Homeroom

29: Pulpo

[A/N] You're probably wondering why I named this chapter after a word that means octopus in Spanish, but in Spain, people nickname their friend pulpo if they are a touchy-huggy person. SONG FOR THIS CHAPTER IS SHAKE IT OFF BECAUSE T. SWIFT IS MY HOME GIRL.✌️

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I run up the unfamiliar set of stairs, giggling as I try to escape Aaron, who so dearly wants to tickle me to death. The hall on the second floor is lit by the room at the end. I race to the bedroom, squealing as Aaron catches me from behind and entraps me in a bear hug.

"No! Aaron, stop! Please!" I laugh, squirming as he lays me down on his navy bed. He straddles me so I can't escape.

"Never!" he replies, smiling evilly as he tickles my stomach. I laugh against my will, pleading for him to stop as tears form in my eyes. Finally, he decides to stop and kisses me on cheek as I calm down. He flops down next to me, looking up at the ceiling. "Well, that was fun."

I slap his chest with the back of my hand. "That was torture."

He laughs, catching my hand and pulling me into him. I rest my head on his outstretched arm as we both stare up at his ceiling. He has a whole bunch of band posters taped up there, ranging from the Beatles to AC/DC and even Imagine Dragons. It's so colorful and just so... Aaron.

"So, what are we, exactly?" I wonder, tracing invisible patterns on his red sweatshirt.

"You're my girlfriend, and I'm your boyfriend, silly," he playfully scolds, playing with a strand of my hair with his free hand.

"You didn't even ask me if I was okay with that," I point out.

"Are you?"

"Yes," I smile.

"Called it," he gloats. Glad that's official now, I guess.

I roll my eyes. "So how's the band stuff coming along?"

"Really well, actually. We just have to put some finishing touches on our song, and it'll be ready for the Battle of the Bands really soon."

"When is the competition?"

"March twenty-something, I think," he replies.

I nod right as my phone rings in my back pocket. I pull it out, seeing Shay's picture flash on my screen. Sitting up, I answer it, "Hello?"

"Hey, you called me earlier, what's up?"

"Oh, uh, just wanted to tell you that my mother made a reappearance," I say, just getting right to the point.

"What?! Oh my gosh, I'm coming over right now!"

"No, it's okay now," I reply, glancing at my boyfriend. "I'm at Aaron's house."

"Hi," he yells into my phone, pulling it away from my ear.

"Oh, hi!" she replies, giggling. I scowl at him, pulling my phone away from him and running into the nearest room for a bit of privacy. I flick the light on and sit down on the bed in what appears to be the spare bedroom.

"You there?"

"Yeah," she drags out. I can practically hear the smile on her face.

"Aaron asked me out," I suddenly say.

Shay squeals into the receiver, and I pull it back from my ear so I won't go deaf. "That's awesome, Callie! See, told you he was an awesome guy!"

"Yeah, yeah, you told me so. I--"

"What the fuck are you doing in my room?" an angry, deepish voice asks.

My heart literally stops beating as I look up to see a fuming Luke Hemmings standing in the doorway. "I-uh, Shay, I have to go, bye," I quickly stutter, watching the blond boy with wild eyes.

"Get out!" he yells, scaring the living daylight out of me.

"Luke!" Aaron calls, appearing in the doorway as well. "Calm the fuck down. Your crush was on the other end of the phone, and she probably heard you acting like a whiny little two-year-old."

He rolls his eyes, not even denying the accusation Aaron made. Wow, does he really like Shay? Hmm, that's a plot twist I never saw coming. "Just get your girl toy out of my room," he demands, this time not actually yelling.

"Dude, Callie has a name, and that's the only think you're allowed to call her," he angrily says, slapping the back of his head as I head towards the door. He glares at me with so much emotion that I'm convinced he's going to pound my head into the wall or something. The tall boy slams the door shut, making me jump once more.

"Geez, what crawled up his pants?" I ask quietly, still sort of hiding behind Aaron in case he comes back out.

Aaron chuckles. "He's a naturally angry person."

"I thought that title was exclusively for me."

"No, it's not, trust me," he replies. "Well, let's go downstairs"

I obediently follow him down the carpeted steps. "Does Luke live here?" I ask, addressing the elephant in the room.

"Um, just for the time being. Sometimes he crashes here instead of at his parents' place. They go on really long business trips that sometimes span a month. When we moved here, my parents thought it was best if he just stayed with us during that time instead of home alone."

"Oh," I reply.

"Which also means that they probably won't mind if you need to spend the night, too." 

"Hey, that sounds good to me." I'm really not in the mood to face my dad and Steph tonight, anyways.

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