Room 21 - Calum Hood Punk -

Sophia

- Elena's POV - 


It's now 1:00pm exactly and the boys and I decided to go for a walk. "Ready?" I ask Luke, who's still in the bathroom working on his hair. "I will be if you can fix this mess of a hair!" He grins innocently, coming out of the bathroom with his hairspray and comb. I laugh, taking them and fixing his hair. "There. Now let's go!" I sigh playfully. He hugs me and puts them down, slipping on his shoes. "Ready!" He grins. We all pile out of the house, Ashton locking the door. 
"I say we walk around town and just window shop." Michael suggests. 
"Good idea," I nod. We all make our way into town. As we're walking past Starbucks, Ashton peers in through the window. Kara's serving a little girl and her dad. "You're drooling everywhere!" Michael jokes. 
"Whatever!" Ashton snaps out of his trance, pretending nothing happened. The rest of us burst into laughter. 


We carry on walking through town, stopping to look in shop windows. "Do you guys fancy checking out the music shop?" Ashton asks. 
"Sure! I'd love to try learning the guitar," Michael nods. 
"Same!" Luke agrees. 
"I want to dry drums!" He grins.
"Let's go then," I grin. We make our way to the music shop and go inside. 
"What can I do to help?" The shop assistant asks.
"We wanted to talk to you about instruments, if that's ok," Ashton says hopefully.
"Of course!" The assistant smiles.
"You can look around, Elena!" Ashton says.


Wait, what? "Why can't I stay?" I frown.
"Cause you wouldn't want to be bored here, would you?" He explains.
"I guess not..." I mumble, still confused.
"Go look around then!" He smiles.
"Okay?" I frown, walking off to look around the shop. I stare at all the microphones, music stands. There are some weird looking ones on the shelves. I spend about ten minutes looking around the shop, so I decide to find the boys again. "Elena, we were just about to come look for you! You ready to go?" Ashton asks.
"Yeah!" I nod, still feeling a little confused as to why I couldn't stay with them.


We all leave the shop. "Where to now?" I ask.
"How about Gelato Messina?" Luke offers.
"Yes!" The rest of us say in unison. We walk down to the Ice Cream parlour and order.
"This place will never get old!" Michael grins.
"Never!" I agree. Once we have our Ice Cream, we sit down in an empty booth together. After we've finished, we sit and talk for a little. "Excuse me, but I was going to sit here!" A girls voice makes us turn our heads to look at them. "Sorry, but w- ?!" I gasp.
"Elena?" She says in disbelief. "What are you even doing here?" She scoffs.
"I live here?" I reply, rolling my eyes. "We all do." I gesture to the guys.


"I thought Calum would've came and lived with you." She says bitterly. I hate this girl so much.
"It's a bit hard when we have no clue where he is or what he's doing right now, Sophia." Ashton speaks up. Well done, Ashton! "Obviously! But he lives round here somewhere too! We had coffee the other day!" She sighs.
"Wait, you what?!" I stand up.
"Yeah!" She nods.
"Calum lives somewhere around here?!" My heart is pounding in my chest.
"Yes! I said that didn't I?" She rolls her eyes.
"Do you know where?!" I ask in anticipation.
"No, I would've been telling you if I did!" She scoffs.
"No you wouldn't!" Michael crosses his arms. He looks so agitated.


"He likes Elena, not me! I know that, I'd tell her!" She snaps at him.
"So you don't know where he is?" I sigh sadly.
"No. All I know, is that he has a house somewhere around here." She shrugs.
"Well thanks anyway." I smile.
"It's fine," she smiles back. She smiled?! This day is getting stranger by the minute... I rush out of the parlour, and the boys all come rushing out too. "Elena, there's no way you'll find him!" Ashton tries reasoning. "You don't know that! Sophia said that they've gone for coffee before!" I reply. That sets of a light switch in my head. I rush back inside. "Where did you go for coffee?" I ask Sophia. "At Mecca." She replies.


I rush back out. "Mecca, they had coffee at Mecca! That's just outside the other end of town!" I say in excitement. "Elena, you need to set yourself up for the idea that you won't find him!" Ashton protests. "Don't you care about me finding him, Ashton?!" I snap. He stops talking and I cover my mouth. "Ash, I-I'm sorry..." I whisper.
"It's okay, Elena, I just want you to be prepared. If you don't find him, I don't want you to be too upset." He explains.
"I won't be," I smile reassuringly.
"Then let's go to Mecca." Ashton smiles back at me. I grin widely and hug him.
"Thank you Ash!" I say to him.


We make our way to Mecca, and as we get closer, I get more nervous. What if Sophia was lying? What if he's there but doesn't want to speak to me? What if he has a new girlfriend? I know we didn't break up, but he could've gotten one because he thought we'd never see each other again. "We're here." Luke's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. Here goes nothing...
"I want to do this alone." I say firmly.
"You sure?" Ashton asks. I nod. "Okay." He smiles encouragingly. I take a deep breath and walk into the coffee shop, nerves hitting me throughout my entire body. I go over to the counter. "Hello, Miss! What can I get you?" The man asks.
"Sorry if this is rude... I'm actually looking for someone and I was told they've come here before?" I say.


