out of my league

chapter three - movies

"Wait a second," Tubbo says. "This is your house?" He looks around at my driveway and rubs his eyes.
"Umm... yes?" I say, perplexed. He walked me home after giving me a tour of the area ( which was lovely, by the way ), and now he's standing in my driveway gawking.
He shakes his head. "We're neighbors, Callie. I live in the house right across the street..."
"Oh, that's cool," I say awkwardly, inching towards my doorway. "Maybe we'll see each other around more then?"
He smiles at me, and then runs to his house.
My front door opens, and I spin around to see my mother standing in the doorway.
"Who was that kid?" She asks with a weird smile on her face.
I blush. "It's not like that, Mom. He's my partner for a film project and just so happens to be one of our neighbors."
Her smile stretches into a more genuine one. "Well, that's good. I'm glad you're making friends. Now come inside before you catch a cold - the electrician actually came today so the house is nice and toasty!"
-
September 6, 2019
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"So, when did you move here?" Tubbo asks, sipping his drink.
"Oh! Umm... about a week ago? I've kind of lost track of time." I admit. We're sitting at his kitchen table, and paper is scatttered everywhere. We're trying to plan our film project, so we have to draw every single specific scene. It's a lot of work but it's actually it's more fun? I definitely like education in the UK way more than in the US. In America, all they do is dump a bunch of boring work on you and shatter your mental health. 

I would know.

"Hey, I just realized, I forgot to show you the pier yesterday. It could be a really cool place to film from!"
I smile. "That would be great. These Brighton waters can be really stormy, so it would be nice to film the violent waves crashing against the happy pier."
Tubbo laughs. "Callie, that was deep. But I love the idea-"
          Suddenly, a woman walks in. "Tubbo, who the hell is this?" She says in a sharp tone.
"Oh... this is Callie, my partner for the film project. I told her she could come over so we could plan-"
"I don't care," she cuts him off. "I have already discussed this with you. I do NOT want any whores in my house. She needs to leave right now."

I gulp and start gathering up the papers.
"Mum-" Tubbo starts to say.
"GET OUT!" She yells, and slams down on the table. I quickly grab my bag and make a beeline for the door. I don't want to leave him alone with that crazy woman, but I get the sense that I am not at all welcome.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow in class?" Tubbo calls out after me. I look back and give him a thin smile.
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September 7, 2019
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The next day in class, Tubbo nudges me with his elbow. I look over.
"Callie, I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday. My mum is kind of overprotective."
         I smile at him. "Don't worry about it. I totally understand. We can work at my house today, if that's okay with you?"
"Yeah, that would work."

"Thank you," he adds, poking me back. I laugh and poke him back.
          After class, Tubbo and I slowly wander over to the bus stop, talking about our project. He's actually very nice to be around; he's always super kind and listens to what I say. It's a refreshing thing, because at my old school, I was constantly ignored by my 'friends'. I'm actually so glad I moved to the UK.
       When we get back to my house, I grab two bags of chips ( crisps? I'm still working on this whole 'England' thing. ) We immediately pick up where we left off yesterday, and it's quite a productive session. I'm starting to get a really good feeling about this project.
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October 22, 2019
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About a month passes by, and in that time, Toubbo and I get a lot of great work done on the project. We already filmed all of the scenes , and now we're just putting the final touches on the editing. Tubbo seems to know a lot about editing, but I don't question it. Maybe it's just a UK thing.
          "We only have a few weeks left to finish this," Tubbo says to me as we walk to the bus stop. I laugh, shoving my hands into my pockets. The UK is quite chilly in late October, and I'm wrapped up in an abundance of fuzzy sweaters, scarves, and leggings. I forgot to grab a beanie this morning, so my hair is constantly flying in my face due to the wind.
"Tubbo, relax. We're almost done. Earlier in class, Julia told me that she hadn't even started filming yet. Trust me, we're okay.."
He smiles at me. "Hey, Cal, you've got a little something in your face..." he brings his hand up to my face and brushes the hair aside. I blush. "Hey, you do too?" I also brush the hair out of his face. He looks at me for a few seconds and I internally kick myself. Of course I had to make this situation awkward. Suddenly, my phone starts ringing, and I'm honestly relieved that it saved me. Thank you, phone! I look at the caller ID and see that it's my mother. I step away from Toby and answer.
"Hello?" I say. She immediately goes off on a rant about her boss and how she has a bunch of meetings to attend today in London.
   "You're going to be home alone, is that okay? I know that you're 16 but I still worry about you sometimes. Do you maybe have a friend that wants to stay with you?"
"Actually mom, Tubbo was going to come over anyways to work on our film proje-"
"Perfect." She says abruptly, and hangs up. Oh.
Toby walks over to me, looking concerned. "Is everything okay?"
"Honestly, I have no idea what just happened. But hey... do you want to spend the night?"
-
          Tubbo and I work on our project for several hours, making sure every single scene transition is perfect. Mr. Greenstone made it clear that it was going to be really hard to get an A on this project, and we're motivated to be one of those few groups.
"Hey, do you want to take a break?" I ask him.
"We have popcorn in the pantry..."
"Yeah, we've done enough work for today. Do you want to watch a movie or something?" He says. I smile. "We can watch something Halloween themed. After all, it's October." He agrees, and soon we're sitting on the couch together. There's a small platform between seats on the couch, meant for beverages or something, and we both take different sides of it, which definitely makes things less awkward. After all, how close are you supposed to be to a boy on a couch? Tubbo is nice, but I don't think I have any romantic feelings for him. I don't deserve someone like him anyways. I absentmindedly pick out a random film on Netflix, hoping it's not too scary. I don't handle horror too well, and I don't want to embarrass myself in front of him.

