Shy // Calum Hood

*•Hood•*

Calum's P.O.V.
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My leg was beginning to ache from how much it was jumping up and down subconsciously. Adrenaline was pumping throughout my body vigorously, due to a mixture of excitement and nerves as I watched the clock steadily tick around.
Ten minutes, that's all I had. Ten minutes until I was going to spend an entire hour with Bailey.
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My brain had been distracted non stop since she obliged, constantly going over different subject choices and practising ways to be confident. My heart began to race as my teacher told us we could pack up and I felt my body grow heated.
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The bell rang though my ears and my breathing quickened substantially. This was it, it was happening. I was going to have a friend sit with me at lunch for the first time in three years. My unusually large feet hammered out of my history class and lead me straight to our agreed meet up destination, which was just by the steps outside the old science block.
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My cheeks flushed and my heart felt as though it was going to fly out of my chest, the moment I caught sight of Bailey walking effortlessly towards me. Her small head looked up and her delicate lips tugged into a smile as her blue eyes met my brown ones. I returned her smile with a huge goofy grin, allowing my excitement to be shown on my facial features.
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When she came within hearing distance, I took a deep breath and dug my nails into my palms tightly.
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"Hey." I continued to grin stupidly.
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"Hi." She breathed out, her face as red as a tomato. She thought about something for a moment, her shoulders slumping up and down as she breathed heavier than the average person. I watched closely as her face screws up in concentration, and I could tell she was trying to speak.
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"Is it okay if we don't eat in the food hall?" She blurted out sheepishly, avoiding direct eye contact at all costs.
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"I never eat in there anyway." I nudged her lightly, but quickly pulled away, not sure what her boundaries were, and if she was as uncomfortable with touching as she is with speaking.
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A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she smiled happily. I wasn't living under a rock, people may think I know nothing since I never contribute to conversations, however being silent has it's benefits of being able to hear everyone's conversations in lessons.
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I knew Bailey's whereabouts at lunch were unknown, and she was never to be found in the food hall. I'd overheard Klara talking with her little clique about how they need to find her because she was getting away with to much, before they let out their bitchy cackles and moved on to discuss various other ridiculous girly topics.
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"So . . . where do you eat?" Her voice dragged me out of my thoughts as she giggled at how I'd completely zoned out.
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I blushed at how I must of looked, just standing there dumbfounded, deep in thought.
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"Oh, er, right sorry, follow me." I waggled my eyebrows, earning another giggle from her to fly out. I turned on my heel and began to trudge over to my hidden tree I escaped to every lunch.
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"This is top secret by the way, you should feel privileged, I never let anyone here." I broke the awkward silence.
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Her cheeks flushed, making my heart swell instantly.
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"I feel honoured." She mocked, grinning goofily.
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I stopped by the hole in the metal fence and turned my head to make sure nobody was watching, I wasn't kidding, this place was top secret. I decided the coast was clear and crept through the jagged hole. I pushed the top of the metal with my palms and held it open for Bailey.
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"You coming?" I questioned.
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"Yeah!" She exclaimed, delighted with the secrecy of my chosen place.
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I sunk down by the bottom of the extraordinarily large tree onto the damp soft grass, as Bailey repeated my actions carefully.

"So where do you normally go at lunch?" I blurted out, unable to contain my curiosity. She became a deep shade of crimson as she shifted uncomfortably, and I could tell she was thinking over whether to trust me or not.
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"Well, at first I went into the food hall and well . . . the people there weren't exactly welcoming, so the next day I tried out the benches outside and they seemed to be the same, and so on until I eventually resulted in hiding away in the bathroom." She hurried out, clearly thinking I too was going to mock her.
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"That's awful." I admitted, growing angry with the people at this school all over again. She seemed relieved that I, didn't laugh at her for hiding in the bathroom as she let out a sigh.
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"You shouldn't listen to them you know. They've always been full of shit." I carried on when she failed to respond.
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She smiled up at me but I could tell she was upset about something. The happiness that she usually carried in her eyes had been drained, and she was quite clearly thinking some things over.
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"Let's carry on with the twenty questions." Bailey changed the subject rapidly.
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"Okay, favourite bands." I grasped the opportunity to discover if we had anything in common.
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"I have so many though!" She whined.
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"Okay, top five?"
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"Probably Mayday parade, All time low, Green day, Blink 182 . . . and, um, My chemical romance." Her gorgeous crystal blue eyes light up with delight as she spoke, whilst a huge smile became evident on my face at the fact we had a similar music taste.
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"I love green day!" I exclaimed joyfully. And then, we were joking around again, and she was laughing her beautiful laugh and looking at me as if I had all these layers and the whole time our eyes are locked together. And for a moment, I forget about Klara and the bullying, along with all my other problems. Even the voice in my head, the one warning me to make a run for it and that girls are no good, is fading by the second. Because everything is cancelled out by my heart going wild inside my chest, like it's going to burst inside of me and dance across the field.
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Bailey's P.O.V.
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We had been playing twenty questions for the whole of lunch and my sides ached from laughing so hard. Calum too was in fits of outrageous laughter, but not like I was. I was laughing so hard, I kept having to gasp for air. My skin tingled as I felt a warm, salty tear trickled down my cheek slowly and carefully.
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Calum leaned forward slightly and extended out his large thumb, pressing his soft palm to my face and cupping it gently, before stroking away the stray tear.
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Our laughter died down and I looked up at him in awe as he brought back his hand. I was always fine with being alone, because I never knew what I was missing out on. If this is what friendship was, then wow. It feels wonderful.
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The bell rang sharply pulling us away from the conversation we were in and I sighed knowing as soon as I stepped back into that hell hole I'd be alone again. Calum's only in my maths, and I had science next, which was definitely the worst. Ever since my first day Tom thought it was hilarious to constantly make fun of me the whole hour. The continuous teasing drives me insane.
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"I really don't want to leave." Calum grinned at me.
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"Me either." I complained.
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"Why don't we ditch?" He suggested, causing my head to pop up.
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Don't get me wrong, I'd ditched lessons at my previous schools before, sometimes the bullying was too much those days, but Calum didn't appear to be naughty in the slightest. He actually seemed to be a bit of a nerd. I raised my eyebrows at him quizzically, tilting my head softly.
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"Hey don't look at me like that! I can be bad." He chuckled, reading my thoughts.
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I just laughed in return, staying in disbelief.
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"Trust me, I used to be bad." He turned serious and mumbled the words almost to himself, leaving me to ponder upon whether I should answer or not.
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He shook his head and sighed before looking up at me apologetically.

"Sorry, I just . . . bad memories. Anyway you wanna get out of here?" He smirked causing my heart to pound roughly and butterflies to erupt inside of me.
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"Let's go." I grinned, excited.