Two Years Ago

      CALUM WAS EVERYWHERE. He was walking up the steps with his friends when I got to school. He was at the library when I was catching up on school material. He had the same lunch schedule I did. He was in my classes. He was near my locker. He was turning the corner. Ever since we had that one small encounter, Calum never left my line of sight.

      It was freaky.

      I headed towards my locker. I sighed, relieved that I could finally go home. Though, I still had work to do. I'd been so behind on all of my work, which was a first, and I knew I couldn't rest until it was completed.

      The hallways were cleared, and I was thankful. Nearing my locker section, the smell of rotting something flew up my nose. I cringed. Putting my hand over my nose, I made my way to it. The set of lockers mine was in was next to the lunchroom, which was probably the reason. I opened my locker and then jumped back from disgust.

      Splattering every inch on my locker was molded food. I couldn't even make out what food it was before. I couldn't tell if my eyes watered from the stench or because my things were ruined. My textbooks were coated in filth and could easily rip if I were to pull it because they were soggy. The bag Dad bought me on my first day of high school was also layered in the spoiled food.

      As I tried to hold back my tears, something hit the back of my head. I turned, water still clouding my vision, and saw Mandy with a carton of eggs in her hand. I touched the back of my head and felt the gooey substance on my fingers.

      "What the hell is your problem?" I said to her, trying to keep my voice steady.

      Mandy laughed dryly. "I think you already know that answer, sweet Valentine," she said. "My problem has always been, and forever will be, you." She began to chuck the eggs at me, and I stood there like an idiot.

      My body began to tremble as my heart rate increased. The severe pounding in my skull made me cradle it with such force that I could probably force my head off my neck. I sank to the ground slowly.

      Mandy tossed the empty carton at me, and it landed at my feet. "I hope you have a terrible weekend," she said and walked away.

      My fist slammed against the locker beside me, and the sound echoed through the vacant halls. It took everything in me to not drag her back and break her nose. Or her skull. Instead, I took deep breaths to calm myself down. I couldn't give her the satisfaction of causing me to go haywire. I couldn't give myself the pain of letting her get to me in the first place.

      When the air around me was cool on my skin again, I let out a long breath. It was over. The shorthand on the clock settled on four when I looked up at it. Thirty minutes wasted. I picked myself up off the ground and turned to my locker with a sigh. Grabbing a heap load of napkins from the cafeteria, I began to rid my locker of the molded food.

      In all honesty, this wasn't even Mandy's worse. But I certainly have had better days. Heading home was torture. I looked like a murdered chicken farm, and the people openly staring at me reminded me of it with every step I took. I never liked attention, especially from strangers. I was embarrassed and kept my head down the rest of the way, trying to ignore the whispers about me.

      I wanted to cry, but I couldn't.

      Arriving home, the house was still. Dad usually worked late, but Mom should've been home by now. I trudged to the kitchen to see if she was blankly staring at a wall—our family did this because we knew how sad of a life we lived—, but the area was empty. So, I sat on the floor, staring aimlessly at the black wall, reflecting on how miserable my life was. Usually, I tried to ignore that fact, but the emptiness in my soul brought my back to that conclusion. I was alone again.

      I tried to cry, but I couldn't.

      After an hour had passed, I realized that I still had work to do and that I was still covered in eggs. So, after scrubbing my skin until it turned red, I pulled out the paper sheet my teachers gave me with everything I missed from the past week. Luckily, it was the only thing I could save from my locker, and it was the only thing I needed. And my textbooks, which were ruined.

      I sighed and faced my door. The yellow sticky note stared back at me, taunting me to use it. I never knew why Calum gave me his phone number, and I was sure it wasn't for when I needed help with homework. I should've thrown it anyway a month ago when I first received it. I always threw away a guy's phone number. Nothing was unique about this one, so why did I keep it?

      None of that mattered now, since it became handy to me. Calum was in most of my classes, so he had the books I was missing. But I didn't even know if he would remember me. Since that day, we haven't spoken to each other, and a month was a long time in time. He would probably be weirded out if I called him out of the blue. He would probably be weirded out, knowing that I still had his number.

      I shook my head, trying to get rid of these thoughts. I needed help, and Calum could give it to me. So, I picked up the phone and dialed the number. When it began to ring, my nerves shot up my spine.

      Before I could hang up the phone, a voice came through the speaker. "Hello?"

      My lips were sewn shut, and my toes curled on the floor.

      "Hello?" they said again, and I recognized an Australian accent, but I wasn't sure if it was Calum or not.

      "H-H-Hello," I finally said. "Um, is this, uh, Calum?"

      The line paused for a moment. "No, this is his friend, Michael," he said. "Who is this?"

      "Um, Valentine."

      "Calum, some girl named Valentine wants to talk to you!" Michael yelled, and I pulled the phone away from my ear. For the next few seconds, all I could hear were voices and shuffling.

      "Dude, give me the damn phone."

      "Is she your girlfriend or something?"

      Some more static and background noise came from the phone, and I was tempted to hang up while I had the chance until someone spoke again.

      "Hello?"

      "Is this Calum?" I asked.

      "Yes, it is," he said, and I fell back on my bed.

      "It's Valentine, the girl from that construction site place thing," I said. "And the girl from school, but like we really don't talk. Like ever. So, I wasn't sure if you would remember me or not. Plus, it's been like a whole month and two days—not that I was counting or anything. But yeah."

      I facepalmed myself. Did I seriously have to embarrass myself by sounding like an incompetent person?

      "Val, of course, I remember you," Calum said with a laugh. "So, what's up?"

      My face heated. "Oh, okay," I said. "Well, I was calling because I'm behind in some of my classes, and I don't have any of my books with me. So, I was, uh, wondering if you could come over and help me?"

