Guitar Strings & Hair Dye [A Michael Clifford Fic]

Collision

Cruising the sidewalks on my Penny Board in Ventura is one of the most relaxing feelings in the world, to me. Today I'm cruising the town, taking photos of beautiful things. You see, photography is my passion, it's what I want to do with my life. Since I moved here, 4 months ago, I've been too busy to dedicate an entire day to my photography. That is, until today.

Laying my board down at my feet on the sidewalk outside of my apartment, I step on then push off and I'm on my way. To where, I'm not sure yet, I'm just going to go where these streets lead me. I place an earbud in and hear the lovely voice of Alex Gaskarth resonating through my head. All Time Low's Lost In Stereo is playing, Alex sings out, "Tattoos and a switchblade attitude. Snakebite heart and a bubblegum smile," and it makes me happy. I'm absolutely lost in the music and the sidewalk around me is mostly empty, so i've let the world fade away. It's just me, my board, the music, and the wind that is lightly caressing my face. I feel at peace with the way that my camera is bouncing off of my stomach lightly every time my wheels hit a crack or a pit in the cement. The air smells of salt from the water. The scent is just strong enough that I can taste the salt in the back of my throat. It's comforting. As I am taking in the warmth of the peace that I am feeling, it ends, just as quickly as it began.

I suddenly find myself on the ground, sprawled out at the feet of the boy I've just crashed into. "Oh my god, I am so sorry," I say, looking up at him. As soon as my eyes meet his, I freeze. He's Michael Clifford, at least I'm pretty sure he is. He extends one, long arm to help me up and is holding my Penny Board under the other. I take his hand and he helps to pull me off of the ground, then tilts his head at me as if expecting something. I just look back at him, not knowing what to do. He smirks a little and says something but it is muffled beneath my music. In the chaos of the moment, I forgot to take out my earbuds and didn't think anything of the music still playing in my ear. I pull them out and make a small gesture towards them. "Sorry, what did you say?" I smile apologetically. "Oh. I said I like your hair," he smiles, pointing to my pink sailor knots. "Thanks," I return his smile and look down at my feet. I see my camera laying there on the ground. "No!" I lean down to pick it up and begin inspecting it.

"Oooh, nice camera. Is it okay?"

I finish looking it over, "Yeah, the lens cap is busted but there's no major damage. Simply cosmetic."

He looks kind of relieved. "That's good. I'd hate to see a camera like that busted. It looks expensive." I nod and point down at my board, "I'll take that.. sorry." He looks down at it then looks back at me and hands it to me. "Oh! I completely forgot." I shake my head a little. He looks somewhat shocked. "Are you okay? You- You're uh-" He mutters, pointing at my forehead. I rub my hand across my head and wince. Pulling away I can see that there's some blood. "Ouch. I must have hit it when I crashed-- into you. I'm really sorry about that, you know. I kind of zoned out and got lost in the music and I wasn't paying attention when I should have been and-" I cut myself off and an awkward blush creeps across my face. "Sorry, I'm rambling."

I'm acting like an idiot. I'm trying really hard to ignore the fact that I now know that he is, in fact, Michael Clifford (the accent was a dead giveaway) because I don't want to freak out. I know he gets it all the time and I really don't want to be that girl right now. He lets out a small laugh and it's all I can do to not melt on the spot. "It wasn't your fault, I wasn't looking. But, I guess you weren't either. It was both our faults, yeah?" I smile and nod my head as casually as possible. I take in a deep breath and hold it in for a few seconds and release it in a big, loud huff. I can't handle this any longer. "So, uh, I'm out here to take photos of beautiful things, and I was wondering if I could, maybe, you know, take one of... you," I trail off at the end of the sentence, letting my voice get quiet in fear of sounding stupid, rather than the casual tone that I was hoping for. He tilts his head to one side and looks amused, the look reminds me of a small puppy and my heart leaps.

"You want to take a picture of me and you think I'm beautiful?" He looks even more amused when I answer simply with 'yes'. "Alright, you can take a picture of me," he says and I'm sensing there's more to his agreement, "as long as I can take one of you," He adds with a sideways grin and a wink. Jeez.

"Why do you want to take a photo of me?" I am genuinely confused by this.

"Well, you're taking photos of beautiful things, right? It wouldn't be right if your beauty went uncaptured." He smiles again, this time with a slight blush betraying his light complexion. What is happening? He doesn't even know my name!
"Chelsie," I blurt out. "What?" He looks absolutely puzzled. I smile, knowing that I've caught him off guard. "My name, it's Chelsie. We didn't have a proper introduction before I smashed into you." I say. He thinks for a moment and then nods, extending his hand toward me. "Oh, you're right. Well Chelsie, I'm Michael. And I'd like to say, I'm kind of glad you did smash into me. Otherwise, I might not have gotten the chance to ever talk to you."

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A/N: Hey, there! Sorry if this is as awful as I think it is. I promise it will get better! I have so many ideas for this fic & I can't wait to bring them to life! So, please, bear with me!!
--Chels

(P.s. Yes, the main character is named after me. I know it's dumb, but it's what is easiest for me. I'm sorry!!!)