WRONG NUMBER / CH

chptr 32

Leia had never thought about guys like Calum until she, well, met Calum.

She had spent the whole night talking to Calum on Facebook, since he was only borrowing his friend's phone. That simple gesture touched Leia. To think he'd go through all that trouble just to text her. To other people, it wouldn't mean much. But it made Leia think that Calum was different from other guys, that he was the type to rely on.

Plus he was a fun conversationalist. Whenever the topic died down he'd somehow slide a new one in. They never had a dull moment for the duration of their chat. Sometimes they'd talk about two things at once, and it was always about something interesting. Never did they feel the need to talk about mundane topics like the weather, school, or what they were doing right now.

Leia's first impression of him was some kind of scary punk, since he was huge and tattooed and had a bleached blonde fringe. But as she got to know him, he realized he wasn't. He was better than most guys she met. Smart. Sweet. Charming. Attractive. Very attractive.

She worried about liking him too much. She only met the guy, but she could feel herself liking him too much, too hard. She just freaking moved here, for gods' sake. She shouldn't be thinking about guys. She should be thinking of making her new life better than her old one.

But every time she thought about shaking off her feelings, Calum would pop into her mind again, with his cute little smile and those puppy eyes and those biceps oh and the way he laughs...

Dammit, she thought to herself.

The night he first texted her, they ended up talking until to 2 a.m, and just because Leia realized it was a Monday the next day, and that she had school. Calum said goodbye (with a cheeky sweet dreams ;) message which made her blush unexpectedly) and it ended there, with a promise of talking again tomorrow.

However, for Leia, it didn't end there. She began typing another message, but it wasn't for Calum.

to: Anna
i just spent the night talking to calum

to: Anna
no regrets

She knew what she was doing was completely fucking insane. She had been trying to reach out to her estranged sister for almost five months now, texting her like crazy, waiting for her reply. It was weird to be holding on to some futile hope that her sister was still out there somewhere, getting updates on the life she left, but Leia persisted. Even though there was no guarantee that she was receiving all this messages, somehow it comforted Leia to keep sending them anyway. It had become more than keeping a connection with her sister-now it felt like her own personal diary, somewhere she could say everything she couldn't say, somewhere she could write down every fleeting thought that crossed her mind.

It had become an outlet when life became too much for her to handle.

Oddly enough, she'd never tried to call her. She thought about it, but she was too scared. If she called her after all this time, what would happen when no one answered? Worse, what if someone did? Worst, what if that someone wasn't even Leia?

So she continued sending messages to an almost fictional person about non-fictional feelings for a boy she met.

to: Anna
ugh i feel so stressed out

to: Anna
if only he went to my school. why dont we go to the same school? :(

to: Anna
why'd he have to come and fuck up my plans for life

to: Anna
with his pretty eyes and his tattoos and the way he smiles when he says MY NAME IM SO

to: Anna
dammit calum

to: Anna
i can't believe i'm starting to like him why why

to: Anna
does he even like me back

to: Anna
i really hope he's not like other guys

to: Anna
but he looks like someone i could trust

to: Anna
liking someone sucks

to: Anna
why is he so...:(:

Leia sighed in exhaustion. She decided that was enough for the night, so she climbed to bed and turned off her lamp.

Unknown to her, a few kilometers away, Calum was awake in the dead of the night, feeling like he could scream his fucking heart out. She was texting about him. About how she liked him in the way he liked her. That was the dream.

The simple thought of Leia stressing over him like how he stressed over her was enough to drive Calum insanely happy.

Things were going great, so great that Calum didn't let any negativity creep up on him. Screw worrying over her texts, he decided. Soon I should just change numbers and pretend none of this happened when I'm with her. Why allow myself to struggle over this? If I tell her now, she'd probably get upset and never talk to me again. So screw that.

She'll never have to know.