Chapter 33
**Calum's POV**
"Hey, you coming?" Luke asks when I open the door and reveal him leaned against the frame.
"In what parallel universe do you think I would want to go to a party at the guy I despise's frat house just to see him canoodle with the girl I'm in love with?" I scoff, walking further into my room, jumping on to the bed and burying my head into the pillows.
"Canoodle?" He chuckles, taking a seat at the edge of the bed.
"Yes, canoodle," My muffled voice travels from underneath the pillows, "It means to kiss, you moron,"
"Jesus christ Cal, I was joking." His laughs cease instantly, him clearly taken aback by my harsh tone.
"I'm sorry man, I'm just upset." I apologize sarcastically, but I don't think Luke caught on to that. I remove the pillows from above my head and sit up.
He takes a deep breath, resting his hand on my shoulder, "Don'y worry, Valerie will see the light eventually."
"I hope so," I sigh, "Ashton said he had some big plan thought out, and that if it worked both her and I would win in the end."
"Well then I'm sure everything will be fine," He says warily, an uncomfortable chuckle escaping his mouth, "Anyway, I promised Hannah I'd go pick her up at her dorm so see ya later."
"Bye Lukey," I pout and he laughs, before shutting the door behind him.
My face finds it's way back into my pillow. I should try to fall asleep, but I can't. Just knowing that Valerie and Adam are together right now, probably doing something I really don't want to think about is driving me crazy. The amount of time I stare blankly at the fabric of my white silk pillows seems like eternity. It feels like I've been staring for so long I don't even remember my own name or where the hell I am.
The vibration in my back pocket shocks me out of my temporary state of amnesia. I sit up, sliding the phone out of my pocket, a message from Valerie appearing across the screen.
Forget about the raincheck. Come pick me up?
I don't even give myself a second to think. I jump out of the bed, tripping over my feet as I slip on my old nikes grab my jacket and rushing out the door. "YEESSSSSS," I scream, as I run down the dorm hallway. I feel like I sound like one of those kids who who yells yes when they get an answer while they're grading their own math homework.
"Calum, you okay?" That girl, Emily, that I saw with Ashton last week, asks as I rush past her.
"YEAH I'M GREAT," I still don't know who she is, but I yell back to her anyway, before running out the exit and to my car.
Once I get inside, I put on my seat belt first. Wouldn't wanna get into a car accident and slip into a coma on the way there. I slam my key into the ignition and zooming off.
When I arrive, I notice the door is wide open and the place is packed, people practically pouring out of the open windows. I make my way inside, and look around for Valerie, but I don't see her. I spot a familiar multicolor dyed hair boy on the opposite end of the room, his girlfriend's face still attached to his.
"Mike!" I call to him, but he doesn't look up, "Have you seen Valerie?"
He doesn't answer. He stays lip locked with his girlfriend, motioning for me to get away with his hand. Do they ever even come up for air?
I walk into another room, which is even more packed than the last one. I spot a ton of kids from VCA, nodding my head at a couple of them as I stroll past. I should have just waited in the car and texted Valerie that I was outside, but I really did want to see her dump Adam. His reaction would be priceless, I wouldn't want to miss that.
Suddenly I notice a head of shaggy blonde hair in it's usual curly mess. Ashton stands on the opposite end of the room with a pair hands held around his waist. My first thoughts are 'Get it in Ashton' because he hasn't really gotten out much and he's a nice guy. A girlfriend would be good for him. But when his new friend pulls away and my eyes come to meet Valerie's my heart stops beating.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. All the crazy, mixed up thoughts running through my head have disappeared. It's like my mind had completely shut down. Then a shooting pain runs through my stomach. I had been hurt a lot these past few weeks and just when I finally think that I have recovered, I turn a corner and more pain runs in my direction. I really wish I stayed in the car.
She attempts to push Ashton away from her, "Valerie, you need to kiss me." His voice heavy and low.
She looks to me with sorrowful eyes, me wiping away the few stray tears as I begin to stomp towards them. Her voice is soft, "Calum."
"This was your fucking plan man?" I yell, as I approach them. I grab onto Ashton's shoulder pulling him away from her and yanking him around to face me.
"What plan?" She whispers, her face pale.
"Valerie, please go wait in the car," I lower my voice, trying to sound as calm as possible, but it's hard while my cheeks are red hot with anger.
Her eyes fall to the floor, "I-"
"Go wait in the car Val!" I yell, not meaning to take my anger out on her, but I can no longer hold in my frustration.
She doesn't look surprised by my harsh tone, but as if she had expected it. Technically I have no right to be mad at her. I'm not her boyfriend, she didn't cheat on me. In fact I'm extremely happy that she cheat on Adam, but that doesn't mean that the scene that just played out in front of me didn't hurt. I watch as she makes a brisk walk out of the room and disappears into the crowd.
"Ashton..." My eyes are sad, my voice soft, my heart heavy, "How could you do this?"
