WRONG NUMBER / CH

chptr 17

"SHE'S MOVING TO SYDNEY?!"

"YEAH, SHE IS!"

"THEN THAT MEANS-?!"

"YEAH, IT DOES!"

This was the first conversation Calum had with Ashton and Luke about Leia's big move.

The excitement was tangible in their apartment. Why wouldn't they be excited? Calum was one step closer to meeting the girl he was in love with. Meeting! Actually meeting Leia was now a possibility! The turn of events made his head spin. The universe smiled upon him, planets had aligned and the tide had turned in Calum's favor.

Obviously, he was on cloud nine.

They were all talking all at once, excited by the prospect of breathing the same air as the infamous Leia. Calum's phone buzzed in his pocket.

"What did she say?" Ashton asked, peering over Calum's shoulder.

"Nothing, she just sent me a picture." It was a photo of a quaint little house, painted white with a tiled blue roof, a white picket fence, and a wooden door. There was a cute little garden on the front yard and some marble steps. It was just a normal, unfamiliar house.

from: leia :~)
mom sent me this pic

from: leia :~)
apparently its our new house!

"Oh, it's her new house," Calum breathed excitedly. His heart picked up again, loud enough to be heard. He gulped down nervously. "I still can't believe she's moving to Sydney." He continued to admire the picture, trying to figure out what part of town the house was. There weren't any street signs or anything to indicate where the house was located.

"Lemme see," Ashton insisted, taking the phone away. His eyes widened. "Oh my God, I know this place."

The room exploded into a blur of shouting and movement, Luke already heading towards the door, beckoning the others to follow. Calum had calmed down enough to form rational thoughts. "Guys, shut up!" He turned to Ashton. "Do you really?"

The curly-haired boy scratched the back of his head with a shrug. "It's familiar- I've seen it before, I'm sure. I just can't remember what roads I took."

Calum deflated, but Michael piped up. "What are we waiting for?" He jumped up excitedly. "Roadtrip!"

In less than ten minutes all four of them were in Ashton's car: Ash driving, Calum riding shotgun, Luke and Michael in the back. The top was down, and when they hit the road, the wind whipped at their faces. Ashton turned his radio on, started singing at the top of his lungs, and when they all sang along, it began to felt like a joyride with friends- in search for a house soon to be occupied by some girl they didn't know.

Ashton began circling through town, wracking his brain intently. He was so sure he knew this place. He had seen that blue tiled roof before. He had seen that picket fence before. He just wasn't sure where. The rest of them busied themselves with roadtrip games and more music. At one point they stopped at a convenience store to pick up bags of chips and Caprisuns.

"We've been driving around for miles," Michael complained restlessly. "You sure you know this place, mate?"

Ashton sipped on his juice and paused in thought. "Very sure," he confirmed. The whole car was silent after that, allowing Ashton to work through the roadmaps in his head. The only sound in the car was Luke munching on a bag of potato chips.

It was Michael who spoke again. "I want some Panda Express right now."

Calum was about to tell Michael that he just ate when suddenly everything happened all at once: his phone rang, Luke dropped his chips and swore loudly, and Ashton threw his hands up in the air and shouted "Oh my God!" excitedly.

"What? What is it?" Calum asked, fumbling for his phone at the same time. There was a text from Leia.

from: leia :~)
we're gonna move about two weeks from now.

"I remember where it is now," Ashton announced excitedly, shifting the gear to drive and speeding off with a determined expression. "It's on my way to work, why didn't I figure this out earlier?"

"Work?" Luke echoed, confused.

"Oh, didn't I tell you guys? I got the job at KFC," Ashton replied. Soon the whole car was buzzing with laughter and music again. Calum's excitement increased with every minute that passed. He still couldn't fully believe Leia was moving to Sydney. It was some kind of freak miracle. In two weeks, he could actually see her in person. Introduce himself, maybe. He thought about coming clean, too. But imagining it made him shudder.

Finally they reached the house. It looked exactly like it did in the picture. Calum was still shocked and amazed by everything that was happening.

"Wow. Soon the love of your life is gonna be living there, a twenty minute drive away," Michael said. "Now let's go get Panda Express."