calum's pov
I woke up on Saturday morning with a nervous feeling in my stomach. I knew I shouldn't be nervous, but I wanted to make this date special for Madison with everything else going on. Aussie crawled up onto my bed and I pet his soft fur.
"Hey, Aussie. You wanna go for a run?" He knew what those words meant and started going crazy on the bed before running out of my room. He came back a few moments later with his black leash hanging out of his mouth. "Good, boy."
I got out of bed and changed into a pair of running shorts and a t-shirt before walking out of my room and down the hall. Ashton was sitting at the counter, eating some toast.
"Hey, man. Got your big date today?" he asked.
"Yeah. It's tonight. I'm gonna go take a run with Aussie. See ya later," I gave him a wave before I hooked up Aussie's leash and walked out the door.
I didn't really feel like talking to Ashton about my date with Madison. It was weird how he was her tutor and friends with her, but my friend too. We seemed to have grown farther apart ever since I started hanging out with her and I'm not really sure why. We still talk and stuff, but we don't hang out like we used to. I guess it could also be becuase he has Ellie now.
I walked to the park, Aussie walking in a faster pace than I wanted to go. I wanted to save my energy for my run, but he wasn't being very patient. The sun was warm today, hotter than normal. I stripped off my shirt, tucking it into the waistband of my shorts as I reached the edge of the park. It was early, but there were already plenty of kids on the play equipment. A part of me was hoping that I would see Madison and her brother on the swings like last time, but no such luck. I started off with a slow pace, Aussie maintaining the same speed. Ten minutes in I decided to pick up speed to calm my nerves and I was surprised to find that my dog could keep up. I usually kept to the same speed the whole time, but Aussie was doing well. I ran for another twenty minutes before slowing to a walk. I was out of breath as I walked to the nearest bench to sit down for few minutes in the shade of tree. Aussie sat at my feet panting and I patted his head.
"Great job, boy. You deserve a treat when we get home." His ears perked up at the word "treat" and I laughed.
My mind drifted to tonight and Madison and how I hoped for it to be perfect. I knew she wasn't expecting perfection, but I wanted it to be that way. I had spent the last days planning it and I hoped she loved it.
madison's pov
Calum wouldn't tell me a single thing about this date and I was freaking out. I'd never been on an actual date. (I don't count that stupid eighth grade dance that Matt Brown took me to out of pity or the aquarium thing from the other week). I wish he would at least give me a hint because I've been standing in front of my closet for the past hour, staring blankly at my clothes. I had absolutely no idea what we were going to be doing and I wanted to look somewhat nice. He seemed to be going through so much effort for this date. I was happy he was, but honestly it was just a date to me. I would rather just spend time with him in my room, listening to music. I didn't want to let him down though. I think he was trying to give me the feeling that I was normal and I was thankful for that.
I finally settled on an outfit ten minutes later, yanking the clothes off the hangers. I pulled on the black skinny jeans and the sheer, flowy cream tank. I inspected myself in the mirror, pulling at the edges of my hair and wishing it would grow back. I debated putting a beanie over it, but I remembered that Calum saying that he liked my short hair and I decided against it. I skipped wearing my vans or converse and slipped my feet into gladiator sandals that I hadn't worn in over a year. They were somewhat uncomfortable, so I shoved my converse into my bag just in case they got too bad.
"I think you should stay in tonight, Madison. You need to keep up your strength," my mom came into the room just as I was about to walk outside to wait for Calum.
I threw my head back and groaned. "I'm going out mom. You can't do this to me every time I try to leave the house. I'll be fine, ok?"
She crossed her arms over her chest, which I was getting tired of seeing. "At least tell me who you're going to see. Is it that boy who was over here the other day?"
"I didn't even know you were here," my eyes widened a little, I couldn't help myself. "But yes. I'm going out with Calum and if you would like to know, we're together." With that, I turned on my heel and walked out the door without giving her the chance to say anything else. I sat down on the step and checked my phone. It was still ten minutes before he was supposed to get here, but he pulled up a few minutes later.
He walked up in a pair of black skinny jeans and gray sweatshirt with black sleeves, a dark gray beanie atop his head. My breath caught at the sight of him even though he made no effort dress up, he was gorgeous. "I hope you weren't waiting long. I'm not late am I?" He patted his pockets for his phone, not finding it.
I giggled. "No. You're early actually. My mom was just getting on my nerves again, so I decided to wait out here."
"Ok, good. You scared me there for a second, Madison." My heart warmed at the sound of my name and he laced his fingers with mine. I reached to open my door, but he stopped me. "Not tonight," he shook his head and he opened the door. He even helped me up into the fancy car and reclosed the door.
Once we were on the road, with Panic! at the Disco playing in the background, I asked "Do I get to know where we're going?"
"If you've waited this long, I think you can wait a bit longer," he gave me look.
"Fine," I gave in, settling into my seat. The car ride was short and soon he was pulling into a little strip mall. I sat back up and took in the stores located there. There were a couple of department stores, a book store, a pet store, a few restaurants, a nail salon and a grocery store on the end. I turned to Calum and gave him a confused look. "What are we doing at the strip mall?"
"You'll see, Madison," he said suspiciously as he turned into a spot barely missing another car. He sighed with.
"That was close. You better watch where you're going," I teased.
"I don't see you driving us around," he said. "Oh my god," he clasped a hand over his mouth, turning the igniton off. "Madison, I didn't mean it. It just slipped out."
I bit my lip, sucking in a breath. "It's fine, really. It happens ok?"
"Are you sure?" He turned in his seat and cupped my cheek with his hand. "I just don't have a filter sometimes."
I nodded. "Really. I would probably suck at driving anyway." I moved to get out and so did he. "So are you gonna tell me what we're doing at the strip mall now?" I reached for his hand and he held on tight.
"The pet store!" he replied excitedly.
sorry for taking awhile to update. i've just been so busy, but the next chapter will be the date, yay (: please vote/comment xx zoe
p.s. dedicated to januarymay because her comments make my day.
