Just For the Summer {Cashton}

( XII. ) : ALL ABOUT YOU

(1) From: Bestfran Cal :D
You know sometimes I really hate being a lifeguard

(1) From: Bestfran Cal :D
Like seriously sometimes you actually have to /save people/ and go in the water

(1) From: Bestfran Cal :D
Then you get wet and now you have to dry under the sun for the entire damn day

(1) From: Bestfran Cal :D
What the fuck

To: Bestfran Cal :D
... As much as I want to sit here and listen to your complaints, I don't NOW GO BACK TO WORK CAL !!

To: Bestfran Cal :D
Lots of love though x <3

Calum and I have been together for around a week and a half now. Time really flew by fast on this one—soon enough it'll become a month, then a few months until it'll eventually reach a year. It's crazy to think about. Nothing has changed between us either, we're still each other's best friends. The only minor difference is that we kiss sometimes when we feel like it. Other than that, everything's pretty normal, and I hope it'd stay that way.

"Is Calum still texting you, mate?" Michael asked. I quickly flicked my head back up to look at him, almost forgetting that he was there along with Luke. "You've had your eyes  on your phone for like, seven hours now and we've passed by ten million hiring signs."

"I'd rather scoop up dog shit than work at a jewelry store or any of those lingerie underwear ones, Mikey," I snapped, a bit cranky from the intense heat. Running my fingers through my curls, I bit my bottom lip and scanned around the area more.

"Why don't you just work at Cousin's?" Luke dipped his head in to look at me. "Mau loves you, I'm sure she'll spot you a job or something."

I shook my head. "She was the first person I went to. She says there's already loads of people working for her, and that she's fine with what she has now."

The three of us were walking around town, both Michael and Luke giving me a hand in searching for job openings. It only hit me just a few days ago that I needed money to pay for a lot of things regarding college, and how it was coming close. I also didn't want to constantly rely on my parents to provide for me, because I'm eighteen. And what's worse is that I'm turning nineteen in just a few days.

Surprisingly, no one was hiring. At least to my interest anyway. There were rarely a few we found, but I honestly didn't see myself lasting very long with them. I needed to work somewhere near the beach too, because that way I'd be closer to Calum.

After wasting another half an hour walking around the plaza to ask the manager of every store and small shop there was, the three of us were left exhausted. There was no hope. I was either too picky, or no one was really looking. So, we headed back to the beach house to cool down and hopefully try again later.

We all sat around the living room area with the air conditioner on full blast, sunken into the leather couch and enjoying our cold popsicles. The TV in front was playing the show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo—a guilty pleasure of mine and as well as Calum's (embarrassingly).

"Maybe Calum could talk to his boss about giving you a lifeguard shift too?" Michael suggested, licking his pink popsicle that oddly matched his new hair color. "Saves gas and stuff."

"You have to take a class or something before you can actually be a lifeguard," I answered with a sigh. My eyes were attentively on the screen as they played a scene where Honey Boo Boo and her sisters were sliding down a large hill on a block of ice. "And the class itself takes like, a week or two. It's a waste."

Luke chimed in with another idea. "What about a lemonade stand? I wouldn't mind helping you out with it either—you won't even have to share the earnings with me."

"That'd be great," Michael was using his fake tone as a reply, and I groaned knowing a sarcastic response was coming his way. He placed a hand on Luke's shoulder. "If we were fucking eight years old, dumbass! Do you honestly think people would buy lemonade from a bunch of teenagers? We wouldn't even make much with it either."

"Not if we take our shirts off and do it," the latter retorted with a shrug. "I know girls will do anything to see shirtless guys sweating under the sun."

I pursed my lips in thought, letting the piece of my popsicle melt in my mouth. "Michael's right, Luke. It's a bit too childish and inefficient for me. Even if we do have our shirts off the entire time, I don't think we'd attract anyone considering I don't exactly have the body of Channing Tatum."

And we were stumped once again. My mum had always told me that times were tough these days regarding scavenging for decent jobs, but I didn't know it'd be this hard.

