The Misfits

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us Lil’s?” Harry asked for the tenth time that morning.

“That’s alright Harry. Spending time with my dad is a good thing.” I laughed. He shrugged and then pulled me into a hug. I ruffled his hair before turning to Niall.

“Thal can we come and get yer sisters with ya?” He asked.

“YEAH!” yelled Harry. “Pleeeeease?”

“Sure,” I laughed. They fist pumped before giving each other a high-five. “My own personal chaperones!”

Niall wrinkled his nose before giving me a hug goodbye. I jumped into the car where my dad had been waiting patently for the last five minutes. We were finally leaving to head back to London.

“What?” I asked when I caught him staring at me. He let out a chuckle and shook his head. “What!”

“Yer lettin’ them drive ya te Birmingham?”

“Why not? I get a free ride and don’t have to take the train! That’s worth it right?”

“If ya can put up with them fer the drive,” He laughed.

I shrugged. “I love car rides. We used always drive when we went to Liverpool to visit my grandmother.”

“Ol’ Gilly?” he laughed. “How’s she doin’?”

“She passed away three years ago.”

“I’m sorry te hear,” he frowned. “Although, ya know she never liked me.”

I let out a laugh. “Hmm and why is that I wonder?”

“I dunno.” He joked. “Truth be told I never liked her neither. She always tried te give us those damn fruit cakes.”

“Okay those were horrible! I can’t deny that.”

We both laughed for a minute before falling silent. To avoid the quite I turned on the radio and we both immediately started singing to the song. We didn’t speak for a while as I watched the landscape fly by, lightly singing to whatever song came on the radio. When I realized it was One Direction coming though the radio I turned to look at him, a smile spreading across my face. He was singing along, slowly bobbing his head as he watched the road. I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“What?” He asked, smirking at me.

“Do you know all their songs?”

He snorted. “Lia. I’m at every single one of their concerts. I’m d’er biggest fan.”

I let out another laugh as he turned the radio up and started singing, head bob and all.

Said her name was Georgia Rose, OW
And her daddy was a dentist
Said I had a dirty mouth
But she kissed me like she meant it!

I took out my phone and started recording him, failing at keeping a straight face. This was beyond hilarious.

“Oi!” He yelled. “What are ya doin’?”

“Sing!” I laughed.

At the chorus he began adding hand movements and I nearly peed my pants as I joined him in the singing. I turned the camera on us and attempted to mimic his hand movements.

And we danced all night to the best song ever
We know every line, now I can’t remember
How it goes but I know that I won’t forget her
‘Cause we danced all night to the best song ever!

I think it went oh, oh, oh
I think it went yeah, yeah, yeah
I think it gooooooes

I ended the video but continued to sing the rest of the song with my dad, screaming at the top of our lungs before bursting into another fit of laughter. When I was finally able to breathe again I sent the video to the boys knowing they would appreciate it as much as I did.

“Where did you learn that?” he said, still giggling. “I thought ya weren’t a fan?”

“I never said that! Tilly, Layla, and even Mackenzie won’t shut up about them. They’re always playing One Direction.”

“Tilly and Layla?”

“My sisters.” When I saw his look I let out a laugh. “Not actually! Aunt Lucy’s kids.”

“Oh,” he said, relaxing slightly. “Is she still taking in boarders?”

I quickly relayed all that I had already shared with the boys about my family. I left out the bit about how much I actually worked, knowing that he would be angry and try to give me more money. He didn’t interrupt through my speech even though I could see the gears turning in his head. I knew what was coming before he said it.

“How come yer mother never said nothin’? How come you never said nothin’?” He asked, looking over at me with a frown. “I could ‘a helped ya get a bigger house.”

“We don’t need a bigger house,” I laughed.

“Who looked after the kids when yer mum and Aunt were workin’?”

“Over half of us were 13 or older. We looked after each other.”

“On top of yer job? Ya said ya worked too. What about the money that I sent you?”

“That went into my schooling. The rest I made for the family.”

“Yer too young te be making money fer a family.” His frown deepened and I fiddled with the hem of my sleeve. I needed to approach this gently.

“I wanted to. It’s good experience, and the money that I made helped others. We helped Jasper and Luca pay for football, and Layla’s taking piano lessons. And Millie can start her dance lessons now.”

There was a silence that followed.

“Thalia, I…” But he paused and I looked over at him. Tears were sparkling his eyes and gave me a small smile. “Thalia darlin’, you are an amazing woman ya know that?”

“Thanks dad.”

We fell into a comfortable silence after that and I leant back in my seat to watch the world go by. It was getting dark now making it easier to see the city lights from the distance. Ten minutes later we were pulling into the driveway.

“Thalia…”

I turned to see my dad looking at his phone.

“Did ya send a video te the boys by chance?” He raised an eyebrow and looked at me suspiciously as he handed me my bag from the boot. My eyes widened.

“loveyoutoobye!” I cried before making a break for the house. I didn’t stop until I was all the way upstairs in my room. Panting, I fell onto my bed only to hear my phone go off. I groaned before sitting back up and accepting the call, “Hello?”

“What’s up freak?” A smile spread across my face as Calhan’s voice rang through the speaker.

“Not much dweeb.”

“Would you want to hang out with the lads tonight?”

“I guess…”

“Gee. Thanks for the enthusiasm Thal. I really appreciate it.”

