the boxer // lrh au

fifty ; cal is pal, not mal

"when did you change your name in my phone?"

"because cal is pal, not mal," calum replies, getting out of the car.

i don't question him, even though i had asked him when he changed my name in his phone not why. i was too jittery to even fathom speaking more words considering we had arrived at ashton's house.

"i'm gonna puke," i whisper, not realizing that michael could hear me.

"just don't do it on me." michael lightly shoves and i muster a smile.

it sounded dumb, but i knew when things were about to go wrong. there are times when things went wrong and there was just a pit at the bottom of my stomach the entire day proving it.

today, i didn't even have a pit. it was like someone was pressing down on my stomach and the pressure kept getting harder.

"bella!"

"hi ashton, long time no see."

calum furrowed his eyebrows as did tyler when they saw me interacting with ashton. i told michael about the time i encountered ashton outside of target but i couldn't tell tyler due to me being with luke and i guess i never got around to telling calum.

"luke's inside." ashton directs his statement at me but i quickly glare at him to remind him that tyler didn't know about me and luke.

"if you're looking for him." ashton turns to tyler and changes stances so his body was facing him. 

"nice save," michael mutters underneath his breath. i lightly jab my elbow into michael's side, something he's used to by now so he doesn't even flinch. 

entering the house, the only thing i could think about was where luke was. i wasn't going to approach him first considering i was nearly peeing my pants at the thought of seeing him. sure if we made eye contact, i was going to talk to him. it's not like i could see luke and not speak to him, however, i definitely wasn't going to seek him out. 

i guess luke had the same exact idea in mind because at least an hour passed before i even saw a glimpse of luke. 

his blonde hair is what i saw first. it was impossible not to. he was most likely the tallest guy in the room and he was definitely gaining some attention. he was in deep conversation with another girl, a hand on her hip and a smile on his face. 

a frown replaced my earlier wandering gaze and i felt disappointed by seeing luke with someone else. maybe this was the reason why he never wanted to make things official between the two of us. 

suddenly, i needed air. the rooms seemed ten times smaller than they were before and all the bodies that surrounded me were definitely not helping how difficult it was to breathe in here. 

i remembered the layout considering i was here two months ago except in a very different circumstance. to think that luke was merely a stranger to me back then is shocking, i brush away the thoughts of him and go up the stairs to find the balcony that i had visited last time. 

when i notice no one is there and the balcony was free for me to go out onto, i release a breath of air that i had apparently been holding in. 

not even a few minutes later, the door behind me slid open and i quickly turn to see who it was considering the tears in my eyes were extremely close to falling. 

"didn't know you were out here," he mumbles. however, he doesn't move from his spot. instead of saying anything, i merely roll my eyes which cause a few tears to come out and turn back to look at the sky and the front yard.