Okay, that was definitely a mistake. Halfway through the movie, we're both shaking in fear. This film is wayyy scarier than we expected. Tubbo flinches as yet another jump scare occurs.
"Tubbo, I'm sorry, I didn't know it would be like this?" I say shakily.
"Oh... it's okay." He then proceeds to scream. "Oh. Hmm. Maybe not. Can I.... sit closer to you?"
I nod, and he climbs over the barrier and squishes in next to me. We stretch the blanket so it covers both of us.
"You're so fuzzy," he laughs. I don't know how to turn the heat on, so I'm still bundled up in all of my comfy fall gear.
          We weren't really paying attention to the movie, but suddenly, a really gory scene with lots of screaming starts up. Tubbo flinches harshly and buries his head in my shoulder. I blush, and then catch myself and try to keep a normal face.
I extend my arm out and pull him closer.
"Should I... pause the movie?" I ask quietly.
"Yes, please," he says, his voice muffled by my fluffy sweater.
"Hey, it's okay." I murmur, hugging me closer. I extend my arm out and pull him closer.

We could stay like this forever.

-
-

         Birds chirp loudly, and I slowly open my eyes. At first, I don't know where I am; and start panicking. Then, when I try to move, I realize that someone is laying next to me. All of the memories from last night come back to me, and I turn red. We must have fallen asleep here.
"Tubbo, wake up, we have school today." He laughs in his sleep and snuggles into me.
"Tubbo." I say, louder.
"I know, I heard you the first time." He mumbles. I don't want to go to schoolll.... I like laying here with you."
I blush once again, and start to stand up. As usual, blood starts rushing through my head and I lose vision. But this time, it lasts for much longer, and I find myself stumbling and falling back on to the couch. Tubbo catches me, and the looks down at me and laughs.
"Woah, you okay?" He asks. I blush again, and he notices. "Cal, you're so red. You look like a tomato."
I laugh. "Cal?"
He lets go of me and walks into the kitchen. "Yes." He calls out over his shoulder.

Okay. Maybe I do have feelings for him...
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November 15, 2019
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          "Okay, next up we have..." Mr. Greenstone mumbles, looking at his clipboard. "Callie and Toby's film.
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( a/n : I don't really know much about cinema so that's why I'm not putting in a lot of detail about it haha )
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I glance over at Tubbo, my chest tightening. I'm worried that everyone in our class will be super judgemental. After all, it is kind of a funky concept. We made a documentary about tourism and how the locals actually react to all of the Karens and other annoying stereotypical characters.
"Callie, it's okay. We did a good job." Tubbo smiles and squeezes my hand. A rush of butterflies shoots through my stomach, and I try to ignore it. Tubbo and I have been hanging out a lot more lately, and I really enjoy his company. I'm surprised that he wasn't sullen about the fact that he couldn't work with his friends for the project, but he didn't seem to care. We've watched more movies together ( not horror this time :] ) and it's become normal for us to cuddle up against each other. I want something more to happen but I'm afraid that Tubbo won't feel the same way.  He's way out of my league anyways. I flick my eyes at the ground and shuffle my feet around a bit. He still hasn't let go of my hand, and it's kind of awkward??? Because I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I'm not at all experienced at relationships and I suppose that is because I've only been in toxic ones. flick my eyes to the ground and shuffle my feet around.

    "Fantastic work!" Mr. Greenstone praises us. I smile. I hope we get a decent grade. I'm sort of happy that the project was over, because it was a lot of work, but at the same time... I don't know if Tubbo will even want to look my way again. He could have just been using me for the project. I hope he doesn't ignore me after all of this, because I really do like him?