"I'M TRYING TO BE SERIOUS!"

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The next day-11:00

I'm at Grandma's house, celebrating Hannah's sixteenth birthday. All of my dad's side of the family have all congregated in this tiny cottage, putting up with everyone because 'this was Hannah's special day!'. Pretty sure they didn't put this much effort in for MY sixteenth, but then, Hannah always was the favourite...

The cottage is full to bursting, with some overspill in the garden. The ornate oak dining table has been covered in a tacky, plastic cover with multi-coloured balloons on and food. Mountains and MOUNTAINS of finger food. You know, cocktail sausages and pineapple chunks, the usual.

Cousins of all ages ran around like headless chickens that ate LSD before being beheaded. I was leaning on a wall in a semi-secluded corner with Hannah to my left, laughing our asses off at some of our more 'should be hospitalized' relatives.

Hannah may be almost three years younger than me but she's as tall, if not taller, with mahogany-coloured hair with auburn highlights that always has had a natural kink and full of curls. She has expressive eyes that are hazel at the moment, above a cute button nose covered in freckles.

She's quiet and shy but if she's surrounded by people that she loves i.e. me and/or her three best friends, Lauren, Annalea and another Ellie, she becomes extremely random and hyperactive. That side of her is so well hidden though, that if I try to describe her to anyone, they take one look at her and don't believe a word I say. It's one of the reasons I love her. She's almost as good an actress as I am. Almost.

It was then that my phone rang. I'd already sent a text to everyone on my contacts not to call/text me unless it's an emergency because I'd be busy until the evening, so this call confused me. To add to that mounting confusion, it was a number I didn't recognise. Wait, what if it's someone from 5SOS' team?

Better answer it then, you wouldn't want to keep four sexy men waiting, would you? Especially if you want to make a good enough impression to get some action.

STOP IT! I may not have had a boyfriend in a while but I'm not that desperate... am I?

Looks like you are!

Except I don't like all four of them. Okay, I'm done talking to you. I'm answering the phone. Time to use your best phone voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ellie! We haven't met but I've heard A LOT about YOU" OH GOD! I recognised the voice straight away because 1) It had an Australian accent and 2) It was the one that I had heard many, MANY times before when watching interviews, keeks and music videos.

"Hey, Ellie! We haven't met but I've heard A LOT about YOU" OH GOD! I recognised the voice straight away because 1) It had an Australian accent and 2) It was the one that I had heard many, MANY times before when watching interviews, keeks and musi...

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"Hey, Ash! Good to hear from you but would you just give me a minute. I'm at a party"

"Erm, yeah, sure! Take your time."

I looked over at Hannah and smiled apologetically. "It's Ashleigh. She's having a bit of a crisis and needs me. I'll be back as soon as I can, I SWEAR!" She flicked her hand at me in a dismissive way.

You could tell that she was pissed at me, mainly because I was putting one of my friends before her, but also because we'd had a big conversation the other day about me doing so much for my friends but them not doing the same, and I should put my foot down more.

I sat on the front wall, poised at denying anything that Calum had told them.

"Okay, I'm free. What can I do you for?"

"It's not what you can do for us, it's more what we can do for YOU. Calum told us ALL about meeting you in Nottingham and the favour. I'm calling to let you know that we've been allowed to meet you lot-LUKE! Get off me, you bastard! I'M TRYING TO BE SERIOUS!-sorry about that. Anyway, this is my number and, from what I've heard, Luke and Michael will be texting you soon, so, if you can't get a hold of me, then they'll probably answer their phones. So... is it true your hair is the colour of gold and you're an angel on earth?"

This description practically made me comatose. It's obvious who they got that description from, but a description of that magnitude meant one thing. Calum had fallen. HARD. And now I was going to have to break his little heart, bless him. "If that's how Calum sees me that's his choice, but I'm human, not angelic, and I don't see why you should care?"

This wasn't me being rude. I just really wanted Ashton to say what I expected out loud. "Ooo, I like this one. She's sassy!" I could hear laughter on the other end of the phone and snippets of conversation like, "We need to meet-does she knows you stole-Go on, then!"

"Well..." Ashton started tentatively, "When Calum came back, the first thing he said was, 'You'll never guess what happened'. He then went on to give us a very descriptive image of a woman who had basically stolen his heart. He's very smitten by you. We needed to talk to this mystery woman ourselves so... we've kind of... stolen Calum's phone... and locked him out of the apartment. He'd just got out of the shower."

I couldn't help it. I burst into a fit of laughter at the thought of Calum outside pounding on the door, only wearing a towel and getting dirty looks from everyone else on his floor. Ashton started laughing too and it became obvious that he'd put me on speaker, so everyone could hear me turn into a man in 0.3 seconds because I heard Michael say, "Oh yeah, her laugh SO sounds like molten honey"

I couldn't help but cringe. "Oh, God! Did he really say that? I'm sorry to disappoint all of you but I'm really normal and I'm really sorry to do this, but I'm gonna hafta break Calum's heart, 'cause I don't like him THAT way. At ALL!"

There's a mixture of groans, "Oh"'s, and a random "YAY!" that I think came from Luke for no reason.

There's a mixture of groans, "Oh"'s, and a random "YAY!" that I think came from Luke for no reason

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"That's a shame, it really is." Okay, so Michael now has the phone, as his sarcastic tone filled my ear.

OOOOOOOO, YOU'RE TALKING TO YOUR FAVE!!! Remember, don't do anything stupid!!

"So, when do I get your number, so I can text you and spam you with random shit?"

NAILED IT!! You're so smooth.

He lets off a machine-gun burst of laughter that's completely adorable, followed by Ashton pissing himself in the background. Apparently, I'd said the right thing.

"I'm gonna text you as soon as we put down the phone, so you'll have my number and, if you want it, Luke said he'd do the same."

It was kind of unreal, the fact that in a couple of minutes I'd have everyone from 5SOS' numbers, but I was sure I'd get used to it.

"Okay then, I'll text you in a bit to work out the details. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a piñata to demolish. Bye! See you soon!"

I hung up after saying 'bye!' about 50 times, feeling a bit empowered because I had a secret that I had to keep from Hannah. I just put it down to an acting challenge that I would rise to. Just as I walked through the door, my phone vibrated twice.

Well, at least they're honest to you. 

Now, how are you going to keep this secret, while arranging a meet up for four super fans with their mums?

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

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