Castaway ➳ cth [EDITING/HIATUS]

Chapter 28

Calum's P.O.V.

- Two days later -

I refused to give the shack a second glance while slowly distancing myself, making a beeline towards the edge of the empty main street.

Two days passed since I encountered June on the other end of the street while walking to Ashton's townhouse. She was together with that Michael guy again, someone I barely knew, yet despised for no valid reason.

Two days passed since my mother completely threw me out of her house.

Nowhere to go, I decided to temporarily move into the old shack Ashton and I used to go to as kids, to play with our Pokémon-cards and little objects we discovered in the deep woods at night. Grieving over the content time of my life I surely will never relive again, I stomp over the muddy pathway that was sticky and wet from yesterday's rain.

Not being aware of how my journey in gonna end, I aimlessly paced along the pavement of the main street, the sky turned almost lilac, the sun setting in the horizon.

Absent-minded, I tightened the straps of my dark purple backpack and bit the inside of my cheek. I arrived in front of a wide building I spend seven hours, five days a week only breathing and existing: my High School.

Surely but slowly, my eyes gaze along the townhouses and finally, I realized the city park was located couple feet away from me.

Spending the night in the park wouldn't seem unusual, due to my condition at the moment, but normally, this odd idea would've never cross my senses. But I dismissed the idea as I noticed a rundown shop on the other extreme of the park sandwiched between two fashionable-looking townhouses; appearing quiet out of place in my opinion. I read the pink sign that hung right above the entrance.

Since when did Jorge, the Milkshake-Man, ever had a sign with the name of his shop? Half of my memory seemed to be vanished, deleted off my brain.

Jogging across the park surrounded my tall standing trees, I made sure no car is driving to cross the street.

I hesitated for a good five minutes before setting a foot inside the building.

"Cal Pal! I'm overly glad to see you at this late hour!"

An incredibly enthusiastic man, whom I didn't lock eyes with but the voice made me figure it was Jorge, shifts towards me to embrace me in a brotherly hug, but I barely respond and glued my eyes to the ground, refusing to lift my head.

"Are you alright?" Jorge's voice dropped and became quieter, noticing I wasn't in my usual, friendly mood.

My nose and throat felt clogged, as if an undefined mass was preventing me from breath or speak. It was impossible to apologize for my rude manners such as not returning a simply 'Hello', but as I earlier stated, it's hard to bring a single word out, let alone inhale and exhale properly.

"I can't understand, buddy. The day is wonderful, June is the by far the rainiest month of the year, and it doesn't rain often in Australia."

The mentioning of the word "June" finally hit me, and I sank onto the bar stool, burying my face in my hands and let out a whimper.

The whimper turned to an incontrollable sob, triggering tears to form along my waterline. A burning sensation overwhelmed my eyes and it was impossible to swipe away the salty tears.

Luckily, there were no people around, so I wasn't able to feel embarrassed, although a strange feeling started to expand in my gut area.

"Por dios hijo, tell me what makes you cry", he soothingly says and pats my back, softly removing my hands from my eyes.

Keeping them firmly closed, I brought out an oppressed head shake and continued balling my eyes out, which wasn't as manly, but at that moment I couldn't care less.

At one point I open my eyes and face the glass cabinet right behind the counter, and a boy with messed up dark hair, red, swollen eyes and pale complexion stare back. It was unreal that that boy was me.

"I'm here, Cal. I really don't want to push you into anything, but trust me, you'll feel easier if you let everything, or anything, out. Promised."

Clearing my throat, I proceeded to bring out a forced croak, but there was nothing, as if someone stole my vocal cords.

"I'll get you some water." Jorge stood up and swung himself over the counter, which was kind of odd since he was in his fifties and I never experienced him doing any crazy exercise, and pulls a bottle of water out of the huge fridge.

Gazing at the logo on the water bottle, I nodded a thanking gesture and open the bottle to take slow sips from them. The coolness covered my entire tongue, triggering an uncomfortable coat of goosebumps along my body.

"Thank you." My voice was back, still shaky from the sudden outburst of tears and intertwined my fingers. "It's just... I don't know where to start."

"Is it about that girl, June?"

My forehead crinkled, unknowing why he could suddenly read minds.

He must've seen my face, because he quickly mentions: "You're face when I said 'June is by far the rainiest month'. Not that I said it on purpose or anything."

I force myself to slowly nod, he was right all along. But still, losing the thread when you were ready to tell a story is terrible.

"You know... this guy Ashton?" The mentioning of Ashton changed Jorge's facial expression into an angered one. "This kid, dios mio I despise him. Uneducated, unintelligent, rebellious... his poor sister, how does she handle his awful reputation? Let alone be related to him?"

Shrugging, I continue to speak. "The time he spend in rehab wasn't enough time to repair his crushed soul and mentality. He's still all over June and she found the false accusation of..."

"Still? The poor girl. I ask myself if he will ever stop being a maniac. Don't tell me you interacted with him again!"

There was something outraged lingering in his voice. "He deserves to go back to where he came from. You, my son, you will not talk to this boy ever again." He revealed his protective, fatherly instinct I appreciated a lot. "Drink this up."

He held a cup of freshly mixed strawberry-plum milkshake, my favorite, directly in front of me. "You're not funny like you used to be, and I want to see you happy. Drink it. My milkshakes are full of love and happiness. Main ingredients in my recipe." A warm smile curls his upper lip.

I lay the edge of the plastic up on the bottom of my lips, taking a little sip as I hear the clear ring of the bell over the door. Someone has just entered the shop but it was unclear of who it was. I continued drinking.

Jorge's eyes lock with the person who just came in, and his friendly, welcoming smile washed away.

Noticing his bewildered gaze, I manage to turn around.

The person who just entered could've been straight out of a horror movie. Their skin was covered by dark purple and red bruises, a small cut on the cheek and arm and the usual, long brown hair was partly chopped off on one side, now reaching the shoulder instead the hips.

My sister Miriam.

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(A/N): Sorry for not uploading in like a week, but I was in LA and also, I got a puppy yesterday! His name is Skyler and I had to take care of him the whole day yesterday, but hey... at least one story is updated!

Have a great day and stay tuned! Ally

By the way, this whole book has in total 45 parts and it's exciting because I'll be soon finished with the book, woohoo!