six

For some people, it takes a month to fall in love. Some a few months; others at least a year. Maybe even more.

He estimated, and he decided that it took him about six minutes to fall in love with a girl.

He saw her. He took her in, every piece. For about six minutes, he just stared at her. And then it felt like love. And it felt silly, but it felt real.

Through the crowd of people, who were all dancing and cluttered together, where all their heads started to blend together and look like one, he could still see her. He didn't take his eyes off her, actually.

She was something else. Maybe it was her curly brown hair and how it fell down her back and rested on her shoulders. How her eyeliner didn't manage to stay on her eyelids, and it fell to below her eyes themselves. How her hips swayed to the beat of the dubstep, how her hand swished the drink in the red solo cup she held in her hand.

She was just. . .different. Like everyone else was just a storm and she was a hurricane.

What gave this boy the pain in his stomach was the boy that stood next to her.

He was probably in love with her. Probably was probably an understatement. He was really in love with her, not six-minute staring at a distance love.

The way he looked at her was enough to prove it. How he always kept his hand on the small of her back, and when she tried to move away, he just put his hand right back.

And he didn't like it. He wanted to be that boy. . .he didn't even know her name.

He had to go on stage soon, and he couldn't get his mind off her. She'd probably be in the back of his mind all night. . .he tried to think of other things. He thought of how he was living his dream in England and how much he loved it. He swished down the rest of his drink, and headed backstage.

His band members were there. Luke. Michael. Ashton. Guitars and drumsticks in hands; they were ready to go onstage.

"You ready, mate?" Luke asked, patting him on the back.

"I'm always ready." He replied, grabbing his bass and slinging it over his shoulder.

They went on stage. They did the best they could. People danced and cheered and whistled at them. He, most of the time, felt good. But he kept looking for the girl.

And he would find her, dancing. Always dancing, moving around to the music. One time their eyes met. Her eyes were so blue. . .ice blue. And her lips were so pink. . .and kissable. He wanted to kiss her. But she had another guy to kiss her, and he would, whenever he got the chance.

After they played their set, he went off into the crowd with the rest of his band. They soon seperated, though, going off in different directions. He was left alone.

He drank some more and danced, letting strangers grind on him and not caring about it, either. And then someone tapped him on the shoulder, and asked, "Hey, you're from that band that just played, right?"

He turned around, and the girl faced him. His girl. . .not really his girl, but he could dream. His dream girl was more like it. . .and she was real and talking to him. He almost couldn't speak. It was like all the air in his body had disappeared and he couldn't muster out a word.

"Yeah," He managed to reply, nodding.

"Oh," She said. "Cool." She took a drag off her cigarette and smiled at him.

That smile. . .it could almost kill him.

Soon the boy she was with appeared next to her, putting his hand on her back again. "You can't keep leaving me like th- oh, who's this?" He asked, looking up at the taller boy.

"This is the guy from that band. The bass player."

"Oh," The boy said, nodding his head and taking the cigarette from the girl's hand. "Nice band, man."

"Cheers," He replied, shoving a hand in his front pocket. He wanted to leave. . .no, he wanted the other boy to leave. He wanted to be with the girl, alone. They could talk about music and life and they could get high together. . .that was what he wanted. To spend time with her, even if it was just one night.

"What's your name?" The girl asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He swallowed. His mouth felt dry. "Calum."

"Effy," She said, smiling again. He felt like a snowman in the sun that might melt away any second.

The girl turned to the boy and gave him a look, suggesting he should introduce himself, too. The boy's lips formed an 'o', he too introduced himself. "Freddie," The boy said, wrapping his arms around Effy's waist. That made Calum's stomach do a flip. . .he couldn't control what he was feeling anymore.

It was crazy. How Calum could feel this way about a girl so quickly. . .he didn't know if it was love or lust, or something inbetween. There was something there. It was undeniable. And the sad thing was, there was something there only for Calum. He doubted Effy felt anything, she seemed drunk and in love with her boyfriend. . .

"Effy, Freddie. . ." Calum repreated their names, like he was trying to remember them. Really he just wanted to hear Effy's name leave his lips. . .and he wanted to hear his name leave hers more than anything. "Nice meeting you two. You seem like a lovely couple."

Effy laughed, taking her cig back from Freddie. "Thanks, Calum."

It felt like his heart had jumped into his throat. The way she said his name was lovely. British, and soft, and just plain lovely. He wanted her to say it again and again. Like a broken record, just her saying 'Calum'. . .

Calum nodded, waving them off and walking away. He didn't want to walk away. But he did. He didn't know what else he was supposed to do. There was nothing else to do. . .all that had been said had been said, and he didn't think Freddie was too fond of him, nor Effy. . .

Effy just talked to him because he was the bass player. Not because he was cute, or special, or something unordinary that she would have liked. . .Calum didn't know much abour Effy, but she didn't like ordinary. And that was what Calum was, after all.

Calum ended up finishing his drink and leaving the club, not turning back once.

He never saw Effy again. Not in real life, at least. Calum saw her everywhere. In his coffee in the morning. In everyone who had blue eyes. In everyone that smoked. In anyone with curly brown hair. He saw her in the sky, he saw her in poetry. He thought he saw her in the crowd of his shows, but it would never be her. He saw her in his dreams. And what pained him the most is he saw her in everyone of his girlfriends, and soon his wife. Once he even called her Effy.

Calum wouldn't ever forget about Effy. Effy had forgotten about him six minutes after he had walked away.

XXXX

onfjxbzbsja this was supposed to be for that fanfic mashup contest until i read the rules and realized it had to be artists from the list....,,..,. BUT I WROTE A ONE-SHOT 5SOS SKINS THING OH MY GOD IM REALLY PROUD OF THIS
KDBXKSNZBSJZBNABSBS

here it is anyway n i tried a newish style of writing that i ended up liking a lot actually so yeah enjoy

ps this isnt gonna be like a whole story as u can probably tell just a lil one chapter thing sry to dissapoint

ALSO i dont own any characters of skins i mean i wish i did bc theyre great but i dont so yeah all credit to the owners

........why do i write so many calum stories hes not even my lane