wasting time » lh ; mc

eight

:: 08 ::

       Michael's body felt horrible. His ribs felt like they were on fire every time he tried to breathe and whenever he went to adjust himself on bed throughout the night.

"You're staying in bed today," his dad told him, shaking his head when Michael started to protest by attempting to get out of bed. "Michael, if you want to play next week's game you're going to stay home and give your body a break."

"I don't need a break, dad. I'm fine," Michael complained, but with every word he winced and that really wasn't helping in his protests. This wasn't good, and he hated the guy who did this to him at the last game. If Michael wasn't able to play then the team wouldn't win and he would blame himself forever and Calum would probably—and this thought was beyond irrational—yell at him a lot. The whole team would, most likely.

It was all Michael had going for him. He wasn't the smartest and he wasn't the teenager with the most game and he really hated himself. Athleticism was the only way Michael could make himself feel good, could make other people believe he was good for something. He was glad that sports were the only reason he was known. It was either that or nothing at all and Michael really wanted to have something to leave behind in the world.

His cockiness was real—how could it not be, with how talented he is everyone had to expect it—but Michael faked a lot of it because in reality he knew how to control how much of a show off he was and how humble he really should be. Inside, Michael truly appreciated the abilities he had and sure, a lot of it was real but there was serious doubt in his mind and that's why he needed to prove himself all the time. He can't look at himself and truly see why everyone likes him.

Michael's father helped a lot, though. Like now, when he's trying to force himself to go to school so he can make it through afterschool practice and his dad won't dare to even let him risk getting out of bed when he can't breathe. For that Michael appreciates him but it also kind of shits on his ego a bit because, does he not think Michael can handle it? Is it because he's weak and this is his dad's way of telling him to toughen up? And it's, again, completely irrational but Michael can't help it because he just can't see it.

But, he eventually gave up his attempts to assure his father and asked the man to hand him the remote to the television so he could sulk and watch Chris D'elia all day. There was no arguing with someone like Michael's father, which is why it didn't take long for him to accept the fact that he couldn't get away with going to practice. Even if he managed to sneak past his dad and go to school, Michael knew that he wouldn't let him participate in practice at all. So, really, there was no trying.

He spent most of the day texting Calum and telling him what was going on in this half-initiated plan he had for the rugby team. Calum was convinced it wasn't going to work and they weren't going to bring it back since they just got rid of it, so it must be for a reason.

Michael was always the more optimistic of the two, if you couldn't tell already. He loved sports and rugby was something he'd always wanted to try, so why not try and get it back? It's a win-win situation, really: the guys who lost their spots on the team had a chance to get it back, and Michael got all the credit and praise for it.

Oh, and Luke, too. But mostly Michael.

Luke and this situation kind of go hand-in-hand, really. Michael hadn't gotten anywhere so far in the grand scheme to get noticed by Andrew. Maybe he should feel at least a little bad about what he's doing, but hey, Luke is used to this and those previous people are usually blatant about their intentions while Michael isn't. He's just using this opportunity to benefit everyone, as he's said before.