close as strangers | calum hood

seventeen

Jaden

It was difficult for me, now that Calum was gone again. My mind was filled with worry; worry that history might repeat itself. They had said before that they wouldn't lose contact with me again, but I wasn't sure how well the boys would keep that promise.

My mind was clouded as I painted. The current painting I was working on was a silhouette of a girl sitting on a rooftop, looking out at the sunset on the beach. There was a small airplane in the sky in front of her.

The painting was me watching the sunset by myself. The airplane represented Calum leaving again.

It accurately depicted the current feelings I was feeling.

"Honey?" My mum's voice echoed through the empty garage as I painted. I ripped my eyes off my painting and turned my attention to my mum.

"Yeah?"

"There's a nice lady on the phone who wants to speak with you." She said, walking towards me and handing me the home phone.

I cautiously brought the phone to my ear, "Hello?"

"Hi! Is this Jaden Jones?" The lady asked in an unusal perky tone.

"Yes, this is her." I replied.

"Jaden, I bought a few paintings from your popup last week. I love your work and would love more of your original work around my house. Have you ever done sculpting before?" She asked.

A lot of information was thrown into my tired mind and I took a few moments to process her words. "Uh- yes. I know how to sculpt."

"I would love to purchase a sculpture from you. Would be perfect in my garden. What do you say?" She asked.

I nodded slowly to myself, "Uh- that can be done. What would you like the sculpture to be of?" I asked.

"Whatever your heart desires, sweetheart. I want an original piece from you!" She exclaimed.

"I'll see what I can do for you. Can I get your information?" I asked, seeing as this would be a constant exchange.

After we exchanged information, we said our farewells and ended the call. I looked up at my mum again, who had been standing there the entire time.

"She wants me to make her sculptures for her garden." I said and handed the phone back to my mum.

"What kind of sculptures?" She asked.

I shrugged and turned back to my painting, "Anything my heart desires."

"That gives you a lot of creative freedom. What are you thinking?" My mum asks.

"Nothing yet, I want to finish this painting first." I say as I turn my attention back to painting the sunset.

"Alright honey. Come inside when you're ready to eat." She says before leaving the garage.

-

Truth is, I didn't go inside when I was hungry. I stayed in the garage almost all day, finishing the painting I was working on. It was almost midnight when I finally finished the piece. I moved the easel to the corner to allow the painting to dry, and began cleaning up.

As I finished cleaning my supplies, my phone began ringing. I answered the call without looking at the caller ID, "Hello?"

"Hey Jade." Calum's sleepy voice rang through my ears.

"Oh hey. What's up?" I asked.

"Nothing, just landed in California. I wanted to check up on you." He said, slurring his words.

"I'm doing good. I just finished a painting, and some lady called me about buying sculptures from me. So I'm gonna start that." I explained as I started leaving my garage, punching in the pin and watching the door close. 

"Jaden! That's so cool! I'm so proud of you." He exclaimed, sounding a lot more awake.

"Thanks, Cal." I giggled.

Silence overcame both of us. I sat on the bench outside my house and watched the night sky. I wasn't sure what Calum was doing, but I knew he was overcome with thought as well.

"I miss you." He muttered.

"I know," I matched his tone. "I miss you, too. But we'll see each other after your tour."

"That's a long way away." He said. With his tone alone, I knew he was frowning.

"Just don't think about it. Live that rockstar life." I said, reassuringly.

"You're okay?" He asked.

I smiled. His question felt so genuine. "I'm okay."

"Good." Calum replied, "I'm gonna go now. We gotta check into our hotel and I need to get some rest. Tomorrow we have an early soundcheck."

"Alright superstar," I smiled. "Get some sleep."

"Goodnight, Jade." He said in a hushed voice.

"Goodnight, Cal."

And the call was ended. It warmed my heart that he called tonight, but I couldn't help but think of how long this would last until he started forgetting.