A Certain Romance (Reimagined)

Plans and Try-outs

All night, I tossed and turned. Maybe I only fell into a deep sleep for about an hour, but I couldn't recall if I dreamt or not. I determined how good my sleep was if I had dreams or if I didn't. If I dreamt, I slept well. If I didn't, then I needed to reevaluate or take a few melatonin or whatever sleeping medicine my mom had lying around her bathroom. I chose to think of the pros and cons of this plan Michael had as I laid down for the night and that likely made me uneasy when it came to sleep.

At 12:30pm, I started walking over to Michael's. Thirty minutes early, but I wanted to leave before my parents returned from church, so my mom couldn't manipulate me into staying home and helping her with laundry. My usual Sunday plans were junk food and ignoring all the text messages that came through because I was too busy watching trashy reality television to make me feel better. Everything and everyone else could wait. 

I felt like Michael was watching me from one of the windows, he knew exactly when I reached the porch and answered the door before my knuckles could even strike it. He was way too eager for this. 

"Not having any second thoughts, are you?" Michael teased as I walked through the door. I kicked off my Converse, cautious not to ruin his mom's carpet in the living room. He offered me something to drink, but I was already so nervous that my bladder felt like it was going to explode so I rejected the gesture. My bowels and my bladder worked against me whenever I was nervous. 

"Why would I?" Suddenly, I became chilly. The temperature was always rather steady and decent outside, but inside Michael's house he liked to keep the thermostat at a year-round below freezing temperature. That was why Luke wore sweatpants and a hoodie, instead something cuter. Even if he was relaxing at home, he had a way of still looking made up, but Michael's house made him do otherwise.

"You're usually full of surprises." Michael said.

The three of us found comfort on the floor in a special corner of Michael's room. Three beanbags, a record player, and Michael's laptop. He used to have some lights decorating the corner to make the area his place to relax, but his mom didn't want him to set the house on fire. Instead, the space was illuminated by his bedroom window. At times he would open it just to hear some of the gossip in his neighborhood, but it wouldn't stay open for long because the cool air would escape and make him mad.

"This is the only time I'll ever say this..." I paused before continuing because my next words were going to be held against me for eternity. "Maybe you're right. Maybe Calum does need to be "dethroned" and be put in his place. If it must be me doing it, then so be it."

No one ever told Michael he was right about anything. We all knew better than to do that. Michael was the type to throw it back in your face if you ever second guessed him and his motives. I guess that was because he was typically wrong about a lot of things so when he was finally right about something he wanted to celebrate it and brag about it.  

"When Ashton ultimately falls in love with her, what do we do then?" Luke fiddled with the strings on his hoodie, trying to make them match in length. 

Michael sat on his beanbag - the green one - typing away on his laptop. His face serious. "While Luke was sleeping, I hacked into Ashton's Facebook and Snapchat. I printed any kind of terrible things I could find. When this plan takes a turn, I'm ready to blackmail him or plant guilty evidence to get him expelled from Lakewood. I'm one hundred steps ahead of you guys."

"What were you able to find?" I questioned. I didn't know much about Ashton, but I was terrified for him. Once Michael got into someone's social media accounts, their life was over. Anything they ever loved, was taken away from them. It was wrong of Michael to use his privilege in those ways, but it helped when we really needed someone to disappear. Almost, was I tempted to have him use his magic on my mother.