10:53 [calum hood]

13

➸ r i l e y

Weeks passed, and Calum hadn't spoken more than three words to me since the day I gave him another chance.

The weather grew increasingly worse as Christmas approached, and there was a constant buzz at school about winter break plans. When I had tried to approach Calum in the hallway to ask him about what he was planning, all he did was give me a cheeky grin and say, "Be patient, beautiful."

Luke made it his priority to avoid me at all costs. Whenever we did so much as make eye contact, he would spin on his heel and sprint in the opposite direction. Every time this happened--which was quite a lot--I felt a small part of my heart split open. Even though we still sat next to each other in English, he would keep his eyes trained on his paper and wouldn't even glance in my direction, which really stung. Car rides with the boys were very awkward, and I silently pleaded Ashton to turn up the music and praised Michael for talking so much about random things in his life.

On the last day of school before break, the only thing the class was talking about was who was having a Christmas party and who was going on vacation where. I, for one, had no plans whatsoever, considering that Calum was being vague and not speaking to me at all.

It was the day before Christmas Eve when he finally talked to me again. He actually came to my house and serenaded me with a very bad rendition of 'Drunk In Love' before asking me a simple question.

"That was horrid," I deadpanned, but the small smile on my face gave me away.

Calum shrugged, leaning against the doorframe. "I decided to let out my inner Beyonce. It's been trapped inside an eighteen year old body for too long now."

I scoffed. "I'll say."

"Anyway," he continued, ignoring my sarcasm. "Are you busy tomorrow or the day after? I have something big for you and it took me a few weeks to plan it. Sorry if you thought I was ignoring you--trust me, it's been killing me too--but I was afraid of spoiling the surprise. God, I'm such a shitty person. But trust me, this date is going to be the best one you've ever been on. Oh, and you have to pack a lot too, we're staying overnight."

Calum shot me a wink and I laughed at his excitement. "Well I kind of want to spend Christmas with my mom, then I was thinking of going to Ashton's to see the boys for the night."

I actually got the boys presents this year, which made it necessary to go over and present it to them in person. For Ashton, I bought a knock off Fedora hat since he has some weird obsession with them. For Michael, I bought a huge sweater with pizza covered on it, which would surely drive him crazy. As for Luke, I didn't know if I should get him a present or not, but I did anyway because, hell, we were still best friends in my heart. I bought him a huge stuffed penguin and I was sure that he would sleep with it every night.

Calum nodded his head up and down quickly. "I'll have you home by noon, I promise. But I'm stealing you tomorrow at ten, and be prepared for a long ass drive."

I gave him a puzzled look but agreed. A small part of me became excited and I found myself anxiously awaiting for whatever surprises he had in store for tomorrow.

✿❀✿❀✿❀

My phone blared Arctic Monkeys--courtesy of Calum, who got me obsessed--and I woke up startled and dazed. My alarm clock flashed nine am, which meant I had an hour until Calum came to pick me up for our date. I had left a note for my mom on the counter notifying her that I would be away and would return at noon the next day.

I hopped into the shower and scrubbed the dirt off my body before changing into an oversized sweater and leggings. I didn't know if we were doing anything that involved running or hiking today, but I decided I would just wear Vans and throw my hair up into a loose messy bun. After a few strokes of mascara and eyeliner, my outfit for the day was complete.