Hey There, Delilah - A 5 Seconds of Summer story

Chapter 53

Of jamming sessions in Calum’s garage.

Of school lunchtimes sitting in a circle on the oval playing truth or dare.

Of our Friday afternoon trips to Calloway’s Ice Cream Parlour, all five of us squashed into one booth trying to eat the ice cream before it melted.

Craving for the distinct taste of Calloway’s ice cream made my mouth water.

“Jules?” I asked. “Can we go to Calloway’s?”

Her face lit up in a grin. “I was hoping you’d ask.”

Calloway’s was exactly the same as I remembered.

The red leather of the booth seats was a little more faded and torn and the tables were a little more stained.

But the black-and-white tiled floor was exactly the same, and the scent of cleaning product and ice cream still hung in the air.

The fans whirred sluggishly on the ceiling. I smiled. Still no air conditioning.

The girl at the counter looked tired, her hair messily twisted up into a bun at the top of her head.

Still, she smiled pleasantly at us as we reached her, as though there were nothing odd at all about two girls buying ice cream at eight-fifteen on a Tuesday morning.

“A waffle cone of Devil’s Chocolate please.” Jules ordered.

“And a waffle cone of Cookies and Cream please.” I added, smiling.

“A bit early for ice cream, isn’t it?” The girl teased as she scooped chocolate ice cream into a waffle cone and handed it to Jules.

“It’s never too early for ice cream.” I replied, with mock seriousness.

She laughed as she handed me my cone. “A fair enough statement.”

We paid her and made our way to the back corner of the shop, where our old favourite booth sat, right underneath a slowly spinning fan.

“Did you ever come to Calloway’s after I left?” I asked, relishing the taste of ice cream on my tongue. “I mean as a group?”

“We tried, once.” Jules replied. “But Luke refused to come because we wouldn’t let him bring Alison. The whole thing kind of fizzled out after that, I guess.”

I nodded, guilt nibbling my stomach, and we sat in comfortable silence for a while, broken only by the crunching of cones.

“Why are you avoiding Luke?” Jules said, finally.

I internally swore, hoping to have avoided this question.

I didn’t realise I was so easy to read until this tour.

“I’m not.” The words even sounded like a lie.

Jules raised an eyebrow. “Don’t be dumb, Del. I know when you’re lying. Spill it.”

“I’m not avoiding him as such.” I defended, swallowing the last bit of my ice cream. “He’s just a little overprotective, that’s all. It’s difficult to adjust to.”

“Did you try talking to him about it?” Jules sighed at my sheepish headshake. “You can’t run away forever, Delilah.”

“I’m not running!”

“You are!” Jules hissed.

I shrank back in my seat. Jules could be scary when she wanted to be.

“You’re running away because you’re too scared to face up to the fact that Luke really cares about you! You’re too scared to have something serious! You’re too scared because you think it might fail! Well newsflash, Delilah! If you live your life in fear you’re never going to achieve anything!” Jules sat back, breathing heavily after her rant.