“Thought you would.”

“Pick ya up in ten.”

He hung up before I could respond and I headed back downstairs to let my dad know the plan. He was in the kitchen humming to himself and I couldn’t help but smile when I saw him.
“Dad?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m going over to Calhan’s for a bit tonight.”

“That’s fine.” He shrugged. “Oh hey Lia?”

“Yeah?”

“What day was it that your friends were going to be here?”

“We’re picking them up Wednesday. Why?”

“I was thinkin’ of makin’ a trip back te Ireland this weekend. Thought I could go when ya had the girls out, that way you’ll get the house te yerselves.”

“Oh.” I said, feeling a pang in my stomach. “Yeah. Thanks.”

He gave me a smile as my phone started ringing. I took the excuse and headed out the door towards Calhan’s car.

“You alright?” Calhan asked?

“Hmm? Oh! Yeah…yeah I’m fine.”

He raised his eyebrows unconvinced but didn’t push it. I buckled up and he pulled out of the driveway. We talked all the way back to his flat. The conversation mainly consisted of him filling me in with what he had been up to for the past week. I nodded and laughed but didn’t share anything with him. If the boys wanted to keep me a secret that meant I had to keep quiet on my end too.

“THALIA!” cried Nate as we entered the flat.

“What’s up loser?” I asked, bending down to give him a hug. Calhan tossed me a beer from the fridge and I flopped onto the couch and began to watch their intense fame of FIFA. I swear that was all they did. Calhan sat down next to me and began cheering his friends on. I became distracted though when my phone buzzed.

From Hazza: did you like my tweet?

I snorted and quickly typed back.

To Hazza: Are you a bird now???

From Hazza: what?

To Hazza: I don’t have a twitter dumb dumb

From Hazza: What!?!? Why not!?

From Hazza: Well I posted the video of you and Pauley dancing

To Hazza: u suk

From Hazza: ;)

To Hazza: Dad’s gonna kick your ass

From Hazza: You wouldn’t let that happen

To Hazza: Wanna bet?

“Thal, you’re going to lose your fingers if you type any faster,” Laughed Calhan. I stuck out my tongue at him only to receive a chuckle.

“Oh hey! Maeve’s coming to visit me this week!”

“Yeah we know.” Snorted Nate. “No thanks to you miss anti-social.”

“I’m not—” But my phone buzzing cut me off. Nate looked from the phone to me with his eyebrow raised.

“Case and point.”

“You’re just jealous cause I’m popular,” I sneered, flipping my hair for effect. But I failed at keeping a smile from my face. They burst into laugher and I flipped them off.

“Who are you texting anyway miss popular?” Calhan asked, grabbing my phone before I could stop him. His face hardened upon reading my new text. “Who’s the fuck is Hazza?”

“He’s a friend,” I said, trying to grab my phone. But he held it out of my reach and began typing back. “Cal, give it back. Cal!”

My phone buzzed as Harry responded and I tried to snatch it once more but Calhan held me back and started typing again.

“What the hell Cal!”

“Why is he saying he loves you huh?”

“What?” I asked, a frown spreading across my face. But Calhan wasn’t having it. He was getting angrier by the second. “Cal he’s a friend. He’s just jok—”

“—You told him you didn’t have a boyfriend.” He snapped as my phone buzzed once more.

“Because I don’t. Now give me the damn phone.”

“Don’t?” He yelled as he stood up, my phone still hostage in his hand.

“Calhan—”

“—What the fuck does that mean?”

“Exactly what you think it does. Now give me the fucking phone,” I said a little more sternly. The room had gone silent, as Nick and his friend sat there watching us fight. Calhan whipped the phone at me and it hit the wall with a smack a few inches from my head. “WHAT THE HELL CALHAN!”

“GET OUT!” he screamed.

“Gladly,” I spat, picking up my phone before turning on my heel and slamming the front door.

“FUCKING BITCH!” I heard him yell as I ran down the stairs and out onto the street. I started walking, trying to ignore the stinging behind my eyes. I pulled out my phone to see hundreds of cracks running across the screen. Great. I let out a groan and attempted to read the texts.

From Hazza: but you love me <3

To Hazza: hey fuck face. this is thalias boyfriend. back the fuck off.

From Hazza: Really? She told me she didn’t have a boyfriend.

To Hazza: u stay the fuck away from her or ill beat the shit outta u

From Hazza: Let’s see what Thalia has to say about that

“Stupid fucking idiot,” I growled to myself. “You just had to fucking say that didn’t you?”

I sat down on the closest bench and whipped the angry tears that were slipping down my face. I knew I shouldn’t be so upset. Calhan and I were nothing. We had never been more than hook ups to each other. He had never wanted a relationship either. Every time I had asked he always replied with "we're just friends with benefits" or "why do we have to be anything?" He had no right to blow-up at me for cheating on our nonexistent relationship.

And Harry. I wasn't really mad at him, but I wasn't exactly happy with him either. His replies we out of line and uncalled for.

Then there was my father. I didn't dare call him. Even if he had been right about Calhan, there was no way I was going to let him find me like this. Him seeing his little girl sitting at a bus stop crying because the only guy in her life who had stuck around for more than 2 years just kicked her to the curb? No thank you.

Sniffling, I pulled out my phone and called the only other person I knew in London.

Notes

Calhan sux. Guess ol' Pauley was right