WRONG NUMBER / CH

chptr 6

a/n: double update bc i love everyone!!! thank u to ruth (@AMPLIFYCALUM) for the cute new cover i lub u ruthie

Most of the time, Leia was cheerful and and sarcastic, relating her day with such animation and vividness that he could almost see everything she saw. Sometimes she'd even send him pictures of where she was (i.e, bored in French class, in a cafe with friends) and stuff she was doing. Calum had gotten used to the constant updates on this stranger's life, and was actually beginning to enjoy them. Almost three weeks after she started texting, he found himself looking forward to every irrelevant message from this girl Leia.

Calum had stupidly left his phone that morning when he set off for school, leaving his day a little dull. He was more than excited when he got home and found his inbox brimming with new messages.

He was ready to be cheered up by her cutesy tweets. The mere thought of it made him grin.

But what he saw was the opposite.

from: leia!
hey

from: leia!
today sucks

from: leia!
mom and dad were fighting all day

from: leia!
and i stayed home from school cos i have a fever

from: leia!
theyre still fighting in the other room

from: leia!
its about me.

from: leia!
theyre fighting over custody.

Calum's heart fell. Oh, no. Please don't be what he thinks it's going to be.

from: leia!
they dont even have the nerve to keep their voices down

from: leia!
i feel so fucking terrible

from: leia!
i hate my life i hate my life i hate my life i hate my life

Calum felt his insides drop and shatter into a million pieces. He didn't know Leia at all, but he knew she didn't deserve this. He knew that Leia was a kind and genuine person.

As he read through her string of texts, he felt urge to reply and comfort her, to tell her she was not alone in this world. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. He sat back miserably as more messages flooded him.

from: leia!
mom wants a divorce

from: leia!
she says its because you left

Despite all this, Calum was still able to pick up bits and pieces of Leia's relation with Anna. So she's family. Her older sister, most probably.

from: leia!
why did you leave?

He wanted nothing more than to know the answer himself.

from: leia!
where did you go?

from: leia!
did you leave because dad cheated on mom?

from: leia!
or did u leave because he hit her?

Oh, God. He felt like throwing up, or throwing something. Either would do. Suddenly he felt a wave of fury for her father, that sick bastard. He was a stranger, and yet Calum wanted to wrap his fingers around his neck.

But he also felt angry at Anna. What insensitive bitch leaves her little sister to fend for herself in a fucked-up family? He felt his chest tighten with every new text from her.

from: leia!
its quiet now

from: leia!
dad left

Calum clenched his fist and wished, for the first time, that he knew Leia in person so he could protect her. He just felt so damn angry at anyone who could ever want to hurt her.

He realized he was sitting in his room, feeling all kinds of explosive emotions for complete strangers. That was unhealthy.

What was she doing to him?

from: leia!
oh god

from: leia!
i can hear mom crying

from: leia!
but i cant go to her

from: leia!
because im crying, too.

He almost heard her in his head, the faint echo of sobbing, and he felt utterly sad. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and let her cry into his chest, but he couldn't.

"I wish I could do something to make you feel better," Calum whispered to himself.

But he realized he can.

He began to type a long-ish message telling her it was going to be okay, that Anna would be coming back soon, that she should stop crying because the world becomes a darker place without her smile. He wrote furiously, making it as girl-ish as his testosterone could allow--because he had to pretend he was Anna. Telling her the truth would hurt her even more.

But halfway through the message, he realized this was not going to turn out well. Suppose she asks a question only the real Anna would know? What fucked up thing would he do to cover it up?

So he stopped. Erased everything.

And he felt extremely helpless.