Midnight ☆ L.H

four

4:02 am - ANASTASIA BYNES

Calum Hood was a force to be reckoned with.

His confident, cocky attitude was both appealing and intimidating, and he always seemed to walk into a room with a certain poise that suggested he was king of the world. But beneath that exterior, there was a vulnerability that few people saw. Calum had a heart of gold and would do anything for his friends - even at his own expense.

It was one of the things about him that caught my attention during our last two years of university. He had found his way next to me in environmental science class as punishment for being disruptive. It was almost a blessing in disguise; the moment he leaned over and asked me why my handwriting was so neat was the start of our friendship.

He had grown up in the same small town as Connie and I, and the three of us had become inseparable growing up. We'd gone to school together, been in the same clubs, and spent countless hours hanging out and wasting time.

But after college, Calum had taken off out of the country, chasing his dreams of becoming a musician. He had left behind his small-town roots, and the memories of his childhood friends, tossing away the chance at sharing any more memories. I was left behind, suddenly missing the closeness I had shared with Calum. One second, he was sitting next to me teaching me chemistry, and the next he was at my door with suitcases, covered in tears. He had made it through college with Connie and me, but the pressures and the chaos of the States just felt like too much for him.

Months had passed, and the two of us moved on with life but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing.

"Annie?"

"Hey, yeah! It's been a while, Hood."

I could hear his slow breaths, his phone adjusting to be closer to his ear as we both sat in a blanket of silence. I wanted him to speak first but the silence was deafening--what could I say? I was the one that called him, but what do I say?

"Hey," he said, pausing for a brief moment. "How have you been?"

"Is this a bad time? I can always call back-"

He cut me off abruptly, his voice louder in my ear, "No no, I'm here."

Biting the inside of my cheek now, I pull my phone from my ear to check to time. To my surprise, it was a little after four in the morning. While Connie was dead asleep, here I was, hopelessly trying to rekindle an old friendship.

"Oh, I didn't even realize it was this late. Must be ten in the morning for you, Cal!"

He chuckled to himself now, "Nope, it's 4:17 here."

I pull the phone from my ear quickly, glancing at my time again and processing what he just said, "Cal? You're not in another country, are you?"

Calum Hood was a force to be reckoned with.

After countless attempts to get Calum to fess up about where he was, he finally admitted he was in the Big Apple--and had been, for quite a while. I wanted to be mad that all this time he never said anything, given he knew our plans to move here after college, and Connie and I had been texting him with constant updates, but the excitement in my stomach subsided that feeling for just a little longer.

I had convinced him to meet me somewhere. It was just barely dawn and the subways were surely packed with night owls who hadn't slept yet or the early birds who had just woken up. I stared at my reflection as I passed all the shops, clutching my purse tight with frozen fingers.

I knew what I was doing was reckless and that walking around New York City in the middle of the night was dangerous--but I needed to live a little.