BAD OMENS ✬ luke hemmings

2.3 | uptight, eyes bright, just girls

"Like, I love him, but the way he's been hanging around Calum so often does not feel right to me," Sade says.

The girls are sitting in Aria's bed with their legs crossed and pillows hugged to their chests. It has surpassed midnight, the streets are now empty, and Aria's dad has since gone to bed leaving the two girls the only people awake in the house – and possibly the entire street.

"Oh my god yeah, like I get we hated the guy for years, but don't you think it's weird?" Aria responds, "Like, Michael hasn't even come over in like the past week which is literally a record."

"Wait what? That's so weird," Sade says. "No, like, it seems like they're always hanging out with each other. I thought Michael hated the guy, like when we did that sleepover, Michael was in the car literally ranting about how stupid you were to invite Calum."

"He said that?" Aria gasps, "I can't believe him! And now, he's practically joint at the hip with the guy, which is like... what the fuck dude? It's been two weeks, and your entire perception of him changed?"

"Like, I get it, Calum is a pretty solid guy right?" Sade pauses, "But even then, I'm not walking around taking every chance I can to talk to him."

"Same! Okay, yes, Calum is a good guy now, but that doesn't mean I trust him entirely. Like, I'm not going to tell him any of my secrets or anything." Aria whispers, "We're kind of friends, but that doesn't mean the last three years didn't mean anything."

"Yeah! No hate to him though, except it's super, like, weird that he suddenly decided that his friends are boring." Sade comments, "And now he's hanging around us, acting like we're the best of friends, but he literally did not acknowledge our existence last year."

"Literally!" Aria smacks her hand on the blanket, "Like, I know he's changed, and he's not the same person. It's just super weird that he's hanging around us even though he swore to hate us, like, I never hated him as much as I hated Luke, he was an accessory, but still..."

"That's what I've been thinking!" Sade continues, "Which has me thinking of Michael, who has spent, what? His entire high school career hating Calum and his friends, and now he's hanging out with those people?"

"Okay, this will sound mean and bitchy, but I love Michael, I love him so much." Aria starts, "But the way he's basically, like, dickriding Calum is so embarrassing. I thought he hated popularity and the conventionally attractive group, but now it's like... he's like, chasing validation."

"Oh my god!" Sade gasps at the hit of realization, "Do you really think so? Because that makes so much sense, Michael is literally seeking validation from Calum, I don't know what it is."

"I think it's like, Calum is super popular and Michael – despite saying he'll never sellout – is literally selling out. I thought he was meant to be super punk rock or something, but now suddenly everything has changed?" Aria questions.

"Yeah, out of everyone, I thought Michael would be the most persistent to not let Calum into the group." Sade responds, "From day one, he's been the most negative about them, and from what I've gathered, the only common ground he and Calum have is that their best friends hate each other."

"But he can't even validate that anymore, because it's not like I've been fighting Luke." Aria comments, "You can back me up when I say, I haven't said shit about Luke in weeks! So, it's not even like they came together on a mutual common ground."

"Like with you, I understand why you started to change your perception of Calum, but with Michael? No, I never saw that one coming."

"Okay, but, like, when I first talked to Calum in English I got hit with that horrible realization that he isn't an awful human being." Aria explains, "Except with Michael, he's always been set on his gut and he's super stubborn when it comes to these things."