"Life's too short to even care at all, oh..."
___

Since fucking around with Royce, Calum realizes he's been partying a lot less.

Well, less than he used to, anyway.

Apparently, though, Wednesday night is an exception to this new rule.

"This kid from my school's throwing a party tonight," says Emma from the backseat of Ashton's car. She's sandwiched in between Luke and Michael because Calum called 'shotgun' faster than Luke could, so now, not only was Luke pissed, but he was also sitting beside Emma.

Luke is seriously wondering why the fuck Emma is even with them all the fucking time.

Calum is seriously wondering this, too.

She looks up from her phone. "I say we go."

Ashton taps the wheel. "Y'know what?" He begins. "I could use a party..."

"Since when do you agree with her?" Calum exclaims.

"Yeah," nods Luke, as he stares angrily out the window. "Emma doesn't have good ideas, mate."

Calum nods. "Few screws loose with that one."

"She's, how do you say? Oh. Yeah: mentally fucked."

Calum nods again. "Thought you knew that, already."

"How's this for a good idea?" She exclaims before giving Luke a Charlie Horse on his thigh and slapping Calum upside the back of his head and making Michael nearly spit out his drink.

"Dude! Be fucking careful!" Roars Ash, as he swats behind his seat at Michael, who is still laughing.

"What?" Michael exclaims. "Smells like sex back here anyway, Ash!"

"So the fuck what? Don't spill shit!" Ashton exclaims. "And it does not."

"You literally said it smelled back here this morning," Luke scowls.

Emma lifts a brow. "You've been getting some, Ash? Look at you. Is your dry spell over?"

"Fuck off," Ashton retorts as Calum, on the other hand, remains silent. "I haven't had sex in here, so shut up, all of you."

"Maybe you could get some tonight?" Emma exclaims, as she sits forward in the seat, hand on either headrest as she smiles between both Ashton and Calum. "Maybe you'll find a fuck buddy if you guys come out with me."

Luke's scowl deepens. "Why don't you invite your other friends to go do stupid shit with you?"

"Duh," Calum replies, turning in his seat to grin at Luke. "She doesn't have any other friends."

Ashton nods as Luke hides a grin behind his fist.

"I'm definitely not her friend."

And the boys crack up before Emma punches Luke's thigh again and slaps both Ashton and Calum upside either of their heads.

"Fuck--"

"Can't you take a joke? Shit."

"I'm driving here! Your lives are in my hands, okay? I. Am. Driving."

"Ah, c'mon, lay off her," says Michael, as he sips from his cup of cafeteria soda and whatever he'd brought from home to spike it with. "B'sides, it's been ages since we went out."

"Yeah," Luke snorts, rubbing his leg. "Sure. Okay."

"Y'know," Michael begins, as he waves his straw between both Calum and Luke, "You two've been awfully boring lately..."

Calum snorts. "Like we didn't go out last weekend, mate."

"And what the fuck happened to Jesse's?" Luke exclaims.

"Hey, what's another party? Could be fun."

Luke rolls his eyes. "It's a school night."

"Jesus Christ," Michael shakes his head. "There are two types of people, Lucas..."

"Yeah," adds Emma. "Normal people, and there's Luke."

Ashton snickers. "Someone sounds like Kennedy, now."

"What?" Mikey laughs. "You're becoming her, now? She still won't fuck so you've absorbed her personality?"

Emma wrinkles her nose. "Who's Kennedy?"

"Doesn't matter," Luke says quickly.

And Calum watches as Emma, obviously dissatisfied with that answer, opens her mouth to say more of the shit she says.

"So, where's this fuckin' party?" He interjects before she can speak.

That gets her attention, and she whips her head from Luke to him. "Sounds like someone's actually interested in going."

He shrugs, if only to get her off Luke's back. "So what if I am?"

"So, Luke's the only one being a--"

"Luke's coming, too," Calum says in annoyance. "Lay off him."

Luke hikes a brow. "I am?"

"Yeah," Calum says quickly, as the rest of the car cast him smug smiles. "You are."

Luke falls against the seat. "Fuck."

Calum didn't want to go to this party.

In fact, he's standing around, staring at all these random kids in the kitchen as Emma and Michael pour the contents of a purple drink out of a Sprite bottle.

There's loud music thumping through the small house that's full to bursting with the kids from Emma's public school...and all their plus one's.

He sighs, bored.

"Want some, mate?" Asks Michael, as he holds out the bottle.

Calum slides him his cup. "Why not?" He says, absentmindedly, because he's now pulled out his phone and has texted Royce.

Need help with Calc? 0_o

And he pockets his phone.

"Thanks, dude," he says, as Michael slips him the cup full of fizzing purple soda. Maybe he'll go over to Royce's after this? He thinks.

He checks his watch. It's 10:45. She's definitely still up, probably doing some work or some other shit she does late at night.

He laughs to himself at the thought, smiling over the plastic rim as he lifts his drink to his lips - wow, it's good. She's so weird, always working. Like, Royce needed to get out and live a little. He should've invited her out to this, tonight.

She wouldn't have come.

