January 18
Calum woke up with a massive headache and no motivation to get out of bed.
"Calum?" His mother called from across the hall, and he heard her footsteps coming closer.
Calum quickly shut his eyes and pretended that he was asleep. The last thing he wanted to happen was for his mum to find out he had drank alcohol last night, made out with a girl she hadn't met, and didn't even know how he got home.
"Calum, I know you're awake. I know this sounds creepy, but I know the way you sleep, I've watched you for my entire life, stop pretending."
Calum groaned internally, and his eyes opened.
"Why are your grades going down? What's going on? This is absolutely atrocious. The only A+ you have is in Creative Writing. Every other class is an A- or a B. A B? You know I don't allow B's." His mum tried to keep her temper down, but it wasn't exactly working.
Oh, she doesn't even know half of it.
Calum hated this, oh dear Lord, did he hate it. It was early in the morning, he had a headache from drinking last night, Winnie kissed him and he practically fainted, and he was surprised he was alive in his bed today.
"Don't worry about it, mum, the teachers are grading stricter later in the year, and I just need to try harder, push myself more, I'll be fine." He said. His grades have never dropped before, and that's why his mother was in hysterics.
His mother huffed, crossing her arms, report card in hand. "You're in university, Calum. Sophomore year. I shouldn't have to worry about you anymore. Unfortunately, this proves wrong."
"I said, I'll take care of it. It's not like a B will kill my chances of getting a future."
"It may not, but it may kill your chances of getting a great future." She stomped out of his room and he heard her go downstairs.
Calum rubbed his head, as his headache was starting to cease.
He looked over at his phone. He had a text from Winnie, Luke, Michael, and Ashton, and a call from Ella.
winnie the pooh: we should do that again sometime
calum: it was fun, you were right, i should've missed class
--
penguin: hey how are you feeling
calum: fine
--
michael: hey bro, sorry we haven't hung out in so long. wanna today? just us three like the good ol' days?
calum: tomorrow?
michael: sounds good
--
ash: hey! i heard winnie kissed you last night! i got to cuddle ella and we kissed as well. thx for helping bro
calum: no problem
--
Calum set his phone down and sighed. This was all so crazy. Everything that had happened in just this month flashed before his eyes.
Luke and Michael bringing Ashton over to his party...
Luke and Michael ditching Calum to be with Ashton 24/7...
Calum meeting Ella at the bench...
Meeting Winnie in his creative writing class...
Ella's ski party...
Kissing Winnie...
Luke and Michael trying to get Calum back...
It was all a disaster, honestly. Calum didn't even like kissing Winnie. He should've, it's all he's been waiting for this year. But he didn't, and he didn't know why.
Calum blamed it on how drunk he was, and how Calum's mind was more so on whether or not his mum would find out he was drinking, or not.
Calum called Ella back.
Ella picked up on the first ring.
"Calum! I heard you kissed Winnie last night! How was it?"
"That's actually exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."
"In person?"
"In person."
"You wanna come over, or do you want me to come over?"
His mother would freak if Ella showed up.
"I'll come over."
*
Ella's house smelled like vanilla cookies and jolly snowmen, it was an easy place to get really comfortable in.
The two of them sat down on her couch, and Ella handed Calum a cup of hot chocolate.
Calum thanked her, and they began talking about what happened last night.
"Basically, she got me all drunk, and then we made out. The scariest part is, I don't even know how I got home."
"You don't?"
Calum shakes his head.
"Well, what was the problem, other than that? Did your mom find out?"
Calum shakes his head. "No, but my grades are dropping." He paused. "No, sorry, that's not the point. The point is, I didn't even enjoy kissing her. There wasn't any spark. In fact, I don't even know if I want to talk and see her again. But I don't want to disappoint her. Isn't this what I've been chasing after?"
Ella shrugged. "Hey, maybe sometimes the chase ends up being better than the end result. I can't blame you for that."
"I'm just so confused. I can't believe after all this chasing, all this planning, and all this longing, it finally happened. And I didn't feel anything special. Was I supposed to?"
"If you truly liked her, then yes. You should've. But it's okay Calum. Many people set their eyes on someone when they're not meant for them. They realize that that person isn't who they really want to be with. It takes some experimenting. No scientist can always figure out an answer without doing multiple trials. They know they have some ideas that definitely won't work, and some that will. But hey, science is surprising. Who knows, maybe something they have ruled out ends up being the answer."
Calum nods, taking her words in carefully. "Well, how was it last night for you?"
She gave him a sad smile. "I don't think I felt anything either. Ashton's a nice guy with nice features, but I just don't think it'll be working out. Zero spark. It was just lip on lip, not heart on heart."
"That's a nice way to put it. Do you need to do some more experimenting?" Calum wondered, looking at her.
Calum hadn't realized how gorgeous Ella was, with her brown hair flowing out from underneath her white beanie. However, today, she wasn't wearing a beanie, and her hair was in curls. It was still really pretty. Calum realized, maybe, he had a bit of an infatuation with Winnie?
"I do need to do some more experimenting." She whispers.
Calum set his mug of hot chocolate down on the table, and leans in, connecting his lips with hers.
She tasted like hot chocolate.
And this feeling wasn't just lip on lip.
It was heart on heart.
**
cute
please vote, comment, share!
ps. are you an appendix?
cause i've got a weird feeling in my stomach making me feel like i should take you out
who thought of ashton irwin tbh
bye x
