Blue Skies

Chapter 8 [Calumn]

Chapter 8 [Calumn]

Author’s Note: Like how Calumn is tired and has a headache and whatnot, so do I , so this chapter is shorter and it’s not that well written, but I’m trying to shove some plot in here, sorry. I promise the next will be better c:

I suggested to Abelia that after we got out of detention, she should treat me to ice cream for losing our little “bet”. Reluctantly and surprisingly, she agreed. So as it was then promised, we left together to the ice cream parlor right after detention had ended.

As we walked out the detention room together, I had walked out first, and a small figure a little down the hall had caught my eye. Was it…? It couldn’t be…could it? oh no.

Down the hall, currently walking straight towards me was Annie Wends. I don’t know why I felt nervous or anything since we were never ‘together’, but she made it feel like it, and that made me feel uncomfortable. She waved her hand high in the air to say hello, and I waved back a little with half the enthusiasm. I spun around to face Abelia, trying to come up with something really quick so me and Annie could talk in private really quick. It was about time that I got her off my back.

“Hey, you go to your locker first and I’ll meet you at the back entrance of the school, alright? Don’t go away – I still want that ice cream, remember?”

My grin was smug and she rolled her eyes and nodded, heading back to wherever her locker happened to be. I’m glad that my smile always paid off as something that would be able to hide whatever anxiousness or over-energy I had.

Just moments after Abelia had disappeared down the hallway, Annie appeared in front of me.

“Hey Cal! I just had my student council meeting so I was already staying afterschool, but then some guys in the corridors were mentioning your little trick with Mrs. Wilbur. You’re hilarious, sneezing like that!”

She pinched my cheeks as she said the last part, all again with too much enthusiasm and a squeaky-pitched voice. I rubbed my left cheek as she removed her hand and giggled, leaving me wondering if I was having a nightmare or did she really just call me “Cal”.

I might as well get this over with now, like pulling off a band-aid, right? It might hurt immediately after, but it’ll be just fine later on. Or something like that.

“Annie, I’m not called ‘Cal’ and I’ve just started making contact with you around a month ago. We basically met one month ago.”

“Well, I think the name ‘Cal’ is cute. It suites you. And are you saying what I think you are? One month anniversary!”

My mouth hung open, wanting to smack myself on the forehead. I thought she was the perfect smart girl, emphasis on the ‘smart’. Did she really only gain that reputation because she memorized things and took notes in order to get perfect grade? Was I really this delusional?

“Annie. I’m not. Your boyfriend. I don’t think I should even consider myself as a friend!  I don’t even like you!”

Now it was her turn to have her mouth wide open. She looked like I had just told her I murdered her dog and ate it. How did she even have the thought that I was her boyfriend when me, the “boyfriend”, didn’t even know about it? Why are we currently repeating the word “boyfriend” so much? My life felt like a horrible cliché chick flick soap opera that my grandmother loved to watch, and I just wanted to get out of here.

OUCH.

Annie slapped me. Annie SLAPPED me. Why? I didn’t do anything wrong. I said what was on my mind and what was on my mind was the truth. Well, maybe in Heinz sight I really should’ve have said the ‘I don’t even like you part’, but I thought we had talked this through. I thought we were on the same page – that is, until I saw how hurt Annie was. She was staring at the floor and she tears were dropping down from her eyes onto the floor. Yes, some girls can be melodramatic and I really should just ignore them before they drag me into an even stickier situation, but I just didn’t have the heart.

“Look, long story short I thought you were a different girl. Not as in I expected more from you, but I was just trying to find someone, but I don’t know what her name is and. Well, this is actually quite a long story. Something like Cinderella, I guess.”

My hand still resting on my cheek - which was still quite red – I decided that I needed to take back soon what I had said before in the heat of the moment. I wanted to fix whatever happened, and I didn’t want to make anymore stupid mistakes or rash decisions again. Or something like that; I was honestly just so tired and confused that I didn’t even know what to do anymore.

“I get that I’m that one girl that nobody likes and I obviously had my hopes up too high this time.”

“Annie, I swear I didn’t mean it like that – “

“I hate the way people put so much pressure on me because they think I’m perfect, but I feel like I’m going to crack from all the pressure. I hate how everyone uses me for homework and leaves, even if I know I look like I have a lot of friends and connections. I just thought maybe you weren’t going to leave like everyone else – but I was wrong. So I’m sorry. I’m sorry for getting my hopes up and for wasting your time and having all these stupid ideas in my head and –“

“Annie. Stop. Please.”

Tears were cascading down her face and her hands were balled up like fists against her shirt. She could hardly control her harsh breathing, and it looked like she wasn’t going to calm down anytime soon. Puffy eyes and hoarse throat, she looked like a mess. She had told me why she was insecure; she had revealed something important to her. That meant that she was vulnerable as ever, but that didn’t stop her from trying to pick up the broken words that she had spilled out of her heart.

“I’m sorry that I’m not always perfect that people have always wanted me to be, and I’m sorry I’m not real. I’m not real because I don’t think I could ever afford to be anymore. I’m sorry for bothering you and I’m sorry for pretending to be something that I wasn’t.”

Annie looked genuinely hurt, and I wasn’t even aware that I would have such a big effect on her. It never struck me that although she wasn’t the person I had thought she’d be, she would be so fragile already. I wasn’t even sure if I was one of the reasons she was crying and ranting until she had spoken again. This time, her voice was soft and she no longer sounded desperate, angry, or bitter.

“I don’t have any friends. And now I have one less.”

I don’t know why I didn’t do anything, but I stood there and watched her walk away from me, just as Abelia watched me do the wrong thing from down the hall.