Close As Strangers

Golden Boy

A few months went by and I only cried some nights, but I hardly slept at all. I realized that I was crying. My pillow was soaked in snot and tears, so I flipped it over and tried to sleep. I really just tossed and turned for hours, so I ended up playing Skyrim and listening to Lil Peep until everyone else woke up. Crystal and Sierra had come over last night so we could all go to breakfast. By the way everyone acting, I knew that something was up.
    "Luke, why is everyone being all secretive and quiet," I asked.
    "Uhh...I'm not sure," he said, "get ready though, we're leaving soon."
    "I'm going to take my car because I need to run around after," I said. He nodded his head and we started to caravan out of the house.

    We arrived at Syrup Downtown in downtown Denver, because we just had to drive almost three hours for breakfast. I parked the car and Ashton met me at my door to walk with me. We got inside and it was weirdly packed for a Monday morning, but I started realizing that it was Michael and Crystal's friends and family. I sat down next to Luke and quietly started flipping through the pages of the menu. Everyone was socializing and I was in the corner on my phone. Then I heard a voice that I instantly recognized and my heart sank. I already knew the voice belonged to Calum, I just refused to look up and see where it was coming from. I sat there just looking down until I gained the courage to look up and there he was. A beautiful golden skinned boy with dark curly hair to match his darker than dark eyes. It gave me a familiar feeling of warmth and love in my stomach but it was instantaneously followed by wanting to vomit. That feeling intensified when he introduced a tall, skinny, blonde girl as his date for the day. I pushed my chair back to go to the bathroom, but they were right there. I went around them and didn't even look up when Mikey said hello to me. I pushed the door open and slammed it closed, sliding down and hyperventilating. Luke called me, "Come back out please," he said
    "No thanks," I responded.
He sighed, "Please, Liv. I won't make you eat and you can leave soon. It's important to Michael and Crystal that you're out here."
I hung up and stood to leave. I took a deep breath and straightened my dress out and left the bathroom. Sierra met me by the door and held my hand as we walked back to our seats. I sat in the more dimly lit corner and hardly looked up the whole time Michael was talking to everyone. I knew what was coming and I wish I wasn't here. After speeches, Michael and Crystal announced their engagement and people started congratulating them. I grabbed my purse, told them I loved them, and went to leave. Calum was standing by the door, "Hey," he said. I didn't want to look at him and I tried to walk passed him, but he gently grabbed my hand. I froze and my heart dropped. His hands were always soft and warm and I loved holding them. I surprised myself by pulling away from him and whipping around, "What, Calum?" He didn't look phased, and looked into my eyes before he said anything. My eyes started to tear up and looked down.
    "I just wanted to see if we could maybe talk," he said.