Wasted Time

Chapter 32

Emily's POV

Clutching a bag full of chocolate, cough sweets and a couple of DVDs, I waited for an answer to my knock, examining the polished wood and red plastic number of the hotel door. To my surprise, I heard footsteps hurrying towards me as soon as I withdrew my fist from the door.

This was the hotel room Flavia was staying in for a few days while her band did some promotional stuff in London, and I had been texting her this morning when she told me she was in bed, feeling ill and lonely while her bandmates went to a meeting with their manager. I had decided to pop in and visit her before I went to my lecture, and I had been expecting a weak voice to greet me and tell me the door was unlocked, rather than this eager approach. I was even more surprised when the door was opened by a familiar dark-haired boy wearing skinny jeans and a Nirvana shirt.

"Calum?"

"Oh, hey Emily," he said uncomfortably. I realised that it had been months since I had spoken to him, and he still probably wouldn't want to interact with me.

"Uh... I'll just..." I stammered awkwardly, waving the plastic bag around.

"Do you want to see Flavia? Come in," he said, opening the door wider.

"Oh. Thanks," I said, slightly taken aback. "Flavia?" I called, entering the room and kicking off my shoes.

"Emily?" I heard her voice come from further inside the room, sounding surprised and happy despite the fact that it was quiet and croaky.

"Hi!" I said, walking into the main room to see her lying in a bed by the window, a dip in the mattress next to her where I assumed Calum had been sitting before he opened the door for me. "Here, take these. You've probably already got some, but still..." I dropped the chocolate and lozenges on the table, and bent down to give her a hug. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay," she said, smiling weakly. "Thanks for coming to see me, it means a lot."

"Aw, that's okay," I said. "I brought all the Back to the Future films, as well... obviously if you'd rather sleep, that's fine, but I still haven't watched them yet, so..."

"I'd love to!" she grinned, immediately switching on the TV.

"Sorry, I'm interrupting," I said guiltily, glancing over at Calum to see him sitting in an armchair across the room.

"No, no, it's fine," he said, but he looked a bit left out.

"Here, come and lie down," I said, getting up and patting the space next to Flavia. I dragged the other bed over next to them, panting from the effort, and flopped down on the mattress before pressing play.

About halfway through the film, Flavia couldn't stop yawning, and although she insisted she was fine, eventually she drifted off to sleep, so we gently left her to doze, pausing the film and making our way over to the chairs on the other side of the room.

"Thanks for coming to see her," Calum smiled and said quietly. "It really cheered her up."

"Oh, that's okay," I said, surprised at his friendliness. We sat in silence for a while longer, and I began to feel like I really ought to leave, but I couldn't stop myself from taking the opportunity to try and make up.

"So... how are things?" I asked hesitantly. He looked up at me, surprised, for a second, before breaking into a smile.

"Things are good, I think," he said. "I mean, things with Flavia are good, things in the band are okay... the music and stuff's going great, but Ash and Luke are going through a hard time at the moment, and they have been for a while now... their strength's running out, they really need some time off to relax and get themselves together."