41: kind of crazy about you
"God, I am so nervous," I told Sam as I fussed with my curls while staring at my reflection in the small mirror in her car. After school, Sam took me to her house so everyone else had time to focus on getting my house ready. Sam had made me pick an outfit for the party the night before, so I had gotten ready at her house since she put the outfit in her car before leaving my place. After getting ready and waiting around for an hour, we made the drive over to my house. We had now been in my driveway for at least ten minutes.
"There's no need to be nervous," Sam said through a quiet laugh. "You're a badass seventeen year old who's about to have the night of her life. Everyone in there is so excited to celebrate you." My eyes closed as I processed her words and I took a deep breath in as I tried to calm myself down. I knew she was probably right; there was no reason to be nervous, but that didn't change the fact that I had been freaking out for the last two hours.
"No surprises?" I asked as I opened my eyes and turned my head in her direction.
"No... big surprises," she responded with a sweet smile planted on her lips. I frowned at her and watched as she playfully rolled her eyes. "There is one teensy surprise that you're going to enjoy. So don't even look at me like that. Just get out of the car."
"Sometimes I forget how sweet and gentle you are," I told her sarcastically.
"That was never part of the agreement; so don't act like there has been some sort of false advertising." Sam pushed her door open without another word and prompted me to do the same. I let out a quiet sigh as I did so but started to tell myself that I had to go in with a good attitude, otherwise I'd ruin everything. Part of me was genuinely excited, so it wasn't too difficult to give in to those thoughts, but I was still anxious as we made our way up to the door.
Being anxious to walk into my own house was a new feeling that I didn't particularly enjoy.
As Sam walked ahead of me to open the door, a smile found its way to my face. I was excited to see what they had thrown together. When the door opened, everyone inside saved me the horror of yelling altogether, but they were there to sweetly greet me.
I looked around to see all my favorite faces; my eyes first landed on my dad who was trying his best not to stick out like a sore thumb among the dozen teenagers. We shared sweet smiles and I mouthed a 'Thank you' before my eyes landed on Calum and stayed there for much too long as I processed just how happy he looked.
"How's about we show you everything?" Calum asked as he stepped in front of the group and offered me his hand.
"I would be honored," I told him through a quiet laugh as I gave him my hand. I glanced at my dad and could tell he wanted to be the one showing me everything, but I was proud of him for letting the job go to someone else for a change. Calum first took me toward the kitchen; at the entrance, a small table was set up that read 'TICKETS.' I laughed quietly at the penmanship and wondered to myself who had the job of writing it, but I didn't dare make a comment.
"You get an abundance of free tickets, but everyone else has to pay for tickets by writing one of their favorite things about you and putting it in this bowl. Every nice thing you have to say about Maya Jacobson earns you a ticket," Calum explained. My heart leaped at the thought of having little handwritten notes from all the people here to look back at once the night came to a close. "If someone doesn't know you well enough and runs out of wonderful things to say, though that would be nearly impossible, they can also answer Maya-themed trivia questions for more tickets."
"The ticket thing was completely Calum's idea," Sam chipped in. She was clearly proud of him for thinking it up; Calum's cheeks began to crimson once he had been exposed, and my heart swooned at the sight.
"That's pretty sweet of you, Hood... surely you're not going soft?" Michael teased, which earned him a playful glare from the curly-headed boy.
"Once you've gotten your tickets, you can either go into the living room to play a plethora of arcade games or go downstairs. At seven-thirty, everyone has to convene downstairs for a little concert... but it'll only be a thirty-minute setlist. And then you can resume arcade games. But karaoke will be set up down there all night, except seven-thirty to eight."
"Concert?" I asked.
"We've been working on a couple of songs... so thought we could use your party to our advantage," Luke semi-joked, which caused me to snicker. "We hope you don't mind. If we're absolutely awful, we won't even ask for our pay."
"Ha-ha," I said before smiling over at Luke. "Thank you guys... for all of this."
"Anything for you, Maya," Abbie told me with a wink. "There's plenty of pizza and other snacks in the kitchen, plus sodas. So... knock yourselves out." Once it had been decided that the tour was concluded, people began to mingle. I knew Calum wanted to talk, but I told him that I'd be back in just a second before making my way over to my dad.
