Pain // Calum Hood

Chapter 1

Stella's POV

3:45 P.M

Saturday

5th of November

I always loved the sound of rain hitting my window. The cold droplets hitting my window and then they move into smaller drops that fall onto my plants. I've never noticed it till now. Lately, I've been noticing all the small things ever since she left. I noticed my dad trying his best to avoid me every time we are in the same room. He would take a glimpse and then quickly move his eyes back to his beer.

We used to be like peas in a pot, never away from each other. That was until she left him for another man. He was in love with her, but she was in love with someone else. Ever since she left, he would go down the street and drink his life away. One night, he came into my room and told me he hates me. It's not his fault he hates me, I look just like her. I'm a daily reminder of what he lost. I always wanted what my parents had but not anymore.

I close my journal and put my pen down gently. My dog, Max, walks towards me to lay on my lap. He lays there trying to comfort me as I cry. My sobs sound out the sound of my dad yelling outside my room. "I need to get out," I hug Max tightly as tears stream down my face. I wipe my tears away and grab my gray sweater from my closet. I grab my journal and pen as I walk towards the window.

I open my window and climb out, looking back at Max and smiling slightly to let him know I'll be okay before closing the window. Most days I can take the yelling from my dad, but not today. I just need to clear my head and get some fresh air. Thankfully, the rain stops and I can walk to the local coffee shop without getting drenched.

I enter the shop and look over to my usual seat near the window. Its taken by a man. He looks about 6 feet and has blonde streaks in his hair. He sits there looking at his phone, taking a few sips of his drink. I stare at him till he notices me. He'll probably leave soon so I can get my coffee while I wait. Ten minutes pass and he still hasn't left my seat. I look down at my coffee and then take a glimpse of him. My drink is starting to get cold and I've lost my seat. Great.

I decide to sit at a small table with two seats near the fireplace. The coffee shop barely has anyone in here, only about 5 people. People usually don't like going out when the weather is bad. They enjoy sitting at home all cozy and watching a movie. I do too, well, I used to tell at least. I look back over at my seat and notice the man is no longer there. I turn away from the seat and see the man sitting right in front of me.

"You kept on staring at me so I decided to come over and say hi since you weren't going to. My name is Calum, nice to meet you," he smiles and pulls his hand out for me to shake. I shake it with a weak grip and drop his hand. "I-Uh.. My name is Stella. Nice to -um- meet you. I like the accent," I nervously take a sip of my coffee to calm myself down. "Thank you. I just moved here recently, so I barely know the place. Was I sitting in your spot or something?" he leans towards me and smiles.

"Yeah, there is only one seat at that table so I sit there. Having only one seat at a table means I don't want to be bothered. If I did I would be sitting at a table with two seats. As you can see, you have proven my point," my hands begin to get sweaty so I move them along my jeans to dry them.

"The amount of seats at a table didn't lead me to come-on over here. You kept staring at me every two minutes. That's what lead me here," We sit in silence for a while. It's fine with me though. I enjoy silence more, but you can tell he didn't. He clears his throat before speaking. "So how old are you?" "I'm 17 and you?" "18"

Again, we sit in silence. I finish my drink and stand up. Without saying goodbye, I leave the coffee shop. I walk past the bar my dad always goes to and see him drinking away. Finally, I can be  alone for a bit. The rain begins to fall lightly as I walk to my house. "Stella! Wait!" I turn around seeing Calum running towards me. He slows down as he gets closer to me. "You forgot your journal, " he says, gasping for air.

He puts his hands on his knees and tries to catch his breath again before giving me my journal. "Give me a minute I just ran in the freezing rain for you. The least you could do is let me catch my breath," he breathes heavily. "Its just light rain," I stand impatiently as he finally stands up straight. Our hands touch as he hands me the journal.

"I'm actually glad you left this behind. I wanted to see you again," he puts his hand in his black skinny jean pockets. I notice my dad drunkenly walking around. I grab onto his arm and cover myself with his body. "My house is right by the corner, let's go there before my dad sees me," I link my arm with his as we walk towards my house.

I struggle to pull my window up, but I managed to open it. Max comes jumping with excitement till he sees Calum. He begins to growl loudly at him. I climb back into my room, then help Calum. I've never had anyone in my room before, let alone a boy. Max continues to growl at Calum till he kneels down and pets him. I drop my journal on my table then sit down by Max.

"So what's his name?" he walks around my room. "His name is Maxie but I call him Max," I play with my hands. "The atmosphere in this room is really nice. I love all these pictures hanging around your room," he stops every few seconds looking at my pictures. "Thanks. I took them myself actually. It takes my mind off things," I cross my arms, trying to warm myself up. Calum notices that I'm shaking; he takes off his black denim jacket. He gently wraps it around my body, then goes back to looking at the pictures on my walls, concentrating on each one.

"Isn't it funny how you grow up thinking that the world is at peace and everyone is happy, but as you grow up you start noticing the world is actually a shitty place," I quietly whispered as if there was no one here but me. "The world is a shitty place. Although, you've done a pretty damn good job capturing what's beautiful in this world. Well, there is something missing from this collection," he pauses. "And what's that?" I question.

"You."

So I decided to restart Pain because I didn't like where it was going. I hope you all love this idk if this is good or not. I'm sorta just going with it for now. Let me know what you think and thanks for reading! :)