"You weren't supposed to be here," His voice and conduct completely normal, as if he wasn't just acting insanely wasted five minutes ago, "You weren't supposed to see that,"
"Clearly," My voice raises, the frustration becoming very prominent, "I thought you had a plan to help her and Adam break up so she would run into my arms. Not yours."
"I do," He places his red cup on a small table next to him. The cup is half filled with water, probably a ploy he put together to make her think he was drunk, "And it would have worked. But I knew you wouldn't have been okay with it, that's why I didn't want you to come. I was supposed to kiss her and Adam was supposed to see. Things would have ended instantly right then and there, but the plan did fold out exactly the way I wanted it to."
I don't say anything, just send him a testing expression to see if he is being honest or not. He looks back at me with truthful eyes. He didn't mean any harm, he was trying to help, and now I feel I look like the jerk for flipping out on him.
"But Calum," He takes a deep inhale, "She kissed me back."
"I didn't really need to know that," I move past him, to a window at the front of the room to make sure that Valerie had gone to the car and didn't run off to Adam begging for forgiveness even though he didn't see what happened. I hate that I have to check up on her, but it seems like something Valerie would do.
"I know but, does that really seem like something Valerie would do?" He looks to me, but I don't look back to him, "Wouldn't you have expected her to push her me off her and run to Adam for protection?"
"I guess," I shrug, finally turning to face him when I spot Valerie leaned against the trunk of my car, eyes wandering around the street.
"Well she didn't, so do you know what that means?" He asks, and I shake my head no. I don't really understand where he is going with this, "So she's not going to be able to even be around Adam without feeling a strong pang of guilt for what she did. You know that's gonna kill her inside."
"I don't want her to suffer from this," I sigh, fisting my hand into the front pocket of my jeans, "I just want her to be happy."
"She will be now," He sends a weak smile, but it doesn't really make me feel any better, "She always felt so forced to be with Adam, but now that she broke her loyalty and trust she won't want to keep lying to him."
"I guess you're right." My voice is low. It still kills me inside that there's a chance she could start falling for Ashton, "But why didn't you let me in on it? Why couldn't have I kissed her?"
"Because, she just thought I was drunk and didn't mean anything by it," He pushes some of his hair out of his face, revealing the sincerity in his eyes, "If you kissed her, you know she would have hated you for putting her in that situation. There might be a little tension in my friendship with Valerie for a while, but you'll be happy and she'll be happy so that's all that really matters."
"Thanks Ash," I chuckle. Most people would take the motive for his plan in the wrong way, but it's Ashton. He meant for the best all along. Maybe he's right. Maybe things will start heading in the right direction. And for that reason, I can't wipe the smile off my face. I give him a small pat on the shoulder, and begin to walk towards the exit, "Oh, and Ashton," I turn back to him, his back rested against the wall, "She's mine, don't forget that."
"She's not yours yet," He laughs and I let a small chuckle escape, "But she will be soon."
Now I really can't get this dang smile off my face. As I pass by, people are probably thinking what the hell is wrong with that guy. But it doesn't phase me. Things are finally beginning to go my way.
"Calum," Valerie's voice calls from the car, when she see's me walk out the door. I try my best to hide the stupidly large grin on my face, but it keeps finding it's way back. It's impossible to fight.
"Let's go," I motion for her to get into the car, as I climb into the front seat.
"You're not mad at me?" She asks when she settles herself down next to me and closes the door behind her.
"Why would I be mad?" I chuckle lightly, as I put the key into the ignition and the engine roars to life.
"I don't know," She sighs, "I just thought th-"
"Let's just not talk about it," I send her a warm smile, before focusing my eyes back on the road.
"Maybe we should have taken Ashton home," Her voice is soft. My eyes flick to her, but her eyes are focused on the scenery passing by her through the window, "He was really drunk."
"Yeah, but he's been dying to go to a damn party for some reason." I chuckle and amused smirk finds it's way onto her face, "Plus we've got movies to watch. Why don't you text Luke, ask him to drive Ash home."
"Okay," Her smile is now almost as wide as mine. We sit in silence for a couple minutes as she quickly texts Luke, and slips her phone into her pocket, eyes focused back out the window.
"So what are you doing next week?" My voice breaks through the silence, my eyes still concentrated in the road.
"Nothing really," She sighs, patting her hand against her leg, "I guess, I'll just be staying in the dorm."
"You're not going to spend the week with your mother?" My voice is full of concern, my knuckles turning pale from their tight grip against the steering wheel.
"No, she said I shouldn't come home," She is trying her best to hide it, but I can tell she is upset, "She said she's gonna being working all week anyway, and that it would be best if I just stayed at school. Also while I've been here, she's been renting my bedroom out to someone, to make some extra money."
"I'm not letting you stay in the dorms all week." I retort, pressing a little to hard on the accelerator pedal. She holds on to the sides of her seat until we slow back down.
She glances at me warily, "Well where am I supposed to go Calum?"
I sit there quietly for a moment in thought, making sure I'm making the right choice here. I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable, but there is nothing more that I would want in this world, "You're coming back to Sydney," I say, earning a puzzled glare from her, "You can stay with me for the week."
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