WRONG NUMBER / CH

chptr 36

"You should've kissed her," Luke said with a small, disappointed shake of his head.

"I should've kissed her," Calum echoed in a defeated tone. His phone buzzed almost immediately after he spoke.

from: leia ❤️
should i have kissed him?

He threw his head back and groaned in frustration. What was wrong with him? He had been wishing and waiting and wanting that moment for months now, and when it arrived he fled the scene faster than Michael disappears when someone mentions studying.

Luke's phone rang. He put it on speakerphone and handed it to Calum. "You should've kissed her!" Ashton exclaimed on the other end. Calum furrowed his eyebrows in question at Luke. The latter just shrugged.

"I know, I know. I totally wimped out. It was my fault, and I'm sorry." He felt awful about it. He had the moment right there in front of him, but he let it slip through his fingers. Even Leia thought he should have kissed her.

Which added to the horrible feeling he had in his chest. Right after he left his phone was buzzing with new texts from Leia, using what she thought was her sister as a diary for all the pent-up feelings she had. They were all about Calum and how she wanted him to kiss her and how mom was annoyingly uncool and how she wondered if he liked her back and it was all fine and dandy until he realized he was basically getting an unfair advantage in this relationship, or whatever it is they have. He knew everything she was thinking and yet she had to face that mystery and the struggle of not knowing the other person's true feelings.

Terrible. He was a terrible person.

from: leia ❤️
ugh maybe im overthinking i mean are we even in that stage yet? is it too soon?

from: leia ❤️
he got me a PURPLE GIRAFFE tho

from: leia ❤️
ISNT THAT LIKE THE CUTEST THING EVER I DONT EVEN KNOW HOW HE MANAGED TO HIDE IT

from: leia ❤️
and he has this cheeky little note with it and IM SO IN LOVE IM

With me or the giraffe?

from: leia ❤️
im like smiling so hard rn im so happy

He was glad he made her happy, even though her happiness was making him doubt his.

"It's okay, Cal," Luke said, patting his shoulder. "Just kiss her the next time you see her. No big deal."

"No, it's not that," Calum mumbles. He turns to Luke in a cry of help. "I should just come clean before anything escalates, right?"

"What happened to 'pretending like this whole thing never happened and just being happy with her'?" Calum had told Luke about his plans of changing numbers and denying everything. But for some reason, he wasn't so sure anymore. It felt wrong and evil. Damn his moral conscience.

He shrugged in response. "It just seems unfair to her if I don't tell her something as important as this. I mean, I've basically been...watching her ever since. Five months before she even knew I existed. That's like, stalker-league creepy."

Luke chuckled. "True. So just tell her."

"But she might get mad at me and never talk to me again."

"Then don't tell her."

Calum glared at his best friend. "Not helping."

Luke shrugged unapologetically. "It's your choice. The best I can do is support it."

Calum knew he was right. If he tells her, he might lose her. On the other hand, if he doesn't tell her, nothing happens. Except if she finds out. Then it'll be worse. Calum picked up his phone, deciding whether or not to delete her contact and just switch numbers.

In a moment of impulsive decisions, he deleted every message she's ever sent him.

Luke was obviously surprised. "Whoa, did you just-"

Calum nodded. "I'm just going to pretend the last five months didn't happen." Avoiding problems was the easiest way to go. He mentally high-fived himself. A little white lie wouldn't hurt anyone.

"What's happening?" Ashton piped up, making both boys jump. They completely forgot Ash was still on the other end of Luke's phone, since he didn't hang up after calling Calum out.

"I'm not going to tell her. I'm gonna change numbers," he tells Ashton confidently.  "I'm going to pretend none of this ever happened."

Ashton didn't reply immediately after that, but when he did, it didn't make Calum feel any better. "Be careful, Calum," he warned before hanging up.

a/n: ew this chapter's so short sorry :/