Straight Out of '94: A Michael Clifford Story

Chapter 7

Sorry it's taken so long for an update! I'm hoping to start updating more regularly. Things are finally starting to pick up, and there's some cute little Haley/Michael in this chapter!

The first thing Haley saw when she woke up the next morning was Michael's shirt hanging over the back of her chair. The wicker basket in the corner of her room was full to the brin, and she decided that she should at least pretend to be a responsible adult and do laundry.

There was a laundry room in the basement of her apartment building, but the machines were notorious for putting holes in clothes and eating socks. Even though it was a pain for Haley to drag her clothes to the laundromat ten blocks away, it saved her the aggravation of ruined clothes and having to buy new socks.

After a quick shower, Haley made her way to the laundromat, which was crowded as it usually was, but she managed to find a free washing machine, and a seat close by. Sliding her laptop out of its bag, she made her way through the pictures she'd edited the night before, making sure she hadn't missed anything earlier that morning, and emailed them to Jack.

She spent the rest of her time in the laundromat replying to emails and checkin some of her favorite music blogs. She also agressively tried to ignore the clearly hungover guy who'd fallen into the seat next to her halfway through the spin cycle, and seemed desperate to get her number. Her mind flashed briefly to Ashton, and how for once it'd be nice for him to show up wherever she happened to be, as he'd taken to doing, but the bell above the door remained still, until she finally got up and stood by the dryer her clothes were in because the smell of gin oozing from the guy next to her was starting to make her nauseous. 

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Over the next few days, Haley's thoughts drifted to what Michael had told her at the bar, and how he'd be working on Tuesday.

She'd made the mistake of mentioning her run in with him to Maggie when she talked to her on the phone, and the fact that Michael had told her when he'd be working next. Maggie had gone on a half hour rant about how disappointed she as going to be if Haley went to the store, because she should be playing hard to get if she was interested in him. Haley denied everything, but Maggie had just scoffed knowingly. 

A part of her knew Maggie had a point, but she still found herself in front of Turntables at the start of her lunch break Tuesday, Michael's shirt tucked into her bag, folded neatly and free of any traces of alcohol. She was determined to make it through the interaction without embarrassing herself. 

Her determination faded somewhat when she walked inside and heard Ashton ranting about something, but she gritted her teeth and steeled herself and closed the door behind her.  His back was to her, and she caught Michael's eye, waving as she walked quickly past. Ashton continued speaking rapidly, gesturing wildly and completely unaware of her presence. Haley walked toward the back of the store, searching for a copy of The Smiths' first album. Before she turned the corner she saw Michael roll his eyes at Ashton, and it made her smile. 

She'd found what she was looking for a few minutes later, and was scanning the racks for anything else that caught her attention when she heard overly loud footsteps approaching. Looking up, she found Michael walking towards her, almost stomping. He raised a hand in greeting and then ran it through his hair, biting his bottom lip.

"Hey. I uh- I didn't want to sneak up on you."

Haley smiled to herself. 

"Thanks for that. Did you enjoy the show the other night?"

Michael shrugged.  

"It was okay. Lots of crazy guys spilling drinks on innocent girls, though."