Pretending (A Calum Hood Fan Fiction)

Chapter 53: Him

A smile got stuck on my face as I went down from my room, pulling a tank top down my body. I can never not love it when Kristen and I are being playful with each other. Everything is still fresh inside my head. From the moment she beamed a smile to me when I started throwing pebbles to her bedroom window, up to the last scene at my room a while ago. I have always find kissing in the rain too cliché, but having the chance to do it with her was all worth the try. The weird butterflies that I never thought would form inside my stomach started rumbling around as I think of our kiss in the rain. It was so perfect that even if I had to do it while wearing my best coat, I would still go for it. Every moment is always perfect when I'm with her.

But something came up.

My body seemed to froze the moment I saw a person standing in our living room. I was still at the bottom of the stairs, and I couldn't seem to get away from there anymore. My heart started beating rapidly, making weird and dramatical beats. I opened my mouth and found the need to say something, but it remained hanging open as I stare wide-eyed at her. Long red curly hair, white freckled skin, blue eyes, red lips. Pure ginger, I must say. This is her.

"Ma-Madison?" I stuttered.

A smile formed slowly at her lips as she looked at me. "Hi, Calum."

"Why are you here?" I took a deep breath, finding it really hard to utter a word.

She started walking closer, the smile never leaving her face. Being half a meter away, she stopped for a while and just stood there, turning her gaze where the stairs are located, following the sound of the footsteps coming down.

I didn't turn to look behind me but I know it was Kristen who came walking down the stairs. Her cold hands rested slowly at my shoulders as she walked slowly towards me. I couldn't look at her, and I honestly don't know why.

"I'll just head off home now. Call me later, yeah?" Without any warning, she pulled me closer and leaned in for a kiss, but for some reasons I found myself moving away, avoiding the kiss. She remained smiling and pulled me into a hug. When she went back running upstairs, I focused at Madison again. The smile never left her face; she looked really beautiful. Within a minute, Kristen came back and headed out to door without saying anything. In a blink of an eye, she disappeared.

"Who's she?" Madison asked with a sly smile.

"Kristen." I answered. Literally.

And then there's silence. An awkward silence. I remained standing there, looking down at my feet, as she stood there not so far away from me, filled with confidence. I turned to look back at her and found myself observing every details I could see. She changed a lot. She's glowing, she looks elegant and sophisticated, she looks a lot more beautiful than before, and she seems to be making everything perfect even by just standing in front of me.

"Why are you here?" I asked, not stuttering this time.

Madison chuckled lightly and shook her head. "You've changed."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "No, seriously." I paused. "Why are you here?"

She walked towards me and pulled me into a hug.

"I've missed you, Calum."

My eyes widened by the moment those words slipped out of her mouth. I closed my eyes slowly, finding myself returning the hug she gave me. We stayed like that for a moment, making things run back inside my head.

Four years. It's been four years since the last time we met. We were both 14 years old back then, and I barely know anything about this stupid thing called "love". Back then I thought I was never good enough. I thought I would never give a damn about everything. But she came and started changing things in my life. I became confident, I became brave, I gained a lot of self-esteem, I trusted myself a lot about different things, and of course, I learned how to love. Madison herself taught me how. She was my first love, my first everything. Waking up everyday with the feeling of being in love with her was the one I thought I'd always miss. But things started getting messed up, when one time, she just disappeared. I waited and thought that maybe something just came up, and she just had to go somewhere. All day I waited for her to show up, but no one came. After months of waiting, I found out from a friend that she moved to England, and settled there for good. I was badly and terribly hurt. I hated myself, I even hated her, I hated life. It was terribly hard for me to move on. She was everything that I wanted back then, but she left me without even saying goodbye. No calls, no texts, no emails, no photos, no letters, nothing. Back then I thought I would never ever fall in love again. Until a small rascal with pink hair tips came into my life and changed everything. And I am happy with what I've got right now. I know I don't need anything to make things clear for me, but why all of a sudden, I am finding myself being drown at my own thoughts and being confused?