there was no sound between the two teenagers. Calum had been surveying the area as they walked away from the school and Flossy had been surveying him. she asked so many questions about him in her mind, though she knew they would go unanswered. he was such a mystery to him and she wanted to find out every detail she could of the case before her.
he had looked at her in the corner of his eye, then proceeded to look over at her through his glasses. she was not one to look away in shame, so she didn't. she wasn't embarrassed because he caught her looking at him. if anything, she wanted him to know that she had been.
his eyebrows turned down in a confused manner. "why are you looking at me like that?" he asked her the one thing she knew he would. it was apparent that the alcohol he had consumed still made him stutterless so she valued every second she could with it not existing in his speech.
"because you intrigue me," she replied easily, still not looking away from him as they both walked together. they had been having a staring contest, even if the other person didn't know. Calum lost when he looked away from her. she hadn't felt abashed from her words but it appeared that Calum had been.
she decided to go into a different direction with their conversation as she stated, "I don't think we know a lot about each other."
he was looking everywhere but her as he said, "I know a lot about you."
his words took her breath away. she turned to look at him, not knowing what to say or do after his confession. she went the usual direction she did as she smirked at him and asked him in an alluring, teasing tone what he thought he knew about her.
"you're not as one dimensional as you think you are," Calum told her, turning to look at her as they reached the entrance to the school parking lot. wordlessly, they decided to take a break from their walk.
"how so?"
"you say you're bad at biology - or every science for that matter - but I've seen what you've written. you know what you're doing in that class but you don't make it known to everyone else because it would wreck your image. the same goes for your music; you think that no one notices your allusions to lyrics to pop songs in English, but I do. you won't admit it but you have a closeted love for pop music. you're blunt because you've dealt with liars in the past and you hate people like that. instead of being cruel, you think that people deserve the same curtsy. you're cold because you keep walls up so high no one can climb them. you push everyone away except for people who don't even know the real you.
"you're that part of the moon that no one talks about, the darker side," Calum continued. "not because you're always in a dark mood but because there's this bright personality that lights up the world and everyone admires about you but it's just the sun shining on you, not how you really are."
"and what about you?" Flossy said suddenly, whirling on him so suddenly that he almost felt whiplash. "you're so quiet on the outside, socially awkward, dorky and yet you won the hearts of all of the people who I couldn't even win the hearts of that quickly."
"not all of them," he muttered, looking down at his shoes. if you were to see his actions without listening to how he said that sentence, you'd think that he was upset about that fact. he wasn't. his words were almost arrogant in the tone he had used.
Flossy so desperately wanted to add that his opinion didn't matter to her. she wanted to let Calum know that if everyone else approved, then he was inducted into their little family. Diff never liked any of Flossy's other male friends - whether they were straight or not - so whether he liked Calum as much as he liked Cricket didn't mean a single thing to her.
scared she had offended her new friend, she stayed quiet as they walked next to each other for the next few feet. as a child Flossy was never good at staying quiet for a significant amount of time. it seemed as though the trait never really did leave her even now. she was craving for something to make up for the wordless noise between them so she wouldn't feel as uncomfortable. after a few minutes of this, she finally pulled out her phone and turned the volume up so anyone outside could hear the song she was playing.
As "Into the Jungle" by X Ambassadors played through her phone speakers, Flossy noticed Calum was mouthing the words. a smile unwillingly crept onto her features. he noticed her staring and asked why she was, so she asked how he knew the words.
"you don't seem like the type to like this kind of music," she told him dismissively. "actually, you seem like the type who doesn't like any kind of music."
"what makes you say that?" he asked her curiously. he tilted his head at her with eyes that resembled something she couldn't quite put her finger on. he totally looked like a puppy in that moment, she knew that for a fact.
"maybe it's the glasses," she replied thoughtlessly. "or the way you dress because, let's be honest, it's not the most related to alternative music."
Flossy swore he would've been offended by her observations. this was not the case. he had an amused smile on his expression and he shrugged carelessly.
"I wouldn't take you for the type, for the record. you seem into . . . darker music. like lots of screaming, black and white album covers, explicit lyrics, you know?"
she giggled at him but only halfheartedly. everyone thought that. this was not an uncommon fact to her. what bummed her was that he only seemed to see that side of her. quite frankly, they were both still mysteries to each other but she expected him to look beneath the paint covering her walls and inspect the canvas there of her real self.
"why don't we get to know each other's music taste? like, I say an artist, my favorite song, and why. then you respond with your favorite song by that artist, why, and then another artist. we've got like another two, maybe three miles, until my neighborhood so why not? it's a good pastime."
he shrugged, pondering her words. "sounds interesting. you go first."
"what? why me?!"
he shrugged once again. the ghost of a smirk was appearing on his lips. "you started the game."
she rolled her eyes but obliged. "Black Keys: Gold on the Ceiling because it makes me feel like a bad mother fucker about to fuck shit up."
"Little Black Submarines because it's slow and it has that seductive sound to it that I'd love to do a girl to. All Time Low: A Love Like War because the metaphors in it are so deep and descriptive."
they had walked into the beginning of Flossy's neighborhood. she figured that he was just being nice and walking her home, but then would have to find his way back from her huge development. she didn't press this because it wasn't significant but it made her curious.
