Typical.
"You're joking, right?" I scoff into the handset, balancing the mobile inbetween my shoulder and my ear as I crammed multiple notebooks and papers into my backpack.
"No, I am a hundred percent, hand on heart, being totally honest with you." he assured me through the phone.
Absolutely typical.
"I- I, Calum..." I jam in my pencil case in before zipping up the bag. "You can't be serious." I glanced at the calender attached to my bedroom wall, it's not April fools again by any chance, is it?
I've known Calum since the first time he ever picked up an instrument. I've seen him grow through unexpected changes, unplanned situations and a very, very awkward snap back faze. But this, this was just too weird. Even for Calum.
"A hundred percent! A bruhjillian percent serious." As I opened my mouth to correct his poor, and frankly nonexistent choice of wording, he beat me to it. " Type me into Google."
"What? Calum, I am not searching y-"
"Have you got access to a computer or something?" he snapped. I glanced over at my already opened laptop. I'm a teenage girl. Of course I have access.
"Well, yes but," I protested.
"But nothing. Just do it." he demanded. I rolled my eyes. I knew how stroppy Calum gets when he doesn't get his way. And let me tell you, I was definitely not in the mood for one of his rants. I typed his his name into the search bar, already cringing at the fact that I was searching one of my closest friends on the internet.
"Have you done it yet?" he questioned, the bad signal making his voice tinny and distant, only emphasising the fact that he was worlds away from me. I nodded, disregarding the fact that he couldn't see me and hit the search bar. Immediately, the screen was filled with Calum Hood and 5sos in bold blue letters. I scanned through the search results- it didn't take long to notice a theme.
'5SOS's Calum hood spotted with Mystery Brunette' was the title of one article, ' Heartache on the Fangirls' said another. Wow, clever. The journalist must be real proud of that one. Every gossip website you could ever think of almost dedicated there headlines to this latest 'scoop', or whatever. I clicked on one of them:
'The New Yoko Ono?'
A picture of a girl and a guy appeared onto my screen. The boy, with the jet black hair and tanned exposed arms was undoubtedly Calum in a grey vest and ripped jeans. Alongside him, gripping onto his hand was a tall, lanky girl with a mop of curly chestnut hair disguising her face as she purposely hid her face in a similar way Calum did, attempting to avoid the paparazzi.
"Hello? Sophie?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm here." I muttered. Seriously, Calum is as clingy as his skinny jeans are to his legs...
My eyes fell upon the opening paragraph: Bassist from Australian pop punk phenomenon Five Seconds of Summer was spotted last night with a mystery brunette. The pair were seen having dinner before leaving hand in hand at about 11:15 this passed Friday.
I looked back at the photograph. Calum had always been taller then me but on this picture he looked tall. Like, really tall. The girl looked about 5'8 and she only reached his chin. His black shoes looked battered and I could see his tattoo peeking out of his vest.
"2012?"
"What? Oh, the tattoo? Yeah, 2012. Roman numerals, cool right?" I had put Calum on loudspeaker and I could hear voices of other people in the back round, echoing over his.
"It's nice."
"It's not the point. The point is Sophie, " he sighed, I could almost picture him pinch the bridge of his nose. He always did that whenever I got of point. "I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend."
I winced at his plea. It was as if an older brother just asked me on a date. In a state of utter cringe, I returned the phone to my ear.
"Cal-"
"Soph, it'll only be for the rest of the tour. "
"This is still not making any sense." I point out. I could hear Calum sigh once again and I could picture him running his hand through that shaggy hair of his.
" Look, that girl, Bree, is our stylist." he explained.
"Yeah, so?" Oh wow, a stylist. It might as well be illegal.
"So, she's under the same boss as us. She's a colleague, it's-"
"Out of line? Uncalled for? Inappropriate?" Going out with a girl that's out of bounds? Yup, that's Calum for you.
"Yes." Calum chuckled lightly. "I know it's not allowed but, Bree's, just... she's amazing." He gushed.
"Woah, don't start getting sappy with me. Listen, I'm sorry but I'm not the right person for this-"
"I'll pay you." his words shut me up like a cookie keeps a four year old quiet.
"What? No. Cal, shut up, right now. Listen, I have to go-"
"How much is that entrance fee to that school Bradley's trying to get into?" Calum demanded, interrupting me.
Bradley is my brother. He's thirteen and trying into get into this school based around music musically gifted youths. He plays bass, just like Calum. In fact, Calum was the reason he started playing. Thing is, the school is crazy expensive, something that my family just can't afford.
"Calum, I can't take your money."
"It's not for you." he said softly, "It's for Bradley."
Well, he wasn't lying, it really would be for Bradley. Plus with mum struggling to find work it almost sounds like an alright idea.
"Cal," I shook the thought out of my head, "I really have to go, it's been nice speaking to you and good luck with the tour but, no, I can't. I really can't." I removed the cellphone from my ear, about to press the icon to hang up.
" Think of your mum." Calum said, in a tone I hadn't heard so serious before. It made my hand freeze in mid- air. He knew what got to me.
" Like I wasn't already doing so..." I muttered.
She's currently working as a cashier at a local supermarket. Supporting herself and two kids on minimum wage can't be easy, especially since one of the is an aspiring musician with hopes of get into the country's most prestigious music program. " Please stop acting as if you owe us something, Calum."
It was my idea to buy Calum his first bass for his birthday and my mom, using the majority of our savings, payed for it. Ever since the band he's in blew up, he's always offering to pay for us to come and visit and stay in some posh hotel or overpriced resort. He offers to even pay our bills, saying how without that one birthday present, he wouldn't be where he is now. But, with my mom being extremely stubborn and never accepting money she hasn't earned herself, and me being her daughter, all offers where declined- no matter how much Bradley wanted to experience five star vacationing.
"HEY WE'RE TAKING ON THE WORLD!" Calum started shouting.
"Cal, what are you-"
"I'LL HELP BRADLEY WHERE HE WANTS TO GO! PICK YOU UP IF YOU-"
"Fall to pieces, yeah whatever." I dismissed him, not wanting to become deaf in my left ear.
"So you are a fan of us?" I could almost picture Calum's eyebrow quirking up as he said it. "Here's the deal, Soph. The tour ends at the end of summer, how long 'till school finishes?"
"About two weeks. Why? Cal, I told you I'm not doing it."
"I'll send you the ticket in the post, I'll book the quickest flight I can find."
"Cal."
"You come here, pretend to be my girlfriend, let the papz get a few pictures of us two going out." he continued, ignoring me.
"Cal!"
" The tour finishes, I'll tell the press it just wasn't working blah blah blah, you get on the next flight home." he rambled, not stopping until his thoughts were made vocal.
"Calum!"
" And Bradley get's an all expense paid slot into the music academy of his dreams." he finished, " All that, and all you need to do is take a few pictures with this Greek god."
I sighed. Not only is Calum musically talented, but he could probably persuade a police officer to commit a crime. But only something like a pack of gum, he ain't that good. Could it really be that simple? A couple of pictures and a few weeks on the road with the band and Bradley gets into the academy, mum can put all the money she'd spend on me into the bank and I'd finally get to see Calum after two years of him being away?
I fell back onto my bed, flopping my forearm over my eyes in attempt to get my thoughts straight. "So, " I started, not believing the words that where coming out of my mouth.
" How long is the flight to London?"