Or, maybe she would have, he muses, since that girl kept springing shit on him that always seemed to contradict and reshape his image of the good girl from The Bluffs.

"Hey..."

And Calum looks up, quickly downing his purple soda as Ashton pats his pockets beside him, looking around his friends. "Anybody have a light?"

"Only if you're gonna share. Whaddya have?"

He shrugs, "Just weed," as a group of three girls enter the kitchen and stand around Michael, who is still pouring drinks.

A girl, one with long, blonde hair pulls out a lighter.

"Here," she says, "as long as I can take a hit."

"Totally," Ashton nods, "Thanks, mate." 

"It's Dinah," she says. "Dinah Jane."

"Name's Ashton," he replies, as he pulls a joint from his pocket and lights up in the kitchen. And he nods towards Michael and Calum and Luke. "And these are my mates. That's Mikey, Cal and Luke," and he narrows his eyes, taking a drag on the joint as he falls back on Emma. "And that's a stray we found out back."

Emma grits her teeth as the boys laugh. "Careful, Ash," she says, slapping him hard on the back as he takes another drag of his joint.

He sputters on smoke, clutching his chest as he coughs heavily.

She grins smugly. "Don't want you to choke."

Michael laughs before pointing to Calum's empty cup. "Shit, Cal. Y'like it?"

He nods, handing him the cup. "Please, sir. Can I have s'more?"

Michael snorts, refilling the cup as he shakes his head.

The shortest of the three girls shoots Ashton a nod.

"We know Em," she says. "We're in Econ together, fourth period."

"Thanks, Ally."

"We're in Econ together sometimes," adds the last girl. She flips her long dark hair over her shoulder and rolls her eyes. "When Emma's not high or drunk or, I don't know, actually shows up to class."

Michael nods. "Sounds like Emma," he says quickly, as Emma's face fixes into a scowl. And he takes her arm and drags her from the kitchen, "Nice  meeting you, girls. I'm gonna take her before we get the cops called tonight..."

And he exits the kitchen, Emma stumbling behind him.

"Well," Ashton exclaims, as he passes the joint to Dinah Jane and downs the rest of his cup, "now that she's gone," he licks the corner of his lips, "how 'bout we get to know each other a bit better, eh?"

Ally grins mischievously. "Only," she nods, reaching across the counter to pick up a nearly full bottle of el Jimador, "if we can do it over shots."

___

Princess: sorry i was sleeping lawlz

Princess: don't judge me

Calum giggles, back turned now to whatever the fuck this drinking game's turned into.

He's gone.

Note to self, tequila shots after weed after multiple cups of codeine had his fucking chest hurting and the room spinning. He was high and dizzy, but his eyes were low and his breathing was slowed and time seemed to have checked into a different dimension, where the music in the house was pulsating deeper and the thumping bass was shaking in his bones.

How the fuck was he gonna get home?

"Princess?" The third girl asks as she peers over Calum's arm.

"Whoa," he turns, steadying himself. "The fuck, Camila?"

She wrinkles her nose and folds her arms. "Is that your girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend?" Ash laughs, his arms around Dinah Jane's waist as he leans against the counter. "Who's got a girlfriend?"

Camila points to Calum.

Ashton chuckles deeply. He blinks his lidded eyes slowly. "You don't have a fucking girlfriend."

Luke snorts, laughing through his nose.

And then, he stops, eyes shutting tightly.

"Fuck," he groans, leaning on the counter. "Fuck tequila...Shit."

Ashton giggles, leaning against Dinah. "Luke's fucked."

Luke was definitely fucked.

"Aww, Luke," Ally sighs, running her fingers through his blonde hair. "Y'alright, babe?"

He's kind of sweating, head in his arms. "...Nah."

Calum blinks, breath shallow.

How the fuck were they getting home?

"C'mon, mate," he says, holding onto the counter. He taps Luke's head. "Let's get you some air."

"I'll do it!"

Ashton laughs with Dinah Jane.

Calum jerks back, holding his hands up. "Alright, alright," he says, staggering backwards from Ally. "...Fuck."

"Shit, Ally," Ashton giggles. "You're like, little but...like, mean and shit."

"Whatever," Calum says, shaking his head as he watches Ally attempt to get Luke's head off the kitchen counter. "I'm goin' outside."

Ashton throws out his arm, "Don't leave me, mate!"

Calum pulls his phone from his pocket. "Fuck off, Ash."

And he makes his way from the kitchen.

He's got to get out of this fucking house.

He makes it to the front door and selects his messages with Royce.

Calum: poppy

Calum: get me thf outt a her

His phone buzzes in his hand.

Princess: okay first fuck you with the poppy shit

Princess: i regret telling you

He laughs.

Calum: looool

She texts him back a gif of some girl rolling her eyes. 

Then this:

Princess: where are you?

And Calum replies, idek, before his phone rings in his hand.

It's Royce.

She's calling.

And as he leans against the wall, steadying himself to answer the call, his phone's snatched from his hand.

"The fuck?"

Camila holds his phone in front of his face. "No girlfriend, huh?" She snorts, answering and then ending the call.

