the month of freedom [c.h]

4.5

"I can't believe you're serious about this." I scoff, looking over at the cars lined up. Calum had his arms wrapped around my chest, as if that was to calm me down or something, and one of his hands was playing with my hair. What I really needed to calm me down was a roll up or something; but we couldn't do that out here, so cigarettes were all I have, "You gotta be careful."

"I'm not just gonna be careful babe," Calum smirks, moving my face to look at his, "I'm gonna win this."

"And what exactly do you win?" I take a drag from the cigarette.

He smirks, brushing some hair from my face, "Big money."

I smile at him wryly. Proving to him that I wasn't afraid of him getting hurt, or worse dead, was proving to be more difficult than I first anticipated. The possibilities of what could happen to him were going over in my brain again and again. But I also knew he wanted to win the money badly - and have the adrenaline rush. I kind of wanted it too. 

"Who you up against?" I ask, cocking my head.

He shrugs slightly, biting the insides of his cheeks. The sun is setting on the side of his face and one of his brown eyes is lit up. I fight the urge to touch his face, but I really, really want to. His lips are also more plump than usual, more enticing for me. I really want to kiss him. 

I drop the cigarette to the floor as we walk towards Calum's car. Ashton, whom I didn't know had anything to do with cars, was fixing it up for him, a spanner hanging loosely in his hand. He smiled at me slightly, waving one hand as we walk up. Michael, who had been talking to girls the whole time since arriving, was holding Calum's gear - a helmet. The only thing he was fucking wearing was a helmet. A fucking helmet. Was he kidding?

"You're only wearing that thing?" I throw my hands towards the helmet in Michael's hand.

He holds up his arms, "Hey, apparently the other guy isn't wearing anything. I'm the one being safe here."

"If you wanted to be safe then you wouldn't be taking part in a stupid drag race - we have the money." 

"Don't fucking shout at me, Frankie. This is not the time. If you wanted to be safe then you shouldn't have come, in fact, you shouldn't have even signed up for this shit."

People are glaring at us now while some just seem downright confused. I'm a little confused too, his attitude is totally off and different. I feel embarrassed and ashamed though, shrinking into myself as Calum snatches the helmet from Michael and puts it on.

Ashton seems sympathetic to the cause and cocks his head at me, miming something I can't get because my eyes are blurry with tears. I wipe them away before anyone see's them.

"Who's going to be in there with me?" Calum asks, teeth gritted together. His eyes scan the small crowd of us on his side and no one puts there hand up, prompting what I'm going to do further. This wouldn't be a month of freedom if I didn't take the plunge right?

Before I can stop myself I'm taking a helmet from one of Michael's friends and placing it on my head. Calum is shouting in the back, along with some people murmuring, and I can already tell that he'll be angry when he gets into the car. 

"What are you doing?" Calum asks, slamming the door shut behind him, "I thought you said this was dangerous."

"And it is - but I'm not letting you do it alone. Besides, you must think I'm some type of scaredy-cat for being so against this. I'm not Calum." I roll my eyes, adjusting the helmet.

"I didn't think you-" Calum is interrupted by Ashton knocking on the door, whispering something I'm too far to hear. I'm guessing that we're starting because the car starts revving up and I'm able to see directly into the car next to us. My heart sinks then. My body going stiff as Calum mumbles things under his breath. I thought he was gone for good. Apparently, I was wrong.