notepad ; malum

06

Calum and Michael didn't talk for the rest of that week. It was the longest they'd gone without talking since they met in elementary school. When they passed in the hallway, Michael wouldn't even look up at him and it's not like Calum could call out Michael's name. 

This week Calum had a soccer came. A week ago, Michael had planned on going but now Calum wasn't so sure if he still would. 

As Calum was standing in his left forward spot, he distractedly scanned over the bleachers. He frowned when he didn't spot his brightly coloured haired friend. Surely if he was there, he'd be able to spot him. 

He did, however, spot Jade sitting in the bleachers. She smiled and waved. Calum pretended like he didn't see her; he was too worried about Michael. 

The whistle signalling the beginning of the game blew, snapping him back into reality. Jason, the middle forward, passed him the ball and when Calum stopped it with his foot, he did nothing. The left forward on the other team quickly swiped the ball from him and Calum still stood there, completely out of it. 

"What the hell, Calum?" Jason shouted over the cheers of the crowd, then began to run after the boy who'd stolen the ball. 

Calum gulped down the sickeningly thick lump in his throat, looking around the field. His heart was pounding in his chest and he felt like everyone could hear it. 

Once he found the strength to actually move, he just wandered around the field like a lost puppy; like the one person on the team that didn't actually know how to play soccer. 

"Hood, get in the game!" His coach yelled from the side line. He heard a couple people from the crowd yelling close to the same thing. It made him feel anxious, like he'd disappoint people if he didn't do well. 

So, he actually started to try and get the ball. He successfully stole the ball from the other team and began running down the field with it. He heard Jason cheer him on and it made him want to run faster. 

As he was running, he felt someone run up beside him. Glancing over quickly, he saw it was a member of the other team. Calum tried to steer away from him but the team member ran closer and closer until.. smack!

Calum was body checked to the ground. He violently hit the ground with a thud and an unsettling crunch from his arm. He grit his teeth and clamped his eyes shut, slowly going into a fetal position until someone came to help him. 

"Shit, Cal, are you ok?" Jason asked frantically as he ran up to Calum's side. The referee blew the whistle to pause the game. When Calum stayed motionless, except for his breathing, Jason called for the coach to come over. 

The coach jogged over to the two boys and a couple other team members who had crowded around. "What hurts, boy?" He asked, kneeling next to Calum's seemingly small body. 

Calum peeked open his eyes, blinking a few times as his eyes had glossed themselves with tears. Using his good arm, he pointed to the other arm that was squished under Calum's body at a disgusting angle. 

The coach made a face. "Someone call the ambulance, he's definitely got a broken arm." He called out, then stood up. "Jason, carry him over to the benches, will ya?" 

As Jason began to reach out for Calum, Calum made a small squeaking noise and shook his head, looking up at Jason with big eyes. 

Jason and Calum were soccer friends. They chatted (Calum wrote, Jason talked) in the locker room and at practice. They knew each other pretty well. They were the type of friends who only hung out at the thing they did together. 

Regarding this, Jason knew exactly what Calum was trying to say with his big, brown, glossy eyes. 

"Michael didn't come," Jason whispered sadly, wriggling his arms carefully under Calum's body. "Sorry, Cal."

Calum felt his heart fall to his stomach. But the feeling of utter heartbreak was quickly replaced when Jason picked him up. He let out a loud, wheezy cry and squirming in Jason's arms. 

Jason flinched at Calum's outburst. "Sorry." He whispered, guilt filling his voice. He walked over with Calum in his arms to the bench. Calum let his head hang to Jason's shoulder and started to cry. He wasn't sure if he was crying because of the pain from his arm or the pain from his heart. 

The ambulance arrived quickly, taking only Calum and the coach, saying if anyone else wanted to visit then they'd have to drive themselves to the hospital. 

The nurses gave Calum some pills to reduce the pain as they drove. Calum grabbed a fist full of his baggy soccer pants and fought through the pain until they made it to the hospital. 

+

"Calum!" Luke shrilled when him and Ashton pushed their way into Calum's hospital room. 

Calum was sitting on the bed, the white hospital blanket covering the lower half of his body and a plain white cast covering his arm, two signatures on it already. Jade was sitting next to his bed.

Ashton was the first to rush up to Calum's side, Luke quickly following. "We're so sorry we couldn't get here sooner, we wanted to make sure there was at least some punishment for that dick who body checked you. Who body checks people in soccer, for God's sake?!" He angrily exclaimed. 

Calum offered him a small smile, shrugging the shoulder on his good arm since his bad arm still hurt. 

Jade stood up, brushing herself off then holding out a black permanent marker to Ashton. "Here," She said, smiling gently. "To sign his cast."

Ashton seemed to get slightly flustered. He didn't notice she was there in the first place. He reached forward and took the marker. "Thanks." He mumbled sheepishly. 

"I've got to go, I hope you feel better, Calum." Jade announced, patting Calum's shoulder since she couldn't really hug him; then she headed for the door. 

After an awkward silence, Ashton just popped open the marker then signed Calum's cast. When he was done, he handed it back to Luke, who also signed the cast with a little note that said 'Feel better soon! :)'

Calum smiled after reading Luke's note. He grabbed his notepad from a table next to his hospital bed and jotted something down with the permanent marker. 

'Good thing it was my left arm, so I can still communicate.'

Luke and Ashton laughed at Calum's comment, about to say something when they noticed Calum had started writing again. 

'Where's Michael?'

Their faces fell. "He's, um, with Jace." Ashton awkwardly muttered, itching the back of his neck while Luke bit his lip to hold back a frown. 

For the second time that day, Calum felt his heart fall to his stomach and he bit his lip to stop himself from crying. 

+

there's so many people in this story with names starting with j
jason is based off of veeoneeye