The Only Reason

Chapter 3

Jade's pov

"So... where're we headed?" I asked Calum with a smirk on my face.

"You'll see" his lips formed into a smirk as well but he kept his eyes on the road.

I was in the passenger seat in his white pickup truck. It was pretty old but it looked like new. It was cozy.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked getting serious.

"Everyone deserves to be happy and I don't like the way you were treated by my friends. And you seemed really nice so why miss that opportunity" he winked at me after saying those last words.

"Thank you" was the only thing I said.

"You seem tired, it's okay if you wanna sleep for awhile"

"You sure?"

"Yeah"

I fell asleep to Calum humming to a song I didn't recognize.

///

"WELCOME TO A NEW KIND OF TENSION. ALL ACROSS THE ALIEN NATION. WHERE EVERYTHING ISN'T MEANT TO BE OKAYY. TELEVISION DREAMS OF TOMORROW. WE'RE NOT THE ONES WHO'RE MEANT TO FOLLOOOOW. FOR THATS ENOUGH TO ARGUE."

I opened my eyes and saw Calum pouring his heart out singing American idiot. The radio was playing but he definitely out sang it. I tried no to laugh at how cute he was but he noticed and quickly shut it off and became quiet.

"Nooo keep going" I pleaded.

"Yeah cause that wasn't embarrassing enough."
He held back a smile and kept his eyes on the road.

"Your voice is great.. like so amazing!" I squealed and his cheeks turned red.

"Thanks"

"You can at least put the radio on again" I said.

"Why? Don't you know how to do it yourself?" He joked.

"Don't get sassy with me Hood" he looked at me when I used his last name and smiled.

"Better get used to it, Reed"  I rolled my eyes playfully as we parked in front of a diner.

"I'm starving so I thought we might get lunch" He said and got out of the car. I did the same and we sat down in a booth.

"Are you ready to order?" The waitress asked after awhile.

"Yeah, i'll have a cheeseburger and coke" Calum said and smiled at her.

"I'll just have water"

"You gotta eat Jade" Calum said, worried.

"Nah I'm fine."

"Please" Calum said and took my hand.

"Fine, I'll have a salad" I said after a minute. How could I say no to those puppy eyes.

He smiled bigger than ever and the waitress walked away.

After she gave ya our food Calum watched me as I ate. I didn't eat everything but at least half of it.

"How can you even eat that? It's huge" I said as he took his last bite.

"I love food" he said and I laughed.

///

We were singing along to the radio which was currently playing Taylor Swift. He knew every single word. I bet he could sing it backwards.

"Next stop; the beach" he said and I hadn't even realised we had stopped.

"Wow, it's beautiful. I haven't been to the beach for ages"

"It's my favorite place, wanna take a walk?" He said and surprisingly waited for me to take his hand.

I took it and we walked barefoot on the sand, holding hands.

Is this a dream?

I better not catch feelings for him though. That'll never end well.

We walked for about 2 hours and sat down on the edge of a pier. The view over the beach was beautiful but it started to get dark.

"I'm freezing, wanna head back to the car?"

"Wanna borrow my jacket, princess?" I asked and laugh.

"Finally a nickname I actually like" he joked and we started laughing even more.

"But yeah, let's go back"

"We have one thing left to do though"

"And what's that?" He just smiled in response.

///

"What kind of pizza do yo like"

"I-"

"Don't say you're not hungry. You have to eat at least one slice. Please Jade" he interrupted me.

"Hawaiian pizza"

"It's my favorite!" He squealed like a girl.

"Calm down princess, lets just get the pizza already" I teased again.

"I'm not a princess, I'm a queen" he said and pretended to dramatically flip his hair.

"Sure thing Cal Pal" i said after we laughed hysterically for 5 minutes.

"Cute nickname, Jadey"

///

"My sister Mali-koa had all of her friends over one day when I was like 10 and I got so nervous when I saw them, that I fell down the stairs. Everyone laughed at me" he said and I chuckled.

We'd been sharing embarrassing stories all night and I didn't even realise I'd been eating like an elephant. We were sitting at the back of his pickup with the pizza between us.

"I think we have to go home now. It's almost 3 am and I told your mother you wouldn't come home too late" he said and looked sad.

"Well I've had the best time ever. Thank you." I gave him a warm smile and received one back.

"Kay, let's go" he said and jumped out of the car and sat down behind the wheel. I hoped in the passenger seat and we headed back home.