"Happy birthday, My," he told me before pulling me into one of his award-winning hugs.
"Thank you, Dad," I told him as I squeezed him as tightly as I could. "Hopefully none of this was too much trouble."
"It was all pretty simple, really. You've got some good friends," he told me with a smile as we pulled away from the hug. "Besides, nothing would be too much trouble for you."
I reached up and kissed my dad's cheek as a way to show my gratitude. He had always been far too good to me, and I was so thankful in the ways he continued to show how wonderful he was.
"I suppose I should let you kids enjoy all this... I guess I'll just go hide upstairs."
"Are you kidding? Luke and Calum are going to demand you take part. And I am demanding you do as well. You don't have to be a fly on the wall... go have fun," I told him. He smiled at me before kissing my cheek and excusing himself to the kitchen; I knew he'd likely stay on the sidelines, but I didn't want him feeling like he had to be locked away all night. "Okay, I'm back."
"I was getting really lonely over here waiting," Calum joked before pulling me into his chest and hugging me tightly. "Is all this okay? Did we overdo it?"
"It's perfect," I told him with a smile on my face as I melted into his arms. "Thank you, Calum."
"No need to thank anyone," he told me as he pulled away to see my face. He donned a huge grin and I couldn't get enough of it; seeing him smile like that granted me a happiness that I could only hope to experience. "What should we do first?"
"Hmm... I've got to check out these arcade games." With our hands entwined, Calum started to walk me to the living room. I was surprised to see that they had somehow gotten their hands on several arcade-machine games. "You're joking."
"Isn't this neat?" Calum asked through an excited laugh. "Apparently your dad knows a guy and got a really great deal; I think the guy knew your—"
"Donny," I said quietly as a smile reached my face. One of my mom's college friends owned an old-school arcade near the shore, and he also had his own personal collection of arcade machines. I should have known the second I laid eyes on the machines how my dad could have managed something like this.
"Yeah, Donny," Calum said with a nod and a smile. "He was here dropping them off when I got here after school; such a cool dude."
"He's awesome," I said through a laugh as I eagerly nodded my head. "What do you say to a little 1 v 1?" I asked as I moved toward the dual-machine for a racing game.
"You're going down, Jacobson."
The next thirty minutes were spent solely with Calum; after that, I started to do my obligatory rounds to talk with everyone. Calum came along with me and only left my side when he went to get us both something to drink.
"Hey, you," Christian said as he walked up behind me. Calum had just slipped away to get drinks, and I had been talking to Abbie until Luke came over and begged her to play a round of ping pong downstairs.
"Hey," I said with a big smile on my face. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around Christian, and he didn't hesitate to hug me back. "I'm so glad you're here."
"I wouldn't have missed it," he promised. "I will say I'm still getting used to you and Sam being fans of these guys... but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little glad. You seem really happy with him, Maya."
"I know it's completely bizarre, especially since it feels like it was only yesterday that I was cursing his existence... but he's a good guy," I stated just as Calum could be seen making his way over to us.
"Yeah... he is," Christian agreed with a smile on his face.
"Let's do something this week, okay? I miss you."
"I miss you, too, My," Christian told me. "Maybe I could come over for an old-fashioned movie night?"
"That sounds perfect," I told him.
"Here you are, m'lady," Calum said as he handed me a cup. I took the cup from Calum and thanked him. "How's Megan?"
"Oh..." Christian began to blush at Calum's question and my mouth fell agape. Megan was the girl that Christian had been into for the past couple of weeks, but I hadn't heard a single update since the night of the party that started everything between Calum and me.
"Are you guys talking?" I asked as I gently hit Christian's shoulder.
"Sort of," he said with a shrug; a small smile continued to play on his lips. "I actually talked to her at that party, and we hit it off... so we've been on a couple of dates. Neither of us are sure what we want, though."
"You should have invited her," I told Christian.
"We weren't given the options of a plus-one," he joked which caused my eyes to playfully roll. "We're really not a thing yet, so it's no big deal. She's great, I really like her... but we're taking things slow."
