"Alright," you said, handing the boy in front of you his change, "And your name?"
"Will Smith," he smiled, hurrying away before you could respond. You rolled your eyes and wrote his name on the cup, beginning to make his drink.
When you were finished, you rolled your eyes again, knowing you would have to call his 'name' out loud. You let out a sigh before projecting your voice toward the direction the blue-haired boy ran off to.
"Will Smith!" you called out. He came trotting around the corner with the biggest smirk on his face, but it quickly faltered when you handed him the cup.
"This isn't my cup," he said, looking back up at you.
"Yes, it is," you nodded, "I wrote Michael, but it's pronounced Will Smith, trust me." You saw a smile start pulling at the corner of his mouth, but he was obviously trying to keep it from showing. You leaned onto the counter, motioning for him to do the same. "Little word of advice," you whispered, your faces inches away from each other, "If you want to convince the barista that your name is actually Will Smith, make sure that one of your friends didn't come in two hours earlier and try the same thing."
He chuckled quietly, nodding his head, "It was Calum, wasn't it?"
"It was," you grinned, moving back, "Oh, and if Luke or Ashton want a clear shot at it, I suggest coming in on weekends between 2 and 8. Anna – she's got bright blonde hair and always wears it in a messy bun – is new to town and doesn't really know anyone yet, so you'll probably have a better shot with her for at least two months."
"Thank you," he smiled, "When do you work?"
"10 to 6 on weekdays," you answered.
"Great. I'll see you tomorrow then," he bit his lip, turning around and walking out the door.
"Absolutely not!" you heard someone shout from across the coffee shop.
Your head snapped over to see your best friend heading straight for the counter. She stopped abruptly in front of you, slamming her palms down and making you take a step back.
"Addison? How long have you been here?" you asked seeing as you never saw her come in.
"Long enough!" Her voice was drastically lower as she reached over the counter and pushed your shoulder. "What were you doing flirting with Michael Clifford?!"
"What? Does he have a girlfriend now?"
"No, but-"
"Then I don't see the harm in flirting with him."
"But with Michael Clifford, Y/N?! Really?!"
"Yes, Addie, with Michael Clifford."
"You know his rep, Y/N! He's a total jerk and hasn't ever kept the same girl around for more than a week! He's like the Taylor Swift of this town!"
"First of all, the amount of people you date does not determine your worth," you started, wiping the counter, "Secondly, I never said I was going to hook up with the guy; I was just flirting. Third, I am well aware of his reputation. We had at least one class together every semester of senior year. Fourth, he's kinda cute. Why not have a little fun?"
"Don't be fooled by his good looks, Y/N!" She was practically begging at this point. It was starting to get sad. "He's like that one piece of chocolate in the chocolate box that you thought was caramel, but was really coconut. He may look cute and sweet and innocent on the outside, but on the inside, he's a disaster and makes you wonder what type of person could hate the world so much that they had to spawn another person just to make it a shittier place."
"I know he's not the nicest person around here, but that's a little harsh, Addison," you said, raising your eyebrows at her, "Besides, you've never even spoken to him. How do you know everything everyone says about him is actually true?"
"How do you know it isn't?"
"I don't judge a book by its reviews, Ad," you shrugged.
"Well, that book is gonna get into your head and take up every waking thought and you're gonna be too far in by the time you realize it." You rolled your eyes.
"Goodbye, Addison," you waved her off, getting back to your job.
~
The next morning, when you arrived at work, Michael was already there, leaning against the brick wall beside the door. You were usually the one who opened and closed the shop, but you were surprised to see he had actually meant he would see you at opening.
"Michael?" you said, walking up to where he was standing at the door, "I know you said you'd see me tomorrow, but this is a little desperate, don't you think?" He smiled upon hearing the obvious teasing tone in your voice.
"Pretty girls make me do desperate things," he smirked. You rolled your eyes as you unlocked the door, Michael following you inside.
"So why might I have the pleasure of taking your interest all of a sudden?" you asked, grabbing your apron off of its hook and turning back to where Michael was now sat at the counter as you put it on.
"Haven't seen you around," he shrugged, "And I think I would remember seeing someone as beautiful as you." You sighed quietly, making him tilt his head.
"Senior year, first semester, second period History," you stated, grabbing a towel and walking out from behind the counter so you could wipe off the tables. Michael followed close behind.
"Sorry?" he asked.
"You sat in the back and I sat in the front, but there's no way you've never seen me," you told him, "You weren't exactly quiet about the remarks you made every time I walked into the room."
"Wait..." His voice was dangerously quiet. "That was you?"
"It was," you nodded, "But I don't blame you for forgetting. It's a lot easier to forget about it when you're not the one that was being made fun of every day."
