Chapter 21 :
Stephanie's POV
It was Saturday night, and I was absolutely bored. My parents had taken away my laptop, Xbox, TV, and any other source of happiness in my life... Well, except for my cellphone. I needed that to keep in contact and I promised not to use social media or whatever. My parents were stupid enough to think that I'd actually not use social media just because they told me not to.
I was supposed to be going over Michael's, but I couldn't really leave the house without being caught. So, once again, Michael and I came up with a sneaking out plan. The only plotwist was that instead of Michael picking me up, Calum was.
I was currently wearing black sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt. I was finally ready for the boys to see me not dressed up. Michael had given me a lot of confidence in how I looked wearing shitty clothes when he saw me in them, so I was sure Calum wouldn't mind.
My phone buzzed, and I opened the new message I had just gotten,
on my way, be ready. make sure you write the note for your family before you leave. x
I smiled, silently thanking Calum for reminding me about the note.
Okay, so basically, the plan was that Calum would pick me up once I told him my family was asleep, and I would write a note and place it on the counter for tomorrow morning when my dad wakes up. The note claims that I went to the store early to grab some shampoo so that I could shower. It might fail if someone decides to get up for a midnight snack, and I might even get my phone taken away. But that's a chance I'm willing to take.
I wrote the note, and grabbed my bag I was bringing to the boys' house, then went downstairs. Once the note was planted on the kitchen counter, I heard my phone buzz, alerting me that Calum was here.
I went outside, and almost groaned at the sight before me. Ashton was in the car, along with Calum. I took a deep breath, then walked steadily to the car. Just don't let him bother you, Stephanie.
The warm night breeze hit my pale skin, making it tingle as I walked over to the car. It was a perfect night. I opened the back car door, greeting both Calum and Ashton.
Surprisingly, Ashton actually said 'hello' back without seeming like a complete dick. Calum must've given him a lecture...
The car was silent and awkward, so I went on my phone, opening up Twitter. I haven't touched Twitter or Instagram for about a week or two, which was quite a shocker. I guess I never had anything to post really.
I was shocked when I came on though, to see how many people had followed me. Why the hell do I have so many followers and tweet notifications? I looked through them all, and noticed they were all 5sos fanpages. I was confused for a minute, until I saw someone tweet a picture and I opened it up.
Those girls Calum and I met on the street had indeed posted the pictures of us holding hands somewhere, and now everyone knew we were dating. Some of the feedback was negative, which I was one hundred percent fine with, I mean, I'm dating their idol, they're allowed to be mad. But the positive feedback made me smile.
"Calum, did you see all these nice fans that are supporting our relationship?" I asked, breaking the silence.
Calum shifted uncomfortably when I had mentioned our relationship, Jesus, why did he act so weird whenever I talked about 'us' or tried to kiss him?
"Yeah, it's uh, it's great." Calum said awkwardly, and it made me even more comfused. He didn't sound happy at all.
The three of us, Calum, Ashton, and I, all got out of the car and went inside their LA house. The familiar building brought a sense of calmness to me.
Instantly, Michael popped out of the bathroom, looking content with himself.
"Hi Steph," Michael grinned, and I nodded in response to him, too lazy to talk.
The boys took me to the living room, and we were all sitting on the couch, watching TV. Surprisingly, once again, Ashton hadn't made one rude remark. As a matter of fact, he was sitting with us at the moment.
"This show is stupid!" I said, getting sick and tired of watching Extreme Couponers, "I'm going to the bathroom."
I got up and went into the first bathroom I could find, as I still wasn't used to this house yet. Right as I entered the bathroom, my phone buzzed. I opened the text, leaning against the now closed bathroom door.
'I know you're grounded, but do you wanna hang out tonight?'
It was a text from Marissa. I hadn't talked to her in ages! Hell, I'd totally forgotten she existed!
'Uhhh, not really. im grounded and want to stay home anyways :/ sorry!'
She started typing, and it took her awhile to finally send the message.
'Oh bullshit! i know youre probably out fucking hanging out with the 5sos boys! im not stupid stephanie! you totally ditched me for them every weekend! you dont even talk to me in school anymore! youre always on your phone at lunch, sitting at some random table. one time, i even saw that you were texting someone named michael on your contacts.'
My breathing stopped, and I felt my heartbeat quicken even though I wasn't taking in oxygen. How did Marissa know this? This wasn't good. Hell, this was terrible.
'How do you know im with them?'
'Bc theres pictures of you and calum/michael that release everytime i try to ask you to hangout. i cant even trust you anymore! i mean, telling me that you were hanging out with them instead of me wouldve hurt, but at least you werent fucking lying! im sorry, but i dont know if i can be friends with a liar who probably doesnt even want to be my friend anymore.'
I felt tears slide down my cheeks. No, no this couldn't be happening. It was never supposed to turn out like this. It's all wrong, this is all wrong!
'Marissa im so sorry please dont do this'
'Whats done is done. bye stephanie.'
After reading that text, I realized how stupid I had been. But then again, I think that Marissa was over-exaggerating this a bit. Sure, I'd lied to her a couple times, but I think she went this far because she was a bit jealous.
Although I know Marissa had overexaggerated, I knew this was serious. My bestest friend in the entire world was gone. She left. Our friendship is no more. My tears were falling down continuesly, not even halting for a second.
My best friend. My best friend.
Gone.
