The events of the week before still weighed on him; he was honestly feeling more hopeless than he had last year. More certain than ever that he was never going to fully understand nor break the curse. So he'd been moping around, answering questions in the most half-hearted of ways, and Luke had accused him of not listening more than once this week. And he could feel the others' eyes on him; he was sure Crystal hadn't said anything, well, maybe nothing specific but the way they watched him, like a china cabinet teetering on a cliff, meant they knew something was up.
He supposed he should have been in a better mood. He'd triumphed over the curse, avoided deaths icy grip, but all he could think about was what might come next. What would be the next hurdle or hoop he had to jump through and whether he could land on the other side unscathed? He didn't like his odds.
So when he found Calum waiting outside his last class with a broad grin across his face, he was surprised. He'd been bringing the groups mood down all week, and he didn't expect someone to appear grin on their face willing to spend time with him, but there Calum was. He'd somehow managed to ditch his uniform already; Ashton had noticed he was good at that, always turning up in jeans and t-shirt minutes after the bell had rung as if his uniform would give him a rash outside school hours.
"Thought we could head to Marrickville; I wanna go to a new record store you in?" He asked as soon as Ashton was within earshot.
"I still have detention," Ashton said quickly, part of him not wanting to be alone with Calum, and the leftover piece from after the party, before the incident on the roof, wanted desperately to have a shot with him.
"I'll wait,"
Ashton rolled his eyes, waiting half an hour? It seemed unlikely to him, but true to his word Calum was waiting outside when he returned. He was on the floor, legs extended out in front of him and his back to the wall, looking at something on his phone. He wasn't paying attention, so when Ashton approached, he gently kicked the younger boys shoe's sole.
Calum looked up, seeming a touch confused, but recognition registered on his face when he saw Ashton and quickly climbed up off the floor, "You don't mind taking the train, do you? Do you have your Opal card?"
"Nah," Ashton smiled, shaking his head, "I like the train, got my card here," he patted the side of his bag as he spoke, and Calum gave him a grin. He led them quickly through the school and out the gate, passing Luke and Sierra, who were 'studying' on one of the picnic tables at the front of the school. 'Studying' because Luke was laying with his head in Sierra's lap while their textbooks sat open on the table beside them. Luke looked up as they passed and gave him a wink when Calum wasn't looking.
Calum talked about the store they were heading to as he continued leading them toward the train station, and when they got to the platform, it was to see that the train would be arriving any moment.
"Sorry, that's why I was hurrying; after this one, the service changes to the express and we won't be able to get off at the station I want," he explained, finally seeming to relax.
When they climbed on the train ago, their only option was to stand near the door and hold onto the poles with a few other kids from their school. Different uniforms littered the seats with a few business professionals and casual people strewn between, but a full train wasn't that unusual for 3:45 on a weekday.
They didn't speak most of the train ride; there were only a few stops between their school and Marrickville; when they were coming up on the second last stop, Ashton had his phone out texting his mother when the train came into the station. He thought, having been a city kid his whole life, he'd know by now how to navigate remaining upright on a train. Unfortunately, not- he toppled right into Calum, who caught him under his armpits at crotch level, causing the older boy to blush profoundly and scramble up, mumbling his apologies.
"You're always so apologetic; you'd think being as clumsy as you are, you'd be beyond it now," he rolled his eyes, and Ashton couldn't help but blush again, but a laugh bubbled out of him as he steadied himself on the nearby handrail.
Calum smiled wide as soon as the laugh left Ashton, "good to see there's still a person in there; you've been off lately, not really here,"
Ashton couldn't think of anything to say in the way of an explanation, "just been busy," he said, shrugging and feeling the need to recede into himself.
The silence returned; then they got off and walked a few blocks through, calves burning, neither wanting to admit the hills were killing them. Finally, Calum stopped in front of a dingy hole in the wall kind of a place, located between a bar and a warehouse looking building.
"See why I had to bring you? It's intimidating as fuck," he asked, laughing.
"Oh, I see how it is; you don't care if something happens to me," Ashton said cheekily, rolling his eyes.
Calum shook his head, took Ashton by the wrist, and led him down the stairs and through the musty looking door. Ashton's heart was in his throat; what would he be like if Calum had taken his hand? The feeling left him quickly, being replaced by pleasant surprise as he looked over the store, it was a complete parallel to its exterior, clean carpet floors, neatly organised CDs and records in their perspective categories and showcases with music memorable like Beatles bobbleheads and a guitar pick that had a piece of tape beside it that said 'Sting, 1984' and nothing else. The walls held a collection of new and old show posters and a few traffic signs; somehow, even with all of the clutter on the walls, it still managed to look clean and well kept.
"This way, I think you'll like this section," Calum said, guiding Ashton with the hand that was still wrapped around his wrist. They stopped a few rows from the back wall, and he shifted, so they were facing the row on the opposite side. Ashton quickly realised they'd reached their destination, 'Modern Australian Rock' and beside it 'Alternative Rock'. He turned back to Calum and raised an eyebrow, "it's good," he reassured.
Calum picked up one of the already opened records of 'More Scared of You Than You Are of Me', and he beckoned Ashton to follow him; he walked to the left-hand side of the store where the players and headphones sat waiting before he pulled the record out and sat it on the turntable. Ashton moved closer, and Calum flipped the headphones so one of the ear cups was turned out and placed it on Ashton's head before pressing his own ear to the one he'd flipped.
Ashton's stomach was doing some sort of horrible shuffle, worse than butterflies. He could feel the heat radiating off the other boy; they were that close, their shoulders were touching, and if someone had removed the headphones, they'd have fallen into one another. Calum pressed a button, and the needle came down automatically and started the track. Ashton listened intently, wanting to be able to say something interesting when the headphones came off, but he could feel the other boy watching him with anticipation, and it took everything in him not to let a soft blush coat his cheeks.
A few songs played through before Calum was content, pulling the headphones out from between them and looking at Ashton expectantly.
"They're cool, the lead singer has an interesting voice, like he almost shouldn't be a singer, but it works. And their songs are so sad, but they don't make you feel sad, which is an interesting quality for a group to have," Ashton said honestly.
"They're called The Smith Street Band, they're from Melbourne, so they do shows up here all the time, you should listen to some more of their stuff, and if you like it, we could go to one of their gigs," Calum rambled happily.
"Yeah, I'll listen to them some more when I get home," he paused, "I can't help but notice that you seem to know your way around this place pretty well,"
"Ugh yeah," Calum blushed, "I come here a fair bit; I just really wanted to bring you here," Ashton's heart swelled. "I thought you could use a bit of chill time; Crystal told us you were having some issues with your dad, don't be mad at her though we were all just worried," his heart sank; Calum hadn't invited him cause he wanted to spend time with him, he'd asked him because he felt bad for him.
"Uh, yeah, sorry about my mood lately, It'll be all good soon, don't worry," he replied quietly, trying to put on a reassuring smile as he self consciously pushed his hair behind his ear.
"Don't apologise for being sad; you're allowed to be sad," he paused, thinking carefully before he spoke again, "you know you aren't allowed to bring any other guys here, right? This is just our place now," he had a smirk on his face. Ashton wasn't sure if he was joking, and he kind of didn't care; he'd tell himself Calum meant it, and that was enough.