WRONG NUMBER / CH

chptr 13

The apartment was empty when Calum came home on a Sunday night. Taped to the refrigerator, there was a note hurriedly scribbled. Calum recognized the awful handwriting as Luke's. Out with Nicky, it read.

So Calum had the whole apartment to himself for a whole night (he assumed they would do some...other activity). Normally this kind of privacy was a bliss for Calum, just like any other teenage boy. He could do whatever he wanted. Play Xbox. Learn how to cook filet mignon (or some other dish with a fancy name). Walk around completely naked (although he did that even when Luke was home).

But truthfully, all he wanted to do was talk to someone and just spend lazy hours with them.

Of course, that someone was Leia.

The thought of her filled his brain and clouded him with both happiness and misery. So this was what unrequited love felt like. It was terrible. Like living your life as a Mayday Parade song.

He couldn't handle the still silence of the apartment, so he put on his coat again and promptly stepped outside, not knowing where to go. He locked the door and made his way to the staircase.

"Oh," a female voice said. She was coming up the stairs with a bagful of groceries in hand. She flashed him a smile. "Calum, right?"

Calum racked his brain for the identity of this stranger- it was Jewel, him and Luke's next-door neighbor. They've been acquaintances for months now but never had proper conversations. "Oh, hey, Jewel. How's it going?" he asked politely.

She shrugged. "Nothing, really. How about you? Where you goin'?"

Calum thought of some excuse to leave, but he was too tired to compose an idea. "Honestly, I have no freaking idea. My roommate left me and I can't stand the apartment, it's too quiet." He sighed. "But at the same time, I don't really want to go out. Ugh." He laughed a little at the end to ease the tension that he built between them.

Jewel didn't seem to mind. "Well, wanna join us for dinner? Me and Kar," she added, referring to her roommate. She smiled at Calum warmly. "We're making pasta."

Okay, homemade pasta sounded good to him right now. Oh, what the hell, he thought. "Sure," he replied. "You sure Karen wouldn't mind?"

"I'm sure," she said confidently. So Calum backed up and followed Jewel to their apartment, right next to theirs.

The inside of their apartment was similar to theirs, only of course, there wasn't any distinct boy smells or clothes lying around the floor. It was far more bright and welcoming than their dark mancave. He felt himself grin.

"Look who I picked up," Jewel called out to Karen, who was in the living room, watching a documentary on pugs.

"Hi. Sorry to bother you guys," Calum said, in a way of greeting.

Kar greeted him back with a warm hello and glanced at Jewel. "So is Calum gonna make our dinner or...?"

Jewel stopped rummaging through the grocery bag and faced them. She pretended to think. "You know what? That's a great idea, Kar."

Calum was taken aback. Shit. The only thing he knew how to make were pancakes and orders for take-out. "Uh, I don't really know how to cook."

Kar tilted her head. "So Luke does the cooking?"

"Uh..." Calum scratched the back of his head. "I guess." Luke had more skills than him, no doubt. At least Luke could cook decent meals without setting their kitchen on fire.

"Don't worry, we'll walk you through," Jewel said. Soon enough the three of them were in the kitchen, attempting to cook spaghetti. Calum, of course, was not doing very well at it.

"So, uh, I don't think the sauce is supposed to look like this," Calum said cautiously, stirring a brown-ish glob of liquid. Jewel and Karen stole a glance and burst into laughter.

"Um, Calum, I don't even think that's tomato sauce." Jewel inspected the contents of the bowl. She frowned. "Where did you even get this?" she mumbled, rummaging through the grocery bag and retrieving the tomato sauce. Calum was completely stumped.

"You know what, Calum? Shoo," Kar told him, not unkindly. Calum sighed in relief and told them he was just going to set the table or something. The two girls nodded and went back to work.

Calum left the kitchen in a hurry, retrieving his phone out of his pocket. There were several messages from Leia as usual, but they were just random letters. He opened the most recent one.

from: leia :~)
what r u doing right now

Calum smiled slightly. I have no idea.