Back to Normal - Calum Hood

Part 9: Pool Party

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—Ella's Pov—

"Ella, hurry up. We were supposed to meet the guys 10 minutes ago," Luke screams up the stairs. I check the time and see it's already 8:16. I put on my shorts and tank top, quickly running downstairs. He pushes me out the door, locking up behind us.

"Is Kennedy coming?" I ask, knowing he probably invited her.

"She's coming in a bit," he informs. He goes to plug his phone into the aux, but I steal it from him, "please don't put on one direction," he groans.

"Now I feel like I have to"

He always says he hates them but whenever I turn them on, he's always screaming the lyrics.

"Who's house are we going to again?" I ask.

"We were gonna go to Ashton's house but his pool isn't clean, so now we are going to Calum's," he tells me.

"Woah, Michael said Calum was busy?" I ask.

"He was but something came up. Now we are swimming at his. What's your deal with him? You've basically been avoiding him since our gig last week," he says.

"I'm not avoiding him. I've just been busy with work," I tell him.

"And Dean," he says with a high pitched voice.

"We have gone on one date and he didn't kiss me at the end. Either cause he wasn't feeling it or my breath smelled," I tell him. He pulls into Calum's driveway, looking over at me.

"El, you guys have been texting nonstop since the date. Maybe he didn't want you to feel pressured into kissing him," he points out.

"Why are boys so complicated?" I ask, getting out of the car. He scoffs telling me girls are far worse.

Once we get to the backyard it's obvious today is going to be eventful. Ashton is hanging out with a girl, who I'm assuming is Allison. While Michael is chasing Calum with a pool noodle. Luke laughs at the pair, setting his bag down on a chair.

I walk over to Ashton and steal one of the chips off his plate of food. He swats my hand away making the girl laugh.

"You must be Ella, I'm Allison. It's so nice to meet you," she smiles.

"I'm so happy you're here. If they brought another guy into this group I think I would have exploded," I tell her. A pair of arms sneak around my waist, pulling me into their chest.

"You guys are a cute couple," she says, looking at Michael and I. He immediately lets go of me as we both start fake gagging.

"Please take that back. I think I'm going to be sick," Michael says, putting distance in between us.

"It would be like dating a brother," I say, not hiding the disgust on my face.

"My mistake," she says while Ashton laughs. I push Michael into the pool behind him, almost getting pulled in with.

"Is the food inside?" I ask. He nods his head yes, going back to the conversation he was having with Allison before I came over. I walk into the kitchen and look over the options, obviously taking some fruit salad.

"Little Hemmings, leave some fruit for the rest of us," he jokes. I turn around to see Calum with his swimsuit hung low on his hips, soaking wet.

"Get a towel. Your moms gonna freak when she sees how much water you tracked in," I tell him. He shrugs his shoulders, stealing pineapple off my plate.

"How have you been? Haven't seen you in a bit," he asks. The heat radiates off his body, making my words come out stuttered, "How's Dean?" He asks, with a venom to his words.

"We talk a lot so pretty good," I tell him, not going into detail.

"Why don't you invite him over...Michael texted two girls for us. Wouldn't want you to be lonely," he says, walking out of the kitchen, leaving me standing against the counter. I grab my phone out of my pocket, clicking on Deans contact.

Ella: my friend is having a pool party and I was wondering if you would want to come?

I place my plate down, losing my appetite. Just as I open the door to go outside I get a text back.

Dean: sounds like fun :)

I send him the address and tell him to come over as soon as possible. I hear my name being called and look to see Kennedy is here.

"Did you know Michael was inviting girls over?" I ask, feeling slightly annoyed he didn't tell me. She shakes her head no. I brush it to the back of my mind, slipping off my shorts. I place them on the chair with Luke's bag, slipping my shirt off next. I go to dip my toes in when Ashton tackles me into the water. He hugs me under the water, kicking his legs to bring us to the surface. I splash his face, getting out of his grip. Kennedy and Luke jump in next to us making me scream. Allison throws me a pool noodle so I can smack Ashton with it.

I jump onto Luke's back, pushing his head underwater. Michael then jumps onto me sending all of us down with him. I push out from under them, swimming to the edge to quickly climb out and check my phone. Dean texted so I run to the front yard and see him walking over.

"Hey, thanks for the invite," he smiles. I grab his hand dragging him to the backyard.

"GUYS, this is Dean. Dean these are the guys. Luke, Calum, Michael, Ashton, and then Allison and Kennedy," I tell him pointing to everyone. He waves to everyone before I bring him to the side area.

"This house is incredible," he says, taking his shirt off. My eyes wander for a little longer than they should have.

"It pays off to have rich friends," I smile. The sun begins to set behind him, creating a bright pink sky in contrast to the bright blue pool. He walks with me back to the pool, where Kennedy is on Luke's shoulder and Allison is on Ashton playing chicken. Michael and Calum walk into the backyard with two more girls I've never seen before.

I grab Deans hand and he gives me a look. I move us closer to the water and pretend to start talking before pushing him into the water. He comes to the surface just as Kennedy pushes me in. I yell, trying to pull her in after me.

"GUYS this is Lily and Jessie," Michael says. Lily is hanging onto Calum's arm, as he brings her to the fire pit. Kennedy and I swim over introducing ourselves to Jessie. She seems really nice. When we swim back, I jump on Deans back, having him give me a piggy back ride.

We float around for a little, getting splashed by the other guys. When I get back onto his back he swims us over to the shallow end where no one is, keeping me on his back.

"How would you like to go on another date?" He asks, turning his head to the side so he can kind of see me. I lean down to his ear with a wide smile.

"Of course. I was a bit nervous you wouldn't ask after you didn't kiss me last date," I tell him honestly. I slide off his back so he can turn to face me. His hands slide to my waist, pulling my legs to move around his own.

"I didn't want to rush things," he says making me smile. I look between his eyes and lips thinking about making a move. His eyes following my pattern. He slowly moves closer when I get hit in the head by a beach ball.

"Sorry, didn't see you there," Calum says with a smirk. I'm gonna kill him.

"What do you want?" I ask, trying now to show how annoyed I am.

"We are all sitting by the fire. Luke wanted me to get you," he says. I look around and realize everyone got out. I tell him we will be right there and mentally curse him out.