Straight Out of '94: A Michael Clifford Story

Chapter 5

As soon as they were out of sight, Maggie slid her sunglasses off and narrowed her eyes at Haley.

"Who the hell was that, and where have you been hiding him? How do you even know him?"

Haley rolled her eyes at her friend, and cursed Ashton for popping up.

"He works at a music store that I found a few weeks ago." Maggie raised an eyebrow, and Haley held up her hand, knowing what was coming next. "Don't start, Maggie."

"So you've only known him a few weeks, and you're already taking pictures of him? And who the hell is Michael, and why is he saying hi to you?"

"Michael works there, too. He's friends with Ashton and Luke, and he didn't say hi. Ashton just likes to be a jerk." 

"Is he as attractive as those two were?"

The blood rushed to Haley's face, Michael's eyes and vibrant hair popping into her head, and she took a sip of her water, hoping it'd give her a few seconds to compose herself. 

"I guess so."

"Are there any other super hot friends you're hiding from me?" 

"I'm not hiding anything from you, Maggie. It's not like I've been having sex with any of them. Ashton and I talk about music, that's all. I've only really met Michael once, anyways."

"Well if things don't work out with Francisco, you might have to introduce me to those two again sometime."

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After brunch, Maggie headed back to her apartment, where Haley assumed Francisco would be waiting for her. Haley had work to do, and made her way home, but found herself searching online for new music, instead of editing her pictures and formatting them like she was supposed to. 

Instead of new music, she had stumbled across an old favorite of hers. That had turned into a musical road trip into the past, and she'd spent the night dancing around her apartment to music she'd loved in high school. 

Haley's boss Jack must have felt sorry for her and the terrible assignments she'd gotten stuck with recently, because before she left on Tuesday, he came by her office and told her to take the next day off.           

Though she hadn't planned on it, Haley slept until noon the next day, and decided that since it was her day off, she should enjoy herself. She treated herself to a massive sticky bun at the bakery around the corner from her apartment and ate it in the park, enjoying the sunshine. She'd been working long hours lately, and had barely seen the sun in weeks. She'd been planning to avoid Turntables and the knowing looks Ashton gave her, but instead of heading home after the park, she found herself in the doorway of the musty store. Jet was blaring from the speakers, and she remembered that Ashton had said something about getting new music. 

The new music was towards the front of the store, by the register, and Haley was scared to head that way, wondering which guy would be waiting there. From what Ashton had told her, an older couple owned the store, but the four guys in his band were the only ones who worked there.