Winter break /c.h\

Chapter 14

Wednesday wasn't going to be fun. We were out late the night before and our class had been pushed forward, to accommodate the professor's schedule. I got up, threw on one of Calum's band tee's, trying it in a knot at my hip, and pulling in jeans and Vans. I didn't care about my hair, so I tossed it into a bun and pushed my glasses onto my face.
"Calum" I shook the sleeping boy, causing him to grumble "Cal, I'm going to school. I'll be back later" I placed a kiss on his tired lips and left, leaving him to continue sleeping.
I got to school, skipping Starbucks and went straight to class. I sat down in my regular spot, waiting for Charlotte. When she walked in, I flashed a smile on her direction, only to get a scowl in return, then watched her walk to the front of the class and sit down there.
I didn't know why she was mad at me, I didn't do anything. But neither did Michael, so she had no reason to be mad.
I brushed her off and paid attention to the professor as she taught, she was the real reason I was here after all.
I packed my stuff when class was done and hauled ass out of there. I needed food before English and since Math had been earlier than normal, I could chill a bit in between classes.
I grabbed a muffin from Starbucks and sat in a cozy chair on the side part of the lobby. I sunk my teeth into the muffin, right as Charlotte walked up.
"You still think we're friends, don't you?" She spat
"Well I didn't really do anything to break out friendship, but judging by your reaction earlier, and this right now, I'd have to say no, we aren't" I said sarcastically, making her frown deepen.
"You "didn't do anything" that's really funny" she scoffed
"I honestly, DIDNT do anything"
"Well, you went to Mikey's gig"
"Okay and?"
"You could've invited me"
"It wasn't my place to do that. If he wanted you there, he would've invited you. Sorry about it" I shrugged
"Yeah. What a friend you were. You didn't want your, so called, best friend to be happy. I thought you cared about Michael"
"Wow. Someone's delirious and out of line. If he wanted to be with you, he would've asked you out by now. To him, you were just a girl that couldn't take a hint, and he was too nice to say anything. So please, accuse me of being a bad friend again"
"Whatever"
"Oh, and you're pouty. I'm glad we don't have to deal with you anymore, you twat"
"Yeah. Whatever" she huffed and stomped away, leaving me with my muffin and eyes watching my moves.
I scarfed down the muffin and went to English, internally laughing about what had just happened.
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When I got home, no one was there, so I grabbed a pop tart from the kitchen, threw on some sweatpants and started scrolling through Twitter.
Occasionally,  an indirect from Charlotte would come up, making me laugh, and I'd keep scrolling. Finally, a text from Calum popped up on my phone.
Hey. I had to help Luke with something. I'll be back soon. And are you coming to practice tonight? -Calum
Alright. And do you want me to come tonight? -Grace
I would love for you to COME tonight -Calum
Don't be such a perv -Grace
Fine. Yes I want you to come to rehearsal tonight. I bet Sam would like to be there too -Calum
Okay. I'll go get ready then -Grace
Okayyy <3 -Calum
<3 -Grace
Last night I had made a good first impression and I wasn't going to ruin it by looking bummy tonight.
I rummaged through my clothes, trying to find something edgy for tonight. It wasn't like I was trying to be something I wasn't, no, I just wanted to look good. I grabbed a faded grey, Metallica, crop top and tugged it over my head, sliding on my jeans and black combat boots. My hair was just going to have to do, but I needed to do something about my glasses and makeup less face. I put in my contacts and swiped some eyeliner across my lids, adding a little wing at the end.
I heard Luke's car honk at the same time as the front door opened, so I walked out of my room to greet Calum. A low whistle escaped his lips when he saw me and I couldn't help but grin.
"God you look hot...again"
"Thanks" I giggled, pulling him to me
"I don't know what's up with your new style, but I like it, a lot" a smirk formed on his face and he grabbed my waist and closed the gap between our bodies.
"This band of yours, it's inspiring me to look like a rocker's girlfriend" I laughed, tossing my arms around his neck.
"Well, I like it..." he kissed my nose, softly "but technically, I'm not in the band. I just help write the songs"
"Whatever" I scoffed " you're still part of it"
"Yeah, I guess" he shrugged. "Shall we go?"
"We shall" he grabbed my hand and led me out to the car, opening the door for me to get in. Something had made him act like a pure gentleman, and I liked it.
We got to the studio and there was already music pouring out. Mostly guitar, but some drums occasionally got thrown into the mix.
I walked in behind Calum, and Mikey tried to hug me, but Sam pushed him out of her way and got to me first.
"Hii. I'm so happy you're here again" she smiled, unwrapping herself from me.
"I am too" I smiled back
"You look amazing" she laughed, throwing up my arms and taking in my full physìc.
"Thanks" Mikey cleared his throat behind her and she snapped her head around to look at him
"If you don't mind... Sammmm, I'd like to hug my best friend" he said sarcastically, walking past her and engulfing me in a hug. "Hi"
"Hey" my voice was muffled by his shirt
"I'm glad you're here"
"Why?" I asked, pulling out of our suffocating hug
"Because I don't get to spend time with you anymore. I missed the days of Mike-Ro-Wave and Grace the Ace conquering the world" he laughed, smoothing down his fringe
"Mikey we were like 8 when we made up those super hero names. Unfortunately, mine stuck"
"I know. But I still miss those days. We haven't had a hang out day in a while"
"I don't have school tomorrow"
"Do you want to hang out? Is that what you're saying?" His eyes beamed with excitement
"Yeah I do"
"What about Calum?"
"He'll be fine. We'll spend the day together and then come here and then I'll go home with him"
"That sounds fun"
"Yeah it should be. Now go play. You're band and songwriter are waiting for you"
"Okay" he smiled, gave me a quick hug, and went over to the guys, while o went over by Sam.
"Soo..." She rested her chin on her hand as I sat down "we didn't really get to talk about our boyfriends much yesterday, but I'm dying to know how you met Calum."
"Oh. Well, they all moved over from Australia.." She stuck her hand up, making me pause
"They as in Michael, Calum, Luke and Ashton, right?"
"Right. So they came over from Australia with their families because of those pirates that were on the coast, that was right by their hometown. So they hauled ass and moved to Chicago. Me being the little anti-social child that I was, would sit in the corner during first grade and one day Michael came over and started up a conversation. Then with Michael, along came the rest of the boys, they were kind of a group deal. Except for Ashton. We played with him outside of school and at recess because he was in the grade above us. And from then on, we were inseparable."
"Wow. You guys have stayed friends all this time?"
"Yeah. It's been 13 years since they moved here"
"Wowwww. So how did you and Calum start?"
"There was always a special bond between me and Calum, nothing like I had with the other boys. It was more flirtatious and when we went on vacation about two months ago, we finally realized that we had a hung for each other and decided that we needed to be a couple."
"That's sweet"
"So what about you and Danny, how did you guys meet?"
"Well, it pails in comparison to your story" he laughed, brushing her hair off of her shoulder
"I still want to hear it"
"One night we went to the same party, we both got hammered, hooked up in our drunken state, and then ended up together after getting to know each other"
"One night stand turned into a relationship. That's cool. Not many people can do that"
"It took some effort, but Danny's a great guy"
"From what I've heard and seen, he seems really nice" I looked over at all the guys. Calum was scribbling on a sheet of paper and Michael was hovering behind him, looking over his work. Danny, Alex, the other guitarist, and Trevor, the bassist, sat back and watched them. I continued looking at them, but could feel Sam's eyes burning holes in the side of my face. I turned my head to look at her and she didn't even look away. "What?" I half laughed
"You're just really pretty. Like to the point where I want to look like you"
"Sam your gorgeous, please shut up"
"No. Brown hair and brown eyes aren't pretty, not on me at least, they're normal. Blonde hair and grey eyes, like yours, now that's pretty"
"Sam, have you looked in a mirror lately? Have you really looked at yourself, because your pretty as fuck"
"Yeah. Okay. But still. I have poop eyes and straight, no good, brown hair"
"But you're still really pretty. You take the normal clichè brown hair and brown eyes to another level"
"You're a smooth talker" she laughed "I'm starting not to actually believe you" the funny part was I was being dead serious, I wanted to look like Sam, she had nothing to feel inferior about.
"Well, believe me or not, you're pretty and that's, that" I ended the conversation like that, not wanting to continue having a stupid girl fight, about who was prettier, that was stupid.
"Grace" Calum's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "Come here" I got up a strutted toward him and Michael, making an effort not to trip over my own feet "what do you think about these lyrics?" He handed me the sheet had been scribbling on and I looked it over
Do you know how you make me feel
Constantly dancing through my head
Looking a certain way in those heels
Without you I'd be better off dead

