Taken // Calum Hood

I don't think so.

"Hayley, lover boy is watching you again." Ashton informed me at lunch, throwing a squishy grape at my face. I fought the blush that began heating my skin.
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Calum scoffed, muttering "Dick." Under his breath. I began to get frustrated with his rudeness. My chest tightened like a Victorian corset as I felt the agitation kick in.
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I turned to see him not even facing us, just adding unnecessary nasty comments. "His name is Zach actually, and he's far from a dick Calum." I snapped, determined for them to be nice to him.
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"Ooh, Zach, hey?" Michael teased, waggling his eyebrows. "How come you know his name now?" He took the grape that had been thrown at me out of my hands and placed it in his mouth.
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"They sit next to each other in Science." Calum answered for me, his miserable expression delving deeper. I may or may not of gushed on about him on the walk home yesterday, however I didn't think Calum was listening to a word I was saying. He had been permanently glued to his phone the entire time.
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"Do they now?" Luke smirked, using his elbow to nudge me gently in the side.
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"Oh, shut up." I nudged him back quickly and slightly harder, unable to contain my toothy grin.
I grew curious as all of them stopped nattering and grinned at me like crazy people, all except Calum who just continued to play with his lunch in even more of a sulk.
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My eyebrows raised, half in question and half in exasperation. "What?" I looked at all of them, panicking. "Is there something on my face?" I began faffing about with my fingers to try and wipe around my mouth.
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Michael chuckled slightly, shaking his head and pointing behind me. I craned my head around to see Zach, standing there awkwardly.
"Er, hey." He smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. The movement of this making his shirt cling tighter to his torso, every detail of what lay underneath becoming evident.
I forced myself to blink.
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"Hey." I smiled, subtly kicking Luke hard under the table as he kept nudging me with his foot in a teasing manner. I heard as Luke took a sharp intake of breath from the pain, and watched out of the corner of my eye as he bit down hard on his lower lip. I smirked to myself in victory.
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He rubbed the back of his neck again anxiously, a habit of some guys that made me melt. "I was wandering if you wanted to um, go to er, the Rocky Café or something later?" His voice was shaky and the skin on his neck had become blotchy again.
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I felt almost as flustered as him then. Especially considering all of the teasing I was going to receive for this later. I gave him a small smile, trying to ease both of our nerves. "I-"
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"No." Calum butted in, before I could even contemplate responding. "I don't think so, bye bye now Zach." A mixture of embarrassment and hurt came across the poor boys face. With a slight nod of his perfectly shaped head, he turned back around to leave, disappointed and embarrassed from his apparent rejection.
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"Wait!" I stood up and grabbed his wrist before he could escape much further. "I would love to go." I turned to Calum, glaring at him warningly before facing the slightly confused boy again. I smiled to prevent any sceptical thoughts he may of been experiencing.
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"Really?" He grinned, sighing with relief. "Meet me there at half four?" He shot me one last flashy smile as I nodded, before striding through away, trying to earn back his reputation.
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I pulled myself back into the real world and sheer anger began coursing throughout my small body. "Okay, what the hell was that about?" I snapped at Calum the moment Zach left.
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His usually warm chestnut eyes met mine with a hard glare. "I'm trying to protect you! He's an idiot." I could feel the others grow uncomfortable around us as the air turned hostile.
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"I can make that decision by myself, thanks." I deadpanned, slumping back down in-between Mikey and Luke. I tried to refrain myself from using this as an excuse to tell him the truth about what we all really thought about his new attitude.
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"Ooh, Shots fired." Mikey chuckled. They were used to us scwabling. It began when she came around.
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He shook his head, frustrated that I wasn't seeing what he apparently was. "Whatever, I'll see you later." He grumbled, snapping his lunch box closed and storming away. We were used to this too. It happened quite frequently now. Never before.
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"Seriously, what is his deal with Zach?" I groaned, frustrated with him for being so rude. He wasn't a mean guy. In fact I'm not sure there was a sweeter guy. She changed everything the day she came around. Right from her first date with him, we all knew everything was different.
