"Beatiful, isn't it?" he murmured.
"Gorgeous," I nodded. The inside of the ballroom, where the fundraiser was located, was set up with many tables covered in crisp white table cloths. Fancy chandeliers hung from the ceiling illuminating the room with a soft glow.
"Oh, I see my parents over there," Calum pointed off in the distance, starting to walk that way.
I untangled my arm from him and smoothed out my dress, making sure I looked presentable. I wasn't sure why I was so nervous, but my hands were sweating and my heart was racing. I sighed with relief when I noticed Ashton leaning over a counter with Ellie next to him. She looked absolutely beautiful in her fitted black tank and cream skirt with black patterning. Her red hair fell halfway down her back in large waves and I was instantly jealous.
"Madison!" she pulled me into a hug and I cringed a little, distinctly remembering telling her to call me Maddie. I hugged her back to be polite still nervous about meeting Calum's parents. Ellie let go of me a moment later and stepped back to Ashton's side.
"Wow, Mads. I haven't seen you in a dress...ever?"
I let out a small laugh. "Very funny, Ash."
Calum tightened his arm around my waist as his parents finished up the conversation they were having. "This must be Madison," his dad said, sticking out his right hand while the other was lightly pressed to the small of his wife's back.
"Yes sir," I replied, shaking his hand and giving him my warmest smile.
"Oh there's no need to call me sir, darling. Call me David." I nodded, feeling slightly awkward. "This one is very lovely, son. Why haven't you introduced us before?"
"David, leave them alone so they can enjoy the party. I apologize for his behavior. I'm Joy," Calum's mom put her hand forward.
I shook it lightly. "It's nice to meet you."
"You'll have to come by the house sometime and I'll cook you a nice meal. How does that sound? We won't have to deal with all these people and we can get to know each other better," his mom leaned in and whispered into my ear.
"That sounds great, Mrs. Hood," I nodded.
"Wonderful. Well, we need to mingle, but it was lovely to meet you Madison," she said, pulling her husband with her to a group of people on the other side of the room.
Calum and I were now by ourselves since Ashton and Ellie had gone over to the bar to find something to drink. "What would you like to do?" he leaned down, talking in a low, deep voice in my ear. It sent shivers down my spine.
"What is there to do? It looks like people are just standing around," I shrugged. Maybe that was all these parties really were.
"We could go find a more secret spot..." he trailed off, his lips lightly brushing my neck.
I tried to keep my composure, but I knew I was failing. "We can't do that. Won't your parents notice you're missing?"
"They won't care. Honestly, I can't stand here much longer with you in that dress and keep my hands to myself," his voice was huskier than normal, almost sounding like a growl. It was causing me to grow weak in the knees and I almost agreed to go find somewhere.
"We can't," I shook my head. "Why don't we get some food?" I suggested.
He stuck out his bottom lip. "You're only going to make me want you more by taunting me," he whispered, but slipped his hand into mine. We made our way to the buffet table which was three tables long and had a separate dessert table.
"This is so much food!" I grabbed a plate and it was full by the time I reached the second table. "There is no way all of this food is going to get eaten."
"Nope. It's just going to get wasted too," Calum said. "They always order way too much." I frowned at his response, but shook it off.
We found Ashton and Ellie sitting in a corner of the ballroom and sat down next to them. "So, Ellie. I never asked you what you do," I said, trying to make conversation.
"I'm going to art school. I want to be a photographer," she explained, her face lighting up.
"That's awesome!"
"Yeah. I'm trying to convince Ash here he needs to get his butt back to school but he won't." She bumps him with her shoulder and he groans.
"I'm done with school. I graduated high school and I'm good with the tutoring gig. Your mom pays me pretty good money."
"You can't honestly say you want to tutor for the rest of your life," she grabbed his hand that was resting on the table.
"He doesn't," Calum spoke up and all of our eyes turned to him.
"Shut up, dude!" Ashton shot him a look.
"What?" he sat back in his chair, acting like he did nothing wrong.
"Stop getting into my business, ok? No one asked you what I wanted to do," he glared at Calum, trying to keep his voice calm.
"Sorry. I was just telling the truth." He slid his chair back and stood up. "I'm gonna go get some air. Are you alright here, Madison?" he asked, placing his hand on my shoulder.
I looked up at him, biting my lip. I tried to read his expression and wondered if I should ask to go with him, but decided against it. "Yeah. I'm fine."
"I shouldn't have said anything," Ellie sighed.
"It's fine, El. I shouldn't have snapped at him. We have some other shit going on. But he is right."
"What do you want to do?" I cautiously asked.
"I want to be a music teacher I guess. I always thought it was stupid because I can't really see myself as a teacher in a classroom, but I love music and teaching you is fun sometimes."
"Ash, you'd be a great teacher! You got me to do those stupid readings that I hated so much. I actually kinda like them now too. Kids would love you."
"She's right, you know," Ellie nodded, putting her arm around him.
"I guess I'm just scared." He pushed his plate toward the center of the table and rested in his arms.
"Everyone gets scared. Do you think my parents were happy that I wanted to go to art school? They were furious. And weren't you terrified to move to America with almost nothing? But you did that. This can't be any scarier than that."
Ashton slowly lifted his head and shifted his gaze between us. "How did I get so lucky to have you guys?"
Ellie leaned into give Ashton a quick kiss. "Well, we're lucky to have you too."
"I should probably go apologize to Cal," he said, starting to rise from his seat.
"I'll go find him," I shook my head. "You stay with Ellie." I hoped that Calum was in a better mood when I found out where he went. I struggled walking in my heels as I made my way out of the ballroom and into the hall. I started to make my way outside when someone bumped into me causing me to trip and fall.
"Oomph," I fell onto my butt on the cold tile floor. I looked up to see who ran into me and my eyes widened. "Christian?"
Hi guys(: hope everyone is having a lovely week. i added a picture of madison's dress on the side if you want to see what it looks like. please vote/comment and follow if you want (i'll follow you back) xx zoe
