noted → calum hood | #Wattys2015

twenty two

an: do you guys remember Alexis from the beginning of this story bc guess what IT'S THE SAME ALEXIS

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"Any luck with practice today?" Melanie asks as she stirs the ice of her tea around with a straw.

Michael shook his head. "Coach was weird today, said we didn't have a chance to make it to the state championship."

"That's because you were being slack. Normally he ignores it, but it's getting closer," Melanie nodded in agreement with Ashton. "What about you, Mel? Anything changed with Cal?"

Melanie shakes her head. "Haven't spoken to him since I texted him last week," it was now the next Wednesday, and Calum had never once attempted to fix things.

Melanie had gotten her hopes up on Saturday when she saw the three dots for a good while, but with no result, she deemed it a glitch and hadn't given Calum a second thought. "He doesn't even look at me anymore. Mackenzie does, though."

Michael raises an eyebrow. "Really? Like, is it mean?"

"No, at least I don't think so. She just looks curious, maybe a bit confused? I don't know."

"If I'm going to be honest with you," Michael began. "Calum doesn't like it when Mackenzie talks about you. She never says anything rude, just asks if you two are doing alright or if she should introduce herself, but yeah, Calum is always really quick to change the subject."

Melanie shrugs. "It's whatever. If he wanted to still be friends, he'd make an attempt. I told him I was over it, maybe it finally got to him."

Ashton nods as he takes a sip of his coffee.

The trio is sat outside of a small café not top far from Michael's house. The three boys, plus Aries, have had to make changes when they plan to hang out with their friends. Because as much as they'd like Melanie and Calum to make up, they know that it would not be wise to force them to be with each other.

Just look how well that worked out the first time.

"Where'd Luke take Aries?" Ashton pipes in.

"Some amusement park uptown," notes Michael. "From what he told me, it was really expensive. He said it was worth it though, because it was," he mocks the younger friend's voice: "'for her.' He treats her like a princess."

Melanie scoffs. "Wish I had a guy like that."

Ashton laughs at the brunette's mumble. "You'll find someone eventually, Mel." Stealing a french fry off of her plate, Michael nods in agreement.

"Give it time. You're still in high school."

Melanie sighs. "Maybe I don't want to give it time. At this rate, I'll be stuck going to prom with Ashton."

"Hey!" The curly-haired boy pouts. "I'm not that terrible. My last relationship lasted a year and a half, that's gotta count for something."

Melanie just smiles and takes a sip of her tea, which had been diluted by the melted ice cubes in the warm sun.

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Alexis doesn't want to be here. She hardly even knows Mackenzie or her friends, and some of the last people she wants to see are two of her ex-boyfriend's best friends. It goes without saying that this was not her ideal Friday.

Alexis broke up with Ashton four months prior, and had no issue moving on. She had recently begun dating a guy by the name of Jonah. Had she known who the people he sat with at lunch were, she would have never agreed to sitting with him.

"It's been so long!" Mackenzie's beaming. "Jonah talks about his girlfriend all the time, but I had no idea it was you!"

Alexis smiles uncomfortably. "Yep, well, we've been dating for about a month now."

"Say, Michael!" Mackenzie leans forward to look past Calum and to the boy with the highlighter hair. "Why don't you invite Aries and Luke over here?"

Alexis shakes her head. "Oh, no that's really not necessary-"

"Nonsense! They're dating too, no?"

Michael sighs as he stands up. "How about I just move back to their table for the rest of lunch?" He smiles to Alexis "Nice seeing you again, Lex."

"Suit yourself," Mackenzie shrugs. She waits until Michael is back at her table to continue speaking. "Hmm, it's a shame, I thought we were a lot more exciting than them."

"They're really not that bad." Alexis adds.

"Oh, sweetie," Mackenzie leans over. in a whisper. "I don't think you should be talking about your ex in front of your boyfriend, let alone one of his best friends. You never know what Calum may say to Ashton."

Alexis rolls her eyes. "I meant his friends, obviously. They're not a bad bunch of people. They're great, actually."

Mackenzie pouts and turns to Calum. "Does she miss Ashton? It's odd that she doesn't hold a grudge against Melanie, and especially Ash."

Alexis cannot hear what Mackenzie is saying, but has grown annoyed with the blonde girl. "Do you know something I don't? Because you've been treating me odd all afternoon."

Calum steps in to answer, worried that Mackenzie may let something slip. "She's just not feeling well, Lex."

"Oh, Calum," Mackenzie shrugs away the arm he has draped over her shoulder and looks him in the eye. "I can't lie to her!" She looks to Alexis, who is entirely baffled. "I know what happened with Ashton a few months ago. As hard as it may have been, you need to let him go. It's best for the both of you."

Alexis squints her coffee colored eyes. "What are you talking about? I broke up with him, therefore he wasn't exactly hard to get over."

Mackenzie shakes her head. "Alexis-"

"No, you know what?" She stands. "I think it's best that I go." Grabbing her bag, Alexis glares at Mackenzie. "And for someone who thinks you shouldn't talk about someone's ex on front of their boyfriend, you should take your own advice and apply it to those around you. Because I broke up with Ashton four months ago, and as of right now, the oy one who needs to let it go is you."

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an: ooh drama and cal might get caught in a lie!!! what do you think of alexis and mackenzie? keep in mind based, off of the beginning of this book, this is nothing like how alexis usually acts!
do you guys ship ashton and melanie bc I feel like some of you guys do
if not, do you have any other ships for this book?
if it wasn't clear, the second part of this chapter took place two days later during school, unlike the beginning, which was two days prior and after school.
fun fact: I was going to name mel after imogen from degrassi bc I love that name, but decided against it bc I thought it was too obvious where I came up with the name.
don't forget about the character ask! I feel like this chapter really gave some great material to ask questions about. questions can be messaged to me, commented on this chapter, or commented on the character ask chapter, given that you specify who you're asking!
and we're almost at 5k like what the heck iTS ONLY BEEN A DAY???