polarize :: [hood]

[v.vi. jusfayu]

"I'm not a bad guy, I ain't all put together. But if you stick around, you gon' see I'm getting better and...

...I did it jusfayu..."
___

It's Thursday morning and Calum is sitting in Michael's car by himself waiting to see when, or if, Royce is going to make an appearance.

When he doesn't see her at the bell, he decides to suck it up and go to Calc because why not at this point? He doesn't have anything else to lose.

And he strolls tiredly into class and nods to Luke and Kennedy and ignores their confused expressions because they're wondering where Royce is, too.

"She hasn't responded to anything I've sent her," Kennedy expressed frustratedly this morning.

"Me either...And now, you say she's out with your weird blonde freaky friend?" Lola huffed. "What the fuck's going on?"

Calum wanted to know that, too. He wanted to know what was going on. He wanted to know if Emma actually helped him when she said she would. He wanted to know if she wasn't being the bitch she typically was and managed to help him out with Royce.

But, really?

He'd put his hope in Emma.

Snake's Emma.

What the fuck was he thinking?

And as he sits and class begins, he receives a text to the How was it? he'd sent Emma just the night before, after she'd taken Royce out.

Great.
You're welcome.

Calum doesn't even know if Emma's shitting him or if their conversation actually was great. The response is so vague and non-specific he doesn't know if he's being played right now.

He decides not to reply.

Yeah.

It was hopeless.

And he was kind of pissed with himself for even caring this much. He didn't do relationships. That had never been him. He didn't do that shit, and here he was. Here he was, having fallen for a cheerleader. A straight-A student. A girl from The Bluffs.

Who comes jogging into class.

Late.

"Royce," Sister Mary begins sternly, and Royce and Luke and Kennedy and Calum all look up, surprised. "You're late."

That much is obvious.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she breathes. "I had to help Tobe get his project into my car--"

"Just don't let it happen again," she motions towards Calum. "Take your seat."

And she slips into the chair beside him and he's hit with a wave of deja vu. She sends him a small smile that makes him instantly reminiscent of the time he first met her, at the beginning of the year, when all he wanted to do was get in her pants and now look where the fuck that had gotten him.

"In preparation for your AP, from now until May we'll be doing nothing but review. Pull out your books and turn to the last chapter..."

The lesson begins, and Calum can smell that fruity shampoo she uses and for some reason he leans towards her and whispers into her ear.

"I'm pissed."

She grimaces, clicking her pencil over the sound of her response. "I know."

"But," he softens, "I'm also sorry. I should've told you," he faces the board. "I should've told you about your mom..."