It was quiet for a few minutes with just us getting lost into the show until Luke spoke up again. "Guys. I got it. I got it this time," he claimed with excitement, literally standing up from the couch and breaking out of Michael's arm around him. He faced Michael and I. "You guys are familiar with the movie slash books The Baby-sitters Club right?"

My head turned slowly to see what Michael had to say about it. He rubbed the back of his neck in a bewildered expression—unable to comprehend what Luke was saying. I didn't know where he was going with all of this either. "Uh, yeah? But what does this have to do with anything?"

Luke clasped his hands together. "Ashton can start some sort of a babysitting service, mates. Like, imagine how many locals him and Calum know who have connections. They might have kids they want to get away from for a while, and they can trust Ashton because they're not giving their kid away to some stranger."

Now I fully understand why Luke got accepted to Yale. He had a fucking big brain full of awesome ideas. Calum and I always took care of my younger siblings before whenever our parents went out, and this shouldn't be any different. Despite the fact that I might be going solo on this one, I loved kids. We had tons of stuff to do at the beach house, and I get paid to play games and have fun with them.

"I love it," I flashed a smile at him, giving two thumbs up. "All I have to do is set up a profile at that website where there's a directory of babysitters, and maybe post an ad at Mau's place. Help a lad out?"

"Wait, wait wait—" Michael interjected with his hands flailing everywhere. He stopped for a moment to look at Luke and I. "What's going to happen if this babysitting service gets too popular and Ashton's going to have to take care of twenty kids at once?"

"I don't mind joining in and helping out," Luke shrugged.  He was too nice.

"Besides, we can have like, a limit or something," I pointed out, slinging an arm over Michael's shoulders as I looked at him. "We can do... let's say, three kids per day. Then kinda rotate it out. I'll do anything to make money at this point, to be honest."

We debated the whole thing for a while until coming down to a final decision. I was pushing forward with this service, and Michael along with Luke were willing to join me whenever they had the time to do so. It all resulted to having an agreement to actually creating this service and giving it a go.

"Ashton, which folder should I check for decent pictures of you?" Luke questioned with his eyes fixated on the computer screen. He began to type something up with the keyboard. "It says here a picture is required to set up your profile."

The three of us decided to get this babysitting service begin immediately, so we brought out the laptops and worked on everything. Luke was in charge of setting up my profile for the directory online, Michael was in charge of constructing an advertisement to post on Mau's bulletin board, while I began to search for people in the area who are in need of a babysitter already.

I leaned over to look at his screen. "Uh..." my index finger trailed around, telling him to click on certain things before reaching my recent pictures folder. "You think that one's alright?" The one I pointed to was one of me holding up a sea turtle with an awkward smile.

"It's cute, I like it," Luke chuckled softly, probably making fun of how weird I looked. I just shook it off though—considering the fact that there's never a normal photo of me anyway. He clicked on it to upload and continued to create my profile.

I went back to my own laptop screen and scrolled through my Facebook and Twitter feeds to see if anyone had posted anything yet about needing a babysitter. Sadly, there was none. I peered over to my other side to see if Michael was still working on the advertisement, but he was doing something completely different. "Mikey!" I hissed as I thwacked him on the head with the stack of papers in my hand. "Why the hell are you playing Plants Vs. Zombies? Aren't you supposed to be working on the advertisement like I told you to?"

"Jeez, relax Ash, I finished it a long time ago!" He matched my tone and rubbed the area where I hit him. Minimizing the game briefly, he took a sip out of his water bottle and opened the word document where his advertisement was saved in.

"I hate you," was all I could say about his creation after reading it entirely. I rubbed my face with my hands and took a deep breath. "Mikey—this is illiterate, you put random pictures if Will Smith everywhere, and you even used the damn Comic Sans font. Are you fucking with me right now?"

ashtun erwin lookin 4 sum kidz to sit on!!1
need $$$ and bling bling pls help me out
am rlly good w lil boogers bc im a kid at heart <3
**i will make them luv nap time**

call me maybe??  (061) 468356796
do it 4 will smith thank u
pce, luv, n other things lyk candy bc drUGS ARE BAD
xOxO cOoL kId OuT xOxO

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We stopped by Cousin's after spending an hour of me reconstructing the advertisement to officially post it up on the bulletin board. Mau was actually pretty proud and impressed of the idea, and was already offering to send over a few of her customer's kids soon.

