Calum Hood
One more day until spring break. One more day of all this shit. One more day.
Ashton had just dropped me and Michael off at school, and we're now walking towards our lockers in silence. I can definitely tell he's annoyed at me. He hasn't said anything the whole way here, and he's still not saying anything. I don't want to push him though, I'll wait until he talks about it, or when I feel it's the right time. But right now, isn't the right time.
We split up and I walk to my first class of the day, having a shitty feeling in the pit of my stomach about the whole thig with Michael. I don't feel great about it, but I don't really know what to do about it either.
I sit down in the back of the class and take out my calculus book when I get a text. Surprised, I take my phone from my pocket to check. My heart flutters a little when her name appears on my screen, her beautiful smile on my lockscreen peeking from underneath the notification. It's an old picture from when we were fifteen, but I love it too much to change.
Nomi
Are we on for our music sesh today?
Nomi
I wanna show u a new song 😊
I smile at the text, getting chills all over my body as I try my hardest to contain my excitement as I'm still in class and there are people around me.
Me
Yeah, of course! V excited to hear ur song! 🤩
For the rest of the class, I try my hardest to concentrate on the problems we have to solve in our calculus class but fail miserably. I can't help but think about Naomi and her beautiful song she sang after the game. I only heard a couple words and the melody. But it was beautiful, and I can't wait to hear it completely.
After that class, I rush towards the music hall as fast as I can, not being able to wait any longer to hear Naomi's song. I push through the big doors to find Naomi already behind the piano, touching the keys to form a beautiful melody.
"Hi," she greets with a big smile and signals for me to come over. I do so and sit down next to her, putting my backpack next to the stool. "How was calculus?" she asks me, putting her hands in her lap. I sigh.
"I don't know, I didn't really pay attention," I tell her, making her laugh a little.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" she laughs, making me laugh too.
"Because you know me very well," I say. She nods her head in agreement, "Now, let me hear this song," I encourage her, nudging her ribs with my elbow. She takes a deep breath before reaching into her handbag for a bunch of papers.
"Could—eh, could you play it, maybe?" she asks me, showing me the papers. I take them from her and look at them, seeing the notes scribbled on them and the words... The words sound beautiful and heart-wrenching, so I get why she'd want me to sing it.
"Yeah, yeah, sure," I say and put the sheets on the stand of the piano. I cough and start playing the keys very carefully, as if I'm scared I might break them.
"Here I am waking up, still can't sleep on your side
There's your coffee cup, the lipstick stain fades with time
If I can dream long enough, you'd tell me I'd be just fine
I'll be just fine,"
I take a deep breath and look at Naomi beside me. She has a tear rolling down her cheek, and her eyes closed tight. I bite my lip before continuing to sing the chorus.
"So, I drown it out, like I always do
Dancing through our house with the ghost of you
And I chase it down with this shot of truth,
dancing through our house with the ghost of you,"
I want to continue to the next verse, but Naomi stops me by putting a hand on my arm. I look up at her, seeing her tearstained face and her smudged makeup makes my heart drop.
"I can't hear the rest yet, I'm sorry," she whispers, then sniffles.
"That's okay, whatever you want to," I tell her and give her a reassuring smile. "It's a beautiful song, Nomi. You've done amazing," I say as I wrap an arm around her shoulders and press her closer to my body, kissing her temple.
"Thank you, Cal," she whispers and wipes at her tears, "It's a very special song to me," she tells me, and it makes me curious to hear what it's actually about. But I don't push it.
"If you're ever ready, you should tell it to the world," I try, but she shakes her head.
"No, the world doesn't need to know my sappy story," she explains, chuckling a bit.
"It might like your story," I say, carefully as I don't want to push her into telling me.
"No, Cal, I don't think I'm ready for that. I'll tell you someday, I promise," she says and smiles up at me. I nod in response.
For the rest of free period, we sing some covers of songs we really like, and finish some songs we started creating ourselves. I'm glad we're still doing this, even though she only wants to be with me behind closed door.
