Hoodwinked | Calum Hood AU

1.

The credits start rolling and the cinema lights brighten. "What a shit movie," I tell my best friend, Joss, who's sitting beside me. Her blotchy face turns to mine and - is she serious? "Are you crying?"

"I'm happy," she blubbers through her tears. "It was such a happy ending."

We stand up, taking our empty popcorn containers with us and throwing them into the bin on the way out. "Movies like that set us up for disappointment. In real life, the girl doesn't always get the guy. That's the honest truth."

"Maybe not," Joss agrees, wiping the smudged mascara from underneath her eyes. "But telling the boy you actually like him might increase the chances."

"Whatever," I mutter, pretending I don't notice that she's talking about me.

"Ruby, this is our last year of school, if you don't tell Calum you like him now, you'll miss your chance."

"It's not that easy," I defend as we get into my little red car. "He's Calum Hood. Look at him, he's gorgeous, and popular, and he's got that whole mysterious and slightly misunderstood thing going on," I sigh, thinking about his full lips and dark brown eyes. "It's actually cruel that someone so beautiful can exist."

Joss giggles, "You're going to tell him. Otherwise I will."

I scoff, "No you won't."

She thinks for a moment and I drive out of the parking lot, towards my house, "Maybe not. But I might let it slip to Michael, and you know he can't keep his mouth shut about anything." Michael is Joss's boyfriend. They've been dating since the eighth grade which is practically eternity in high school, making my best friend believe she's some sort of love expert.

I've had a crush on Calum since I walked into the school for the first time, three years ago. I thought being the new girl was going to be torturous but Joss took under her wing from the first day, and even introduced me to Luke who was probably my other best friend. He also happened to be my next door neighbour, and one of Calum's best friends.

"Wait, you have to drop me off at my house, remember? Michael's coming over."

"No," I shake my head. Joss has the worst memory, stuff like this always happens. "I don't remember. You know, you always do this."

She looks at me with her dark eyes, all puppy-dog like and of course I can't be mad at her. "Sorry," she squeaks.

I roll my eyes but take her home. If she wants to waste our last day of freedom making out with Michael, I can't blame her. When I get home, Alfie and Finn are playing Monopoly on the dining room table.

"Alfie's cheating," Finn, my twenty year old brother complains. He lives fifteen minutes away from us in an apartment with two of his friends, and doesn't do much besides go to work (he's a mechanic) and play video games. It took $20 for him to come and babysit Alfie today so I could go to the movies with Joss. Can you feel the sibling love or what?

"No, I'm not!" Alfie argues. "Ruby, tell him. I never cheat." That's true. Out of the three of us, Alfie is already the smartest and he's only nine.

On the fridge, I check Dad's work schedule - he's a detective and works all kinds of weird hours - to find that he's on an overnight shift tonight. Inside the fridge, there's nothing but butter, some eggs and leftover pasta from three nights ago.

"Who feels like pizza tonight?" I ask, discarding the leftover pasta into the bin. There's guilt sitting like a seed in my stomach, because instead of being at the movies today, I probably should have gone to the store to get food. Grocery shopping is, like most other adult responsibilities around here, my job.

My two brothers reply with a harmonised, "Meeee!" and I actually manage to talk Finn into paying, with only so much of a slight eye roll on his behalf. When the pizza arrives, the three of us sit around the table eating and laughing, and resembling a normal family.

"You excited to go back to school tomorrow?" Finn asks me.

"Were you ever excited to go back to school"?" I counter, picking up another slice of pizza.

Finn laughs, brushing some of his dirty blonde hair from his eyes. "You know me, Ruby. I was a model student." He's being sarcastic.

Alfie pipes up, "Ruby's excited to see her boyfriend." He starts making kissing sounds, while laughing at himself like he is the funniest person in the world.

"What boyfriend?"

"I don't have a boyfriend," I tell Finn. "And keep you mouth shut, Alfie or I'll put you on dish duty all week."

He pokes his tongue out at me and then quietly continues eating his pizza, his hazel eyes hooded. I feel guilty for snapping at him so after we've finished dinner and Alfie's had his shower, I let him have a bowl of ice-cream.

Finn leaves straight after dinner, which is typical. He only really comes home to eat or babysit Alfie. Once my little brother is asleep and the kitchen is cleaned, I text Luke to ask if he wants to come over but - surprise, surprise - he has a date. If Joss is a love expert, Luke thinks of himself as a sex expert. He doesn't commit to girls but he's always hanging out with different girls.

So, instead of watching tv alone, I go upstairs to my room and look at myself in the mirror. I missed the dirty blonde gene that Alfie and Finn inherited. Instead, I got stuck with what my dad calls strawberry blonde hair which is really just a nicer way of saying that I have red hair.

It's gotten longer over the Summer, now falling completely past my chest. Thinking about what Joss said today, I paint my nails a pale pink colour and decide that she's right. This year is my last chance to tell Calum I like him.

And that's exactly what I'm going to do.