lemon lover [cth]

12

Lemon Lover
12| Mint Chocolate

Besides the polite hello she had muttered when quietly slipping into her seat, the first thing Ava had said to Calum that Tuesday morning had been a lie.

She had excused her tardiness by explaining that the underground hadn't come, when the actual reason was way too embarrassing to admit to.

There was no way in hell for Ava to tell Calum about the nervousness she had experienced due to their afternoon plans. And there was certainly no way she would've told him about the several attempts it had taken her hectic hands to draw the eyeliner she was wearing.

Their plans weren't until later that day, however she had felt the unexplainable need to look good in front of Calum. Not to impress him, but to make herself feel more confident.

He had bought her lie, not questioning it for one second. Instead he had even suggested he'd drive her to school, but she had declined his offer. She despised being dependent on anyone other than herself.

Calum had respected that, but he had insisted on picking her up at 5 to get that ice cream together.

And now that the digital clock on Ava's laptop showed 4:36pm, she was blasting All Time Low, singing along while finishing off her makeup. Due to her resemblance with one of the characters from a series she was currently rewatching, Ava found herself recreating one of their makeup looks, the outcome boosting her confidence.

Calum on the other hand was struggling to stand still after experiencing yet another emotional outburst. Biting into a lemon had calmed him down partially and he was hoping for the cold shower water to do the rest.

Not being able to play the song he was trying to learn on his bass properly right away had driven him insane.

And if that hadn't been enough his fingernails had grown slightly too long to press down the sides smoothly and when he clipped them short he had found a piece of skin sticking out on one side of the nail on his middle finger. Needless to say he had ripped it off and it had started to bleed.

Now the bandaid he had covered the wound with was getting soaked in the shower water as his limbs finally stopped shaking.

At 4:42 Calum hopped out of the shower, rubbing a towel over his skin before spraying himself with deodorant and throwing on some clothes. Lacking the time to do his hair properly, he threw on a beanie before leaving.

By the time the dark haired boy pulled up to her house he had calmed down entirely. He found the girl already sitting on the curb, waiting for him with her headphones plugged in.

He wondered if it was one of the songs they had quoted on the dark wooden desk in the far back of the classroom that she was listening to. And if they reminded her of him.

Was it him she was thinking about, mindlessly drawing shapes in the dirt between her shoes, only looking up at the sound of the engine stopping.

Knitting her eyes together in order to shield them from the sun, Ava tilted her head slightly to the side, watching Calum crank down the window on the drivers side facing her.

He looked at her expectedly. "You getting in or what?"

Lazily, Ava pushed herself up from the curb, taking out her headphones and wrapping the cable around her phone while walking to the passenger side.