"either Backseat Serenade or A Daydream Away because you can feel the emotion in Alex's voice and they bring me to tears with just a note. Pierce the Veil: Stay Away From My Friends for the same reason.
Calum was looking at Flossy, like, really looking at her. it was like he was seeing her for who she really was, behind all of the masks that she wore daily. "Caraphernilia because I can really relate to the lyrics and how it feels to love like that. The Killers: Uncle Johnny because it has such a rocky feeling and he's describing someone who's so addicted that it makes me feel better about my somewhat okay life."
"Read My Mind because . . . I don't even know. it's a song that makes me happy and I like listening to it from rooftops, looking at the city and smoking for some weird reason. Panic! At the Disco: Vegas Lights because it gets me in the party mood and it also makes me happy."
"nicotine because it reminds me how I love someone; so deep and intense that it's like it's an addiction that I can't live without." his brown eyes were shining in the dark night and met hers through the moonlight. her heart started to ache like she was without breath and she swore it started pounding faster at his words. "Coldplay."
"what?" she stupidly asked.
"what's your favorite song by them?" he replied with the ghost of an amused smile on his lips. she realized then that they had turned down her street in the middle of the neighborhood.
"oh uh, I don't know. Sparks maybe because I'd love to be loved the way it's described in the song. what about yours?"
"fix you because it makes me think that someone out there is going to save me from whatever bad thing I'm going through."
"I don't like that one," Flossy told him quietly, looking down and shivering.
"what why not?"
"I used to listen to it when I was sad and it would make me even more sad because I'm not worth saving."
Calum suddenly stopped walking. Flossy didn't realize it until she was a few feet ahead and no one was next to her. he looked at her dumbfoundedly, almost sad from what she'd said. she wasn't going to walk back to him and he wasn't going to walk towards her so they just stood there glaring at each other. he looked at her with sad, doe eyes and she looked up at him with scared, deer eyes caught in headlights.
"you can't honestly think that," he called to her. she did anything but look at him. that was a better answer than if she replied with words. "you're worth everything, Floss."
as appalling as it was, she wished in this moment that he didn't have alcohol in his system because then he'd be stuttering and wouldn't be as blunt as he was being. she didn't let anyone in; that was her thing. here Calum was, knocking on her door and asking for entrance. she wouldn't grant him access.
"I don't want to talk about this," she muttered, looking down as she shook her head and continued on her journey.
"I'm not leaving from this spot until you tell me!" he hollered from behind her.
she scoffed to herself. "fine by me! you know your way back from here!"
it was at most five minutes and at least two minutes before she heard the sound of footsteps pounding against the concrete to catch up to her. she didn't turn as he fell into step beside her.
"I'm sorry," he told her, pleading for her to look at him with the tone in his voice and the emotion in his eyes. "that was out of line. if you don't want to tell me, that's perfectly okay."
"thank you," she whispered to him. she tore her eyes towards him for just a second and saw the relief in the two words in his chocolate eyes.
"don't you live with your parents and your brother?" Flossy inquired with curious eyes. after he nodded his head as answer, she then asked, "then how do you guys have enough money to live in such a huge house?"
"well, my mom is the best doctor at the hospital she works at. the men she works with kind of . . . disrespect her and give her the harder patients to work with but it helps her become a higher rank, so it kind of works in her favor? sorry I'm rambling and you probably don't want to hear about this -"
"are you kidding?" she interrupted with a bright, genuine smile taking over. "of course I do! you fascinate me, Calum Hood, down to every aspect of your life."
"go ahead in and get some sleep," Flossy urged, pushing him away playfully. "I expect flushed cheeks and stutter of words first thing tomorrow."
"as you wish," he replied with a husky tone, smirking as he backed away without turning around into his house.
she paused, looking at her door, then almost laughing to herself. Calum noticed this and asked were its origins came from.
"it's just so weird to me how you lived next to me this entire time and I never even noticed. "
his expression changed before her eyes. it wasn't easy to determine. he looked slightly sad but also just expressionless. the one thing that was obvious about it was that it definitely bothered him in some way, no matter how indescribable it was.
"maybe you just never bothered to look."
it was almost as if he heard it through his own ears and realized how he'd said it. she knew he didn't intend to make her feel like a bad person but that was the feeling she got. she genuinely felt bad about it and broadcasting that he wanted her to feel bad made her feel worse. she physically cowered at his words, taking them closer to heart than he intended. with one last pained look, she tore the door open and slammed it hard behind her, intending to hurt him with his actions as much as he did her with his words.
❦
you could say that Flossy was kinda making fun of calum at the end but whatever she obviously doesn't mean it. she's just really contrasting how he acts with alcohol in his system versus how he actually is. what he said kind of offended her so she storms in and yeah just clarifying idek
dedication to @DaisieIrwin_1 because i love it so much when people compliment my writing like it hits me in the feels xxx
ps I also was going to make this longer by adding more bands they both love and stuff but I didn't want it to be too long and boring so I was like okay bitch let me stop VERY SORRY IT'S BORING IT REALLY PICKS UP IN THE NEXT ONE