g w e n:

I think I was growing more fond of Calum each time I'm with him. I don't know what it was about him or what exactly was luring me in, but every time I find myself spending time with Calum, I slowly fall into his gravity. He was rude, obnoxious, inconsiderate of feelings, and had a bad temper. But in retrospect, there was still a part of him that was undeniably sweet.

I think it was his smile.

And I'm not talking about the pompous smirks he often gave me. It was the genuine ones that captured me over and over again. The smiles that are so big, bright, and full of life; the smiles that cause his eyes to get really small while tiny crinkles adorned the edges; the smiles that represented the complex idea of beauty, but portrayed in the most of simplest ways.

"Thank you for dropping me off Calum," I smiled at him through the window of his car.

"No big deal. I'll see you tomorrow baby dumpling," he declared, giving me a wave.

"Tomorrow," I winked, turning on my heel to face the Hemmings household.

I looked up at the house that loomed before me, its windows glowing with hues of golden yellows-- everyone was still awake. I walked up the pathway towards the main door, hearing Calum's car screech away. I entered the home, welcomed with the sounds of some program on the TV, and the clanking of silverware to glass.

"Gwen, honey. Where have you been?" Liz questioned, looking up from from her plate of food as I approached the family. Mr. Hemmings and Luke glanced at me as I took a seat at the dinner table. "I tried to call you but no answer."

"I'm sorry, I misplaced my phone somewhere at school," I explained. "Hopefully someone was kind enough to turn it into the lost and found."

"I hope so too. How did you get home from the outreach center? You were there pretty late," Luke observed, taking a bite from the pasta on his plate.

"A friend from school who just started volunteering at the center dropped me off. We hung out afterwards. Climbed the Harbour Bridge too," I told him with proud smile; I was still buzzing with adrenaline.

"Did you really Gwen?" Mr. Hemmings chimed in, a surprised expression on his face. "I never would've though you'd be the dare devil type of girl."

"I was surprised I did it myself Mr. Hemmings," I laughed. "But it was an adventure and I had the best time."

"That's good to hear Gwen. I like that you're going out instead of just sticking around at the center. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but ever since the accident, I wasn't sure if I could ever get you to go sight seeing again," Liz expressed. She looked at me with hopeful eyes, and I could feel the sincerity in her tone. Her eyes that matched Luke's, were glossy, welling up with tears and I was confused as to why her body was reacting this way.

"Mrs. Hemmings, are you crying?" I asked, feeling a pang of guilt.

"I'm sorry sweetie," she sniffled, taking a napkin and dabbing her tear ducts. "I've grown very fond of you Gwen. It's like I've adopted a daughter into this household ever since you stepped foot into our home at the beginning of the summer. I care about your well being."

I was touched; so moved by the amount of sentiment that exuded out of Liz Hemmings. My own mom was thousands of miles and 18 hours away from me. I was alone here in Australia without any blood relatives, but at the same time I wasn't alone. Not when Luke and both his parents had basically adopted me as part of their family.

"I love you!" I cheered, standing up from the chair. I leaned over next to Liz and gave her a bear hug. Luke glanced at me with an expression that I couldn't quite read. I wondered if he was having an off-day or if something was wrong. I made a mental note to ask him about it later.

"Okay, enough of this cutesy stuff," Liz chuckled, pulling away from the hug, "why don't you sit down. eat some dinner, and tell us all about climbing the bridge."

"I actually already ate dinner, but I will still sit with you and tell you all about the climb," I told them, "so it started when my friend asked me if I was afraid of heights..."

After dinner I pressed on the idea of helping wash dishes, but both Mr. and Mrs. Hemmings insisted that I go upstairs and rest. I think they just wanted that time alone as a couple, and seeing that I was tired, I followed their advice and headed up the stairs. On my way to my room, Luke suddenly stepped out of his, startling me in the process.

"Oh my gosh! Luke you scared me," wide eyed and with my hand to my chest, I tried to regain my breath. I smiled up at him, "what's up? You were kinda quite at the table. Is everything okay?"

"Actually, no it's not," Luke held up my phone, teasing it in the air. My jaw dropped and I wanted to dance in joy. I reached my arm up, attempting to grab it out of Luke's hand, but he pulled it out of my reach before my fingers could even graze the device.

I narrowed my brows, "hey! what's going on?"

"I saw you and Calum today in the school parking lot," Luke broadcasted. He looked anything but pleased. "I told you to stay away from him."

