pen pals // c.t.h.

two come together to bake a cake

** december 20 **

I punch Calum in the arm and say, "So have you had any girlfriends?"

"No." He says. He's definitely lying. He is kidding right? He is hot, he is nice, he is everything a girl could want. "I'm not exactly a ladies man at my school." He tell me, laughing to himself.

"How?"

"What do you mean "how"? I mean, look at me!" He exclaims.

"You're hot, you're the nicest person in the world, you're talented; you've got the whole package." Calum smiles at me before looking down at his lap.

"You're the fucking cutest." He tells me. I imitate what he did when I complimented him; I smile at him and then look down at my lap, my cheeks bright red. Although I cant see my cheeks, I feel the warmth of my cheeks getting warmer and warmer.

"We should bake a cake!" Calum exclaims out of nowhere.

I've never had a cake for any of my birthdays. My mom doesnt know how to bake and she doesnt like me enough to go out and buy one for me. I've only ever had cake once. Once at my friend's birthday party.

"Nah." I tell Calum. I dont need a cake to enjoy my birthday, having Calum here is good enough for me.

"Yes! You need to have a cake for your birthday."

"Cake isnt necessary."

"Well, now that I'm here it is." Calum says like a little kid. Calum takes my hand in his and takes me down the stairs with him. A chill runs down my back. He takes me into my kitchen and looks down at his hand holding mine.

He awkwardly lets go of my hand and looks down at the tile floor. "I- uh - sorry for like, you know, um, holding your - uh - hand." My response is just a chuckle because of how awkward he sounds.

"Calum, it's fine." I tell him, still laughing slightly. "Anyways, I wasnt complaining, was I?" Calum looks up at me and smiles like an adorable little kid.

"What type of cake should we make?" Calum asks me, giddily. I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him from jumping, and he does.

"Calum, seriously I dont need a cake. Having you here is already good enough."

I dont understand why he wants me to have the best birthday ever. It's just a birthday. I've never had big, amazing birthdays and it never bothered me then, so it doesnt bother me now. I dont need something big and great for turning one year older. Having Calum here is a birthday present all on its own.

"I want you to have the best birthday that you've ever had." Calum tells me, with a serious look on his face.

"Why do you care so much about me having such a great birthday?"

"Because good people deserve good things. And you havent been treated right in the past 17 years of your life. So I'm going to treat you the right way; the way you deserve to be treated." Calum says, as if he is lecturing me.

"Thank you." I pause to look up at his tall frame. "For everything."

"Dont thank me until after we see how this cake goes." He says, already taking ingredients out.

"Do you bake, Calum?"

"Nope." He says, continuing to take out more ingredients. How does he even know where all of our food is?

"Do you know what ingredients you need to bake a cake?"

"Nope!" He repeats. I mentally facepalm myself. This should be fun.

●

Calum and I are about 30 minutes in to baking the cake and were still mixing ingredients. Calum ended up getting only one correct ingredient so we had to redo the whole batter mixture and grab the correct ingredients. We ended up pulling up an oreo cake recipe because Calum and I are both Oreo fanatics. Also because that's the only one we have the correct ingredients for.

"Hey Ainslee." Calum calls for me.

I turn around to look at him. The next thing I know, my whole face is covered in flour. He wants to play that game, then I will play it too. I grab an egg from the refrigerator as Calum is still laughing his ass off at me, not paying attention to what I am doing. I hide the egg behind my back and pretend to have something in my eye.

"Ow, Calum it got in my eye!" I holler out in fake pain. "It's burning!" He immediately stops laughing and comes over to me. He starts rubbing the flour off of my face with a wet towel and apologizes continuously while doing so. I try my hardest not to laugh at him.

"Im so, so sorry. I wont ever do it again, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm so, so, so sorry."

"Calum, it's fine. Because now I can do this!" I say, preparing to hit the egg on his head.

"Wait wha-" He stops talking when he feels the hit of the egg on his head.

I start laughing my ass off and fall on the floor. The yolk slipped down his head slowly, now moving down his face. Calum spits out some when it goes in his mouth and wipes his nose.

"You know Ainslee, that was pretty good but you have to remember: I have more height and weight than you. I could just tackle you and you'd be done for." He says, inching closer to me as I am still on the floor, laying on my back.

"No, No, No Calum; you'll crush me." I say backing away from him on the floor, sliding myself backwards.

"That's sad. Nice knowing you, hun." He says, before laying right on top of me. I literally can't breathe. He is laying on me like I am a literal bed.

"Calum, please get off. This is extremely uncomfortable. Can we please just bake the cake like normal people?"

"Oh sorry. Do you want me to change positions to make it less uncomfortable?" Calum asks, with a smirk on his face. He knows what he is doing. Calum changes his position to laying on me , stomach down.

"Ugh, Calum that really doesnt help!" I yell out.

"You look even prettier when I'm closer to you." He says. I look at him closely. His face is so uniquely beautigul. Every inch of his face is so intrigueing, and its like a drug to look at it; addicting.

What the hell am I saying?

*Calum's pov*

I've never felt closer to Ainslee. She is like art in a museum, a piece that is so captivating in every way, something that you never want your eyes to stray away from.

Her eyes look even more beautiful upclose. There are little bits of blue in her eyes; the bits of blue are tiny but they are definitely visible, well, if you're this close to her. She has very faint freckles on nose and some on her cheeks. Her lips are so plump and seem so gentle.

I bet she's a good kisser.

"I should get off of you now, shouldn't I?" She nods her head slowly , seeming as if she isnt really listening to me and she is in her own world.

I get up and bring her up with me. "Let's finish this cake now." She says, smiling with rosy cheeks.

"Yeah, let's do it."