close as strangers | calum hood

seven

Jaden

My regular day in the year of 2013 was disrupted when I heard vigorous knocking coming from my front door.

"Hello, Jaden." Calum smiled suspiciously at me as I opened the front door after his aggressive knocks.

"Hello, Calum." I responded back in the same tone he used.

"Are you free today?" He asked. I nodded in response.

"Good," He smirked, then pulled keys out of his pocket, jingling the metal cut-outs together. "We're going on a trip."

"Cal!" I gasped, "You got a car!?"

"I know. Cool, right?" He chuckled and leaned against the door frame. "Anyway, road trip. Pack a swimsuit, we're going swimming."

"Are we staying overnight anywhere?" I asked.

"No, probably not." He said.

I nodded, "Okay. I'll be over at your place soon."

"Okay, see you in a bit!" He said excitedly before exiting my house and closing the front door behind him. I ran up to my room and grabbed a tote bag from the hook of random bags. I ran around the top floor of my house, grabbing things I needed. Beach towel, sunscreen, swimsuit, extra clothing, the essentials.

I threw all my items into the tote bag I had picked out, then ran downstairs.

"Mum!" I called as I stood in the middle of my living room.

"Yes, dear!" She responded from the basement.

"Mum, Calum and I are going on a little road trip." I yelled into the door of the basement.

"Okay, stay safe! Text me." She responded. With her approval, I slipped on my flip flops and retreated from my house. I flip flopped over to Calum's house and gave a few light knocks to his door.

Almost immediately, the door was thrown open, revealing the boy wearing an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses."Are you ready?"

I giggled, "Let's go!"

The ride to our mystery destination felt short. I knew we were on the road for about an hour, but I was having so much fun. The music in the car was blaring and Calum and I were singing along to our favourite songs without a care in the world.

The windows were down and my hair was flying in the wind. I felt free.

The journey was almost as fun as the destination.

After quite some time of driving, I saw a sign that said "Welcome to Port Kembla" and I gasped with excitement.

Port Kembla had a beautiful beach that was a hot spot destination for mine and Calum's family over the summer. Our families took annual trips together. However, as we got older, the trips became less frequent. The last time Calum and I were at Port Kembla together was about 2 years ago.

"You like it?" He asked as he exited the highway and started heading for the beach.

"I love it!" I exclaimed with excitement.

Calum smiled over at me, taking a short look off the road, "Good."

He pulled into the parking lot of the beach we went to as kids. It was very nostalgic. I climbed out of the car immediately after Calum turned off the ignition. I was looking around the beach for the perfect spot to set up camp. Luckily, it wasn't very busy today.