colors ; michael clifford [book 1]

o n e

Michael stood under the bus stop, the pounding rain unable to reach him. He watched as car after car sped by, his music blasting through his headphones and into his ears, but no bus. He'd been waiting for a while now, almost an hour, but he wasn't bored. He felt. . . at piece.

It was a gloomy kind of day, the kind you might expect when the season was transitioning from autumn to winter, and it hadn't stopped raining since it started in the early morning. Michael didn't like the rain. He didn't like the feeling of the raindrops on his skin, and he didn't like how cold it was. He hated winter, and much preferred Spring, when it wasn't too cold and wet, or too hot and dry.

As another car sped by, he caught sight of someone running towards the bus stop. He watched them get closer and closer, sprinting to avoid the rain, till they were right beside him under the cramped roof.

The girl must have been around his age, wearing a white, lacy skirt, a brown jacket and a satchel that matched in colour. The thing that intrigued him about her though, was her bright blue curtain of curls. It was the polar opposite of his red mop.

She had a round face, and seemed to be blushing quite a bit. Michael expected that was either because of the extreme coldness, or because of all the running she had been doing.

"H-hi," she stuttered breathlessly, adjusting the strap of her bag as she took a seat on the bench.

Michael nodded in acknowledgement towards her, removing his earphones.

She looked down at the ground, playing with her toes in her dainty boots. "It's cold, huh?"

He could tell she was desperately trying to make conversation, and he felt a little bad for her, so he nodded. "Yeah. Freezing."

She looked up at him through her long, thick lashes and smiled. "I. . . I like your hair."

"Thanks, blue," he said, a smirk playing on his full lips.

The girl giggled, playing with a strand of her brightly coloured hair. "No problem, red."

He felt a smile stretch his cheeks and turned to her a little more, his black leather jacket squeaking. "I'm Michael."

She nodded, smiling sweetly. "I'm Layla," she replied, blue eyes twinkling. Reaching into her brown satchel, she pulled out a notebook and pen. "Do you like to write, Michael?"

Michael frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Do you like to write?" Layla asked again, tilting her head to one side as she looked at him.

He shook his head, confused. "No. No, not really."

"Well, why not?"

"Wouldn't I just be killing the trees and shit?" he asked, a chuckle lacing his words.

"Not if you were writing about your dreams," Layla disagreed with a shake of her head. "Something you really believe in."

"Is that what you do then, Little Miss Blue?" he asked, gesturing towards her notebook. "Write about your beliefs?"

She giggled slightly, clutching her book tighter. "Yeah."

Michael nodded and reached into the pocket of his leather jacket, pulling out a small box of cigarettes. Layla froze, and he saw her frown unhappily. He held out the open box to her, until the fags were directly in front of her.

"Take one."

Layla shook her head. "No thanks."

Michael laughed. "I wasn't asking. I was telling. Take one."

"No."

He placed one between his lips and smiled. "Come on, blue. Please."

"No. They could kill you," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at Michael warily.

"I'm still alive," he said, still smirking, and lit the cigarette between his lips with a yellow lighter.

"They could still harm you," Layla said, shaking her head as she stared at the fag between his lips.

"Not if you only try one."

"Please."

"No."

"For me?"

Layla glared at Michael, and he could tell she was giving up. He smirked at her, shaking her box of cigarettes in front of her, and watched her reach forward, timidly grabbing one with her long, slender fingers.

***

right hey, so i normally only update on tuesday's but i felt like updating today so hooray?? idk man lmao.

so like i'm already in love with badass michael and cute little layla, like seriously. ^-^

thanks for reading, please leave a vote and comment. i also want to dedicate this chapter to PadfootsPencil as she has been supporting me on my other story a lot and her book is great! :)