bandages || calum hood

six

calum

"Bottoms up." The drunken twenty year old slurred while clanking his twelfth ice cold bottle with mine. He chugged the liquid wholeheartedly and let out a satisfied sigh before wiping the alcohol that dampened his lips.

"Need another one, son?" The bartender pulled out another beer bottle and slid it to me as he dried his hands on his apron.

"Thanks." I popped open my fourth beer bottle and copied Ashton's actions of eliminating all traces of the liquid inside the bottle. The beer stung my throat and left a bitter aftertaste, not that I was complaining. I slammed the bottom of the green bottle on the wooden counter as Ashton patted my back.

"Feels good, eh? Drink more. In honor of our fucked up lives." Ashton raised up his new bottle up and clanked it with mine.

"Are you gonna pick anyone up?" My words were jumbled up together, but Ashton was drunk enough to understand my intoxicated vocabulary.

"Probably. I saw a hot blonde dancing somewhere near the dj." Ashton shrugged while eying a few girls strutting beside us.

"What brings you here then?" I took another swig of beer and found Michael and Alice grinding on the dance floor. It's been two weeks since Michael denied Hailey, and I knew I had to forgive him no matter what. I made my decision to talk to him again last week, and despite my bitter feelings about Alice and apologizing, I got my shit together.

"You know what I hate?" Ashton chuckled heartlessly while swirling the liquor in his bottle with his hand. I shook my head when he stopped and placed the bottle down to face me. "Girls who are still in high school."

"Why?" I was anticipating Ashton's answer as he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

"Let me tell you a little advice. Never ever fall in love with anyone younger than you. Especially when they are still in high school." Ashton glared at the row of wine bottles sitting on the display.

"I thought age doesn't matter." Hailey was an age younger than Michael, but I've never heard of conflicts due to their age, they had many other things to conflict about.

"Well that is complete bullshit when your ex-girlfriend is still in high school while you are a scum who cannot support her." I knew Ashton was trying not to cry since he bit his lip and his eyes started to water.

"Then go to college." I sipped out of my beer again and wiped the excess liquid on my white v-neck.

"You can't go to college if your practically failed high school. She meant the world to me, Calum. She was very crazy in a good sense, but I knew it wouldn't last. She deserved someone better than her. Someone to support her lifestyle in a luxurious house, not a beaten down one. To shorten things up, I broke up with her. You should've seen her face, Cal." Ashton took a shaky breath and looked down. His hair flopped over his bandana while his leather jacket clung tightly onto him.

"Dude, you don't have to-"

"She was heartbroken. She cried and cried and cried, and it took me all my might to not run back and hold her while chanting how I would never leave a beautiful girl like her. She was my baby, Calum. I loved her so much, and I even climbed up the tree next to her room to check up on her without her knowing. For 29 days, all she did was look at our damn picture and sob." Ashton finally gave himself the approval to cry. He bawled his eyes out while hiding his face on his sleeve.

"Did she go to my school?" I summoned a barista to give Ashton more beer while I patted his back.

"No. She goes to another school. She's a junior." Ashton wiped his eyes with his hand.