End Up Here

i won't break your heart again, i don't wanna be a monster among men

After what feels like five minutes, I am woken up by my phone ringing. It's only ten AM, which is practically six AM for the weekend. I groggily feel around for my phone, and once I find it, I see that Calum is calling.

"Hello?" I weakly whisper. 

"Good morning Nova!" Calum yells through the phone. I physically flinch.

"Jeez, Cal. You obviously have had your coffee today."

"Ahahaa. Yep, four shots of espresso!"

"Four?!"

"Four. I just need as much energy as possible so I can get the most out of our last day together for a while."

Suddenly I become fully awake and I remember why he is calling me. I'm supposed to be over there in an hour to start packing with him. 

"Sorry I didn't wake up sooner," I say. "I was totally dead from the party." I didn't add the part about how I stayed up till four AM finishing "End Up Here."

"That's alright. Are you feeling better?"

"Well I haven't had a lot of waking hours to process that, but yeah. Certainly better than last night."

"I'm glad. Well, go get ready then. And maybe grab a coffee. I promise it helps. I'll see you soon."

"Okay, bye Cal."

I hang up and put on my outfit for the day. I decide to wear the flannel that Calum gave to me last night. The fabric is black and white and goes well with a pair of light washed ripped jeans I pick out from my dresser. I grab a white tank top to put under, and my Doc Martens. As I'm getting dressed, I listen to my recording of "End Up Here" just to make sure it's good enough to show Calum. When I listen to it, I get butterflies in my stomach. I'm so glad he has been so encouraging with my songwriting. Being able to hear something this cool that I wrote by myself feels amazing. 

A few minutes later, I'm out the door and heading to the cafe. I really hope I don't see Maisy, because this would be fucking awkward. But of course, karma has it out for me once again, and once I enter the cafe, Maisy is standing there behind the counter taking orders. Slowly, I walk up to her. 

"The usual?" Maisy grumbles under her breath.

"Yeah, thanks! And maybe we need to talk if you can get a break right now?"

She makes a face and sighs. "I don't know. You know, I really don't get it. Why you lead me on. I bet Calum doesn't even know you kissed me."

I gulp. "I'm sorry," I say. "I just wanna make things right but I don't know how."

"Well, you're making things wrong."

"Maisy, please."

"I gotta go make your fucking drink. Leave me alone."

I knew then that she wasn't wanting to talk. Ugh. Hopefully sometime soon. There were too many things I had messed up in the past few weeks, and I needed to make them right. 

"Nora, your drink is ready," Maisy calls out when she's finished.

"Nora?" I say. But Maisy just places the cup on the counter and walks away. 

Wow. She didn't have to be so immature about it. I guess I had really hurt her. 

With a lot more on my mind, I walk out of the cafe and back towards the dorms. When I get to Calum's door, I hesitate before knocking because I realize I need to gather myself. Stop thinking about Maisy. It's time for the one and only Calum Hood, and he's about to be 400 miles away. With that, I take a deep breath in and knock on the door.