Right Now

39

I sit in the cafeteria that Tuesday and Whitney announces plans, a schedule already in place.

"Okay, there is no backing out of this. We are doing these all on the weekends, so please try and clear out your oh-so busy lives because they now revolve around this," She says and smiles. "I think we only need three more of these big ones before we have the money. Saturday night at seven we have an auction. The few of you that are good enough to be auctioned will be listed at the main office. The rest will be listed as the help." She says and Calum shifts closer to me. They auction was Ashton's idea, after the stupid show he has been watching. All the boys were there against their will, me and Ashton had made them join.

"Are you the help?" He asks me and lays his head on my shoulder, his hand moving to my thigh.

"Not exactly." I say and smile at him.

"What? Some creepy guy is gonna get to buy my lady?" He asks with a disgusted look.

"Someone gets to buy you, too, loverboy. Put your big muscles and grumpy attitude to work." I say and poke his nose, causing him to scowl.

"We have a music competition. Band or Bust. This is the following Monday, since we are off that day. That means you all have a week to get your shit together, spread the word and sign up. Then the usual bake sale and games, boring, yeah, but it'll be Sunday after parade prep." She says an drones on about the rules and the set up and I look at Calum.

"Band or Bust, Mr. Big Superstar? How are you feeling about that?" I ask him.

"Excited." He says and smiles.

"So am I, especially after I saw you at your practice." I say. I was a little let down when they didn't play the song Ash spoke about, but wow. They are all amazing together. They were laughing, and joking, and you would almost think they're all brothers. It was amazing, like they'd all been friends for years and it felt like I was watching from behind a screen.

"What about you and your little coffee shop voice?" He asks me and we are dismissed from the meeting.

"That's all it is, and that's where it'll stay," I say and kiss his cheek. "Besides, it's your time to shine. Wouldn't want me to swoop in and steal all your fame with my devilish good looks and angelic voice."

"Oh, really? I doubt you could, I'm the best." He chuckles and I smile.

After it's time for us to leave, we walk down the hall and he holds my hand in his. I've been keeping an eye out for Charlie since he didn't show up yesterday and I haven't seen or heard from him since he spoke to me in town.

"I love you, but I've gotta go." I say and he pouts.

"Just come to my class. No one will notice." He says and pulls me in the other direction. I knew I should tell him about the switch soon, but for some reason I felt like never mentioning it. I wasn't sure how he would react.

"Cal, I'm gonna be late," I say and smile. "See you later for puppers?" I ask him and he nods.

I walk around the corner and come to face Gorgy, who looks down at her chipped nails and I look at her red, puffy eyes. "Hey." She says and brushes a strand of her hair out of her eyes.

"Hi?" I say.

"Look, Em, I've been thinking... And I want to say I'm sorry. You know, for ending things the way I did. I haven't been myself. I thought I wanted something different," She says and looks at me. "But I was wrong."

"Why are you saying this to me? We all know what I'm going to do. Try Ashton and Lyle, remember those two? Make good with them and maybe we can talk." I say and walk way from her. I enter the classroom and I smile at one of those boys. Lyle was already gone.

***

I walk out of my last class and I smile at Calum, who is standing across the hall, I smile back and walk over. "Hello, loverboy." I say and give him a slow kiss.

"Is that gonna become a thing, loverboy, I mean? Should I start calling you Emmy?"

"Oh no, hey guess what? Prom is on two weeks." I say and he pushes me back with a small grin.

"Who are you going with?" He asks with a small grin.

"Well, this guy kind of asked me a while ago. He its tall, dark and handsome. I think I might fuck, but I haven't made up my mind yet." I say and wink.

"He sounds incredibly lucky." Calum says and kisses my lips softly.

"Emily.'' I hear behind me and sigh, leaning my head in his chest.

"Go on and talk to the moron, get rid of him." He says and pushes me a few inches away from him, I reach for him but he pushes my hands away.

"Calum-"

"You won't lose cool points with me, go away." He says and I scowl up at him.

"Cool points? Are you kidding? Don't even do that." I shake my head and roll my eyes, his sudden change making me agitated with him.

"Don't do that." He says, talking about the eye rolling he hated so much. "I'll be outside. You know, by your boyfriend's car, remember him?" He asks me and I huff.

"Quit it, dude, for real." I say and this earns me a smile. He pulls me closer and kisses me roughly. He hugs me in a more gentle way and I know he is glaring at Charlie, I can practically feel it.

"What? Not even good enough for you to cuss at, am I?" He asks.

"Go away, I love you." I say. He nods and walks down the hallway.

I turn and look at Charlie. He waves at me and I walk over, sighing and crossing my arms. "I said no already, what do you want?" I cross my arm and he sighs.

"What? I can't say hi anymore?" He asks and I only shake my head. "Whatever, tell me if you finally wanna talk." He walks off.

"Ew, what did he want? Probably to get his ass beat." I turn and see Ashton. I smile at him and he puts his arm around my shoulders. "So, I had a nice talk with Gorgy." He says.

"Yeah?" I ask him and he nods. "I know, she talked to me, too."

"Yep, she wanted to be friends. I calmly and kindly told her to never speak to me again because I am happy without her as a friend. A lot happier than I was. What did you tell her?" He asks and I sigh, shaking my head.

"Make good with my boys and I'd think about it, but I'm not gonna want that again. I miss her, but people change, right?" I ask and he smiles.

"Exactly right. Some change is good though. I'll see you, though, I gotta run."

"Bye." I say and walk out after our very brief talk.

I walk over to Calum and lean on the car beside him. "What took you so long?" He asks. I take his sunglasses off and put them on myself.

"I talked to Ashton, too. Gorgy wants to be friends with us again. He said he kindly told her to never talk to him again." 

"Basically told her to piss off?" He chuckles and I nod.

"Come on, I wanna go somewhere." I say, tugging on him.

"What about the shelter?" He asks me.

I move and stand between his legs, pulling his face to mine by his collar. "I think Leo will understand if I'm a little late. Besides, I have better things to do than walk a couple puppies." I say and he chuckles. 

"I think I've corrupted you." He says and I smirk.

"And?" I say and he kisses me.

"God, you're amazing." He says.

"Yeah, I know. Take me home, first. I want to say bye to my mom before she leaves." I hoping into his car. I stare at him as he gets behind the wheel and I can't help but smile to myself.