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Luke shrugged helplessly. "I'm not sure, but he and Megan got in another fight last night, so . . ." He trailed away and my eyes rolled up to the ceiling. I was getting so tired of this. He couldn't constantly treat us however he felt, blaming it on his fights with his stupid girlfriend. We were his best friends, didn't that mean anything to him anymore?
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After a few moments of slightly awkward silence, I knew there was a few questions they were all itching to ask. "So, do you like this Zach kid then? What about Calum?" Ashton pried, shoving a ginormous mouthful of sandwich into his mouth.
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I sighed as I got sucked back into reality, shaking off my thoughts about Calum's moods. "Well I mean, he's really nice and all, but I don't know him well enough yet. And as for Calum . . . nothing's changed." I sighed again, wishing that wasn't true, I wish I could just get over him already.
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Michael slammed down the can he was drinking from dramatically, dragging the back of his palm across his lips to remove any sugary residue. "Okay, I'm just going to say it." The green eyed boy put up his hands as if he was surrendering. "I think Cal's jealous."
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I scoffed in disbelief but my stomach knotted. "He couldn't possibly be. He's probably just annoyed with me banging on about him." I shook my head in denial. There was no way.
There was just no way.
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~~~
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I wasn't surprised when I saw Calum waiting for me in our usual spot. No matter how hard we bickered, he never ditched me. We stuck by each other, I stayed for the old Calum, we all did. We wanted him back.
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"Hey moody." I teased, jumping up behind him. He was extremely startled by my approach, jolting upright immediately. He must of been somewhere very far away from here for a reaction like that. I hoped it was somewhere good.
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"Jesus, Hayley." He breathed out, holding a hand to his chest and chuckling slightly. There was no apology needed, we both knew the other was sorry.
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I wanted to avoid the topic of lunch as best as I could. I hated arguing with him. "Come on, I want to get home." I tugged at his sleeve, turning round to try and drag him home.
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Instead of walking along, he grasped ahold of my arm, spinning me right back to face him and pulled me into a tight hug. I took no time before I hugged him back harder. "I'm sorry about lunch." He spoke softly in my ear, swaying us side to side. I nearly melted on the spot. This was the old Calum. I loved when he showed glimpses of how it used to be.
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"It's fine, Luke told me about Megan." I explained for him as I pulled away, giving him an apologetic look.
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"Huh?" He looked confused briefly before a look of realisation hit him.
"Oh right yeah. Megan, yep. That was why." He began quickly walking home as I followed. His mood change didn't even nearly shock me. It only disappointed me. I always wished it would last a little longer.
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The air between us turned tense again and I couldn't hold back anymore. "Can you at least try and be nice to Zach? He hasn't done anything to you." I begged. I needed them to get along. I hated being in the middle.
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He hesitated, watching me over closely before taking a deep breath. "As long as he's nice to you, I will keep my thoughts to myself." He promised, looking back at the road ahead.
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I smiled, content with my small victory, and with the fact that Calum had remained unusually calm at my request. "So what happened with Megan then?" I asked cautiously, hoping he was alright.
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He ran a hand through his thick black hair, groaning. "I don't even know this time, she just flipped." He explained, keeping his eyes fixated on the road ahead.
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I studied his face carefully. He was lying to me. I decided to let it slide, maybe he just didn't want to talk about it.
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"So, do you like this Zach guy?" He continued to stare at the empty stretch of tarmac, his jaw clenching and unclenching repetitively.
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"I've known him a day Cal." I deadpanned. The straps of my school bag kept slipping and I was struggling to keep everything from falling in a heap, including myself.
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Calum lifted my bag up with ease, assisting me without a second thought but refusing to make eye contact. "So? He clearly already likes you." He shrugged, shoving his hands back into his pocket, letting his feet drag slightly.
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"No, he just doesn't know anyone else yet." I protested, forever in denial. It was true, I had a strong feeling Zach was just a flirty kind of guy. I was almost positive this outing didn't mean anything.
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"Hayley." Calum stopped as we reached the place where we usually split routes, turning and staring into my hazel eyes. "He likes you."
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"Whatever." I shrugged it off, there was no way he would choose me out of all the girls bowing down to him. "I hope everything's alright with Megan." I smiled, as he nodded.
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"Thanks, good luck tonight." He mumbled, turning down his road as I turned down mine.