"'Tis the season to take things slow and do things right," Calum announced before glancing down at me. I sent him a smile and shook my head in amusement. "Well... I have to go get things set up downstairs. You'll keep the birthday girl happy while I'm gone?"
"I think I can manage," Christian told him. I rolled my eyes at their words; I was fully capable of entertaining myself.
"I'll see you guys downstairs at seven-thirty," Calum told us. Before leaving, he looked around the room and stole a kiss—just a small peck—before dashing out of the room.
"You haven't told your dad, then?"
"My dad knows I like him... he just doesn't know about all the kissing yet," I said through a chuckle as my cheeks burned. "We haven't really put a label on things or anything."
"Calum has never been like this before," Christian said as he shook his head. "The guy is absolutely infatuated, Maya. I wasn't even sure it was possible."
"He is full of surprises, that one."
Christian and I continued to talk for a while until Sam joined us; she told me she had been looking for me for ages, but I was sure she had only been looking for me once Michael left her to go downstairs to get ready for their performance.
Once it was about seven-twenty, we all started to make our way downstairs. It was the only part of the house that I hadn't ventured to since getting home, so I was surprised to see the band's set up. It was sort of impressive how much equipment they had.
I made eye contact with Calum once I took a seat on one of the couches in our basement, and we shared smiles before looking away from one another.
"Thanks for coming out tonight, guys. It means the world," Luke said once it was time for them to start their mini concert. We all laughed at his words; as if any of us had any choice. "Despite there being less than a dozen of you, we're still a little nervous. We don't usually do this, after all."
"We love you!" Abbie yelled out to the boys.
"We're your biggest fans!" echoed Noah.
"Guys, stop! You'll make us blush," Michael said as he placed his hands on his cheeks and swung his shoulders gently.
"You guys just sit back and enjoy a few songs we picked out to celebrate Maya," Calum spoke over the various chuckles that had been a response to Michael's actions. "Happy birthday, Jacobson." Calum looked straight at me and I smiled widely as my cheeks blushed.
They started playing the first song and it only took me a couple of seconds to be impressed. I looked over at Sam, who was sitting beside me, and we both had wide eyes. They were covering What I Like About You by The Romantics, and they sounded so much better than I could have imagined.
I looked across the room at Abbie, and she was laughing at my reaction. It wasn't long before we were all hollering and cheering for them; I was beyond impressed. They all sang at different points in the song, and I was blown away by each of them. Of course, when it came Calum's time to sing, I let out a cheer and didn't feel a smidge embarrassed when everyone snickered at me. Calum even laughed a little, which caused him to nearly mess up his solo.
The second song they played was an original, which Luke announced. It was a song that he and Calum had written. They had titled it Out of My Limit.
"They wrote this?" Sam whispered to me about forty seconds into the song. I nodded semi-absentmindedly as I stared at Calum as he sung. I was mesmerized. Once the song was over, everyone clapped loudly.
"Okay, this last one is one of Maya's favorites... or so she's told me," Calum said as the rest of the guys prepared for the last song. Once they began to play, I immediately realized they were playing Cold Cold Man by Saint Motel.
Not surprisingly, they sounded amazing.
Once they were done, and had thanked us for complying to their slight trap of getting us to be their audience, I rushed up to Calum.
"You're joking," I told him as I slowly shook my head.
"What?" he asked through a laugh.
"You're so good!" I told him as I punched his shoulder. "Calum, you're amazing."
"Shush, Jacobson," he said with a blush on his cheeks.
"I won't shush!" I said through a laugh as I stared up at him in pure disbelief. A dopey smile was plastered on my cheeks. "What you just did there was annoyingly attractive."
"Oh, it was?" Calum asked with a smirk on his face.
"You bet your ass it was." I looked around the room for my dad, but that's when I realized he wasn't downstairs. "Oh, my god. My dad missed it."
"No, he's heard us a thousand times now," Calum said through a snort. "We told him he didn't have to stay for it—we practiced a ton before you got here, and he was our audience. He said a lot of really nice things... he's awesome."
