teach me to be innocent, l.hemmings

#14: sometimes you have to break promises

I didn't want to get out of bed this morning. I tossed around the idea of calling in sick but then I would have to pretend to be my mother. My lying skills and voice skills, for that matter, had always been poor. I didn't even get to make the decision because Phoenix reminded me that if he had to suffer at University then I had to go to school. He also blackmailed me into getting out of bed.

Who said brotherly love was dead?

I was half walking, half sleeping as I wandered through the hallways to first period. I had rushed through the routine of getting ready just so I could make the bus and fatally skipped over my caffeine intake.

"Arizona!" Someone called out from behind me. It wasn't a voice I was familiar with, but I recognized it from last night.

I turned around slowly, expecting to see Michael rushing up behind me from the urgency in his voice. I was right about who it was, but was wrong about the 'urgency'. Michael was strolling through the hallway, handing some people flyers on his way to me.

"Hey." I greeted him, slightly confused to what he wanted.

"I wanted to see how you were after last night." Michael explained, shifting his bag to his other shoulder so he could carry the flyers properly.

"I'm okay." I replied. After a moment of hesitation Michael gave me a look. "I may not seem okay. And I may not be okay now. But I'm okay. Or I will be. I just need time. So, my point is that I'm not okay right now but I'll be okay eventually." I tilted my head. "I think I said the word 'okay' too many times for you to believe any of that."

Michael let out a deep chuckle, and I was surprised at how melodic his laugh sounded. "No, I get what you mean." He nodded. "I'm glad that you're so upbeat about it all. It's really impressive."

I wasn't upbeat at all. I just wasn't one for pity parties. In an effort to change the subject I pointed at his flyers. "What are these?"

"Oh, I'm trying to get word out about a gig tonight." He handed me a flyer as we neared my classroom. "My band's playing around 9 o'clock. You should come."

I looked at the flyer curiously, considering going to the venue when I saw Luke's face plastered on the front. He was cradling the microphone in this photo. Michael was next to him with a guitar and I recognized the drummer to be Hugh. I had no idea who the bass player was.

"The band you play in with Luke?" I questioned. "You want me to watch Luke play?"

"Look, I know you're on the 'I hate Luke' bandwagon, trust me so am I, but I think you should come tonight." He nudged me carefully with his shoulder. "It's a really chill vibe with some free drinks. Bring Calum and Ashton if you want. Just go wild for one night. Get drunk. Forget about Luke and his dick. It might help you unwind."

"I don't think I can see Luke just yet." I admitted, not ashamed at how reluctant I was being. Michael seemed to understand because he gave me a sad smile as I handed the flyer back to him.