Cliché to Original

Chapter 1

To be or not to be excited, that is the question. Madi and I had finally gotten ridden of any remaining jet lag from being in Australia, and had plans for the day. I mean, I'm always excited to hang out with my best friend, but the thought of her bringing up my cliché run in with Michael was very undesirable. I did want to get out of the house though... I got dressed in a gray T-shirt and light blue skinny jeans, and put my hair in a messy ponytail. I drove to Starbucks and was immediately waved over by Madi.

"I already got you a drink."

"Oh, thanks." I took a sip, and watched her smile at me. "Okay, just spit it out."

"What do you mean?"

"I know you want to say something about Michael and the airport, so let's just get it over with."

"Okay, so I was doing some research, and I was talking to some friends and you'll never guess what I found out."

"What?"

She pulled her phone out and gave it to me. "He's famous! I can't believe we had never heard of him before!"

I looked at the article and numerous pictures on his phone, then handed it back. "Okay, so I met someone famous."

"No, a famous person fell in love with you!"

"What?"

"Look!"

She pointed to one of the articles. I skimmed it and looked at her. "This doesn't say anything about him falling in love with me."

"But it asks him if there's been any girls lately!"

"So?"

"Quit playing! I know you read the part where he talks about you."

"He was just saying that he ran into me in an airport, that's it."

"Then why would he bring it up when the interviewer is asking him about his love life?"

Shit, she's right. "Maybe he ran into another girl and is talking about her. I mean, he didn't leave a name."

She sighed. "I guess that's true."

Finally. "So can we just forget about it and move on?"

"Sure."

"Great."

I could tell she wasn't thrilled with the idea of letting my own cliché disappear, especially since she's been praying that something like this would happen to me. It's not that clichés are terrible, well they kind of are, it's just that I'd rather find someone in a unique way and not in a way that's been said a million times. Though I admire the way Madi finds them completely sweet and romantic, and I hope that her favorite cliché does happen to her. Me? I'd rather stay as far away as possible from them.

After a day spent walking around LA, I headed home. Madi decided to come with me, which I didn't mind. I'd rather hang out with my friend than my older sister. Unfortunately, there's literally no way to avoid her. She's like a Mosquito.

"Hey, did you have fun?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah, we did."

"Didn't get anything, I see."

"Uh, because I'm broke and have no money."

"Well, maybe if you got a job..."

I rolled my eyes. "Says the one who's twenty something and still lives with her parents."

"Shut up."

I could hear Madi quietly laughing behind me. "I'm just saying."

She was mad now. I could tell because she walked away after giving me one of her best 'I'm still better than you' looks. The one that really makes me want to punch her in the face. I just shook my head and ushered Madi up to my room.

"Your sister is insane."

"And bitter."

"Definitely bitter."

I flipped the tv on and handed her the remote. "Find something, I'm just gonna go change real quick."

She nodded and stretched out on my bed. I laughed at how fast she gets comfortable in my house now. I changed into shorts and a t-shirt and headed back to my room. I walked in and saw Madi with wide eyes.

"Uh, you might want to see this."

"Why?"

"Just sit here, and listen."

I rolled my eyes, and sat down. My own eyes widened when I realized Michael was on the tv. "What-"

"Shh, listen."

I sighed and turned the volume up.

"You've been talking about a girl in all your interviews lately, right Michael?" the interviewer asked.

Shit. Just what I need.

"Um, yeah."

"Care to tell us a little more?"

"Well, I've been talking about her a lot because I want to find her."

"Oh my god! He really wants to find you!" Madi shrieked, hitting my arm.

"Calm down. He's probably not even talking about me."

"Her name's Rachel," Michael continued.

Madi gasped and hit me again.

"Jesus, can you stop? There are plenty of Rachels in the world."

"She's got brown hair, and blue eyes. She lives out in California-"

"How the hell does he know where I live?"

"Oh, I didn't know you knew where she lived," a brown haired boy said.

"That's Ashton," Madi clarified. "Isn't he attractive?"

"Uh, yeah." I laughed as I watched her stare intently at him. Someone's got a crush.

"I may have looked at a directory to see what flight she was getting on," he said. His cheeks were red, obviously embarrassed about basically stalking me. "Look, I just really, really want to find this girl, so if anybody knows her, or might now her, please contact me."

"I told you there was something there!"

"Maybe he just-"

"There's literally no excuse that can logically make sense. He wants to find you, because he loves you. It was love at first sight," she smiled and crossed her arms.

"No it wasn't."

"Yes it was."

"No."

"Why would he be talking about you at every interview or pleading people to find you?"

"Maybe I dropped something..."

"The only thing you dropped was your IQ if you think he isn't into you."

My jaw dropped.

She bit her lip to keep from laughing, then took a deep breath. "And your phone, but you obviously have that." She glanced down at my hand containing my phone.

I bit my lip and shook my head.

"I'm tweeting him."

"No you're not!"

"Why not?"

"He's not going I fly all the way out to California, and I wouldn't want him to. It'd just be a waste of time. Promise me you won't try to get in touch with him?"

She sighed. "Fine, I won't."

"You promise?"

"Yes, I promise," she said, smiling and laughing.

"I'm just gonna pretend that you're being honest because I really can't tell."

She nodded and laughed, then slowly leaned back. I ignored the way she was looking at her phone and hoped for the best. I'm so gonna kill her if she actually manages to get in touch with him.