calum
"Who the fuck are you?" My hands wrapped around the woolen collar of Luke's forest green colored sweater, pulling his body up from the lunch table. The sight of his face made me pissed off at the fact that he was able to incapacitate in school just because of his damn reputation. This was all his fault.
"C-Chill dude. Get your hands off of me!" Luke stuttered, holding his hands up, covering his hands. Daniella stood up in shock of the abrupt returning I made.
I haven't been in school for weeks, and they threatened to not allow me to graduate high school, but I later called Thompson telling him that just because Michael is dead, doesn't mean that he and his bastard son are off the hook. It felt empowering to be the superior one, and I sure as hell wasn't going to put all of Michael's teaching to waste.
"Calum what the hell are you doing?" Daniella gasped, rushing towards Luke to check if he was okay. Luke sniffled, pushing up his damn green glasses and furrowed his eyebrows.
"It's okay, Dani. He's just doing what he always does." Luke shrugged, looking down at his shoes as Daniella glared at me. Her brown hair flipped over her shoulder, her light brown eyes piercing into mine.
"What the hell Calum? You don't have any right to do something as fucking cruel as that. Do you enjoy bullying Luke because I sure as hell will show you what bullying is." She clenched her fists, pushing Luke behind her. Luke bit his lip, wiping his eyes as his friend stood up for him.
"Maybe you shouldn't talk unless you know what is going on," I sneered at the brunette as she rolled her eyes. This is why I hate everyone; everyone thinks they know everything.
"Then why don't you tell me exactly what is going on because Luke is my fucking best friend. He tells me everything, so I would know when you are making shit up." Daniella smacked her lips, her finger pointing towards Luke. The entire cafeteria paused, everyone widening their eyes once they saw me. Daniella grabbed Luke's hand, rubbing small circles with her thumb.
"If he was really your best friend, you would already know by now what I am talking about. Oh and you might want to let go of his hand. You wouldn't want his girlfriend to find out." I smirked once her expression dropped, her mouth opening slightly as she looked at Luke. "You didn't know Luke has a girlfriend?"
"Luke, is that true?" Daniella dropped Luke's hand, her voice turning into a hush. By the look of her expression, she was beyond humiliated, her cheeks burning red. Her so-called best friend was in no way as cowardly as she thought.
"Dani, you know that isn't true." Luke's lip quivered as he pulled onto her sleeve. Daniella diverted her attention towards the ground, refusing to look at Luke. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes.
"Luke, I know you have a girlfriend. She told me." Daniella bit her lip, preventing herself from crying. I didn't really think that she liked Luke, but at moments, they acted like they were the only people in the world. Luke released her hand, his fist slowly clenching as he remained silent. "I can't believe you would lie to me."
"Dani, I just wanted to tell you at the right time." Luke scratched the back of his head, not knowing what to say to her. I knew how Daniella felt to be in a devoid of trust. Everyone was built of the lies they used to characterize themselves with.
"No, Luke. We both know that isn't the truth," Daniella harshly cut her off, facing me as she tried to distract herself. "Calum, do whatever you want with him."
"Dani please don't do this." Luke sniffled as he grabbed her wrist, trying to pull her closer to him, but she let out a wince. Tears formed in his eyes as she shoved him off, rushing towards the restroom. Luke faced me, glaring as he crossed his arms. "You made me lose my best friend!"
"Let's take this outside." I rolled my eyes as Luke wiped his eyes. He let out a sob, nodding as he followed me outside the school. Luke was an annoying crier; he let out irritating noises as he sobbed.
He let out a short sniffle, wiping his eyes again with his sleeve. It was raining outside, the sky covered by grey clouds all over the place. Luke suddenly stopped crying which made me turn around to face him as I leaned against the wall of the school building. His fingers picked at his glasses, tossing them onto the ground and then stomping as the glass shattered all over the concrete.
A smirk appeared on his lips, his arms showing as he pulled up his sleeves to display the tattoos violating his skin. It was like his persona changed, a sadist look clouding in his eyes. Luke reached into his pocket, pulling out a cigarette and placing it in between his lips as he lit it.
