Teenage Angst (c.h)

Chapter 6

"Yeah, so I like you." Calum states. His physique shifts and he looks like his whole world is caving in.

"Oh, come on, man" If you're going to tell this girl that you love her, you're going to have to be a little bit more confident." Ashton shakes his head.

It has been about three months since Abbi has moved to Calum's neighborhood and he's positive that he's head over heels in love with her. Infatuation would be an insult compared to what he actually felt.

"Dude I know I know, it's just that I don't know what I'm feeling anymore. I've never felt like this. The first time I tried it I nearly threw my insides up."

"Listen mate. Just follow your heart." Ashton puts a hand on his shoulder as he walks out and laughs commenting on how cliche he sounded.

Calum picks up his phone and dials Abbi's number into his phone. He realizes that it's the only number he knows by heart and smirks. This empty void and state of emptiness that he felt was filled with just her. She tapped into something he never knew he had. He laughed. Not the fake laugh that took years of perfecting, but a laugh that crept from the depths of his soul. He hits the call button and asks Abbi if he could come over to her house do study for the calculus exam. Obviously this was a cover up. Calculus and Calum were a lost cause.

///////

She opens the door dressed in a pair of black sweatpants and a self made OVO muscle tee.

"Hey, what's up?" She greets flashing him her award winning smile. They hug and her hair smells like coconut and what he imagines God to smell like.

She leads him up the stairs and he can't help but stare at the curve of her hips that widen at her round butt. He takes into consideration that he's actually never been up to her room. Sure the guys have come over to hangout but only in her living area. She opens the door to her room and he's overwhelmed with the amazing collage that canvases her walls. There are magazine cut outs, posters, pieces of text, and various pictures arranged to spell out her name.

"Did you make this?"

She smirks. "Hell yeah. It took a lot of time too. That's what losers like me invest their time into." Calum rolls his eyes.

At the corner of his eye he sees two large flags opposite the wall what contains the collage. He recognizes the American flag but can't place the other.

"What flag is that?" He question.

"Jesus, you've got a lot of questions don't you." She responds feigning irritation.

Calum shrugs.

"It's the Liberian flag. My mom is Liberian, my dad is white bread American, and I am their racially ambiguous offspring. Have you been satisfied?"

"You were planning on satisfying me?" Calum asks quirking an eyebrow suggestively.

She walks slowly towards him looping one of her fingers in a belt loop of his pants. She tugs him towards her and they are close in proximity. Calum's breath is uneven as he turns into an anxious mess and him she blows raspberries in his face.

Calum's backs away quickly and joins her in her chorus of laughter.
"Oh fuck. Oh my God, you're face." She chokes in between laughter. Calum rolls his eyes and laces her arms around her hunched over frame.

"You're so annoying." He jokes as he picks her up and slings her over his shoulder.

"Okay what the fuck, bro." She deadpans. Calum laughs.

"Let me down, what the fuck. Dude. Let me the fuck down!" She angrily pounds on his back, doing anything to let him release her.

She pulls his hair.

"Wow you're doing everything you can to turn me on aren't you?" He chuckles feeling her body temperature rise, not needing to see her face to know that it's freckled beauty was tinged with red.

"I hate you." She mutters.
"If only that was true." He replies cussing her to chuckle.

Seeing that she had been tortured enough, Calum puts her down. Actually he flopped her down on her bed and fell next to her.

"You're heavy."

"What can I say. I've got too much junk in the trunk." She replies and they laugh and it's great.

And without even noticing, Calum says it. Mid laugh it slips off his tongue and plunges into the open space between them. She tenses. He feels her tense and he looks at her. A small tear cascades at the side of her face.

"Oh fuck" Calum comments unsure of what to do. He doesn't know how to handle crying.

She lets out a hearty laugh, breaking the tension. "I love you too." She tells him.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm just an emotional wreck right now because I got my period yesterday. I'm horny as fuck and I cried at the end of Clueless."

Calum laughs. He wasn't an immature bastard who thought periods were nasty. He was happy that she confided in him with such personal information.

She wipes the tears from her eyes. The truth is she's never been in love, she's never had a boyfriend, she was always alone. Her father was incarcerated and her mom had to work extraordinarily harder that her counterparts to make a name for herself. Having someone to herself was all she wanted. She knew she was independent and didn't need a man to wait in her hand and foot but having the missing piece to her puzzle filled in as all she wanted. She was finally happy for once in her life. And Calum was the reason for that.

"I like this." She says after minutes of silence.

"What?" Calum questions.

"The silence is comforting not awkward. There's no tension. Your presence makes me happy and your scent is the only thing I smell. You my dear Calum Hood has not only gotten my whipped as fuck but head over heels in love with you."

"Wow, you should write books." He says.

"I've finally got something to write about." She replies.