Roommates || Calum Hood

Chapter 32 // Skating

•Cassidy

"It's hot as balls outside today," Calum complains, wiping his lingering sweat off of the top of his forehead with the back of his hand.

We were both sitting outside on our back porch, which we rarely ever used, overlooking the serene ocean that was continuously crashing against the grainy sand. I made Calum and I some grilled cheese sandwiches, or cheese toasties, or whatever name they had been given, and we were both nibbling away at them underneath the sweltering sun's rays.

"Well it's almost the end of July in Los Angeles. What did you expect?" I asked, kind of teasing him and kind of curious as to why this hot weather was coming as such a surprise.

"I don't know," Calum answered nonchalantly, swallowing a large bite of his sandwich. "But I do know that I have a large urge to go hide in the freezer right now."

I smiled as a gust of wind tickled the tops of our bare legs, just gently cooling us down for a brief second. I stretched my legs out wide, removing them from their previous crossed position, and pointed and flexed my foot to provide some movement to my muscles before they fell asleep.

"Do you want to go swimming?" I suggested, nodding towards the empty private beach that had no one occupying the waters.

"No," Calum responded firmly and quickly, as if he dreaded the thought of his body being surrounded by salt water. "Why don't we go to the ice rink today?"

"Why would we do that?" I questioned, looking at him in complete shock. He used to always hate ice-skating.

"Because it's cold as hell in there and that's a cliché first date, right?" Calum tried, standing up from his seat next to me and gripping onto my hand. "Come on, Cass. I'm trying to be romantic here."

•*•*•

Ice skates that were a bit too snug constricted around my feet. I could feel the formation of blisters on the back of my heels as the leather and my thick socks rubbed against my skin. I laced the skates up tightly before wobbling over towards the edge of the rink where Calum was leaning against.

"My feet hurt," He whined, linking his arm with mine as we stepped out onto the slippery ice.

I clutched onto him to help keep my balance. I used to love ice skating when I was little, but I haven't done this at all since I moved out to LA. Usually I would spend my days swimming or visiting the beach instead.

"Mine too," I agreed, as we began to trail along the tops of the ice. The cold air whipped against my face, making my nose turn pink and making me wish I had worn a heavier coat.

Calum was struggling to stay up straight, meaning that I had to be the one to tug him along. "Wow I found something that Calum is actually not good at!" I exclaimed, giggling softly.

He bumped me with his hip, causing me to stumble a bit, but I latched onto him rapidly before I could actually fall. "Shut up. I'll be a pro in no time."

"Whatever you say," I sang sarcastically, rolling my eyes at him.

While we were in the midst of trying to get us both to skate in sync without nearly tripping every few seconds, a group of girls strolled up to us. I had a feeling this was going to happen, especially since this was a public place that was crawling with tweens, but it still caused my chest to thump with nerves.

"Calum!" One of the girls, clad in a red pea-coat with light brown hair that sported the side-swept bangs hair-do, called out. She looked about fourteen, maybe a little younger or a little older, and she had that look of pure excitement covering her freckled face. "Can I get a picture with you?"