12: i'm giving him a chance
After posting to my blog, I decided to sleep for a little while longer which was a complete mistake. I had woken up late and was struggling to get ready in time.
My appearance was poor, but I didn't really care. I had thrown on some leggings and a sweater, and was proud that I somehow managed to find the energy to style my hair instead of just throwing it up into a pony tail like usual. My makeup only consisted of mascara. After feeling like I was ready to face human interaction, I raced downstairs.
I grabbed my backpack from the bench beside our front door, but as soon as it hit my shoulder, a new obstacle suddenly became apparent.
I didn't have a car.
Why hadn't this crossed my mind when Sam told me she wouldn't be here in the morning? Probably because I've never had the issue of being without a ride because my Dad has never not been home.
I quietly started to curse to myself as I tried to think of a plan, but I was coming up short with only few options. Christian lived on the other side of the city, so he definitely couldn't get me, I was not about to call Calum to ask for a ride, and Abbie doesn't have classes in the morning, so she sleeps in.
A moment of pure desperation ran through me, and I threw the door open after yelling out my goodbyes to Oscar. I closed it behind me and locked it before walking away. I crossed the street cautiously, even though no one ever drove down my road, and walked down Noah's driveway.
As if on cue, Noah walked out of his front door, yelling bye to his parents. After turning toward me, he jumped.
"Jesus." Noah brought his hand up to his chest and stopped long enough to take a deep breath. "You scared the hell out of me."
"Sorry," I apologized, trying not to laugh in reaction to seeing him so startled. "This is annoying, but could you give me a ride to school?"
"Yeah, no problem. Just call me next time, okay? I don't need to have a heart attack before school can even start." I apologized again and climbed in his car once he unlocked the doors. "Isn't Sam staying with you this week?"
"Yeah, she is... but she had to do something for her Nan last night. I knew she wasn't going to be here to take me to school, but it didn't register that I needed to find another ride." Noah nodded at my words, understanding the situation. He pulled out of his driveway and we sat in the car silently as he drove to school.
"Okay, I wasn't going to say anything, because it's really none of my business, but... was Calum at your place last night?" My eyes widened at Noah's words and I avoided eye contact by all means. "If you don't tell me, he will."
"Yes, Noah." I sighed and brought my arms up to my chest as I crossed them tightly.
"He was over there until almost midnight, Maya... what's up with that?" Noah asked and I finally looked over at him to see him glancing at me.
"He just took me home last night, and I asked him to stay for awhile longer... I don't like storms, okay? I was alone and this week sucks enough already. I just wanted some company, and he's a nice guy." I was suddenly regretting asking Noah for a ride, only because I wasn't up for interrogation from anyone, let alone someone I had barely talked to in the last three years.
"You could've come over," Noah said, as if I had made a mistake that had an easy solution from the beginning. "But Calum... seriously?"
"Noah, are you on something? Why does it seem to matter so much to you? He's a good guy and we genuinely like to talk to each other. It was one night and nothing happened. He's your friend, if you cared to remember." I huffed and found myself becoming angry. "Also, why the hell would I come over? We don't talk anymore, Noah. You haven't talked to me in years. I have avoided every party you've ever thrown because I have literally been the only person you have not invited for the last couple of years."
"Maya..." Noah softly began to speak, but I stopped him.
"I don't care that you didn't invite me, I wouldn't have come anyway." I looked out of the window as the drive continued, and for a second I thought I might be lucky enough for Noah to stay quiet for the rest of the ride.
"I never invited you because I didn't want you to be disappointed in me. I can come off as a total dick now, Maya, and I don't want you to know that about me. It's not like you haven't gotten the memo, but I don't know... I didn't want you getting caught up in it. I throw the parties for the guys, they like them, and I guess I do too, but I'm such a fuck when I drink. I don't think this will help my case, but I never invited you because I didn't want any of the guys trying to get with you." I slowly looked over at Noah, but he kept his eyes on the road.
"Noah... I'm a big kid. I can look out for myself. I would never in a million years get with any of those guys."
"Not even Calum? But he's such a good guy," Noah raised the pitch of his voice to sound more girly, and more whiny, and I bit my lip as I looked away from him. "He's charming, Maya.I've picked up on how girls feel about him. He's also a total tool. He's one of my best friends, but that doesn't change anything about him. I don't want you mixed up with them, I never have, and that's why I've never wanted you at one of the parties. Sam usually gets on my last nerve, but I don't invite her either... neither of you need to get hurt. I can't believe you're encouraging this whole Michael thing. He seems to really like her, but how are any of us supposed to know how long that's going to last?"
"Can we please change the subject?" I asked Noah, trying to keep my cool.
"Are you going to stop seeing Calum?" Noah asked, challenging my previous question.
"I am not seeing Calum! We are not a thing, okay? I'm giving him a chance to show me he's not total douchebag, and I'm not going to stop until he proves himself. I'm giving him a chance, but not necessarily romantically. I'm not an idiot, I'm not going to get myself hurt. I don't need you acting as if you've saved me from some sort of trauma, or that you've done me some kind of charity. I didn't ask for it. For someone who supposedly cares about me, you haven't done shit for me. Thanks for keeping me safe by shutting me out of your life." Thankfully, we had arrived at school and Noah had parked his car. "Thanks for the ride." I swung my door open and slammed it once I was completely out of the car. I quickly made my way into the school building and didn't have any care in the world whether Noah was following me or not.
I hurried to my locker to get my stuff for first hour, but was surprised to see someone blocking it. It was Calum, and although a part of me wanted to listen to what Noah had said and start being more cautious around Calum, I let a smile slip.
His back was turned toward me, so I slowly walked up behind him. However, the closer I got, the more apparent it was that he was talking to somebody. I peeked around him, expecting to see one of the guys, but instead I saw a girl I had never seen before. Her cheeks were flushed and it was clear she had been laughing at whatever Calum was saying to her.