"Nice acting." I scoffed as Luke grinned, tossing his cigarette onto the nearest bush. He rolled his eyes, offering me a cigarette which I certainly did not object.
"She's a stupid bitch." Luke shrugged, laughing as he thought about Daniella. It shocked me on how vile he could be; he and Daniella were supposed to be best friends. "She has this stupid crush on me."
"Maybe you should stick with girls like that than girls who are involved with drug dealing." I puffed out the smoke, taking a deep breath as the nicotine took over my brain. The smoke lingered around my clothing, infecting the atmosphere with cigarettes.
"I'd rather stick with Belle." Luke smirked, blowing a cloud of smoke in my direction. Crushing the cigarette in my hand, I shoved Luke onto the ground. Luke let out a few coughs, wiping his mouth with a grin playing on his lips.
"Don't fucking talk about her like that." I threatened him as my foot collided with his head. Luke's grin faded as he wiped the blood from his face, a glare directed towards me.
"You are going to regret that," Luke threatened, pushing his palms up so he would be at my height. His blue eyes pierced into my dark brown ones, blending with hatred and anger. His sleeves were pushed up revealing his tattoos, his fists clenching as he inched closer to me.
"You are going to regret talking about my girl." I swung at him, blood spitting out of his mouth. Luke's jawline got scratched causing red liquid to pool put. He wiped his bleeding nose, slamming my head onto the wall.
"She isn't your girl anymore." Luke chuckled as he brought his knee up to my gut, striking me several times. His arms pushed me onto the floor as he towered above me. "You don't even have the patience to get to know her. You just assume and make her out to be whoever you want."
"Don't even fucking talk as if you know her." I grabbed his foot before he could kick me, tossing him into a bush. His arms got scratched up by the thorns.
"I should be saying that to you." Luke narrowed his eyes at me, standing up as he spit onto the ground. He inched closer of me, his clenched fists drenched in blood. My jaw clenched, the taste of blood faint on my tongue. "You're the one who left her-"
"She aborted my own child." Luke acted as if he knew it all, but he didn't. He didn't understand the fucking pain; he didn't go through what I am going through. He doesn't know shit.
"See, you are fucked up enough to think that." Luke laughed loudly, a taunting smirk playing on his lips. His eyes held a sinister look as he shoved me. "Because if you truly loved her, you would know that Belle had a miscarriage, not abortion."
The words echoed throughout my brain as I trudged to the nurse's office. Megan stopped by after Luke told me; she told Luke that she missed him and wanted to go home. Megan later confessed that one of the dealers tried to physically touch her, and Luke's aura of cockiness diminished for the concerns of his girlfriend. They left just like that, leaving me all bloodied and confused.
"Please write your name-." Belle's voice trailed off as she caught a glimpse of me. She hasn't changed much aside from the fact that her raven black hair went up to her belly button, and she got a little tanner. Her eyes. Those black doe eyes looked into mine with shock. "Calum."
"I-" I cut myself off right before I could ask her about the baby. I didn't even know if it was true; none of it made sense. "I just need to grab a few band-aids."
"You got into another fight." Belle's voice was timid, almost frightened that I would yell at her. The fact that she would think that made my heart sink.
"I guess." I shrugged, cutting off eye contact between the two of us. I couldn't just look at her the same anymore. All the hurt, all the empty bottles. Hell, if it weren't for her, I would've paid more attention to the help Michael was seeking.
"Sit down on the bed. I'll fix you up." Belle cleared her throat, pulling her silky hair into a ponytail. Her hands slid on the latex gloves as I reluctantly took a seat on the stiff maroon bed. She pulled out a first aid kit and several rolls of bandages. "Who did you fight?"
"Luke." I gulped as she sighed, pulling out the cotton balls from the cabinet. The office was empty, the lights were dim since she was the only one working at that time.
"Take off your shirt." She blushed as she looked away onto the ground. It was like we met for the first time, like she completely forgot what happened between us. Pulling off my shirt, I winced as my wound got scratched by it. Belle took a cotton ball by her tweezers and dipped it in rubbing alcohol.