"Y/N, I didn't-"
"If this is some sort of trick into getting me to fall for you just so you can parade around saying you've officially slept with every girl in the city, it's not going to work," you looked at him, your tone threatening him, "I may be a lot better looking than I was back in high school, but I'm not as clueless. And you may have been the guy that could get any girl he wanted at the drop of a hat, but it's not going to work on me."
"Y/N-"
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do."
You rushed back behind the counter and went to the back. You really did have to go get more napkins and stirring sticks to refill at the tables, but you mostly just wanted to get away from Michael. You peeked around the corner after coming out, relieved to see that he had left. You sighed, walking back out into the empty building, beginning your regular duties before customers started arriving.
~
"I heard what happened this morning," Addison said, sitting at the counter in front of you.
"How did you hear that?" you asked, beyond confused.
"Calum's sister is one of my friends, remember?"
"Oh, yeah," you mumbled.
"Anyway," she continued, mindlessly stirring her coffee, "Mali told me that Michael went over to her place to vent to Calum about it and she overheard him saying that he really wanted to make up for all the shitty things he did to you during school but he doesn't know how." You laughed bitterly under your breath. "To be quite honest, I think he's just trying to play you until he gets what he wants." You nodded in agreement, but didn't respond. Instead, you looked past Addison and noticed someone walking through the door.
"You've got to be kidding me," you mumbled, a distressed expression replacing your unamused one. Addison looked behind her and saw Michael's friend Luke trotting in.
"At least he's better than Michael," she whispered, turning back around.
"Hi, Y/N," Luke said shyly, sitting on the chair beside Addison.
"Hey, Luke," you put on your best smile, "The usual?" He nodded and you got to work making his drink as he pulled out his wallet.
When you were done, you handed him his cup and he gave you some money. As you were dropping the change into his hand, he spoke up.
"So, I was wondering-" You cut him off.
"If the next thing to leave your mouth is about Michael, you might as well just save your breath, Luke." He started messing with his lip ring.
"But you didn't even know what I was gonna say about him..."
"I don't need to," you said, "Actually, scratch that; I don't want to."
"But he really is sorry."
"That doesn't take back all the things he's said about me, Luke," you muttered, "Is it really a coincidence that all throughout senior year, he would make fun of me whenever he saw me and now that I'm hot, he's suddenly sorry about it?"
"Um..." he trailed off, obviously uncomfortable.
"Listen," you leaned on the counter, "You can tell Michael that if he's really that sorry, he can grow a pair and apologize to me himself. Until then, I don't want to hear about it." Luke sighed and nodded, giving you a soft goodbye before picking up his coffee and walking out of the shop.
"I'm so proud of you for finally standing up for yourself like that," Addison beamed. You rolled your eyes and laughed lightly.
"I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to do it," you told her.
~
A couple weeks had passed and you hadn't seen or heard from Michael or his friends. You expected it though; Michael would never apologize even if he knew something was his fault and you were done hoping there was a side of him that would. Addison was right.
He was a self-centered, egotistical douchebag who never thought of anyone but himself and you absolutely hated yourself for ever having a crush on him. That crush virtually disappeared the first day of senior year, of course, but you knew there would always be a part of you that wished he would change so the feelings you couldn't seem to shake off were a little more justified.
You were cleaning the shop one night after closing when you were startled by the door opening. It wasn't until you spun around and were face-to-face with Michael Clifford that you remembered you hadn't locked the doors yet.
"We're closed," you said through gritted teeth, going back to wiping the tables.
"It was unlocked," he stated quietly.
"I realize it was unlocked. Do you think we'd be having this conversation right now if it wasn't unlocked?" you replied, your voice laced with sarcasm.
"Y/N, can you please just let me talk for two minutes without the bitchy attitude?" You threw the towel onto the table, spinning back around.
"Do you honestly think referring to my attitude as bitchy is going to get me to listen to you?!" you nearly shouted, "I have an entire school year's worth of bitchy attitude to give to you before I even consider letting you talk!"
"I'm just trying to apologize, Y/N!" he raised his voice as well, "And I'm not doing it because you're hot now or whatever, I'm doing it because I am genuinely sorry! I'm sorry for all those things I said about and to you and I regret not even trying to get to know you and if I could take it all back, I would! But I swear I'm not the same person I was when we were in high school. I understand that I've ruined any chance I could have had of being with you, but I need you to know that I'm sorry, okay? I'm not asking for a date or anything, I'm just asking you to forgive me." His voice shook a little and he let out a breath. "Please." You stared him down for a moment before nodding.
"I forgive you, Michael."
~
that will smith part that had nothing to do with anything but it was funny and i wrote it in anyway: http://starsofmyshow.tumblr.com/post/115381829070/how-many-times-do-you-think-5sos-has-gone-to