lock & key » c.h

three

The halls felt empty to her without Calum. His fight with the asshole that accused them of hooking up had gotten him expelled. The school board didn't even have to think twice about kicking Calum out. She still found herself in search of his dark eyes and unruly curly hair, but then she would have to remind herself that he wasn't allowed in the building.

She slammed her locker shut, shoving the rest of her books into her backpack, slipping on her jacket and then heading towards the student parking lot. Though Calum had gotten expelled, they still talked regularly.

He didn't bother to finish high school since it was just a couple months until graduation. She told him that he needed to finish his education for himself, but they both knew it was probably for the best if Calum just worked on his anger problems instead of surrounding himself with a million temptations.

She passed by the jock that Calum had fought with, his black eye and bruised jaw still healing from the altercation. He had come out looking worse than Calum did. He avoided her eyes and she couldn't help but smirk as she turned the corner.

He got what he deserved.

She walked to the end of the hallway, pushing the glass doors open before bounding down the three steps to the sidewalk. She looked across the parking lot, watching the dead leaves dance across the macadam from the wind.

A smile pulled on her lips when she spotted him, leaning against the hood of his 1967 Mustang Shelby. His arms were crossed against his chest, the leather of his jacket pulling across his muscles. She wished he would wear something warming in the dropping temperature, but at least he was wearing a jacket in the first place.

His eyes were concealed behind dark Ray Bans, but she knew he was glancing down to the cigarette that was dangling between his fingers. The smoke curled off of it in delicate tendrils as if they were the most graceful of dancers.

He lifted the cigarette to his mouth, taking a small drag from it as he noticed her. "You know," she started. "It's illegal to smoke on school grounds," she said, chuckling as came to a stop in front of him.

Calum chuckled too, shaking his head slightly, but letting the cigarette fall from his fingers and to the ground. He snuffed it out with the sole of his black and white Converse. He peeled himself away from the hood of his car, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close.

"Happy?" He asked, his recovering lips pulling into a light smile.

She hummed, nodding as she snaked her own arms around his narrow waist, hooking her thumbs into his belt loops. Calum shook his head once more, but dipped his head, his lips finding hers for a short but passionate kiss.

They had grown together, in the week that had gone past. She didn't care if people saw her kiss him, she didn't care if her name was now associated with his. She knew who he was, she knew what he was like inside. The others didn't.

They thought that Calum was heartless, one look in his eye and he'd punch them in the face. They thought he was perpetually angry, his features set into one of irritation. But she knew that he wasn't like that all the time.

She came to know that he was sweet, that he had a good heart underneath his tough exterior. Calum had a gentle touch when he was in good spirits, his hands ghosting over her skin when he would hug her, or kiss her up against the wall.

She found that he found relief in music, trying to drown the outside world in the sound. The first time she had saw his room; she knew that music had saved his life. Posters covered every inch of the wall that advertised punk bands that she had never heard of.