Calum's shift ended as well, so all three of us got back in the car after posting it to pick him up. We spent the entire car ride blasting Fall Out Boy's 'Save Rock and Roll' album. The windows were all open and we all had our sunglasses on to shield ourselves from the afternoon sun, singing our hearts out.

Once I parked my car on the pavement just beside the sand, I already saw Calum's figure approaching us from the distance. As he got closer and the two of us could see each other's faces clearly, the grin on his face grew wider as I gave him a small wave. He was heading for the passenger's seat, but was soon stopped because he'd noticed that Michael was sitting on it instead of him.

"Mikey, you're in my seat," Calum stuck his head inside of the window to face Michael.

Michael wrinkled his nose, folding his arms across his chest. "I don't see your name on it." I knew that he was only being immature just to horse around with Calum for a little bit, and I didn't really mind. I found it quite entertaining and hilarious.

"I always sit next to Ashton though," he opened the door for Michael to get out. "Just sit next to Luke in the back, yeah? He needs a pal."

"I feel insulted, Calum," Luke frowned from behind. "You don't want to sit next to me? Do I smell bad? I took a shower this morning."

"No, it's not that Luke, I just—"

"And why do you want to sit next to Ashton so badly? You've had eighteen years worth of sitting next to each other. Do you have a gigantic crush on him or something?"

I burst out of laughter after that. I couldn't take it anymore—everything was too funny to be serious and collected. Sticking my head out the window on my side, I refused to make eye contact with everyone else and allowed myself to cool down.

"Fine, I'll sit in the back with you," I heard Calum say, hearing the back door of the car open.  Within seconds of him coming inside and throwing his backpack on the ground, my phone vibrated.

(1) From: Bestfran Cal :D
:( No kisses yet :(

Smiling to myself, I quickly typed in a reply.

To: Bestfran Cal :D
:P

The rest of the car ride went smoothly. Michael and Luke wanted me to drop them off at Michael's place, so I did. We also all told Calum about my babysitting service that we just opened, and he was happy for me. He said that he'd be okay to help out with the kids whenever he's out of work. We also talked about what activities we should do next, and since Calum and I have been meaning to go surfing, that'd be the first thing we plan for the day the four of us will be free.

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"Uh huh. Yeah, alright. That sounds good, yep. Yeah, I'm free the entire day. Feel free to drop him off at any time. Mhm. Okay. Okay, have a good day. Bye."

"Who was that?" Calum asked as he threw his arms around me from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder while I quickly shot a text message to the person I was just on the phone with. He placed a small kiss on my cheek.

Turning my head a little, I looked at him. "It was one of Mau's customers. He says he needs a babysitter for his six year old tomorrow, and was wondering if he could drop the kid off here for a few hours."

"Did you say yes, bubby?"

"Of course I did! I'm really excited, Cal. You have no idea."

"Do you mind if I catch a day off tomorrow then so we can tackle this kid together then? You might need help, 'cause he might be a handful."

"As long as your boss is okay with it," I removed his hands around my sides to shift my body so that it was fully facing him. Taking a sigh of relief, I buried my face on the crook his neck.

He laughed and caressed the back of my head soothingly as the two of us stood like that for a while. There was just something so comfortable about always being with Calum, and I liked it. "Hey. I almost forgot, I'm taking you out tonight. You need to dress in something nice. And I mean, really fancy nice. Like a tie nice."

I suddenly lifted my head up from his shoulder and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "...Why?" Calum was out making surprises again, and I wasn't sure if I was ready for it.

"Just... because. You'll see why," he smiled, pressing his lips together. He put both of his hands on each of my shoulders and began to gently push me up the staircase. "Wear the nicest clothes you have! I'm going to go get dressed too, we'll leave in fifteen minutes."

For some reason I was looking forward to this. I know Calum was always full of unexpected things, but the fact that he's planned this only for the two of us makes it a little more special. Being sentimental isn't really my forte, but I truly mean it when I admit that I'm lucky to have him in my life. A life partner.

