"You've got a lot of built up anger for this Hailey girl. What happened at the party last week?" Noelle asks as we leave the studio and I silently put my sunglasses on, ignoring her question as the driver opens the car door for us. "Are you ever going to tell me?"
"There's not much to tell." I shrug, not wanting to go into detail.
Ever since my birthday, I've only spoken to three of the guys. I've been ignoring Calum until he wants to explain himself and cut the bull shit. It's worked in my favour though, because Koleton and I have been working together every day to improve my self defence.
"You're acting like I'm not only two years older than you. You're nineteen, and I'm twenty-one. I promise I'll try my best to understand what you're going through." She tries to plead her case, but I just lean my head against the window.
"Ask Ashton, I don't want to talk about it. Besides, the song is getting released tonight no matter what Jeff says so you'll find out through the song either way." I mumble, not wanting to continue the conversation any further.
I love Noelle and the fact that we've been spending so much time together, but she's so adamant when it comes to what she wants and that pisses me off sometimes.
"I'm here if you need someone, you know that, right?"
"Yeah, I know."
We finally get to the house and I waste no time getting out of the car and walking towards the house. As soon as I walk away from the car though, I notice Calum sitting on my front porch.
"You've got to be kidding me." I groan under my breath, turning around. "Noelle, get back in the car. We're leaving."
"Margo! Please wait!" Calum calls out as I hear his footsteps approaching me from behind.
I stop walking right in front of Noelle and turn around, looking at him with anger and irritation coursing through my body. "Give me three seconds to explain myself, please."
"You couldn't have done that in the three hundred messages you sent me?" I fold my arms over my chest and pull away as he reaches out to touch me.
"I just- I wanted to talk to you in person. Face to face." He responds and I stare at him through the sunglasses with a blank expression.
"So? Speak, dumb ass." I begin to feel annoyed at the fact that he's stalling and it causes him to jump.
"I just want to say that I'm sorry, really. I shouldn't have let Hailey stay that night and I should've told you about her." He scratches his arm nervously and I press my lips together, shifting on my feet.
I turn around and hand Noelle my bag and phone along with my sunglasses before spinning around and slapping him in the face.
I stumbles backwards and grabs the cheek that my hand made contact with, clearly dumbfounded by the action.
"It was my birthday, and you let some random fucking skank sleep in your room. Then I had to learn from Ashton that you've been sleeping with her this whole time. Don't you dare try to water it down." I spit my words at him like they're venom. "If you really want to know how I feel about everything, listen to the song I'm releasing tonight. You can even invite Hailey to listen to it with you if you want, but I don't ever want to hear you say my name again."
I walk away from him and towards the car, grabbing my belongings from Noelle as I pass her. "Let's go to the shooting range."
———
"Are you with that Calum guy?" Leo states the question as if it's nothing as we sit on set together, waiting for my driver to arrive.
"No, I don't date." I shake my head as I push my salad around with the fork.
"Why not?" He takes a sip of his soda and I shrug, looking up at him.
"It's not worth it. Every relationship ends with drama and heartbreak." I explain my reasoning and he nods. "It might result in great songs, but I've got enough of those to last a lifetime."
He hums an 'mhmm' before I notice Koleton approaching us. I rise from my chair and toss my salad into the garbage, turning to Leo.
"Besides, if I were to date someone it definitely wouldn't be a guy." I smile, walking towards Koleton.
"You ready to go blow off some steam?" He asks as I approach him and I nod, letting out a sigh of relief.
"More than you know."
The drive to the gym feels shorter than usual and I climb out of the car quickly. We walk into the gym and I enter the locker room, changing as soon as I find a vacant area.
Once my belongings are locked away, I leave the locker room to see Koleton sitting on a bench. He's typing on his phone as if his life depends on it so I decide to sneak up on him.
"Boo!" I yell, grabbing his shoulders, not even triggering the slightest reaction. "Awe man, I thought I really got you that time."
"Almost, but you're forgetting I used to be in the military. Walk towards the weights, we're starting with squats." I groan, walking over to the squat machine and placing the weights onto it.
"Oh, that reminds me. What led you to become a bodyguard for a celebrity if you used to be in the military? Did you need a break?" I ask, looking up at him as he puts a few weights on the opposite side.
"I wouldn't say that working for you is a break, but yeah." He answers my question and I frown.
"Do you enjoy this job?" I ask as I finish placing the weights on my side.
