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May sat up in her bed. It was late, past midnight, but she couldn't sleep. Her mind was racing with thoughts of her father and Mason. She sighed as she flicked on the light to her room. She couldn't figure out what had been wrong with Mason earlier. Why had he acted so weird at the Life? She knew that something was up, but she had no idea what. This was on top of the thoughts of her father that had been going through her head for days. He hadn't said a word to her when she had gotten home with Mason and Liam, not that she had expected him to.
She stood up and walked across the room to the old acoustic guitar that was leaned against the wall in the corner. She picked it up and walked it over to her bed. She sat down and rested it on her lap, gently stroking the neck of the instrument. Even though she preferred the piano, her father had taught her how to play guitar when she was younger and she had never forgot. She began quietly playing the few notes that her father used to always play whenever he was just being absent minded. Uncle Mark always teased her dad, saying that it reminded him of Musetta's Waltz, but May had always liked the sound of it. She played quietly, her fingers pulling the strings softly, barely making any noise. Just the motion of it was soothing to her.
"Now that sounds familiar." Collins said softly as he opened her door and stepped into the room. He smiled when he saw her sitting on the bed with the guitar.
"I haven't see you play that thing in forever." He said. She looked at him and gave a small smile. "Why are you still up?" he asked.
She shrugged her shoulders. "Can't sleep." She answered simply. "Why are you?" He chuckled quietly.
"I was asleep." He said. "I just got up to get a drink and I heard music coming from in here. It reminded me of what your dad used to play." He said lightly. May looked down at the guitar.
"Yeah, that's where I learned it." she said quietly. "But I haven't heard him play in months." Collins sighed. He walked over and sat down next to her.
"He is just having a hard time adjusting." He said, trying his hardest to explain it to her in a way that won't make her upset. "He just needs some time to figure out how he is going to go on from here."
"But why won't he talk to me? Hell, he won't even look at me." She said, trying to hide the sadness in her voice but not doing a very good job of it. Collins wrapped an arm around her.
"He's trying, he really is. He wants to talk to you but when he sees you all he can think about is your mom. You look so much like her." He said with a small smile.
"That's what I've been told." She said, trying to smile. Its what everyone said.
"Just give him some time May. He'll come around." Collins said as he stood up from the bed. "Get some sleep, okay?"
"Okay Uncle Collins." She said. "Goodnight."
May waited for the door to shut before standing up and putting the guitar back in the corner. She climbed back into bed and shut the light off. After a few minutes, she fell asleep.
… … … … … … … … .. … … … … … … … …
Liam was up early the next morning, before anyone else in the house was awake. He walked out into the living room and took out a huge book. He decided to read some of his summer reading book to get it over with. If May or Mason were awake he knew that they would make fun of him for starting it so soon in the summer but he actually didn't mind reading. He didn't mind a lot of the school things that the others hated.
Liam had loved school as long as he could remember and he had always been great at it. His grades were the top of the class almost every year. He was confident that this upcoming school year, his senior year in high school, would go great for him. He had been talking to Joanne about getting into Harvard, the same college that she had gone to. She really believed that he could get in. Collins had been ecstatic when he heard this. He had always been proud of his son for everything he did, and this was no exception.
Though Liam wasn't biologically related to him, Collins thought of him as nothing less than his son through and through.
Collins had "adopted" Liam when Mason was nine months old and Mimi was eight months pregnant with May. Collins had been walking home late that night, picking up some groceries for the family, when he heard a cry coming from a back alley. He had immediately gone to investigate and found a two year old boy sitting there alone. His clothes were old and dirty and he looked terrible. Collins dropped all of the bags and went over to the little boy, careful not to scare him. He brought him back to the loft, insisting that he take care of him until they found his family.
He contacted social services the next day, asking if anyone had reported a missing child. No one had. Collins agreed to keep Liam with him until they found the boy's family. It was a struggle, they already had a six month old in the house and May was going to be born so soon. Collins was sure that someone would come looking for the boy but no one ever did. He started calling him Liam, meaning strong-willed. He thought it fit him.
After a year of no one claiming Liam, Collins legally adopted him, with no protest from the rest of the family. It already seemed like Liam was one of them, the thought of him not being with them forever was too strange.
It wasn't hard to believe that Liam was Collins' son. He looked enough like him to pass as even biological to someone who didn't know them well. Liam had dark skin, though a bit lighter than Collins', and the same shaped brown eyes as Collins.
About twenty minutes after Liam had started reading, May stepped out of her room and walked into the living room.
"Morning." She said sleepily. She looked over to him and saw the book he was holding. "What are you reading?" she asked. Liam lifted up the book slightly, showing her the cover.