I laughed cheaply and gently bumped into Calum.
"You're standing in front of my locker." Calum stepped out of the way and I moved closer to the lock, entering the combination.
"I know that," Calum said, laughing quietly as he nudged me. "I brought you breakfast, I've been waiting for at least fifteen minutes." I closed my eyes tightly and took a deep breath in. "Is everything okay, Maya?"
"Thank you, Calum." I looked over at Calum with a smile and he smiled back, but it was hesitant. I peeked around him to see the girl was gone, and for a second I honestly thought I might be going crazy. "Who were you talking to?"
"Oh, her name is Jane," Calum told me, shrugging his shoulders. "She's unsubtly been asking all us guys questions about Noah. I guess she's into him or something."
"Oh," I said, nodding slowly. There was no way of knowing if Calum was telling me the truth, but I decided to believe him because he had given me no reason not to. I finally looked at what was in Calum's hands and I smiled widely.
"I figured I couldn't go wrong with bagels and coffee." Calum handed me the bag from, funnily enough, my favorite bagel place, and then handed me the coffee that had been his hands.
"Thank you... so much. That was really nice of you. I needed this, I have not had a very good morning." Calum's head tilted in confusion, and he opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off.
"Okay, I'm not trying to drag anything out... but I'm sorry, okay?" I looked up at Noah as he walked on the other side of me and I sighed quietly. "We can talk later, if you want, it's okay if you don't... but I'm sorry. You're right, I had no place to act like that. And I'm sorry... for being a really shitty friend." I nodded slowly at Noah's words and he cleared his throat before looking over at Calum.
"We can talk later," I told him, agreeing to that.
"Everything okay?" Calum asked, laughing awkwardly as he looked in between us.
"Yeah, everything's fine. Just a little quarrel between old friends. You know how Noah can be," I said, shrugging my shoulders as I looked back at Calum. He seemed to be oblivious that anything was actually wrong, and laughed at my statement.
"His heart is always in the right place," Calum said, wrapping his arm around Noah's shoulder.
"Thanks for the breakfast, Calum," I said after shutting my locker and turning toward the two boys. I glanced at Noah to see him giving me a look as I spoke about Calum's sweet gesture, but I didn't let it bother me. "I'll see you in chemistry." I smiled at Calum and waved to both the guys before walking down the hallway to my first hour.
Everything Noah had said was engraved in my mind, and I was starting to think about how naive I was probably being. However, I knew the more I thought about it, the more I'd start letting his words get to me. I had already made the decision to give Calum a chance, and that's what was going to happen. I know last night had made me start to think I might really enjoy Calum's presence, but that was purely a one time thing. We could spend time together, but nothing would be happening between us... not on my end, that is.
. . .
"There she is," Calum said as I sat down beside of him in chemistry. I sent him a small smile before pulling out my things and getting started on the bell work. Noah sat down beside of me a few moments later and I sighed to myself.
He hadn't been in class the last few days, and I had forgotten he had been seated next to me.
"You okay?" Calum asked quietly as I focused on the bell work. I nodded instead of verbally responding, and could see him biting his lip nervously from the corner of my eye.
"Can we talk after school?" Noah asked me quietly, leaning toward me so no one would hear. I looked over at him and gave him a look. "Fine. But I take back what I said about Michael and Calum... when I get defensive, I get judgmental. They're not perfect, and I don't take back the part about them being tools, but they're not bad guys... I understand why you're giving him a chance, and Michael deserves a chance, too." Noah was speaking so quietly that I could barely hear him, but his words were nice, and I nodded at them. "I'm sorry, again. It's not my business, I shouldn't have brought anything up."
"It's okay, Noah... just forget about it, okay?" He nodded and so did I, and that was the end of it. Calum's foot hit mine under the table and I slowly looked over at him.
"Sorry," he apologized, looking timid as I made eye contact with him. I shrugged, telling him it wasn't a big deal, and went back to writing down the bell work. "Did I do something?"
"No, Calum." I shook my head and he started to tap his pencil eraser against his paper. The noise was distracting, so I calmly reached over and held onto his pencil so that he would have to stop.
"Oh, sorry." Calum dropped the pencil and brought his arms up to his chest, crossing them.
"Are you okay?" I asked him, noticing how fidgety he was being.
"Yeah, fine," Calum said, nodding at me after sending me a quick smile that lasted only a second or two. I raised an eyebrow at him questionably and he did the same back. "What?"
"You're acting weird."
"Well, so are you," Calum said and I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering if he was being serious or just too tired to come up with a better comeback. "You're being... different. If last night was weird, I just want you to tell me."
"Calum, nothing was weird," I told him, shaking my head as I sent him a gentle smile. "I woke up late this morning, I'm not in the best mood... I'm sorry for taking it out on you." He slowly nodded and seemed to take my word for it.
"I... had a really good time last night," Calum told me, nervously, as he started writing down notes in his notebook. He didn't make eye contact with me, but his sweet tone was enough to make me smile. He glanced over at me and caught a glimpse of my smiling, causing him to smile too. "You're not so bad, Jacobson."
"I'm still not going to be your girl of the week, Hood," I joked, knowing Calum wouldn't be offended by my words, and as he continued to stare down at his paper, I saw him genuinely smile.
"I don't count on it," he told me, slowly setting his pencil down and looking over at me. "Chemistry lasts longer than just a week."
a/n:
hehehe what did calum mean by that????
also it's funny bc like their chemistry CLASS is all year long & chemistry technically NEVER goes away
;))))))
look at me go, folks.
well, i'll update u later. !!!
im gonna go sleep
im tired!!
love u guys!!!! :)))
jill