Homeroom

42: New Year, New Attitude

[A/N] Hello again! Song for this chapter is Midway by Bad Bad Habits.

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You would think the, for New Year's, Al would plan a bigger and better party than the one for Christmas Eve. But, I was surprised to find out that he's hosting a small get-together for the band, Shay, and myself.

"It's because his parents are home," Aaron explains when he rings the doorbell. "But we'll still have a good time, don't worry."

A middle-aged woman with shoulder length blonde hair answers the door with a curious look in her eyes. "Aaron, how nice to see you," she smiles, standing on her tip toes to hug him. "And I see you brought a lovely lady with you, come in, come in," she requests as I step into the house. "Hi, honey, I'm Al's mom."

"Hi, I'm Callie," I reply. "It's nice to meet you."

"Alright, kids, all the boys are downstairs. You know the way, Aaron."

"Yup, thank you," Aaron smiles, taking my hand into his. We walk through the kitchen and into the small hallway. I head down a flight of stairs with Aaron on my heels.

"Welcome to my lair," Al greets from behind Aaron's drum kit.

"Al, get away from those," Aaron replies, releasing my hand only to push him off the stool. The now black-haired boy loses his footing and falls on the floor, almost knocking over Charlie, who's sitting on the floor in front of a flat screen TV playing Call of Duty.

Al and Aaron end up wrestling, so I decide to sit with Charlie until they're done. "Where's Luke and Shay?" I ask, checking my phone. I texted Shay a while ago, but she never replied.

Charlie eyes are glued to the screen when he answers me after a long pause. "Last time I saw the both of them was Christmas Eve."

I sigh, paging through my Twitter feed. There's nothing new on there, aside from a few posts from Harry Styles.

"What in the world are you laughing about, Callie Russe?" Aaron asks, laying his chin on my left shoulder.

"Nothing," I quickly reply, shutting down the app altogether.

"Did I see Harry Styles on there?" he asks, kissing my neck.

"No," I lie, flustered.

"I did, though. Don't worry, babe, when 4 Jup is rich and famous, I'll find a way for you to meet him."

"4 Jup?"

"Yeah, our band. That's the nickname for it." Aaron plants another kiss on the edge of my jaw. I can feel the slight stubble on his cheek rubbing against my skin.

"I thought there was no nickname."

 "Nope, you're wrong," he replies, pulling away from me and getting off the floor. "I think I forgot my phone in my car. Care to join me on a walk, Cal?"

"Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?" Charlie replies, shooting Aaron quick glare. "Go get it yourself, you big baby."

I laugh, getting up to join him. "He wasn't talking to you, Charlie. He said my name, not yours." I promptly slapping him on the back of his head. He yells ow, I smile in satisfaction, and life just keeps moving on.

Hand in hand, we jog up the stairs and coolly walk by Mrs. Clifford, who's concocting herself some type of drink in the kitchen. We head outside without running into any issues.

Until, of course, something just has come up and ruin everything.

"I hate you!" Shay screams at Luke, slamming the door of his car closed. She marches up the pathway and comes face-to-face with Aaron and me. Shay wipes the tears away from her eyes and ends up smearing make-up all over her face. "Hi," she weakly greets, deflated.

I drop Aaron's warm hand and, instead, take Shay's. I literally have no idea what just happened, but my friend obviously needs me. "Come on, let's go inside."

I slip my arm around her shoulders and lead her inside and up the stairs, thankfully avoiding Mrs. Clifford. I make her sit on the toilet as I lock the door behind us. "What happened?" I carefully ask. If Luke did something to hurt her, I swear to God I'll-

She sniffles, sighing. "Luke and I were at his house, and we were about to leave to come here, right? Well, right as I opened the door to leave, Karissa was standing on his doorstep. 'So it's a twosome this time?' was all she said, and that's when I knew he cheated on me."

"What? Are you sure?" I ask, shocked. I mean, I know Luke is a horrible person, but he seemed so crazy about Shay. For Heaven's sake, he asked me out of all people for advice.

"I'm positive," she seethes, scowling at the ground.

I don't say anything for a bit. This all seems a little bit too... planned.

"What did Luke say about it?"

"He was telling me all these lies about how he had no idea why she was there and that she totally made it all up," Shay replies with the roll of her eyes.

"Shay, I think he was telling you the truth."

"What?" she shrieks, "Why would you believe him over your best friend?"

"Because," I reply, "he literally came to me during school and begged me to help him come up with the best Christmas gift for you. He's so crazy about you that he came to me, the person he hates the most in the entire world."

Shay's face lights up., "Really? He did?"

"Yeah," I reply, "And that's exactly why I think Zander put Karissa up to this. It sounds to me that he threw one of our own pranks back in our faces."

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[A/N] Hoped you all liked this chapter :)