1983 c.h. (au)

5: i like shitty music

Charlie had her earbuds shoved deep into her canals and the volume turned up loudly listening to Two Door Cinema Club and sorted through all the albums that were scattered over the music store. Usually this was Ashton's job but he wasn't here today.

She didn't mind though. No one ever came into the music store except someone who was desperate to buy a really old record player. She set aside a large amount of artists. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Phoenix. The Fray. OneRepublic. Imagine Dragons. Adele. She had gravitated toward that kind of music. She had her own little dance party as she listened to the Tourist History album by herself. She didn't hear the little bell above the door chime announcing that someone had walked in.

Charlie kept sorting the albums by artist and had stopped dancing finally composing herself. She took the earbuds out of her ears and played a different song out loud still sorting.

Calum had just leaned against a shelf watching her ponytail swish back and forth as she walked in time with the beat. He enjoyed watching her. He hasn't really paid attention to her up until a few months ago before they knew each other the way they do now. Maybe that did count as stalkerish. He scoffed as she hummed lightly to one of the most unpopular songs on the earth.

He shook his head lightly and walked behind Charlie resting his hand on her waist making her flinch at his contact. "Did I scare you?"

"No. I just wasnt expecting it." Her heart thumped around in her chest at his touch. She bit back a smile and her cheeks flamed.

"Well I'll tell you what scares me. Its your music taste. It's really shitty." Calum walked in front of her dissing her huge pile that she would take home herself.

"I know." She looked down at her shoulder and then back up to his eyes. Calum looked down at her again with such adoration in his eyes. He looked at her the way any girl wants to be looked at. Not in hunger or lust. But in love. And it was that moment the Calum Hood confessed to himself that he likes her. And it's keeping her around for a very long time.

"If you know than why do you listen to it?"

"I like shitty music." She laughed lightly. "If you don't, then change it."

"Okay. Give me a pair of beats your lessons are today."

"Wait a second we're doing this now?" Calum pulled Charlie by the hand towards where apparently good music is. "I can't right now. My shift isn't over until..." She checked the time on. her phone that read 5:12. She got off at 6.

"Well then you're taking a small break. Until you clock out." Calum pushed her down into a chair and paced around it much like a detective. "Ever hear of The Neighbourhood? Of course you have. Everyone's heard Sweater Weather. That song was on their I'm Sorry... EP in 2012 and then later on the I Love You. album in 2013. Number one in the US for like 5 weeks straight. Anyway now they have a really awesome song called #icanteven. listen to it. It will be the best thing you could ever do."

Charlie felt as if she should be taking notes on him babble on about Arctic Monkeys and The 1975. "My personal favourite on the self titled album from The 1975 is Sex. It's just a good song like Heart Out. Anyway we are looking for all of those albums and you have to listen to them tonight otherwise we won't be able to have our discussion on what the lyrics mean in SW." Calum shortened the song giving it a nickname.

Charlie paid close attention to his lecture as if he was a teacher. "You take this way too seriously. It's just music."

"The type of music you listen to ranks you in high school believe it or not. I have come to the observation that 99.9% of the students in our school are hoodlums. Ironic right?" Charlie nodded letting him continue. "Good. Your homework tonight is to do research on The NBHD. Then you have to screenshot what you read to prove that you studied. That is all." Calum stopped waking around the chair that she sat in as smiled at her adoringly.

Looks like Charlie wasn't allowed to like shitty music anymore.