Right Now

10.

"Emily, Emily. Wake the hell up, girl." His words cut through my peaceful sleep and I glare at him as I open my eyes. I look at my alarm clock and see that is is four in the morning.

"Calum, what?" I moan as I roll back into a ball and press my forehead to his bare shoulder.

"I'm pretty sure your mom just got home." He says and his voice sounds as raspy as mine does.

"So? She never checks in on me, you're fine." I say and close my eyes again. His hand taps my waist and I sigh.

"Oh really? That's the thing, I'm certain she is here, because she opened your bedroom door." He says and I sit up straight and look at him in the dark.

"You are absolutely sure?" I ask him quietly and he nods. "Oh, god. I'll deal with it in the morning. It'll be okay." I say, sighing and I lay back down. He faces me and I sigh softly, trying to find sleep again.

"She isn't going to hurt me in the morning, is she? I mean, I'm sure she is upset about you lying already, but I don't want to make it worse." He says and I shake my head, curling my arm around my pillow.

"Couldn't possibly." I mumble. "Go to sleep, Calum."

"So pissy. Goodnight." He says and moves a little closer to me and I can feel his body heat, which in my dazed and sleepy state, it lulls me closer to him and to sleep. Before I know it, we are wrapped around each other and I am falling asleep again.

***

"You don't date?" Michael asks as he follows me down the hall to my first hour class. "How do you not?" I have no idea where this subject came up, but I'm not entirely into having the conversation.

"It's easy, you just don't like another person and you don't date them, was that hard to figure out?" I ask him and we stand outside my classroom.

"I'm not stupid. But, have you ever had a boyfriend? Like, a real boyfriend?" He asks me. The conversation was originally about Calum, but quickly got off topic, and like I said, not to into it.

"Well, yeah. But... they were kind of... bad relationships or they lasted a week, so I stopped trying." I say and shrug.

"How long has it been?" He asks.

"Three or four years?" I say, questioning myself.

"What? You let one or two horny little boys ruin relationships for you?" He asks, as if this is an unbelievable, ignorant thing.

"That, and I'm not good with it. It's weird. Not good with staying with others for too long. Things get too serious too quickly and I don't like it. And I'm just not... experienced... in anything guys want from me."

"That's why you get experience." He says and sighs. "You can't expect to be good at something you've never done. That's ridiculous."

"Not interested." I say blandly.

''So, you basically have commitment issues?" He asks.

"I never said that." I say, shaking my head.

"So you can't even commit to your own commitment issues." Michael says.

"I didn't say that either." I say and frown.

"But I did. Calum is the same way. Only he likes to fuck and then go." He says and I scowl

"Good for him." I mutter lowly and then take baby steps into the classroom. "Goodbye, keep your mouth shut or it'll be bad. You don't want this right hook, Mikey." I say and smile. He chuckles and walks on.

I spot my friends in the back. Ashton has his back to me and Lyle and Gorgy keep quiet as I sneak up on him. I jump on his back and he immediately goes to support me. ''You think you're sneaky, babe, but you're not." He says and I pout.

''Bullshit. That was stealthy as hell." I say and he laughs. I jump down and he puts and arm around my shoulder, giving me the quick hug a need to be reassured he isn't angry with me. I'm glad he isn't, I don't know what I'd do if he was. We all sit and the door busts open and everyone jumps at him. A teacher stands there with Calum by the sleeve, slinging him inside. "He is your problem now." He says and leaves.

"I swear to God and everything that may exist that I didn't do anything." Calum says seriously, nodding his head and the grumpy man in the front sighs, nodding toward a desk. Calum looks around at the empty desks in the room. There is one next to me, and I go to wave him over, but he looks at me, rolls his eyes and sits in the front, leaving me confused. I slump in my seat and listen to the droning of the lesson with my arms crossed.

"Lett's all have a good day, yeah?" Ashton says sarcastically and I know he is irritated with Calum, too.

The day drags on painfully slow and I am dreading science. I really hate dissecting. I lean on the wall outside the class, several minutes late, but I couldn't care less. I take a deep breath and I open the door and I walk in, the teacher turning to me with raised eyebrows. He is passing out the many lab coats. This is a process that should make us feel 'professional', but I feel disgusted. Even more so when I see baby pigs instead of frogs. ''Take your seat, Miss Chase."

"Gross." I mutter to myself.

I slowly walk over and see Calum staring down at it. "Are ready to get this over with?" He asks me and he looks as if someone has punched him. He glances up and then suddenly smirks, an evil look crossing his fine features for a split second.

He takes the project by the legs and lifts it. "Wanna touch it?" He asks, walking toward me and I back up, feeling like I could vomit. ''C'mon." He says again and I shake my head.

"Calum, stop it,"' I say, feeling freaked out. He does it again and I scowl. "Stop it." I say louder. His deep brown orbs darken more and he tosses it to me, it flies in the air and hits my chest. I scream slightly and I move away, glaring at him. "You're such an asshole." I say lowly.

"I was only joking. Gonna tell your boyfriend?" He ask tauntingly with a smirk and I run from the classroom to bathroom.

I look in the mirror and I scowl. I raise my fist and I punch the wall as hard as I can, imagining it is his stupid, smirking face as I hit it a second time.

***

At lunch, I sit at the table quietly. Luke, Michael, and Calum sit across from my three friends as I show up and they all seem to be getting along.

I don't say a word, but that doesn't keep Gorgy from talking to me. She looks super excited and she grabs my hands. I gasp softly and pull away from her. My right hand is bruised and my knuckles a little cut up. Repeatedly hitting a wall isn't the smartest thing I've ever done and I regret it deeply, but Calum just makes me so mad. He was so bipolar.

"What's the matter with you?" She asks, taking my hands and pushing up the sleeves, gasping. "Okay wow, what happened to you?"

"I got my hand slammed in a locker in the rush hour traffic in the hallway," I say and laugh it off. "People don't really pay attention to what they are doing." Ashton and Lyle are looking at my hand, but neither boys say a word to me, they just give me worried faces.

Calum moves from his previous position and takes my hand gently in his. He brings my busted hand to his lips and lightly kisses it. His lips are cool and they bring a slight relief to me.

His face, his eyes, his body language, this all says how sorry he is, even if he doesn't say the words. "Are you okay?" He asks and I feel my face heat as everyone stares at us intently. He catches into this and frowns. "You need to start watching where you're stepping and what you're doing," He says. He gives me a judgmental look that tells me he doesn't believe me.

"I'm fine, Calum." I say, angry with him again and he can tell, so he only nods. He doesn't release my hand immediately and I don't make him, but I imagine it slamming into his face, but he continues to hold it.