Between a Rock and a Hard Place // c.h.

6 - Brown Eyes

   Going to meet Calum may have been the dumbest, most naive decision of my life, but it was also the best. At 12:00 exactly I stood in the food court of the Galaxy Hills mall, looking everywhere I could but not seeing him. Fear started to set in. 'What if he was joking?' I wondered to myself. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time again. 12:04. 'Maybe he's just running late.' I tried to assure myself. Nevertheless, I was hungry and I was standing in the middle of a crowded food court. The amazing smells of burgers and fries made my mouth water. So I went and bought myself some lunch to eat while I waited for my mystery date to come.

   I had barely taken a bite when I saw him. He was hard to miss, because he was followed by multiple girls of varying ages, all who wanted his picture, autograph, or whatever else they could get. He drew endless attention, but he seemed focused, looking for something, for someone. Then I realized, he was looking for me. I stood and waved my arm, "Calum!" I shouted, hoping he would hear over the chaos of pre-pubescent girls who surrounded him. He didn't hear. So I stood up, leaving behind my much valued meal, and walked towards him. I went as close as I could without getting swarmed, and shouted his name again, louder this time. "Calum!" He turned suddenly, a look of recognition and relief filling his face.

   He waded through the pool of girls surrounding him, slowly making his way towards me. "I'm glad you're here!" He responded when he finally reached me. "I was starting to worry you'd ditched out." A playful grin spread across his face.

   I smiled, looking towards my food. Calum looked over and seemed to understand. We made our way back to my table. "I wouldn't turn down THE Calum Hood!" I said when we'd reached the table and were seated.

   "You'd be surprised how often I get ditched. It's a relief someone actually shows up." He chuckled and grabbed a fry off my tray. "So, tell me about yourself Cara." I stopped mid-chew and glanced at him, confused. "What do you like? What are you scared of? Why is your hair that color?" Calum smiled, looking at me with his golden brown eyes. He stole a couple more fries and then looked at me expectedly.

   "Um.. Well... There's not much to tell." I shrugged, biting into my burger. I swallowed and looked at Calum. "I like bands. Mostly you guys, 5SOS I mean, and I play the bass..." Calum smiled widely when I mentioned my favorite instrument, which made me happy because I knew he played the bass and I was hoping he'd be somewhat impressed. "I'm scared of.. I'm not sure. Spiders." I laughed.

   "That doesn't count. I mean your deepest darkest fear. I want to know what keeps you up at night." Calum smiled evilly, causing me to laugh, which caused him to laugh. "But seriously." He said. He picked up my burger and took a bite.

   "I think that's a story for another time." I giggled. I didn't want to tell Calum about my self-harm, my depression, any of it. He shrugged.

   "Fair enough, what about your hair?" He asked, eyeing my blue and blonde curls curiously.

   "I decided I wanted to stand out. Blue's my favorite color, so I figured I'd make a statement." I laughed nervously. Calum smiled approvingly.

   "I like it," he mused, "it matches your eyes amazingly." His eyes met mine and I felt like I was melting. The color of his eyes was beautiful, deep brown, but when the sun hit them, they changed to a shimmering golden brown. I looked away, trying not to stare. Calum was truly one of a kind. No guy I'd ever talked to before had made me nervous with just a glance, but somehow he managed to do it. "Your eyes, are they blue or green?" He asked, gazing at me curiously.

"They're blue with green around the iris." I blushed and but my lip.

"They're beautiful. I haven't seen color like that before." Calum smiled slightly, then stood up. "Do you wanna go walk around the mall?" He walked over to my chair to help me up. I stood quickly, grabbing the tray to throw away. I walked over to the garbage can, used the tray to lift the lid, and tossed the leftover food in. I turned around and smacked into Calum.