The Fourth Mistake

one

Calum is - he's not even going to put it lightly, he's fucking failing his Statistics course. He is failing the one course he should have no problem with, just his luck. He's known this for long enough, he has, but did he do anything about it? Of course not. With exams coming up, he's pretty well screwed unless he seriously gets his act together.

"Luke?" He asks his roommate (a sunshine of a boy, really) with a nudge of the shoulder, smirk lopsided on his face. "You're smart, right?"

Luke is literally a poster child in every respect. Blond hair, blue eyes, good grades, doesn't party, doesn't drink, low maintenance, trustworthy; actually perfect all things considered. Not to mention he is unadulterated genius. Calum kind of hates him sometimes, for being the definition of flawless, but he also loves him to death. He wouldn't change a thing.

"My IQ is somewhere north of 140 so, yeah." Luke quips back sarcastically without looking away from his work, the paper on his desk more interesting than anything Calum is saying.

Calum hesitates before talking again. Luke has covered his ass more times than he can count (last minute notes, a lifetime of copies of hand outs, every test ever, and the Cindy Smith Incident; they don't talk about that one), and he's made it clear that he's not very pleased with being Calum's backup plan all the time.

"So, let's just say, metaphorically, I was failing Statistics." Calum starts, shrugging his shoulders for effect and biting his lip in faked innocence.

Luke cuts in with a sharp laugh before shaking his head. "So you're failing Statistics," He corrects matter-of-factly, not even sparing the dark haired boy a glance, as if his homework is still more important than Calum at this point (it is).

Calum sighs, rubbing his face with his hands. "Okay," He drags out the word, uncommitted. "Yeah, sort of. Not the point. Would you, possibly, be able to, oh I don't know, help me out? Maybe?" He tries carefully, tiptoeing around Luke with his words.

"Not a chance." Luke responds immediately, not giving his answer a single thought, his mind made up before Calum even spoke to begin with. Calum deflates at his answer.

"I'm failing." He repeats, this time desperately, hoping his change of tone will somehow convince Luke to help him. He walks over to Luke and bends forward so he can see his face from where he sits at his desk. He gives his most convincing pout. "I need help."

Luke sighs, God, he wants nothing more than for Calum to leave him alone so he can finish his work in peace. Is that too much to ask, he thinks. "Okay. Okay, fine. But you aren't getting it from me. I know someone who can tutor you."

Calum's face brightens instantly and he lunges toward Luke, trapping him in a suffocating hug. Luke nearly falls out of his chair at the momentum, but they steady themselves and he's left with Calum rubbing his face against his cheek. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Calum beams.

"Please. Stop. You are, argh, literally killing, me." Luke manages to say, even with Calum's full weight on top of him. Calum eventually falls off of him (not without multiple you're the bests and thank you dudes) and launches himself back onto his bed.

"I'll set you up with her, I guess." Luke decides (after catching his breath).

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When Calum meets Violet there's a lot of awkward glances from him and confident corrections from her as she helps him catch up on the course work he doesn't understand. She's his tutor, and he supposes she really fits that bill; smart, helpful, kind. He actually manages to get some work done - to both his and her surprise - and get on fairly well. Not to mention, he would say that she is very nice to look at.

Calum starts to think he's keeping good pace after an hour, that is, until he gets distracted; scribbling in the margins of his notes and drawing flowers on the corners of her notebook pages. Violet stops mid-sentence after she realizes he's not listening anymore, closing her textbook.

"I think that's enough for today, then." She says with a hint of laughter, not feeling offended that he had zoned out.

Calum snaps his gaze up from his doodles and up to her after she had finished speaking. "Wha-?" He starts, eyebrows beginning to knot in confusion before he processes her words. "Oh, right, okay."

Violet gives a slight nod and then packs her stuff into her bag. Calum does the same respectively, but he hadn't brought nearly as much as she did, and in hindsight, he realizes he came relatively unprepared. As he watches the girl beside him zip up her bag after placing everything in it carefully, her motions quiet and soft, he very suddenly becomes aware of how fond he is of her. It kind of hits him like a bus, really, because things like this aren't what he's used to.

"Um, hey," He begins without much direction to the sentence and a little shake in his voice. "I just wanted to let you know that I really, really appreciate this. Like, I was totally gonna fail that exam but now I feel better about it. I have no idea how to repay you, honestly."

Violet turns back to him, a shy glint in her eyes and Calum is already gone. "Well, you probably need another hour next week but, a coffee would definitely be payment enough." She hints subtly, blinking expectantly. Free coffee with a cute boy? Not bad, she thinks.

Calum can barely bite back the small smile that breaks onto his face. "How about tomorrow morning then?" He asks, eyes large and hopeful. All of a sudden he feels like he's in grade school again and he's talking to his crush, pink-cheek nervous and hands buried in pockets.

Violet picks up her bag and shrugs it onto her shoulders before answering him. "Yeah, that sounds great. See you then?" She smiles, beginning to turn on her heel.

"See you then."

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first chapter!! whoo! this is dedicated to calumwould because she's bae and my fave calum girl :)) hope you like it!! vote and comment!