"Fuck." I clenched my teeth as the alcohol burned into my wound, bubbling as blood started to spill out again. Belle applied pressure to my torso, biting her lip as I squirmed around.
"Why did you fight Luke?" Belle took a roll of bandages and wrapped it around my wound. Her eyebrows furrowed as she attempted to make the lining straight.
"Why didn't you tell me that you had a miscarriage?" I blurted out, unable to continue the small conversation we were having. I needed to know everything; I was sick and tired of being clueless. Belle stopped, her eyes widening as she cut off the bandage.
"Who told you that?" Her voice shook as she stepped back, her eyes meeting mine.
"Luke. Now tell me what the fuck is going on." I grabbed her wrist, preventing her from going away. Tears pooled in Belle's eyes, her lip trembled as she looked down. "Don't tell me that you are heartless enough to just-"
"You think this doesn't hurt for me?" Belle croaked out, a hiccup following after. "Calum, do you really think that I wasn't broken after what happened?"
"Well no, considering that you just gave me a call that-"
"How the fuck do you think I felt when I hit the corner of that damn table and blood came out of me? Do you even know how shocked and scared I was at that moment? I had to get an ambulance I prayed to God that my baby would be safe." Belle sniffled as she allowed the tears to run down her face. My stomach clenched as I saw her cry, biting back my comments. "When I found out he was gone, Calum, I was in denial. I would deny it all and feel my stomach because I missed my baby."
Belle shook her head as she teared up, sobs escaping her lips. "I wanted to have a family, Calum. I wanted to be the mother of that child. I wanted to raise him up and make him the gentleman that his father is, and you don't know how hard it was to see happy families walk around all over the place as I subconsciously rubbed my stomach, knowing I would sooner or later have to accept the fact that I no longer had a child in there."
"Why didn't you tell me that?" I whispered as I tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. Belle shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut.
"It was better to leave you hating me than understanding why I left." Belle wiped her tears, going back to treating my wounds. A cotton ball dabbed onto my bleeding lip, Belle paying specific attention to that area. "I needed to be there for Rory."
"Why? What happened to Rory?" I knew that Rory was going through some problems after that night when we had to drive her to Carter, but I didn't get any details as to why.
"It's my parents. After I left, they took all their anger out on Rory, and she's been having panic attacks because of them. Carter is trying to get custody over her, but in the meantime, I am staying there to prevent anything from happening." Belle plastered a bandaid onto my cheek, applying cream to another cut of mine.
"Why didn't you just tell me that?" It all seemed unreasonable; I mean, I don't understand as to why she would lie.
"Calum, I needed to leave you. I needed to be there for my sister and give her all my attention." Belle sighed, lightly placing her hand over mine.
"No. Why didn't you just tell me instead of making me go through all of this pain?" I took my hand away, my head facing down onto the bed. "It hurts, Belle."
"It might take a long time, and I didn't want you to wait for me. Calum, I wanted to give you my full love and attention but I can't, and you deserve someone who will do that for you. What if Michael was going through problems? Wouldn't you want to drop everything for him?" She didn't know yet.
"Michael's dead." All sounds diminished, the stomping of students upstairs being the only sense of noise. Belle gasped, her hand covering her mouth.
"What do you mean?" She grabbed my arm, her eyes staring intently into mine. I sucked in a breath, shaking as I remember it all clearly.
"Committed suicide. He made the police shoot him." Belle wrapped her arms around me as I started to cry. I felt weak, but I needed someone to lean on. Everyone does. "He's really gone, Belle."
"I haven't talked to Rose in weeks; she blocked everyone off." Belle hushed me as I cried onto her shirt. "I think she already knew."
"They cremated him, Belle. Rose found out after I told her, and we threw his ashes into that damn ocean." I clung onto her as she rubbed my back. "Please come back to me. Please Belle, I can't lose another person I love."
"Calum, baby." Belle detached our bodies, her eyes staring right at mine. I grabbed her shirt, crashing our lips together. Belle's tears mixed into our kiss as she held fistfuls of my shirt before pushing me off.
"We can't, Calum. I'm sorry."
~
i cant wait to end this
-kat hoodings