"I wouldn't go that far, but it's not the worst job. It pays well, and you're kind of funny."
"Well that's mean." I pout and he moves to the back of the machine, getting ready to spot me.
"I never said I was nice. We're shooting for fifty squats today."
"Fifty?! Dude I couldn't even do forty last time." My jaw drops and he rolls his eyes. "I get that you like to push my limits, but you're full on out of the field. You're in the next town. Maybe even the next state."
"Fine, but if you don't at least do forty-five then I'm making you run two miles." He warns me and I toss my head back, groaning.
"If I die, it's your fault."
"I'll even pay for your funeral. Now stop being over-dramatic and start squatting. We don't have all day."
I finish my entire workout and collapse onto the floor, chugging my water like I'm in a desert.
"You know, Abe never taught me self-defence." I turn to look at Koleton as he re-laces his shoes.
"Really? You talk about him like he's so high and mighty though." He stares his confusion and I shrug.
"I don't know, the more I think about it is the more I realize he probably isn't as good of a person I thought." I let out a sigh and he turns to look at me. "I missed him when he first left, but now I don't know what I would do if he came back."
"Is he the client your mom was talking about when we visited her in Australia?" He asks and I sit up, nodding as I pull my knees up to my chest. "That must be hard, I'm sorry."
"Don't be, this just adds to my villain origin story." I brush it off like it's nothing and he raises his eyebrows, smiling.
"Your what?"
"My villain origin story, the story that people tell when they describe why I turned out the way I did. For example, if I were to go out and commit vehicular manslaughter then all of these teenage girls would watch documentaries and somehow tie it back to my lack of affection as a child." I explain my reasoning and it causes him to let out a genuine laugh.
"You've definitely got a brain. It may not work how one would expect it to, but it's definitely there." He shakes his head and my jaw drops as I playfully hit his arm.
"Hey, you're acting like I'm some sixteen year old, we're only a few years apart. And I'd like you to know that my brain works quite well." I state proudly and he nods as if he doesn't believe me.
"Well maybe try using it sometime. Also, age doesn't bring knowledge."
"It brings wisdom though, and I give some pretty good advice. You can ask Noelle, I'm a professional when it comes to giving people advice." I brag and he leans back into his elbows.
"Oh, really? And when are you going to be taking your own advice if you're oh so great and mighty at it." He tests me and I turn around to face him.
"Very funny. In case you didn't know, I actually take my own advice everyday." I argue and i raises his eyebrows.
"Give me one example."
"I do one thing a day that scares me, I make decisions to benefit my future self rather than to spite my past self, and I'm becoming the person I needed when I was younger." I explain myself, even though I don't have to, and he presses his lips together.
"What's one piece of advice you want to give me?" He asks and I sigh, leaning back and scanning his face before responding.
"I don't know much about you, but I think the best piece of advice I could possibly give you is to step out of your comfort zone more. You need to let more people see who you have the potential to be rather than who you are." I aimlessly shoot out advice and he smiles.
"What advice would you give your future self if you could talk to her?"
"I would tell her not to romanticize the toxic side of things so often, and to stop falling in love with the potential of what people could be rather than realizing who they are. It takes away my genuine life experience." I look down at my hands and begin picking the skin away from my nail.
"You're wise, did you know that? You might be going through a phase right now where you push everyone away, but you're really smart for someone who didn't have many positive experiences as a kid." He compliments me and I smile.
"Did you just compliment me?" I raise my eyebrows and he rolls his eyes.
"Don't push it, because it won't be happening often."
"Yeah yeah, but you still complimented me. We're getting somewhere with this friendship and I'm proud of us for that." I smile, realizing that I'm actually letting a new person in.
"We're not friends." He shakes his head, pursing his lips.
"Whatever you say bestie." I stand up, a grin still apparent on my face. "I'll definitely be telling everyone that we're best friends from now on."
"Don't do that, it's not necessary." He stands up as well, shaking his head in an attempt to convince me to change my mind.
"Too late bestie, I already have the story laid out in my little noggin. There isn't anything changing my mind. As far as anyone is concerned, we're best friends that get brunch on Sunday's and play golf on Monday's." I explain our story and he scrunches his face up in disgust causing me to frown. "Hey, what's with the face? I think it's a nice story."
"You're making us sound like old white women that carry those little strawberry candies in their purse." He shakes his head and I smile.
"I don't see anything wrong with that, bestie."
"Don't call me that, please."