bare feet.

"Michael Gordon Clifford! Put me down!" I shouted, clearly unamused.

"Okay," He shrugged and dropped me into the water.

"I hate you," I glared at him as my headed bobbed above the salt water and my clothes clung to my body.

"No, you don't," Michael rolled his eyes and swam closer to me. I splashed water at him in an attempt to create a distraction so that I could swim away. But when your boyfriend is practically a foot taller than you, it doesn't work too well.

Michael grabbed me and held me so that I couldn't move resulting in me pouting.

"You're cute," Michael laughed and kissed my forehead. I couldn't help but crack a smile in return. He was just too damn adorable.

"How about we go get some hot chocolate to warm up?" He asked and I nodded. It was the beginning of fall, so I was freezing.

I stole one of Michael's hoodies out of the backseat of his car and slipped it over my shivering torso. It smelled of his cologne and faintly of cigarettes. I had to avoid inhaling deeply because I didn't want Michael to catch me sniffing his sweatshirt- because that'd be weird.

-

Michael pulled up to a little café and sent me to pick out a table while he ordered our drinks. I picked one in the back to give ourselves a little privacy even though it was fairly empty inside.

"Thanks," I said as Michael returned with our hot chocolates.

"So Alyx," Michael started but was cut off by the buzzing of my phone. I sighed and looked down to see who was bothering me.

Luke: get your ass back

Luke: your mom wants to talk to you about something and I can't keep covering

Luke: I've done it twice already

Luke: she's getting suspicious

"Michael, we have to go. Apparently my mom wants to talk to me about something." I rolled my eyes and sent a quick reply to Luke.

Alyx: fine...be there in 10

-

I shimmied up the tree by my window and landed with a soft thud in my room.

"It's about damn time you got here." Luke hissed.

I ignored him and rushed around my room and dug through drawers to find new clothing. I'd be dead if my mom caught me in Michael's sweatshirt.

Just as I finished sliding on a pair of pajama pants and a new t-shirt, my mom entered the room- not bothering to even knock.

She looked suspiciously around the room for a few moments before crossing her arms over her chest. She glanced between Luke and I, and I nervously chewed on my bottom lip.

"We need to talk," She announced just as Luke had mentioned via text message. Hearing those four words come from her mouth instantly sent my mind into a panic.

I had no idea what she was going to say.

A/N

This is bad. This book is so bad like no joke. And in case you wanted to know a secret, here's one: (I'm just as confused as Alyx is about what her mom's gonna say. I don't have anything planned. Oops...) so if anyone wants to message me or something and help, that would be fan-freaking-tastic!

Thanks for sticking with this story so far! I lub you guys! <3