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My family had been family friends with the Hoods since we first moved. One thing that I still didn’t quite get was exactly how little I knew about the youngest member of the family, Calum.
Being a year older than me, I’d expected to have more in common with him and be better friends with him than I was now. In fact, I can’t remember hardly speaking two words to the boy, while his sister and I got quite close. I saw Mali as the older sister I’d never had and his parents as a second set to my own. I didn’t quite understand why he was never around and why I never saw him, even though we went to the same school.
As I got older, Joy offered me a job at her flower shop, which I gladly accepted. I loved being around flowers, and around Joy even more, so it hardly seemed like work to me. Nearing the beginning of my senior year, Joy began to allow me to work in the shop alone, which actually disappointed me a little bit. I looked forward to working with her and hearing her jokes and having her bring in her homemade tea.
So, one day during mid September, I was sitting alone at the counter doing so Calculus since it was a particularly slow day. I absolutely hated math, but for some reason I understood it slightly more than the majority of my peers. I’d been pressured by my counselor to take Calc my senior year, and while I slightly regretted it, I knew it would help in my college acceptances.
The bell rang above my, signaling that someone was entering the shop. I quickly looked up, but was unable to see who was entering due to the tall ficus obstructing my view. I walked around the counter looking for who came in, and was met with a mop of brown hair, tan skin, and visible tattoos. I relaxed upon realizing it was just Calum, but also tilted my head curiously wondering what he could be doing here. He seemed to be feeling out of place as he froze where he was and just stood there for a moment before clearing his throat and looking at me.
“Is my mom not here?” he asked, and I was surprised to hear that his voice was no longer the higher tone that I remembered last hearing, but a much lower decibel that sounded slightly dangerous. I shook my head at him.
“No, I’ve been running the shop alone recently,” I told him, trying not to sound too confused as to why he was here. In all the years I’d worked here, Calum had never once visited the shop to see his mom.
Instead of leaving and going in another pursuit of his mom, he rolled his eyes and scoffed, muttering something along the lines of “figures” under his breath. He walked over to the counter which I was still hovering nearby and slung his backpack on the floor, pulling out a stool and sitting on it before getting out his phone and messing around on it. I just stood there and stared at him, wondering what the hell he was doing. He sensed my stare.
