A Place To Crash // C.A. Calfreezy FF

Chapter 1

Aria's POV

I walked across the hallway, glancing at the door numbers just to make sure I didn't pass through the right one. There it was - flat 1902. I rehearsed some lines in my head again before finally ringing the door. Hopefully, my brother lets me in.

After calling the school administrators, telling them that I was going to drop out, I fixed up all the paper work and ringed my parents. To my surprise - not really - they went batshit. They've always wanted a doctor in the family. My brother, Callum or Lux or Callux or whatever you prefer to call him, was obviously not set for that since he started his YouTube channel. I, on the other hand, thought I could balance both my booming clothing line and studies at the same time but I was wrong. If big old brother could follow his passions, why shouldn't I?

To be fair, I've been thinking about this for a long time. But last night was different. Something was different.

So now, here I am, waiting for someone to open the door. After a few minute, I decided to ring the bell again. Not that I'm complaining though, it's about 1AM so Lux was probably asleep by now. I tried ringing his cell loads of times but it went straight to voicemail.

After a few more minutes, I decided to ring the doorbell ferociously, my temper getting the better of me. Finally, the door opens and it isn't my brother. Flat mate maybe?

"Does Callum McGinley live here?" I ask the brown haired lad. Not to my surprise, he looked annoyed. I would be too if someone was ringing up my flat non stop.

"Yeah, he's out though, he should be coming home soon." He looked over at me, probably trying to label a name. He then glanced down at my luggage bag and curiosity took over his once annoyed face. "Did you want to leave something?"

"Yeah, actually, I'd want to leave myself and my luggage inside." I joked, toying with the innocent boy who was obviously confused.

He just stood there awkwardly as if he couldn't understand English at the moment. I gave up the banter, "I'm his sister you knob."

His eyes were more confused than ever. He probably didn't know, I thought so I took my phone out and showed him some family pictures of me and Lux. After a few more skeptic questions and some proof pictures, he finally let me in and told me to wait in the lounge area.

I sat comfortably, resting my wheelie luggage next to the couch. As I was trying to ring Lux again, a tiny bell chimes, ringing louder and louder as if it was coming closer. Suddenly, something was on my foot. I look down to see a tiny puppy, sniffing my foot as if it was the most intriguing thing ever.

"That's Herb, he's our pup." The boy who warmly welcomed me in the flat says, appearing once again from no where. "I'm Harry, by the way. Sorry for the way I acted a while ago. I was making a video and the doorbell was kind of a distraction. But I just talked to Cal and he said he's coming up right away."

"Oh. Well I'm Aria McGinley." I say, confused as to how he managed to make Cal pick up while I had a hard time trying to call him. "Does he have another cell number-"

Just as I was about to ask Harry a question, the door slams open and dear old brother is there looking like he saw someone get shot. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Kind of a rude reaction, don't you think?" I shoot back. I mean, I get that he wasn't really expecting me to be here right now, but Jesus am I tired of feeling unwanted.

"Oh shit sorry. Hey sis, why are you here in a school night when you should be in uni studying? Also, why are you bringing a luggage bag?" He says sarcastically.

I took in a deep breath before explaining my situation. Lux's face went from mad to concern the moment he found out. He asked me why I dropped out instantaneously since he thought I was doing so well. I lied and said I just felt like it was the right thing to do. Being my brother, he could tell I was lying but he let it slide anyways.

You see, the real reason was way more depressing but I wasn't exactly comfortable in saying it out loud. I was always known to be the loud, outgoing and literally-no-shame-whatsoever girl and being sad and soppy wasn't part of my description. I don't mean it to sound offensive, it's just who I am.

"Well, you can stay in this room for the night while I set up the guest bedroom. Its my pal's room but he won't be back till tomorrow." He says, patting my back. "I'll be in the room across if you need anything."

I thank him before he leaves and rush to a change of clothes. It was almost 3AM now and all I wanted to do was sleep.

*** the next morning ***

I feel myself waking up because of the sound of shuffling going on in the room. Someone was moving across the room and a creaking sound was made, probably opening a drawer. I open my eyes to see another guy, a different one, not the one from last night. Probably the guy who owned the room?

"Oh crap, sorry if I woke you up." He mutters as he tries to move in a quicker pace. He grabbed a handful of things from the drawer, before going straight towards the door.

"Sorry I had to crash on your bed." I blushed, suddenly feeling abashed.

"I'm Callum and that's alright, I always enjoy a girl on my bed." He says with a wink before leaving me disoriented.

Before I could even comprehend what had happened, he was already out the door. I decided to get up early to help around whatever was happing in the flat, just so it doesn't seem like I'm a huge burden. I grab my sanitary kit and fix up myself in the bathroom. Next, I fix up the room to make it look like I never even used it and head outside to check up on whatever's going on.

To my surprise, there were loads of people in. The guy I had just encountered, Callum, was on his laptop, Harry was playing with Herb, two were making breakfast or at least trying to, and another was putting some tape on the floor. Lux was eating a bowl of cereal as he was seated next to a pretty girl with light brown hair. His arm was rested on her shoulder as they watched something on the screen on his laptop.

"Oh, Aria." Lux says once he noticed me, he backed up his arm and introduced me to everyone. "Guys, this is Aria, my sister. Aria, that's Cal in the laptop, Chip and his girlfriend Gee trying to cook for us, Ben trying to put some tape on the floor for my next video, and Sarah — my girlfriend."

I exchanged greetings with everyone before walking by Ben to see if he wanted any help. I wanted to help Gee and Chip first but they seemed to enjoy themselves so maybe they wanted some time alone.

"Need any help?" I ask, seeing as he struggled to hold up a camera while trying to cut some tape at the same time.

Ben chuckled, "Sure. You can do the cutting while I stick it on the floor."

I nodded, taking the tape from him.

***

After helping Ben with all the floor tapings and all, Gee announced that the food was ready. They made pancakes for everyone and they were actually quite delicious until we got to Chip's round of pancakes. Everyone just started complaining about how dry and crumbly they were until Chip realised he forgot to put some ingredients in. After breakfast, Harry suggested that I meet the rest of their friends over drinks in a club later after dinner. Everyone got excited and Lux agreed saying it was a great idea to get to know everyone.

After a few more hours, everyone left one by one to do some errands until eventually it was just Freezy and I left. I guess he felt how bored I was getting since he asked me what my plans were. I blushed and admitted that I didn't have any, I didn't have a meeting for my clothesline till tomorrow so I had the whole day off.

"Do you wanna come with me? I'm taking Herb out to his first ever football game. I'm sidelining it since I have this knee injury. C'mon, it's better than lying down all day." He offers.

I thought about it and agreed to go with him anyways.