Don't Close Your Hands

ch. 3 - name

"Home already, Ash? I thought you'd be out longer!" Ms. Irwin was in the den, watching television.

"Hey mom, yeah. Mikey wasn't feeling too well. This is my friend, Calum. We were gonna hang out here for a while and play a game or something."

"That's fine, dear. It's nice to meet you, Calum. Would you like a drink or anything? We have coke!"

Calum nodded. "It's nice to meet you too, Ms. Irwin. Er, a coke would be fine, thank you."

Ashton looked at Calum and smiled. "So, I have a few games in my room. Want to check them out? I don't have much, but we'll find something." Calum once again nodded, feeling too shy to really speak up. He hated going to his friends' houses sometimes. He felt so awkward meeting their parents, like he had to impress them or something. He accompanied Ashton down the hallway to his bedroom.

Ashton's room was impressive. It had blue walls with red trim. There was a twin bed in the corner made neatly with a plaid spread. Three beanbag chairs sat in the middle of the room in front of a nice sized television and an Xbox on a mahogany entertainment center. A small desk was placed in the corner opposite to the bed. It was cluttered with papers, books, and empty water bottles. "Heh," Ashton said, running his hand through his mass of curly hair, "sorry Cal, I didn't really clean up."

"It's okay, you should see my room! It looks like it was hit by a twister." Calum said, plopping down on one of the beanbags. Ashton's mother came in, holding two cans of coke. "Here you go, dear. And here's one for you, Calum."

"Thank you so much, Ms. Irwin."

"Please," she laughed, "call me Anne."

"Oh, erm, a-alright Anne." Calum blushed. Gosh, get it together. She'll think you're mental or something.

"That's better, dear. I'm in the den if you boys need me. Have fun."

Ashton shut the door behind her. Calum was looking through his games, and had picked up one about zombies. "I love that one," he remarked as he sat down on the beanbag next to Calum, "want to play it?"

"Sure." Calum uttered, picking up a controller. For some reason, he was nervous to be in the same room with Ashton. He realized that in the time that they had been friends, the two were never together alone. They had only ever hung out in a group with Luke and Michael. He could hide and play off his feelings when with the others, but now he felt exposed. He didn't know what to do, didn't know what to say. Can't you just act natural, Calum? Jesus.

Ashton could sense that something wasn't right. "Cal? Earth to Cal, come in Cal." He giggled in that high pitched happy sort of way that made the butterflies swirl around again in Calum's stomach. He glanced at Ashton, hoping his cheeks would return to their normal hue, or at least a less noticeable shade of red. He chuckled along with the bright-eyed boy.

"So, erm, whatever happened to those pizza rolls I was promised?"

"Promised? I never promised you anything," Ashton retorted, giving him a cheeky side-eye. He sighed dramatically. "But considering the fact that you are my guest, I guess I'll have to feed you." He got up and started for the kitchen, only to stop in the doorway. "You coming?" he said, feigning a look of impatience. Calum grinned and got up to join him.

Ashton preheated the oven and grabbed the pizza rolls from the freezer. "How many d'you want?" he said, grabbing a baking sheet from the cabinet.

"Erm, they're pizza rolls. I could literally eat an entire bag."

"Literally? Well, an entire bag it is, then." Ashton said with a chuckle. He dumped them onto the sheet. "I wonder what Mikey and Luke are doing right now?"