"Well if you had seen the whole thing, then you'd be fully aware that I ran away from Calum when he tried to kidnap me," I rested my hands on my hips, shooting Luke an unamused face.

"Oh I saw that Gwen. I was even rooting for you when you had ran off," Luke disclosed, crossing his arms above his chest.

"Then why do I get the feeling that you're still pissed," I observed.

"Because I dropped by the center earlier today to drop off your phone and clear as daylight, I saw both you and Calum in quite a tight embrace," Luke uttered, scoffing at the words he couldn't believe were coming out of his mouth.

Oh, that.

"He was comforting me. I got upset and he just wanted to be friendly," I vouched, drifting my eyes down to my feet. "Luke, is there any possibility for you to forget whatever happened between the two of you?"

"Um, no!" Luke instantly bellowed, not even taking a millisecond to think about my simple request. "Calum is not the type of guy you should be falling in love with--"

"I'm not falling in love with him!" I defended. "There's a whole other side of Calum that you don't know about. He can a sweet boy."

"Oh really Gwen? Tell me about sweet boys, because I'm pretty damn sure that sweet boys," Luke air quoted, "don't kill other people's girlfriends!"

I staggered backwards, glaring at Luke with the utmost curiosity and suspicion. His declaration of Calum's demeanor was more than just words-- they were an accusation that I did not want to believe. I wholeheartedly trusted Luke but I also was beginning to trust Calum. I could see something in the dark-haired boy that everyone else refused to see.

"Don't make up rumors Luke," I breathed. He loomed before me, his blue eyes becoming less like a happy sky and more of a cold storm.

Luke let out a chuckle, "I'm not making shit up Gwen. You know about Janet Riley. And I'm pretty sure Charlie has told you what she thinks she knows. But do you really know what happened? Have you ever asked Calum what the hell happened the night Janet got into an accident? Because there's only three people who know what truly happened. Janet, myself, and Hood."

I didn't know how to react; I didn't think I could at that point. It was becoming way too overwhelming and I just needed to be alone. Sooner or later I had to find out the truth about Janet, Luke and Calum, but I didn't know if I could actually handle it.

"Give me my phone Luke," I demanded, holding out my hand. I felt it slap onto the palm of my hand, and the moment it was in my grasp, I walked away. I half-assumed that Luke would try to stop me but he never did. When I turned over my shoulder to take a peek at my blonde-haired housemate, his room door was already shutting close.

With a sigh, I plopped down on my bed, suddenly realizing how tired I really was. Not just physically, but mentally too. Not having my phone with me the majority of the day meant that I had a day's worth of Twitter and Instagram to update myself with. As I scrolled through my news feed, I felt the phone buzz in my hands.

From: +61 2 9483 0384 - 8:46PMWe should climb bridges more often :)To: +61 2 9483 0384 - 8:47PMCalum Hood?From: +61 2 9483 0384 - 8:48PMThe one & only. Hang out with me tomorrow?To: +61 2 9483 0384 - 8:49PPWe have volunteer hours to do! We should work on our project!From: +61 2 9483 0384 - 8:50PMUgh. Whatever you want, Gwen. I'll see you in class. Sleep well baby dumpling.To: +61 2 9483 0384 - 8:51PMTomorrow :) Night baby dingo.

I was straight up blushing. Over a simple text-- a text that had no meaning, but the fact that it came from Calum had me feeling so good. Why was I feeling like this? Why did I blush at the sudden thought of Calum? Why did it have to be the bad boy that I kept telling myself not to fall for?

I was so conflicted and so guilty. It wasn't very long ago did I feel so strongly over my ex-boyfriend, Ryan. I only lost him a few months ago and here I was, reacting to a boy I barely knew. Ryan was in every sense, perfect for me. We shared all the same views, loved the same music and we came to Australia for the same reason. Calum Hood was in every sense, all wrong for me. He made fun of my virtue, he made me cry, and was a soul so lost, there wasn't a map that could lead his way. But despite the headache Calum often gave me, he made me feel more alive than Ryan ever did.

And for that, I blushed.

//

Aw, Gwen likes Calum :) But Luke though. What's his deal? And what's he and Calum hiding from Gwen? Guess you'll have to find out in the upcoming chapters.

Thanks so much for reading! I truly appreciate it. If you liked this chapter, don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT, and SHARE it with all your friends. Let's get this story up in views and in votes. Already so proud of this story, but let's up it, yea? Haha! Thank you again! <33