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Because Calum doesn't have a license, he made me drive to this 'secret surprise place' while he gave out the directions.  We were both in the car wearing the nicest clothes we can find. I had on a white shirt topped with a black blazer, black skinny jeans, black high tops and my hat. Calum was wearing a white button up with a silver bowtie, black skinny jeans, and his black and white vans.

"Uh... I think we turn at this light. Yeah we do," Calum  nodded, tapping his phone against the car door to his side. "Yeah, that other restaurant is right there and..."

I kept following his instructions, turning whenever he told me to and all of that. The area was really familiar to me though, so I had a slight idea of where we were heading. But I kept quiet and continued to drive and enjoy the music playing on the radio.

After a couple of minutes, Calum made me stop and pull over by the entrance of a very familiar restaurant. I quickly glanced at him in confusion on why we were at the valet parking area of the place. "Cal, why the hell are we in front of Symphonia right now?"

Symphonia had to probably be the fanciest place in all of the town. Only people of high class have dinners there, because everything was overpriced and definitely too pristine. Reservations days in advanced were only allowed, and they even had a dress code for their customers. Apparently, people weren't allowed to eat inside if they had on casual clothing. My dad actually proposed to my mum in this place, so it's known to be a very romantic place for couples as well.

"Because I have reservations for us here?" he grinned cheekily as a response and pinched my nose. "I told you to dress fancy, didn't I?"

No matter how much I tried biting back my smile, I just couldn't do it entirely. This was all too much even for me, and I don't understand why he was doing this. It was all too sweet. "I know, but this place is crazy expensive, one bowl of soup is like—"

"Bubby, calm down!" Calum chuckled, leaning over to my direction to cup my cheeks. "I saved up for this, don't worry. All you have to do is just enjoy your night here, okay? Leave everything up to me. Now let's get out of the car and let the worker park the car for us."

There was no point in arguing, so he and I both stepped out of the car. I handed the employee standing right outside of the car the keys , and Calum met up with me at the entrance before going inside together. I was a bit nervous, considering I don't do proper etiquette when it comes to dining or anything luxurious for that matter. I just didn't want to be an outcast.

Entering in, Calum gave out his name at the front stand and we were immediately led to our table. Scanning around the place, everyone was wearing formal attire from tuxedos to dresses, enjoying their expensive looking meals while a few workers sold roses and played their violins. I swallowed a large lump in my throat, a bit anxious on what'll come about, but I promised Calum I'd let loose and just enjoy.

We got a table in the back that was partly secluded and quiet, which was to my liking. Calum pulled my chair out for me and I rolled my eyes at him for it, but it was a nice gesture.

The waiter handed us the menu before leaving us alone. Scanning through it, it only hit me now how unfamiliar I was with their food. A lot of them sounded foreign to me—and I didn't know which one would be good and which one wouldn't. The menu didn't have any pictures either, so anything I get could potentially be good or bad. As I was looking, I snuck a small peek at Calum, who was only staring at me weirdly as he was about to laugh at any second.

"What?" I pouted. That only caused him to snicker a little more.

"Nothing," Calum snorted quietly, taking a piece off of his bread and shrugging. While he chewed on his food, he continued to look at me. "You just look really cute, that's all."

Our conversation went on for a while as violin music from the small orchestra played in the background. We also got our food after waiting for quite sometime, and I just ordered whatever Calum got because I knew he had an idea of what was good. He also asked for a bottle of Champagne, and I even stopped the waiter from giving it to us at one point because it was expensive and unnecessary. But Calum still insisted on the bottle, and now it sits on our table with our glasses filled.

"So, why'd you do all of this? We could've just ordered pizza, and I would've been okay with it," I said, stabbing my fork into my salad as delicately as I could before putting it in my mouth. For as long as I could remember, Calum never treated his past girlfriends to anything as nice as this.

"Because," he began, taking a napkin and wiping his mouth with it. "My paycheck came in today, and I wanted to take you out on a date. Besides, we can use this to celebrate our one week of being together. It's been the best week, to be honest."

"You're being a cheese again, Cal. You need to stop before I literally puke on our food," I pointed at him with my fork that had lettuce stuck on it.