Wherever You Are (5sos)(On-Hold)

Chapter 2

Calum sat around the pit with the others, and I did the same but felt completely out of place. Everyone talked to each other like they all shared a bond that I didn't have with them yet.

I mentally jotted things down about each person. Gemma and Ashton playfully spoke to each other with subtle winks and pokes here and there, trying to be slick while conversing with the others. They acted very cute and bubbly with each other and seemed to be in the "honeymoon stage" of their relationship.

Michael seemed like a complete nut-job to me (not in a mean way). He was like one of those people in school who everyone avoids because of the weirdness radiating off of him. He looked as if he were emo or punk but really he never stopped laughing and cracking jokes, inappropriate ones, if I might add.

Lyn seemed feisty at first because of how she spoke to Ashton earlier, but then I noticed that she was actually genuinely nice and well-mannered. She was speaking to Calum, smiling warmly in his presence.

I glanced at Luke and noticed he really wasn't talking much except to Michael every so often. He caught me looking at him, and I smiled. He returned it with an ice-cold scowl. Geez, I did not want to get on his bad side.

I sighed and shook it off. I had to at least try making friends with these people because I was probably going to be seeing a lot more of them later on. "So, where did you come from?" a soft voice interrupted my thoughts. It was Lyn.

"Oh. I-uh... moved here from Maine," I said uneasily while raking my fingers through my hair.

"Wow. Why would you want to move here out of all places? I mean, besides the tourist attractions, California is nothing amazing. It gets annoying after a bit."

"Well, my parents," I cleared my throat, "they, um, died so I had to move here and now I'm living with Calum and his mom," I said, trying my hardest to keep my emotions intact.

"I'm so sorry," she said, putting a hand on my arm.

"It's alright. It happens," I brushed it off.

We then changed the topic. "So do you have any hobbies or..?"

I nodded passionately. "I love cooking, reading, writing, and I do a little dancing here and there."

"Cool! You're going to have to cook for me one day. I'm a klutz in the kitchen," she laughed.

We continued to speak until everyone decided to start a game of volleyball. Cal and Ashton were team captains. Calum chose first. "Cambryn! Over here to the cool team!"

"No fair," Ashton whined. "I was going to pick her." Cal just stuck his tongue out at him. "Fine. I guess I'll just take Gemma, then," Ashton huffed. She glared at him with her hands on her hips.

The teams ended up being Me, Cal, Lyn, and Michael on one side and Ashton, Gemma, and Luke on the other.

I wasn't particularly good at playing any kind of sport, but I had played volleyball for three years at my old school, which is why I knew what I was doing. I silently thanked my coach for yelling at me to 'hustle' through each game.

The others on my team, to put it nicely, sucked. Ditto for the other team. Luke was actually the only one who knew how to properly punt the ball. He and I were the only contenders, really.

Both of our teams ended up in a tie. The winner would be determined by whoever made the next point.

"Come on Cambryn! Show him who's boss!" yelled an enthusiastic Michael, bouncing up and down shakily. Was he high..?

I served the ball to which Luke hit back. It kept going back and forth until Luke hit the ball with an unusual amount of force. I somehow lost my rhythm, and the ball came into contact with my face instead of my fist, causing me to tumble to the sandy ground below.

Everyone, except Luke, immediately surrounded me with wide eyes and mouths agape, which made me claustrophobic. They looked down at me. "Are you okay?" They asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, looking away and blushing. A giant ball just hit me in the face. Would anyone be okay? I stood up with Calum's help and brushed myself off, trying to ignore everyone's cooing voices. I just felt so awkward. "Really, guys. I'm okay," I assured them, although I was in excruciating pain and my face scorched, feeling like it was about to fall off.

Calum marched over to Luke, who stood, with his shoulders back and chest out, next to the net. "Aren't you going to apologize? Ask if she's alright?"

Luke crossed his arms and shrugged. "Wasn't my fault," he replied coolly.

"Well, maybe if you hadn't hit the ball so hard, she wouldn't have been knocked over." It was obvious that anger was beginning to boil inside of Calum. His fists were clenched by his side.

Both began to quarrel while the rest of us watched silently until I couldn't stand it any longer. I stood in between the both of them, keeping them a distance away from one another. "Calum, it's alright. It was my fault. I kind of lost my balance and missed the ball. It's no big deal." I tried to make the best of the situation in order to avoid the start of a real fight.

"Whatever," Calum roughly made his way toward the others, but not before delivering another scowl to Luke, who just stood there with a half-smile, arrogance and pride radiating off of him.

After that whole situation, the sun started to set, which only made the beach look even more beautiful than before. Again, I acted like such a tourist and took loads of photos. As it became dark, it also became colder. I was thankful for the hoodie Calum let me borrow and snuggled into it. It had traces of his scent all over.

We started a fire in the pit and began roasting hot dogs and marshmallows while making small talk and exchanging numbers.

"Hey. Where'd Luke go?" asked Lyn.

"He left a while ago," replied Michael, shifting his gaze. "Probably wanted to cool off, I guess," he shrugged.

After an hour or so, we all said our farewells, and Cal and I walked back to the house.

"Your friends are wonderful! I really like them," I stated.

"Yeah. Everyone's great except Luke," he said irately. "I don't know what's up with him. He can act like an arrogant, self-absorbed bozo sometimes. Other times, he's completely normal and happy. I just don't get it."

I shrugged, "It's okay. I didn't really mind him. Anyway, Michael and Ashton were hilarious. I could not stop laughing when they used high-pitched voices to speak through their hot dogs like they were dummies." I started to laugh uncontrollably just at the image resurfacing in my mind.

He smiled. "Yeah. I'm lucky to have these guys."

We made it to the house, and I was exhausted. I started walking to my room when Calum said, "Hey. Give me back my hoodie."

I turned around and smiled slyly. "No thanks. I've decided to keep it."

"But that's my favorite one," he whined.

I smiled and patted his head, imitating his gesture from earlier today, then shut the door to my room and fell into a dream-like slumber.