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

10 - "It Sucks"

   All eyes were on me and Cal when we walked into Michaels room. Abby, Mike, and Luke looked at us with a wide variety of expressions. Luke was the first to turn his attention back to the game, instead of FIFA, they were playing Call of Duty. Luke shot Michaels character, blowing his head clean off. Mike jumped, turned back to the game, and Abby followed suit. Me and Cal walked to Michaels bed, once again positioning ourselves on the end.

   "So," Calum spoke, breaking the sound of gunfire and controllers clicking. "Where's Ashton? And Mads?" I looked around the room, suddenly realizing there were two people absent from our group. No one answered Calum for a couple seconds, then Luke responded.

"They went out to grab pizza. We told them to get pepperoni for you guys, I hope that's not a problem." His focus never broke with the screen in front of him. Me and Cal nodded, watching them play the game. I sat close to him, but there was just enough space to prevent us from touching. I watched as our friends repeated round after round of the same thing. They were on a military base, they were hunting each other. Abby and Michael were a team against Luke, but even though he was outnumbered, he almost always won. They were completely immersed in the game. Suddenly Abby stood up, offering her controller to me and Cal.

"I'm gonna take a little break, do either of you want to play for me? I need to go outside to make a phone call." I shook my head, I'd never been good at video games. Something about being in a virtual reality threw me off, I almost always finished last unless the game fell into the category of Mario Kart or Wii Bowling. Calum smiled, grunted, and took the controller. He took Abby's place on the floor next to Mikey, assuming her position in the game, kicking ass. 'Luke might actually have competition.' I thought to myself. I felt a tap on my shoulder, Abby looked at me with excited eyes, then asked, as calmly as she could manage, "Cara, could you come with me?" God, she was terrible at faking, but none of the boys seemed to notice enough to care. I stood up, following her into the hallway of the hotel. We walked down to the end of the long corridor, which had an excellent view of the not-so-excellent landscape below. As much as I loved living in California, there were big cities everywhere. During the night, the lights from various buildings filled the sky, creating breathtaking views. During the day, however, the streets were dark and it was easier to see the concrete jungle that had been created by people. Still, I thought the view at night was worth the view during the day. Suddenly, Abby stopped. We stood by the window, I looked out at the grubby, paved streets that surrounded the hotel. It wasn't much of a sight.

   Abby slapped my arm, hard. "Ow! What the hell?!" I pulled my arm away from her, looking at her with an expression that could've only been described as something between confusion and anger. "What was that for?" I laughed slightly, knowing Abby hadn't meant to hurt me, she was just excited.

   "What happened with you and Calum?" She questioned, a huge smile plastered on her face. 'Should I lie?' I asked myself. Then I noticed where Abby's eyes had wandered. They rested on my neck, gazing at the large, prominent bruise given to me by none other than the Calum Hood. I groaned, knowing I would have to explain the situation to her. She wouldn't leave me alone until I did.

   "Well..." I told her about the event. I left out some details, because I didn't want to be vivid and I assumed Abby would be smart enough to fill in any blanks herself. She listened quietly though the whole story, smiling softly at some times and gasping at others. Her eyes were filled with multiple expressions, but the two I most recognized were excitement, and approval.

   "Oh my god!" She hugged me tightly, forcing the air out of my lungs. "I'm so happy for you!" She squealed, jumping up and down. Then she stopped, sudden terror filling her eyes. "How're you gonna explain this to your mom?" She puzzled. She gritted her teeth and looked at the hickey on my neck again. "You've gotta hide that. And with its size, it's not gonna be easy." She reached into the purse that hung at her side, pulling out a bottle of concealer. She held it out to me. "You're gonna need some of this." I laughed at her, then opened the concealer and placed some on my neck. I used the window as a mirror while I blended it with my skin, making sure to cover the entire bruise. It almost completely disappeared. Almost.

   "Thanks Abby." I smiled gratefully at my friend. She grinned back, placing the concealer back in her purse. "So what's going on with you and Michael?" I asked, winking awkwardly. She laughed, then blushed.