Calum doesn't believe what has just happened.

"So you like leading girls on, huh?

"The fuck?" He snatches for his phone, only for her to laugh, jerking it from his reach.

Oh fuck no.

He pulls his hair. "What the fuck'd you do that for?"

"Oh!" Camila exclaims. "So that was your girlfriend, wasn't it?"

"No! Give me my fucking phone back."

"Why? Why, Calum? Who do you like, her or me?"

This chick is crazy.

And now, Calum is so pissed he can't see straight.

"Give me back my shit," he exclaims, snatching his phone from her hand, now. The battery's nearly gone at this point, and he wanted to check to see if Royce could let him in, tonight.

Camila's fucked that up.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" She exclaims, gasping as the phone is ripped from her grasp."

"Me?" Calum retorts. "Are you fucking kidding me? Are you delusional? I don't fucking know you."

"Yeah, you do," she says, stepping closer to him. She pokes him hard in the chest, "I know Emma," she snaps, poking him again, "I know that fuck, Jesse Fisher, and," she adds, as Calum rolls his eyes, "I know that your friends're probably fucking my friends, am I right?"

"Why the fuck should I care that you know Jesse?" He scoffs, "And I don't care who my friends fuck."

"Really?" She glares. "'Cause it's not like I haven't heard all about you being a fucking whore."

They're chest to chest now, both of them glaring at the other, and Calum goes to tell her off 'cause he's like, irrationally angry, when she slams against him and crushes her lips against his.

And Calum is surprised and pissed but he's also seventeen and horny.

He's horny, and even though kissing Camila is like, not great, he's still kissing her. He's still got his lips on this chick's and she's stuck her tongue in his mouth and has begun to stroke the growing bulge between his legs.

He grows hard against her hand and there's no turning back, now.

Camila's hands are feeling around his zipper and his feel for her waist. He backs her against the wall, tripping and stumbling over his own feet as their tongues fight for dominance in the other's mouth. Calum bends his knees, thrusting his hips against her hands  and she gasps, her eyes rolling back in her head.

"Bed," she purrs. "Now."

And Calum complies, backing her down the hall, their hands feeling behind the for door handles to unoccupied rooms.

"This one," Camila breathes, turning only to grab the handle and yank it open.

It's a bathroom.

Calum, for the first time, pauses.

"This is a bathroom."

Camila turns and locks the door.

"Yeah. So?" And she pushes him backwards, walking him away from the door he's wondering why she's decided to lock, and Calum trips, slipping on a fuzzy rug, falling and landing on his ass in the tub.

"The fuck is--"

She steps into the basin with him, straddling his lap.

And Calum is silenced by her lips on his lips, and for a moment his brain skips again.

He's back in Ashton's car.

He's back in the car with Royce.

He's back in the car with Royce in his lap.

"Wait," he gasps, turning his head, lips suctioning from Camila's.

She turns her attention to his neck.

"Wait," he says again, more firmly now. "I can't--We can't--"

Camila' s hands trail down his chest. "You can't?" she asks, pouting.

She bites his ear and Calum stifles a groan.

"You can't..." She pauses, fingers teasing his waistband. "You can't, what?"

Royce. Royce. Royce...

The image of Royce is fading from his mind each time Camila scratches at his zipper.

"Fuck..."

Camila laughs seductively. "Sounds like you can..."

Royce. Royce. Royce...

"You have a condom?"

Calum nods absentmindedly. There's one in his wallet.

"In...in my wallet."

"Good," Camila nods, and she pushes his hands from his pockets, rolling on top of him. She reaches for the button on his pants, popping it open and grabbing for his waistband. "But, we don't need that yet."

___

Calum's phone is dead when he stumbles from the bedroom, pulling up his pants and making his way outside.

He can barely hear Camila's angry cries after him, because all he can think, in this darkening haze, is that he's got to find a way out of this house.

And he makes it to the porch, toppling into the railing to heave everything in his stomach into the shrubbery on the other side.

He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, eyes watering, the overpowering taste of vodka stained inside his cheeks, and he coughs. Choking on the crisp winter air and smoke and whatever the hell else was lingering in his lungs, he coughs and collects that shit on his tongue before he spits into the grass with his vomit.

"Cal!"

And he turns.

Slowly, with blurred, lidded eyes he catches sight of Michael's fiery hair. Luke's arm is around his shoulder and Emma and Ashton are trailing behind him.

"There you are, mate," he says, as they make their way from the house.

Calum stares at his friends, hands still gripping the rail along the porch.

He swears he'll fall without the support.

"You driving?" He asks, ignoring Emma's rare silence and the way Ashton is complaining about them leaving Dinah Jane too soon 'cause she was into him.

"Yeah," Mikey nods, "M'not drunk like the lot'a you. I'm good."

And Calum nods, stumbling after his friends as they make the longest walk of his life, down the block to Ashton's car.

___

drama.

so.

much.

drama.

happy holidays, fam! I'll update this story pretty quickly so you don't have to be left there lol.

comment and vote! xx

cough syrup || young the giant