Back to Normal - Calum Hood

Part 11: The Party

Vote. Comment. Enjoy!

-

-

-

—Ella's Pov—

"Allison...you can't keep dodging our questions about Ash," I tell her, parking the car outside of Jessie's house.

"I'll wait until Jess is here. She loves hearing about our dates," she points out.

It's been a few weeks since Calum and I kissed. Since then...everything has been perfect. Dean and I have gone out countless times and he's easy to talk to. Plus, the guys love him...minus Calum. I haven't seen him since...I've been avoiding him. I hear about him and Lily all the time though.

The car door opens and Kennedy turns down the music as she screams, "Michael finally asked me to be his girlfriend," she says beaming with excitement. We all scream for her, Kennedy and I turning around in our seats to see her, "he's so romantic and sweet. I really like him," she says.

"You and Michael are the cutest couple. I'm jealous," I groan.

"Jealous of what? We all see the way you and Dean are," Kennedy teases.

"Oh yeah like you and Luke aren't always attached at the hip," Allison adds.

"This could go on for hours. Tell us about your date with Ashton. You wouldn't give us any details in the group chat," Jessie says. She pulls out her phone and shows us pictures of a cute little picnic he took her on with a movie projector.

"He brought this really fuzzy blanket and we cuddled the entire night. I'm not gonna kiss and tell but dot dot dot," she smiles.

"YOU GUYS HAVE SEEN MAMMA MIA?" Kennedy yells.

"Of course it's a childhood classic," Jessie says like it's obvious.

"I knew you guys were cool," I joke. Kennedy changes the music to the Mamma Mia soundtrack, while we all put our windows down. I pull out of her driveway and head to the mall. There's a party in a couple hours and we all wanted to try fun outfits.

-

"How does this look?" Jessie asks, holding up a plaid red and black dress. A grunge vibe that matches her aesthetic.

"Michael's gonna love that," I tell her. She smiles and goes to the fitting rooms, while the rest of us still search.

"What do you guys think Dean likes?" I ask, moving clothes on the rack. Kennedy grabs a black dress off the rack and passed it to me.

"This is so cute"

I go into the fitting room and try it on, loving the fit. Jessie and I both exit the rooms and the dresses are perfect.

"I'm so excited for this party"

"Same. Do you guys know if Calum and Lily are coming tonight?" I ask, going to the counter to pay for the dress.

"Yeah, but this is the biggest party of the summer, you shouldn't even see him," Kennedy says. Out of all the girls I only told Kennedy. There's no use in spreading drama when it means nothing. I'd feel weird talking to Michael about the kiss, since he invited Lily without telling me. Once I pay for the dress my phone rings in my pocket. I grab it out and put it to my ear as I join back with the girls.

"Hey, what's up?" I ask, struggling to hear the person.

"We are planning on leaving around 9:00 for the party, so meet up at —————," Ashton says through the phone. I groan as the phone continues cutting out, telling him to text us.

"I need a new phone, the water damage keeps making the speaker stop working," I tell them.

"Ashton said we should get to the house around 7 to pregame. It's 5:45 now so we still have time to find Allison and I a dress," Kennedy says. I nod my head and follow the girls to the next store to continue our shopping trip.

-

"Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy," we chant as she pours everyone a shot. She rolls her eyes while laughing, as Allison and Michael cut up some limes. The door opens and closes meaning that Deans here. Finally all the other couples are together already. I run to the front, throwing my arms over his shoulders, connecting our lips.

"Woah, nice to see you too," he says, smiling into the kiss, placing his hands on my hip.

"Get a room, little Hemmings," Michael complains, going into the garage. I take Deans hand and bring him into the kitchen, asking Kennedy to pour one more shot.

"Dean, help us settle this," Luke says, stealing him away from us. I walk over to the girls and prep a chaser for myself as Lily squeals. We look over and see Calum whispering in her ear.

"Who keeps inviting her?" Jessie says, staring at the girl.

"Who do you think?" Kennedy says. Michael comes back into the room after grabbing whatever he was looking for. We all stand in front of one of the shots, raising it up and cheering.

"To fucking shit up," Luke says, making me cringe.

"You couldn't think of anything else to cheers to?" I ask, getting a smack to the head from him. We all throw the shot back and take a lime. I look at Dean and feel him moving his hand to my side.

"You ready?" He asks.

"We got 3 Ubers so none of us have to be stuck being sober," Ashton's says. He tells us one of them are here. Ashton, Allison, Michael, and Jessie take the first Uber. The rest of us chill in the kitchen cleaning up the shots.

"Is it bad I'm already tired?" I ask making Kennedy laugh.

"Come on wake up. It's your first real party with Dean," she points out, while shaking my shoulders.

"The next Uber is here, do you mind if Kennedy and I take it?" Luke asks. I nod my head and let the couple leave. I realize the only people left are Calum, Lily, Dean, and I. How fun?

"Ready to go? Next ones here," Dean says. I nod my head and lock the house up behind us.

"I'll take the front seat," he tells me. I get into the back and realize Calum's in the middle. This avoiding him thing is turning out to be much harder than expected.

"You excited for the party?" Lily asks, looking at Dean. He turns around giving me a look, making me laugh.

This is gonna be a long night.