Roommates || Calum Hood

Chapter 5 // Drunk

*Cassidy

"Hi Mum," I greeted into the laptop that was resting on the top of the cold granite counter top in my new kitchen. I could see my mother clutching onto my dog, Max, from the other side and she was peering into the webcam with her eyes squinted.

"Are you at a friends house or something? Why does your apartment look so different?" She asked me, her expression revealing that she was utterly puzzled.

I shook my head. "No, um, I had to move into a house in Malibu for the summer. It's part of a management deal. Do you remember Calum Hood?"

A giant smile grew upon my mother's slightly wrinkled cheeks. "Of course I remember our neighbor, Calum! We actually just had dinner with the Hood's last night. Apparently he's in Los Angeles at the moment too. You two should go catch up! It's still such a shame you're not friends anymore."

I groaned underneath my breath as the dodgy computer screen pixelated my face for a few seconds when it attempted to maintain the connection. Of course my parents adored Calum, they had absolutely no idea what he did to me. If they had any clue there was no way I would ever be allowed to be within a ten mile radius of him. "Well, Calum and I are kind of forced to live together. We're roommates now."

"Roommates?" Mum repeated, a sense of shock evident in her tone. She screamed something to my father who was probably lounging on the couch viewing some reruns of his favorite television programs. "Honey, that's wonderful. It's good to be surrounded with people you knew before you became an actress. It keeps you grounded."

Speaking of the devil, Calum sauntered out of the bedroom with only his loose fitting sweatpants on and exposing his toned stomach. His large hands ruffled his dark hair as he yawned. When he noticed that he was on camera, he waved excitedly and plopped down on the bar stool next to me. "Oh hi Mrs. Gold! It's so nice to see you. Wow, Max has gotten so big. I remember when he was just a little puppy."

"He's still just as cute," My mother cooed, scratching beneath my dog's fluffy ears. I missed my dog more than anything and I desperately wanted to cuddle with him again. "I just saw your parents last night, Calum. Your mum is quite proud of you."

His cheeks altered into a shade of bright pink. It pissed me off. He had no reason to be blushing, or to be talking to my mother like nothing has changed in our lives. "Aw. That's really humbling. I hope everything is going well back in Australia."

"It is!" She exclaimed, just when my dad entered the room, a pair of too-small magnifying glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.

"Hey Cal. Make sure you take care of my daughter, okay? And no funny business. Keep your hands to yourself." My father's attempt to intimidate Calum failed miserably considering they have always been fond of messing with each other. It annoyed me how easily the two of them could talk to each other.

Calum just chuckled, sneaking a quick peek at me through the corner of his eyes and noticing my unamused expression that seemed similar to someone suffering from the chronic brat face. "I'll talk to you guys later," I mumbled through gritted teeth, and quickly shut the laptop before my parents could whine about how they barely had an opportunity to talk to Calum.