"Johnny Tremain." He told her. "It's summer reading." She rolled her eyes teasingly but didn't say anything. She sat down on the couch next to him. She stayed silent for a few minutes, letting him read, before sighing loudly.
"So, what do you think has been going on with Mason?" she asked him. He waited a few moments before putting his book down, marking his page before he closed it. He looked at her.
"Honestly¸I have no idea." He said with a slightly perplexed look. "I thought you might have a clue." She shook her head.
"I don't. But we both agree that he has been acting weird, right?" she asked. He nodded his head in confermation.
"First it was when we asked what he had been doing all day, he started acting strange." He said. May nodded.
"And then again yesterday when we were at the Life talking to Cameron." She said. "Do you have any ideas? Has he said anything to you?"
"Nothing." He sighed. "You don't think he is doing anything that could get him into trouble, do you?" he asked, concerned for his friend. May shook her head immediately.
"No way." She said. Mason wasn't the kind of person to do anything dangerous or stupid. They all knew that.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Liam said with a nod. There was no way Mason could do anything like he had been thinking. Still, he knew about the kids from school who had seemed like good people until they got mixed in with the wrong crowd. Liam knew that just a few wrong choices could change someone's life forever. He hoped more than anything that Mason wasn't making those choices.
Suddenly May stood up from the couch. She couldn't stand thinking about this stuff, not about Mason.
"Do you want some breakfast?" she asked Liam as she walked to the small kitched.
"What do we have?" he called. May looked through the cabinets and fridge for a few moments before sighing quietly.
"A box on Captain Crunch, some milk and half a container of orange juice." She said with a weak smile. It was pretty much the standard breakfast in the house. There was hardly ever anything else. Liam chuckled quietly as he stood up from the couch, leaving his book where he had been sitting, and walked over. He leaned his elbows on the counter.
"Sounds great." He said happily. May laughed and rolled her eyes at him. She couldn't understand why she was the only one in the house who minded eating boxed and frozen food all the time. She pulled out two bowls and two cups from the cabinet. Before she had a chance to shut the cabinet door, Mason walked out of the room that he and Liam shared and into the living room.
"Morning." May called to him. "Hungry?" Mason nodded his head as he yawned. May pulled out another bowl and cup and shut the cabinet as Mason walked over to stand next to Liam. May poured some of the cereal and milk into her bowl before passing it to Liam. As he poured himself a bowl she got some orange juice and filled her cup halfway before passing that to Liam too. They were all silent for a few minutes as they ate, Mason practically still half asleep. Suddenly they head another bedroom door shut and Collins walked into the room. He smiled as he walked in, looking wide awake. Quite a contrast from the three still exhausted looking teenagers.
"Morning all." Collins said with a grin. "I see that I mussed the invitation to the party." He joked.
"Good morning Dad." Liam said. "Are you hungry? We are having our specialty." Collins looked over the food that was spread over the counter.
"Hmm," he said thoughtfully. "Captain Crunch and O.J. I think I'll pass for now. Actually, I was just on my way out." Liam looked at him curiously.
"Where are you headed?" he asked his father.
"To the Life Café of course." he said with a grin. "Its Saturday." He reminded them. Every Saturday morning Collins, Roger and Mark would go to the Life for breakfast. It had been their tradition for years. "And as soon as your lazy ass fathers wake up," he said, pointing to May and Mason "we will go."
"Who are you calling lazy?" Mark said as he walked into the room. "Is Roger up yet?" Collins shook his head.
"Not yet." He said to Mark. "Roger!" he called loudly. "Get your ass out here! Its time to go!" Mark chuckled softly at his friend.
"Perfect." He said, still laughing. Almost a full minute later, Roger walked into the room.
"Thanks for the wake up call." He grumbled sarcastically.
"Ready to go?" he asked Mark and Collins. They both nodded and they all headed out the door, leaving the three teens still standing in the kitchen.
"Anyone have any plans for the day?" May asked the two.
"I'm probably going to stay home for a while and finish some more of my book." Liam said. He wanted to get the boring summer assignment over with, unlike the other two who liked to wait until the last minute possible.
"Big surprise there." May said sarcastically. "What about you?" she asked Mason.
"I'm going to the park to take some pictures." He answered flatly. "I should go now, before it gets too crowded." He said as he walked away from the counter. He grabbed his camera bag off of the small table in the living room and walked out the door, leaving his half eaten bowl of cereal and untouched cup of orange juice on the counter.
"Well, that was strange…" May said quietly after the door had shut."
I hope you liked this chapter! It took a while to write but I THINK that it went okay. Please please PLEASE remember to leave a review! Thank you!