WRONG NUMBER / CH

chptr 35

It bothered Calum that everyone in the shop was staring at him openly, so he tried to hide that fact by pretending to be immersed in the racks of clothing in front of him even though they were all girls' blouses. In the midst of shopping with Leia, they happened upon what seemed to be the girliest, fluffiest store Calum had ever laid his eyes on, and of course she persuaded him to check it out with her for a few minutes.

"I'm so sorry, Cal," Leia gushed, coming out from a fitting room with an apologetic smile. "I couldn't resist."

All words had left Calum when he turned to look at her, though. She was wearing a black mini-dress she had picked out, and it was so sexy it actually hurt him. She did a mini-twirl and a curtsey for him and asked, "How do I look?"

He gulped, hoping he didn't look as flustered as he felt. "You look-you look good."

She seemed satisfied with his reply so she turned back inside and left Calum still staring, mouth half-open and feeling slightly dizzy. He blew out a breath.

"You're a cute couple," a girl behind him said with a knowing smile. "How long have you been together?"

Awkward. "Um, no, we're not together. We're just...friends." He smiled to be polite. The girl's eyes suddenly lit up like she hoped they weren't together, which made him feel weird. Before she could speak again Leia emerged from the small room and practically ran to Calum's side. She took Calum's arm and led him out of the store.

Calum was more than grateful to be out of there, not even noticing Leia's lingering glare at the girl he was talking to. She knew she didn't have a right to be jealous but god damn it, she couldn't help it. Calum pointed to a DIY store where they could buy things for her new room.

Inwardly, Leia was relieved and happy that his friends had refused to go shopping with them. Not that she didn't like them (she thought they were fun), but she liked being alone with Calum. She did feel sorry that she took him away from his friends, so she told him so.

He waved indifferently. "Don't be. I was getting sick of them, anyway," he said, only half-kidding. He picked up a string of fairy lights and showcased them to her. "You should get some of these."

They spent the rest of the day picking out random stuff from the store, joking with each other and telling new stories. At one point they were even playing hide and seek until the manager told them off. Nevertheless they were having fun shopping even in a boring, plain hardware store. In the end they had bought quite a few things: the fairy lights, some lightbulbs, a carpet and matching curtains, a few cans of paint. She even ordered a book shelf to be delivered to their house in a few days.

Calum insisted on carrying most of the bags on the way home, since that was the gentlemanly thing to do. They lounged around the food court for a while, eating nachos and still talking-they had been in each other's company for more than five hours now, and there wasn't a single moment of awkward silence within that time. Everything just seemed so natural and comfortable between them, and every time a topic would end, another one would arise smoothly. Both of them were secretly overjoyed with that fact, and it was apparent to everyone surrounding them that these two kids had something going on between them.

Calum excused himself to go to the restroom before they left the mall. Along the way he passed by a display of animal stuffed toys and one of them caught his eye-a purple giraffe. Jackpot. It's a combination of her favorite animal and her favorite color, so of course his first action was to get in there and buy that little fucker. Forgetting his restroom needs he returned to her with the stuffed toy behind his back and when she wasn't looking, stealthily stuffed it into the biggest bag they had.

"Oh, jeez, you scared me!" she said when she turned to find Calum appearing out of nowhere, half-laughing.

After that they took a cab home and Calum helped her drop off all her stuff. He was tired, but he had never felt happier than he felt then. Leia unlocked the front door and told Calum excitedly, "I want you to meet my mom."

Calum freaked out for a second because meeting her mom was a huge step, even though they were just friends. He began to feel nervous and anxious. "Um...are you sure? I'm not in the right-"

"Don't worry, Calum," she said impatiently, pulling him in. "I'm sure she'll like you just as much as I-"

She stopped talking, realizing what she was saying. Fuck, I totally spilled it. Mentally she slapped her forehead. She hoped he didn't hear her, or at least realize what she was saying.

But of course he did hear her, and he couldn't control his smile after she said those words. His heart was dancing happily in his chest. There was a certain rush in hearing the person you liked liked you back. And this was Leia-the girl he's been in a one-sided love for months. No way was he prepared for the reality of her liking him back.

"Mom, this is Calum," she announced when they reached the kitchen where her mom was. She was a kind-looking lady with the same gentle, pretty face like Leia. He immediately approached her and introduced himself formally and politely.

"So this is the Calum you've been talking about!" she gushed. Calum turned to Leia just in time to see her signaling her mom to quit being uncool. Her mom didn't get it. "Oh, she's been going on and on about you, dear. But now I understand. Look at you, you're a handsome young man! Well, my daughter's lucky. You know she's been talking about you nonstop for-"

"OKAY MOM THAT'S ENOUGH," Leia said, dragging Calum away, not bothering to be polite about it. She dragged him to her room upstairs and shut the door with a sigh of relief and embarrassment.

Calum had a cheeky grin on his face. "I like your mom."

Leia felt a blush rising to her cheeks. "She...likes to exaggerate things..." But he was still smirking and now she felt herself cursing the moment she ever decided to introduce Calum to her mother.

After they took all their shopping bags to her room, Calum realized it was getting late and that he had to go, even though he didn't want to. Leia felt the same, but of course she felt like he had done more than enough already. "I'll walk you out," she told him, leaving her room first.

Hurriedly Calum took the chance to leave the purple giraffe toy on her bed as a little present for her. He scribbled a little note and tucked it with the giraffe before following her outside the front door.

"Well...good night, Calum. Thank you for today," Leia told him, a bit more shy than usual.

"It was my pleasure," he replied. Then there was a moment after that, an electrically charged moment in the air between them. Suddenly the space that separated them was closer than it felt and Calum's mouth felt dry because right now would be the perfect opportunity to kiss her. If this was a movie some asshole in the back of the cinema would be shouting, "Just kiss her already!"

But cold feet overwhelmed him, and with one last goodbye he hurriedly left her house, feeling like the biggest idiot in the world.