   "We get along really well. He's super cool and even cuter than I thought he was before. Plus he's super tall and a really good hugger." She teetered on her toes. Her face lit up when she talked about him. "We're gonna hang out tomorrow, just the two of us." She said, looking me in the eye with an expression of pure happiness on her face. "We're gonna watch Forrest Gump and he's gonna try to teach me to play guitar."

   "I'm so excited for you!" I squealed, smiling at her. She giggled and took her phone out of her pocket.

   "Pizzas here. We should go back." She turned and I followed suit. We talked about the guys the whole short walk back to the room, laughing and smiling all the way. When we finally got in, the savory aroma of Little Caesars filled the room. I took a deep breath, then sauntered over to Calum, who already had a plate with a slice of pizza waiting for me. Mads and Ashton talked to Luke about something, I couldn't make out their conversation, but I noticed something on Mads' neck. A bruise, two bruises. Three. I counted. Mads had three bruises on her neck, bruises that hadn't been there when I'd left with Calum. My eyes wandered to Ashton, seeing he had one light bruise on his collarbone. My eyes widened and I stifled a laugh. Calum and I hadn't been the only ones getting it on apparently.

   "Thanks." I smiled at Calum, taking a huge bite of the slice of pizza. The flavor of warm cheese mixed with savory tomato sauce and crispy crust danced on my tongue. It was amazing. I took another greedy bite, sitting next to Cal. He chewed his pizza silently for a moment, then looked at me.

   "Do you want to go out tomorrow? Or stay in?" He blushed lightly, and a small grin spread across his face. "Do you want to hang out tomorrow?" He tried again, asking a more neutral question this time. He took a bite of pizza, a satisfied grin filling his face.

   "Sure." I smiled at him warmly. "Always. We could go to a drive-in movie tomorrow night, if that sounds fun..?" I suggested. I'd always wanted to go on a date to a drive-in movie, so I hoped he would like the idea. Danny never had.

   Calum's eyes lit up. "That sounds great!" He mused, smiling happily. I giggled and, making a dangerous move, I leaned forward and planted a quick peck on his lips. Calum seemed taken aback, but happy with the gesture. "I'll pick you up at eight?" He implied.

   "Eight it is." I laughed and took another bite of pizza.

   We stayed with the boys for one or two more hours. I lost track of time. The environment was fun, and everyone felt comfortable with each other. We ended up playing an Australian board game at the boys' request, which Luke won. The whole time we were there was exciting. We played several other games, then finished the night off by watching Frozen. I hadn't always enjoyed that movie, until I saw the boys belting their own renditions to Let it Go at nine-thirty on that particular Friday night. When the movie was over we grabbed our bags and followed Luke down to the van, as he had volunteered to be the designated driver. We said our goodbyes to the rest of the boys, and I hugged Calum, smelling the intoxicating scent of his cologne. The drive to take us home was silent. Abby was dropped off first, then Mads. I was last because I lived the farthest away. Luke turned on the radio to fill the silence, Green Day blasted through the speakers. We were less than five minutes away from my house when Luke said something. "Have you been in love before?" I was flustered by the question, but I answered honestly.

   "Once. I don't think he loved me back though." Luke didn't respond, and we drove in silence one again. He pulled into my driveway, stopping to let me out. Just as I was about to leave, Luke spoke up again.

   "It sucks."

   I grabbed my things and stepped out of the van carefully, muttering a goodbye to Luke. He said nothing, only half-heartedly smiled at me as I closed the passenger door. As he drove away the words he'd said echoed in my mind. 'It sucks.' I didn't understand what he'd meant, but I didn't think to much of it as I stumbled into the house. It was almost ten o' clock at night. I showered, throwing on the pajamas I'd worn the night before,a don climbed into bed, grabbing my phone. Buzz buzz. I looked at the screen. A blocked number was calling me. I swiped to accept the call. "Hey. Cara?" My heart sunk to the bottom of my chest.

   "Danny?"