WRONG NUMBER / CH

chptr 25

When Monday came around Calum was more than ready to finally meet her in that ice cream shop after school.

A few days ago she texted about enrolling in a new school. They were all disappointed to see that it wasn't their school. She was going to some other high school closer to her house, which, coincidentally, was their rival school.

But in a strange way, Calum was relieved. He couldn't bear the thought of being in the same four walls as her and having everyone just goggling at her while he was in the vicinity. He knew he didn't have the rights to be jealous over whoever interacted with her, but what could he do?

"Want me to drive you?" Ashton offered before they all went their separate ways.

Calum shook his head. "Nah, I'm good, thanks, mate." He clapped Ashton's shoulder. "See you guys tomorrow." After their few goodbyes Calum went straight to the ice cream shop. On the way, he had begun his mental preparation for what was going to happen. This time, he was serious. He was going to meet her. His days of being a wuss was over.

He was nearing the Ice Cream Palace, which meant his anxiety was increasing by the minute. Suddenly he was sweating all over and beginning to feel like all of this was a bad idea. He wished he had his friends to back him up right now-even if to "back him up" meant that they'd punch him in the face every time he thought about not going through with the plan.

He could see the place now, looking exactly like it did before. But of course, it felt different to him. Some shit was about to go down. Magical, romantic shit.

When he pushed the door open, he was greeted with a familiar face, but it wasn't Leia. "Hey, Bea, right?" Calum made his way to the counter and nodded a greeting to her.

Bea smiled, which meant she remembered him. "Yeah, I didn't catch your name, though. "

"Calum," he supplied for her.

"Well, welcome back! What can I get for you?" She flashed him another genuine, bright smile.

Calum looked around, expecting Leia to pop out from somewhere. He frowned. "Aren't there any other employees?"

"Oh, well, there's supposed to be another one, but..." Bea checked her watch and glanced out the window as if someone was magically going to appear and walk through their door. She shrugged. "I guess she's running late."

Calum blew out a breath and pursed his lips. He decided maybe the universe thought it wasn't the right day to meet. So he ordered ice cream (same as last time, rocky road, double scoop) and left the shop with mixed emotions. Somehow he was relieved and angry at himself at the same time. I thought you were gonna go through this, Hood. He sighed to himself and licked his ice cream in despair. He didn't deserve this ice cream. Ice cream weren't for quitters.

He felt a surge of confidence suddenly. No, he wasn't a quitter. He was going to go through with this, dammit! Now get back in there and wait for her!

He smiled in triumph and turned around to march right back in the shop when he saw her.

Leia.

Walking towards him with her head bent down, rummaging through her purse.

Every romantic thought he ever had of her started flowing through his brain, only it was amplified by her presence. Oh, man. Oh, no. The feelings were real. He thought they were a simple fluke in his life, but he realized that wasn't the case. He was standing meters away from her and watching her grace the earth with her existence when he had the epiphany that he had, in fact, caught feelings for her.

All this happened in less than three seconds, of course, since Calum realized he wasn't in the right state to meet her right now. His jaw was dropped and his clothes disheveled and there was ice cream on his face, he was pretty sure. So he ran with the first thought that popped into his head.

He, well, ran.

In a hurry he made his way to a nearby alley without thought. However, he had forgotten about the laws of gravity-his ice cream had fallen off and left a stain on his shirt. He felt like such a dweeb, hiding from a girl in an alleyway, mourning over lost ice cream.

When the coast was clear, he decided to just go home. No way was he going to meet her today. But he grumbled all the way back, expecting hell from his three best friends when they find out.