smoke • calum hood

due .

((this chapter should be considered present tense, so it's adelin's pov but she isn't narrating :))

two: may - seven days after you left

"adelin, it's been a week," liz sighs. "you need to get out of bed. you have so much schoolwork piling up, the year is coming to an end in a few weeks. now i know you're hurt but you need to stop acting like a child, young lady." liz reprimands in a tired tone, a change of pace from the usual screaming until she's blue in the face.

adelin didn't have the energy to look up at her and confront her disappointment, "just get out, mom. please," she pulls the covers over her face.

"excuse me? whose house do you think this is?" liz is taken aback by her daughter's rudeness. but adelin couldn't find it in her to care. she didn't feel anything anymore.

"i honestly don't give a shit about school right now, so if that's all you're here to talk about then you might as well get out because i'm not listening." adelin climbs back under the covers. she doesn't like to get out of bed unless everyone's gone, and even then she just takes a shower. she hasn't really been eating.

"do you want to make a living for yourself? do you want to go to college? do you want to be successful in life, adelin?" liz was beginning to raise her voice, and adelin wasn't surprised. adelin hates being treated like a child, even though she knows she's acting like one this time.

"i don't care! i don't care, okay? i just want to be alone!" adelin cries, not really meaning it because though she did want to be left alone, at the same time she wanted him here more than anything.

"you can't just throw everything away because of a boy, adelin!"

"he's not just some boy, mom!" adelin stands up from her bed for the first time today and becomes eye-level with her mother.

"he will never just be some boy," she says in a voice so quiet it comes out as barely above a whisper.

"he's the one that left you! this is his fault, you shouldn't be grieving because of it!" she yells, throwing up her hands in frustration. "he was only dragging you down adelin, and you know it."

"you're just mad because junior year is almost over and i haven't looked at a single college!" adelin yells back.

"well obviously! i-"

adelin cuts her off, "you know what? i'm leaving." adelin pushes past her and runs down the stairs and out the door, ignoring the questions from her father. luke knew better not to disturb his sister, last time he did resulted in a broken nose.

adelin keeps walking until she lands at the park where they first met and her eyes burn with tears as she quickly walks past the swingset they used to mess around on. she tried not to think about all the times he swung her back and forth and had competitions about who could jump off the farthest.

she felt like she was walking for hours before she stumbled upon his old, small house where he lived all by himself. that always intimidated her at first, how he could be so independent. but a lot of things intimidated her about calum until she got to see the real him.

calum lived next to an old lady who loved gardening and even managed to convince him to plant his very own. it was surprising, how he grew to take such pride in it. she smiles, remembering how he would always snapchat her updates about how his flowers were growing, and how he always made her her very own bouquets from his garden because "homemade things mean the most."

adelin's smile quickly fades as she realizes she'll never get another bouquet or wake up to love notes in his terrible handwriting or get a homemade birthday card ever again.