bad for you

THREE.

CHAPTER THREE.
"I THOUGHT I KNEW YOU WELL"
Barbie Dreams - Nicki Minaj

Startled, Ariana woke up to the feeling of her phone vibrating underneath her pillow. Groaning, Ariana pushed herself up, rubbing her eyes before reaching for her glasses. As she read the display name across the screen, her heart swelled and memories from the day prior flooded her mind.

"Hello?" she answered weakly.

"You just woke up?" The familiar voice was loud in the speaker as Ariana had to pull the phone away from her ear.

"Was I supposed to be up earlier?" she asked, squinting at the time. She raised her eyebrows. "Jesus Christ Calum, it's four in the morning."

"I'm outside."

"If you're expecting me to be ready, I'm definitely... not..." Ariana trailed off, suddenly falling back asleep as her head fell back onto her pillow.

"Sleeping in is only acceptable to a certain extent."

Ariana rolled over, opening her eyes to see Calum kneeling beside her bed. He was searching through her bedside table, which caused Ariana to sit up and shut the drawer he was opening. She rubbed her eyes as the boy stood up.

"How did you—"

"Come on, love. We don't have all day," he said, wrapping his arms around the girl's waist and lifting her out of bed. She groaned, snaking her arms around his neck and falling into his chest as he set her on the ground.

"It's too early," She mumbled into his shirt, eyes fluttering closed as she breathed in his familiar scent of vanilla, mint cologne, and cigarettes.

"I know, baby, come on."

Ariana was too tired to notice the pet names, but if she wasn't, her heart would be in her stomach by now. Calum was acting... really sweet, for once.

"I don't have school until 8:30," she said, looking up at the boy who was a foot taller than her. "Why are you getting me up so early?"

"Early bird gets the worm."

"You know," she said, resting her head on his chest again, "I never understood that saying."

After promising not to peek, Calum took a seat on Ariana's bed while she got ready. He looked around her room, picking up picture frames or looking at trophies, before she mumbled, "Okay, you can look now."

His eyes lingered on her for a few long seconds before he spoke. "You're quite beautiful, you know."

"Thank you."

His eyes stayed on her as she fixed her hair in the floor length mirror. She was wearing a pair of light washed mom jeans with a small black camisole and chunky black Fila sneakers, which had at least a three inch platform on them. She brushed her long chocolate coloured hair before putting it up in a high ponytail. Ariana turned back around, crossing her arms as she looked at Calum.

"So why did you get me up so early?"

"I wanted to see you." He took a seat in her desk chair. "We're gonna get breakfast."

"It hardly qualifies as breakfast if it's before six in the morning," she said with a smile. Ariana turned back around, sitting down in front of her mirror to do her makeup. Fifteen minutes later and she was finally ready. She stood up, glancing at the boy who was laying on her bed, reading one of her books that he'd found underneath her bed.

"Hey." Ariana crossed her arms as she stood at the door, waiting for him. "Let's go. And be quiet on the way down, I don't need my mom questioning why I'm leaving the house so early with some guy I just met."