The Mess We Made (C.H) [ON HOLD]

Chapter 12 - Calum

"I really like your shirt Calum." Nicole murmured, trailing her hand down my chest.

Letting our a silent sigh, I leaned towards here and asked, "Oh really?" in my most flirtatious voice. Even that simple gesture was an effort.

I didn't really want to be here, with my back against the wall, halfheartedly flirting with Nicole. Neither did I want to be dancing with some random stranger like Ashton was, or catching up with old friends like Michael. Luke had disappeared a while ago, and I hadn't seen him since. I didn't want to try to find him either. Usually I loved parties; usually I would be the person doing stupid things because of the amount of alcohol I had consumed. But today it just didn't feel right.

As much as I hated to admit it, the only thing I wanted to do was to sulk on my own, with my eyes fixed firmly on the door, waiting for her to walk in. I knew that I should be forgetting her - the letter just proved that her and Michael had something going on - but the smallest part of me hoped that Ashton was right; that it really was from her. That she really did feel something for me. Nicole was stunning and she had been basically throwing herself at me for the last 20 minutes, so why couldn't I just get over Mia and have some fun with Nicole? Instead, for the last 2 hours, I had been checking the door every time I heard it swing open, scanning the faces incase she arrived. Every time I had returned my attention back to whoever was standing in front of me, trying to ignore the feelings of disappointment that welled up as I couldn't find the face I was searching for.

"Yeah. It's cute." I realised that Nicole was still talking to me, and forced myself to listen to her. The only reason I was still downstairs and talking to her was because I didn't want to be rude. It was our coming home party, and all i felt like doing was sleeping.

But when the door opened again, I found myself pretending to listen once more, as my eyes caught sight of the person I had been waiting for all night; Mia.

She was wearing a simple black skater dress that wasn't nearly as slutty as some of the girls here, but still looked incredibly amazing. I could already spot several guys leering at her long legs, and I tensed, ready to hit anyone who made a move on her. It didn't matter that I was on the other side of the room. I would have been beside her in a flash. As I watched, she nodded at Alex, who stupidly turned and left her standing alone just inside the door. Could he not see the way all the guys were staring at her? Surely he could see them?

 For a while, she just stood there and I realised that she probably knew none of the people that surrounded her. Jumping at the opportunity to be near her, I was about to slip through the crowd andsay hi, when her face transformed from a worried frown into a breathtaking smile, and she started making a beeline for a group of people in the corner. Following her path from my vantage point, I spotted the familiar green haired boy waiting at her destination and cursed myself.

Of course. Michael was the one she would want to spend time with. He was probably the only reason she even turned up. I was stupid to even hope she might want to talk to me. They were probably going to laugh all night about how I fell for their stupid prank.

"Calum, what are you doing? Calum?" Nicole's voice cut through my anger and I realised that I had subconsciously pushed away from the wall, as if I was going to move forwards, my hands tensing into fists.

"Nothing." I sighed, glancing down and attempting to unclench my fingers, releasing them  one at a time and trying to relax.

"Oh right. Anyway, so I was saying.." Nicole carried on blabbing about some shoes in a sale somewhere, and my brain switched off, knowing this conversation wouldn't need much input from me. Making sounds of agreement, I continued to watch as Michael and Mia giggled and chatted, my jealousy and irritation growing every minute. I phyisically could not take my eyes from them, no matter how much it made me feel sick to see her with someone else. They looked so effortless, so natural and every part of me desperately wanted to be the one making her giggle and blush, but instead I was trapped in this corner.