His chicken scratch was hard to decipher, but the lyrics turned out amazing. They sounded a little girly, but with the punk sound the band had, mixed with them, would make a cool song.
"They're really good. What's the beat?" My eyes trailed up, meeting his and staying locked there
"We haven't quite figured that out yet. Be glad we decided on these lyrics" he laughed
"I might have a beat" It was the first time I had heard Danny talk, and his deep voice startled me a little
"Let's hear it" Michael helped him up off the ground, and he pulled two drum sticks out of his back pocket, and sat behind the set. He started pounding on the drums, making the a complex beat. Something must've struck up in Trevor's mind when he heard the beat, because he joined in, adding a layer of bass to the beat. Then Alex joined in with another layer of guitar over that. Mikey stood and watched for a second before grabbing his guitar and the mic stand and starting with the lyrics. Watching the works of a song come together, plastered a smile on my face and I could help but be proud of what Calum just contributed too.
Michael's voice was raspy in the best way possible and it made the song sound so much better. The melodies that Alex and Trevor created over top of him mashed well and by the end of the night, they had knocked out a full song and were just working on perfecting it, hoping to have time tomorrow to get another one done.
At the end of practice Michael was packing up and I went over to him. He was bent over his guitar case and stood up when he saw my feet appear.
"I'll text you about tomorrow okay?" I places a hand on hi shoulder 
"Yeah. Sounds good" he smiled
"Night Mike" I said, reaching in for a hug
"Night Grace the Ace" he laughed, graciously excepting my hug.