"How do you go from saying how awesome he is to worrying that he'll chop you up into a thousand little pieces?"
"Just because he's cool doesn't mean I'm not scared of him," Calum told me.
Suddenly, people began to sing all around me; the dreaded Happy Birthday To You moment was occurring, so when Calum slowly joined and turned me around to face the opposite direction, I wasn't surprised to see my dad carrying in a cake. I shut my eyes in embarrassment, but allowed the moment to take place without any complaints. Once the singing had stopped, I blew out the candles and thanked everyone. My dad set the cake on a back table and told everyone to knock themselves out.
"Could I steal you for a sec?" Calum asked, whispering in my ear as he leaned down to my height. I nodded my head and smiled as he took my hand in his and led me toward the stairs. We went upstairs and Calum took me all the way to my room; he kept the door 3/4 of the way open, which made me laugh.
"What's up?" I asked him as I sat down on my bed. He remained standing and I suddenly realized how nervous he seemed.
"This is probably so stupid of me," he said through a nervous laugh, "but... you know how I said recently that there was no reason to bother ourselves with labeling this thing?"
"Mhm...?"
"I take it back," he told me, just before taking a seat beside me. "This is about to sound so stupid coming from my mouth, but... will you be my girlfriend, My? Officially?" My mouth fell slightly agape but it wasn't long before the corners of my lips were curling into a smile.
"Of course, Calum," I told him. He smiled wide and placed his hand on my cheek before kissing me gently. I reached forward and bunched the fabric of his tee shirt in my fists as I kissed him back. "What prompted the change of heart?" I asked as we pulled away, referring to the fact that he had said we didn't need to worry about labeling things just a week before.
"I just want people to associate the two of us; I want people to know that you're my girl, and not be confused or unsure about it. Not that it's anyone else's business... but I'm kind of crazy about you, Maya." I smiled at his words and pecked his lips.
"Who knew Calum Hood would be such a softie," I teased him. "I think the thought of being Calum Hood's girlfriend a month ago would have been my nightmare... but now it sounds like a dream. So I really like the sound of it."
"Being Maya Jacobson's boyfriend is probably the most ntoable title I'll ever obtain," Calum told me with a completely honest tone, which caused me to snicker. "I'm not kidding, Jacobson. The thought of officially being your boyfriend kind of makes my head reel."
"Well, you'd better get it together... because me saying yes to officially being your girlfriend means that you're my boyfriend." My cheeks crimsoned as I processed my own words and a swarm of butterflies overwhelmed my stomach in the best possible way. "Hi, boyfriend."
Calum clutched his chest and fell backward on my bed. I laughed at his action and looked down at him as a dopey smile reached his face. He opened his eyes and looked up at me.
"I never thought I'd say it, but... thank god for chemistry," he said. I snickered at his words before lowering myself and towering over him; I pecked his lips gently while a smile remained on my face.
"Thank god for chemistry," I echoed. And thank god for Calum Hood.
a/n:
imagine i ended it there...........
i'm not... but like........ imagine
ummmm HI !!! i think the last time i updated this was in february....which feels fake,..... but alas, sorry for the long ass wait. if u have been a reader of this story for a while, though, the only thing u know to expect is long ass waits.
and i'm so sorry for that.
i really wish i could just focus on this story and end it but !!!! there is not an end in sight !!! bc 16 yr old jill didn't know what she was doing when she started this story !!!! also i'm truly not positive but........ i think chemistry might have actually come before msb????? like i know i SHOULD know.... but i don't...... but something makes me think it's actually my og story which is so cute but also so annoying
like why am i still writing this smh
calum & maya should be graduated college college & starting their lives by now. good grief.
ok i'm stopping my rambling now
if you are still here after all these frightful years, i love u. with my entire soul. thank you so much for reading. whether ur an og trooper, a half-a-year supporter, or u started this story in the past couple of days: thank you. you make my heart happy.
i will love u forever <333 i hope u enjoyed this chapter
<33 we can only pray that you don't have to wait another 4 months for an update... but i never make promises <33333
ok love u bye mwah
<33
j