Spaces {Malum}

T̶E̶N̶

Third Person Point Of View

The next day, Michael and Calum walked into school with smiles on their faces. Michael stood as close as he could to Calum without touching him, and Calum was totally cool with that. In fact, he was kinda happy because Michael would always stand a fair amount away from him. This was a step up, he guessed.

Of course, Ashton and Luke noticed the drastic change in stance for Michael. Ashton knew that this was unusual. Michael never stood that close to him before. Why would he stand closer to someone he barely just met instead of standing closer to someone he's known for years? It hurt a little, but Ashton was happy for the boy. He knew that Calum must've meant something to Michael since he was physically that close to him. Ashton decided to mention this to Luke.

"D-does something look di-different to you with Mik-Miley and C-Calum?" Ashton looked over at Luke, who had his arm around Ashton's waist. They both had a free period.

"Definitely. Calum hasn't genuinely looked that satisfied with life in years. He used to complain about living every single day. I haven't heard him complain every since Michael came into the picture." Luke smiled at the thought of Calum and Michael dating. "And his smile is huge now. He smiles like, all the time. I think he likes Michael."

"B-but he's straight," Ashton stated matter-of-factly.

"He was taught to believe that. His parents are extremely homophobic. The thought of not liking the opposite gender is like summoning Satan to them. It's just weird to them. They taught Calum to be like that, but I know Calum isn't like that. He accepts anyone. He thinks love is love, but he's never mention that to his mom or dad. I know he isn't straight, though. He's just afraid to admit that he could be gay, or even bisexual. His parents would be so disappointed. He doesn't want to disappoint his parents at all. It's sad," Luke explained as he drew Ashton in closer. "He wouldn't be able to accept it if he were gay. But anyways, do you see any changes in Michael?"

"Y-yeah, I do," Ashton smiled. "H-he stands r-really cl-close to Ca-Calum now. It's like he's c-comfor-fortable with him now. A-and he sh-shows all th-the signs too. I think he l-loves him."

"Really?"

"Y-yeah. But he'd be t-too scared to actually ad-admit his love for h-him. He's a-afraid of commitment."

"That's sad," Luke frowned. "Why is he afraid?"

Ashton stiffened in his seat. "I-I can't t-tell. S-sorry."

Luke looked over to Ashton and smiled. "If it's personal, I get it. You don't have to tell me. Was it bad?"

"Y-yeah," Ashton looked down.

"Well he's okay now though right?"

Ashton nodded.

"Good. That's all that matters I guess. So Michael has commitment issues and Calum can't accept the fact that he's most likely gay. That won't work out. If we were to help them, we'd have to make sure they like each other."

Ashton suddenly felt hope fill his lungs. "M-maybe they c-could help each other o-out? L-like they could f-fix each other o-or s-something."

Luke grinned. "That could work out. I mean, they make each other happy. With a bit of a push, they could both realize that they're absolutely perfect for each other. They just need our help."

And for the rest of the period, Ashton and Luke made a plan on how to get them closer together.
•
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•••
Hours passed and it was finally time for lunch. Calum, Luke, Michael, and Ashton all sat at their usual table and ate lunch normally. However, something different happened today.

Calum was confused when he looked up to see Wendy, one of the popular girls in the school.

"Hey Cal," Wendy giggled as she bent over and began tapping her long nails on the table. "Want to come over to our table today?"

Calum looked at Michael, who looked extremely uncomfortable. He looked back at the girl and politely shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm okay here."

"You're staying here to talk to that freak? Why would you even consider that. This whole table is full of freaks. Come on, you don't belong here," Wendy smirked.

Calum sighed and rolled his eyes. "These 'freaks' here are my best friends. If they're freaks, then I'm a freak. You shouldn't be calling someone names when you don't know anything about them. Thanks for the offer, but you could go back to your table now."

Wendy's jaw dropped slightly in shock but she regained composure and scoffed. "Whatever. If you want to be a loser, go at it."

"I'd rather be a loser than hang out with you and your fake friends," Calum muttered.

Wendy cocked her eyebrow up and frowned. "You've really changed, haven't you?"

Calum looked at her in confusion and went to ask her what she meant by that, but she had already walked away.

"The hell was that all about?" Luke asked as she shoved a fry into his mouth.

Calum shrugged because to be quite honest, he had no idea what the fuck just happened.
•
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•••
Calum angrily kicked a soccer ball into the net after school. He didn't particularly want to go to practice today; only because all the populars were teasing him and his whole team is full of the well known jocks.

"What's up with you and that Clifford guy?" One of his friends asked in curiosity.

"Yeah, why do you hang out with the freak now?" Another asked.

Calum ignored them and continued to kick balls into the net.

"You know, you're becoming a freak too. Soon, the only reason people would actually consider being your friend is because of your soccer skills. Not even."

Suddenly, Calum froze. He imagined the rest of his high school life with no friends, not even Luke, and having everyone staying away from him because of how much he was hated. Calum couldn't have his life like that. He was happy right now. People liked him. That shouldn't change. Maybe he just had to lie to make it seem as if he didn't like Michael. That means that he could be friends with Michael and be liked around the school at the same time.

Yeah, lying will work.

"I don't even like him," Calum turned around. "I know he's a freak, alright?"

"Then why do you decide to hang out with him?" One of his friends asked.

Lie again.

"Because I feel bad. And I wanna know why he doesn't like being touched. He only has, like, one friend. As soon as he gets all out there and stuff, I'm dropping him."

"He's that important to you?"

Calum rolled his eyes, although he was mentally throwing himself off of a building. "No, not at all. He's not important to me. I just feel like doing something good for the freak with no friends. I can't do something good for once? The little emo loser is gonna be happy when I'm done. I'm just being nice here. I don't care about him."

Little did Calum know that after saying those words, his relationship with Michael would change forever.

Because no matter how secretive you are with talking about someone, it'll always get to them.

Always.

Wow. Drama. The plot is finally down and I'm excited for this drama. But you finally got an update yaaaaayyyyy. I'm not gonna be updating quickly at all. Not until January or February starts.

(Although I start Christmas break next week so I'll start pre-writing the chapters and just post them when I want to!!!)

I'll have weekly updates then if I'm not busy. Okay love you guys.

*NOT EDITED*

                                -Mani