      The receiver was silent for a long minute, and I thought he hung up the phone.

      "You want me to come to your house?" His voice was barely above a whisper like this was a drug deal.

      "If you don't mind," I said.

      "No, it's totally okay," he said, and I gave him my address. "Give me about thirty minutes?"

      "Okay, I'll see you then," I said and chewed on my lip. "Oh, and Calum? Can you knock three times, so I know it's you?"

      "Sure," he said.

      As soon as the line went dead, I took a look around my room. I valued my privacy, and whenever my parents came home, I didn't want them to break my concentration if Calum and I were in the living room. But I had too many dents in my wall to go unnoticed. I didn't want him to ask questions. So, the living room, it was.

      My bare feet made soft noises against the hardwood floor as I walked to the kitchen. Eating while studying made the work seem more effective, and Dad always said it was nice to offer guests something to eat. He learned that from his mother.

      I never met my grandparents from either side of my family. Both Mom and Dad were runaways. They were raised in strict, religious households, and that could make or break a person. My parents ran away when they became eighteen—Dad two years ahead of Mom—and ended up here. They met in college and began their life together. They always told me that those were the happy times and wished they could go back in time. And, sometimes, I wanted them to. Then, I wouldn't have to be here.

      Three knocks at my front door made me jump out of my skin. I set down the butter knife and rushed to the door but slowly, so he wouldn't think I was waiting by the window. Little things like that always poked through my confidence.

      "Hey," I said after opening my door to Calum. The October breeze brushed against my skin, and I shivered. "Come on in."

      He smiled at me, stepping through the threshold, and the air shifted. Calum was the first person to be inside my house in roughly two years. It felt a tad bit weird.

      "Welcome to my humble home," I said though my house was far from humble. Everyone loved to play with knives around here. I felt like a murderer trying to make sure there wasn't any evidence lying around.

      "It's so nice and clean," he said with such awe. "I only live with guys, so I'm not used to actually seeing the floor."

      I laughed. "Seems like torture." Then, I remembered what I was doing before he got here. "I made bite-sized sandwiches. Do you want some?"

      He smiled. "That would be awesome, yes." When I came back out with the food, he smiled again. "Thanks, these look great."

      "So," I said, pulling out the list of assignments and lessons I missed, "this is everything. Sorry, I know it's a lot, but I swear I'm a really fast learning. I won't waste too much of your time."

      "Helping you would never be a waste of my time, Val," Calum said while studying the piece of paper. Then, he looked up at me. "I gave you my number for a reason. If you ever need me, don't hesitate to call. I'll be there, Val. For anything." He refocused his attention to the paper, but I couldn't turn away from him. I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my chin on them, analyzing him.

      I didn't know Calum, and he didn't know me, but the kindness he just showed me was so friendly and compassionate that my heart swell. It was sad how one small act of goodness could light up my world. That was how I knew my life was complete shit.

      Calum started writing things down, totally concentrated on whatever he was doing, and I watched him. My heart thumped to my ears, and I couldn't control it.

      He was so attractive.

      The way his deep brown eyes squinted when he was focused. His dark, slightly curly hair disheveled on top of his head. The sharpness of his jawline and his lean figure showing off his veins every time gripped the pencil. And his lips—so kissable that it was a crime.

      All of a sudden, Calum glanced up and caught me staring at him. My entire being turned red, and my toes coiled back in embarrassment, making a sound against the black and blue carpet. He looked down, and I slapped my hands over my feet, awkwardly laughing.

      "Val, are you okay?" he asked.

      "Fine! Just dandy," I rushed out, and then I stood up. "Excuse me for a moment." I dashed to the kitchen and rested my hand on the counter. My skin was so hot from the humiliation that I thought it was melting off my bones, and my heart was pounding on my ribcage, begging to leap out.

      It took me about five minutes to calm down before I returned with a cup of water. "Sorry about that," I said, chuckling nervously. "Sometimes I get a bit skittish when I'm a little dehydrated." That was the most unrealistic lie I could've ever come up with.

      "It's okay," he said, and then he began to talk about how he broke down each assignment. "We can tackle it in parts. I brought my notes so that I could go off of that. They're easy to understand in case some of my idiot friends need help, and you're way smarter than them. So—" He paused, looking at my hair. He leaned closer to me, and, just like at the construction building, fresh mint flew up my nose. When he leaned back, he dropped down to my eye level and held up a white-something. "There was a small piece of eggshell in your hair."

      I barely cared about that fact because all I could focus on was how close he was to my face. He blew it away and sat back where he was. He went back to what he was saying, but my thoughts were somewhere entirely different.

      Calum was everywhere. He was walking up the steps with his friends when I got to school. He was at the library when I was catching up on school material. He had the same lunch schedule I did. He was in my classes. He was near my locker. He was turning the corner.

      But now? He was eating sandwiches I made. He was helping me with school. He was in my living room. In my face. In my mind. And, somehow, he was making a way into my heart.

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I do be slacking tho. I'm a procrastinator with never giving up vibes. How does that even work? 

Anyways, helloooo everyone! How's your world outside of wattpad? Good? Great? Amazing? tErRibLe?

Welllllllll, this has been, yet again, another changed chapterrrr! Because I didn't start planning this book until the ending. So, a little advice, make sure to plan your novels fully or else revisions will be hell. :)

Also, I might be getting a car. CATCH ME ON THE HIGHWAY HOW BOUT DAT.

bTW, I'm a terrible driver. I would love to say this is a joke, but no. It is not. So, if you see me on the road pulling some weird shit, please look the other way. I'm trying my best.

How's your left pinky toe?

Peace!