"You can give me a name if you like, lovely, but I'm not sure I'll be able to know." He replies.
"Calum. Calum Hood." I blurt out. I wait in anticipation.
"Calum? Tall lad with dark hair and tattoos?" He questions. I nod. "Yeah, he comes here! Regular customer in the afternoon!" The man smiles.
"Thank you!" I say, leaving.
"Well?" Ashton questions.
"He's a regular customer!" I grin, happy tears brimming in my eyes. Calum comes here, I know where he goes... The boys all cheer, giving me a hug together. I can't believe he's here, he lives here...


*


I sit on the sofa, beaming. "I still can't believe he actually lives here..." Michael chuckles.
"Neither can I!" I giggle.
"You going to go try and see him tomorrow?" Luke asks.
"I can't... I've got work tomorrow and the day after. He's a regular customer in the afternoon,  that's my shift!" I groan, realising I don't have time to see him.
"You'll just have to do it on Sunday then!" Ashton suggests.
"Yeah, I guess so!" I nod. "What time is it?" I ask.
"It's 9:23pm." Ashton smiles.
"I'm going to bed then!" I say, getting up. "Goodnight, guys!" I hug each of the boys and head upstairs, closing my door behind me. Once I change into something comfortable, I climb into my bed and close my eyes. They already feel heavy, and soon, I'm asleep... 


"Calum!" I shout, seeing the boy I love so very much walking across the street. I shout his name again as he reaches the other side. He has headphones in. If I scream one more time, he might hear me. I start crossing the road, "CALUM!" I scream as loud as I can and he whips around. The boys are all screaming at me, but I can't hear what they're saying, because the sound of a car horn overpowers them. I only get a short second to look to my left, the vehicle coming in contact with my side. I'm thrown in the air and I hit the floor, unconscious...


I bolt up, sweating and breathing heavily. I just had the same nightmare from last night... I check the time on my phone and see that it's 3:41am. I lie back down and sigh. At least I didn't wake anyone up this time. I'm tired, and I have work later... I really need to sleep. I close my eyes and they start feeling heavier as the minutes go by. I can feel sleep creeping in, and soon, it takes over...


*


It's now 12:04pm and I woke up again with the same nightmare after I went back to sleep... I'm really tired now. "Ready for work?" Ashton asks, popping his head around the door to my room.
"Yeah! Just sorting my bag!" I smile. He leaves me to it. I put my phone and my house keys into my bag and put it on my shoulder, walking out of my room. Ashton is already waiting for me at the door. I slip on my shoes and we open the door to leave the house. "Don't forget to meet us after your shift, Ash!" Michael says to him.
"I'll remember, don't worry!" He replies.
"Wait? What are you doing after your shift?" I frown.
"Nothing important! You'll be fine though, right? I mean, you could go shopping after work or something?" Ashton smiles. Shopping? What is going on?!
"Uh, yeah..." I frown again.


"See you later!" Luke and Michael say in unison as me and Ashton leave the house. I wonder what they're doing after work? The walk to Starbucks is a little awkward, but Ashton tries to make conversation. "Do you think you'll try and see if Calum's at Mecca after your shift? There's a chance that he might still be there." He suggests.
"I'm thinking about it. I hope I get to find him..." I admit.
"You'll find him, I know you will!" He grins. I grin back. Once we reach Starbucks, I smile even wider. "Kara's just coming off her shift now," I wink, walking in. Ashton freezes a little before scurrying in after me. "Hi Kara!" I smile, walking past.
"Hey, Elena!" She smiles back. "Hey Ash!" She smiles at him too, a little blush showing on her cheeks. "H-hi!" He squeaks nervously, hurrying away to the staff room with me.


"You two would be cute!" I smirk.
"Shush!" He blushes too.
"Just saying!" I tease, putting on my apron. We make our way out to the counter, Ashton being on the till this time. The shift goes by very slowly, and I feel like I'll never get out of here and down to Mecca. When the clock hits the end of my shift, I race into the staff room and grab my bag, throwing my apron down. "You're in a hur-" I rush out before Ashton even finishes his sentence. It takes me only ten minutes to get to Mecca, and I rush through the doors, looking around. "Hello, Missy! I'm afraid if you're looking for Calum, you've just missed him. He left about five minutes ago," the same guy from yesterday says to me. I can feel my heart sink. He's already gone... I walk, no trudge, back home. When I get back, the boys aren't there. Looks like they're still busy keeping secrets from me and stuff... I sigh and go upstairs, grabbing the song book from under my pillow. I also grab a pen and start writing.


*


Fifteen minutes pass and I have lyrics and sheet music all sorted for a new song. I play it, singing the words. This song is completely about Calum; he always used to push me away and stop things working for a while. I'm glad he loved me back though, I'm glad that he was himself around me, I'm glad I met him... Just as I finish putting my guitar and songbook away, I hear the front door open. I come out onto the landing and bump into Ashton. "Was he there?" He asks. I shake my head. "Oh... Maybe he'll be there tomorrow?" He suggests kindly.
"Yeah, maybe..." I mumble. He won't be. I know he won't...