VIII

I wake up to an overly bright sun peeking through the curtains. I squint as I sit up, remembering where I am.

I still can't believe he talked me into staying.

I get up and go into the bathroom. I scare myself when I see my reflection. My hair's knotted and is sticking up at odd angles on top of my head. I brush it out using a comb that was sitting on the counter and splash some cold water on my face before making my way down the hall.

I head toward the kitchen. My stomach's rumbling. Michael and Luke are sitting in the kitchen at the bar, talking excitedly about something on one of their phones.

"Why, hello there." Michael says quirking up one eyebrow at me when I walk in.

"Uh, hi?" I say awkwardly, moving toward the fridge.

"So you stayed the night, huh?" Michael presses.

I cough and Luke elbows Michael in the ribs earning a hushed "What?" between the boys.

"Be nice to her." Luke says to Michael.

"I wasn't being mean. I was pointing out facts. I quite like her, actually." he smiles up at me.

"I like you too." I say, looking into the fridge.

"So'd you guys fuck? Or do I still have a chance?" Michael asks and I laugh uncontrollably.

I appreciate his bluntness. He doesn't beat around the bush.

"Michael! Oh my God! You can't just ask something like that." Luke says, punching Michael in the stomach. They act more like brothers than friends.

"The answer, to both of those questions, Michael, is no." I sputter out between laughs.

Calum strides in at that point.

"What's going on?"

"Michael's being a total arsehole." Luke states, glaring at the boy sitting beside him.

"Don't pick on her. I like this one." Calum says as he pulls me away from the fridge door that I'm still holding open and into a hug.

I'm learning that these guys like their hugs.

"Good morning." he whispers into my ear and I do the same.

"You guys! Stop! I'm gonna throw up on her again if you don't quit being so sappy." Michael states jokingly.

"We don't want that." I say, eyeing him accusingly.

"Wanna make breakfast?" Calum asks me.

"Uh, you can make it. I burn everything." I chuckle.

"Yeah, I have a history of burning stuff too. We'll see how it goes." he says, pulling a pack of bacon and a carton of eggs out from the fridge before moving to the cabinet and pulling out pancake mix.

I sit on the bar next to Luke, watching Calum cook.

Everything seems to be going well, except the bacon appears to be smoking.

About fifteen minutes later, four plates full of food are set onto the bar and Calum takes a seat next to me.

"What is this?" Luke asks, holding up a charred black strip.

"That, my friend, is bacon. Well-done bacon, but bacon nonetheless." Calum states.

"You don't have to eat it." Luke whispers to me, making me giggle.

"It's actually not that bad. Good job." I say as I bite into a piece of the burned bacon.

Michael and Luke scrunch their faces but Calum just smiles at me.

I finish everything on the plate - two small pancakes, some eggs and three strips of the over cooked bacon.

Once I put my dish into the sink and rinse it, I start toward the guest room to change out of Calum's clothes and into my own.

Calum catches up to me in the hall after I change and asks "Hey, so, uh, I was gonna ask you if you wanna skip classes today? We can go somewhere."

"Where do you wanna go?"

He closes the space between us, then leans in by my ear to whisper "It's a surprise."

When he pulls away I see that he's smirking.

"Okay." I say quietly and simply.

I can't explain it but I trust him, unlike I've ever trusted anyone before and to be completely honest it scares the shit out of me. Before he steps too far away he grabs my hand, and I let him, surprising myself even.

I don't usually skip school. I don't usually sleep over at strange boy's houses either. This week's full of firsts.

So I follow him to his car, shouting goodbyes back to Luke and Michael.

My small hand is entwined with his large one breaking only when he opens the passenger door for me to get in. "So gentlemanly." I say with a hint of sarcasm in my voice and unnaturally wide eyes. He replies with "I do what I can." and I can tell he's holding back an awkward smile. 

We pull up to a parking lot with a bunch of other cars in it and I still don't know where we are.

He parks then switches the ignition off.

"We're here." he says somewhat nervously and I chuckle.

"Are you nervous, Calum?" I ask with mock shock on my face.

"Psshh, nooooo." he scoffs dramatically.

"Well, you shouldn't be nervous, this already beats going to class."

I smile at him, and he smiles back the most perfect smile.

Then I realize that maybe he's not perfect to everybody, or maybe he's not perfect to anyone, but right now, in this moment, he's absolutely perfect to me.

Maybe he's thinking the same about me. I hope so.

But I don't want to screw it up like everything else so I need to be careful.

Calum runs around the car to open my door for me.

"What's gotten into you?" I ask him.

"What?" he asks faking innocence.

"Yeah, uh-huh." I reply, letting it go.

He grabs my hand once again, entwining his fingers with mine then beginning to walk. I walk with him through the parking lot until I see the sign "County Fair" in big bright colors made from wood.

There's flyers scattered everywhere that say things like "LA County Fair" or "Amazing Magician!" and I stop cold.

Memories are flooding my mind faster than I can process them and I pull my hand away from his to put it to my temples, willing the memories to flee.

I squint my eyes shut and focus.

Focus on now.

I ask simple questions to ground myself.

What do I smell? Corn dogs and sugar. 

Who am I with? Calum. 

Am I okay? Yes.

Then I open my eyes.

His hands are on my shoulders and he's talking to me but I can't hear him over the ringing in my ears. I notice that my hands are numb, so I shake them while I focus on his mouth, reading his lips.

"Jackie, are you okay?! What's wrong?!" I decipher.

Then it's over, and I'm really okay again.

"Oh, God. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. That happens sometimes. I'm sorry." I say avoiding eye contact since mine are getting glassy. Mostly from embarrassment, I think.

"Don't apologize. You have nothing to be sorry for. Do you want to leave? We could go somewhere else if you want." he says.

I look up at him then reply with "No, not at all. It looks fun, I was just remembering some old stuff that I chose to forget." I say apologetically.

He nods and then moves his hands from my shoulders to my waist and pulls me into a hug, surprising me. I'm stiff as a board at first, I'm not used to being touched this much.

But after a few seconds I relax into him and rest my head against his chest, eventually letting him support me completely as we stand at the entrance for what feels like forever.

Eventually we break apart and I smile probably the stupidest smile up and him and he smiles back with probably the most beautiful smile, taking my hand into his once again, leading me into the fair.

A/N: So, like, what's Jackie's problem? *shrugs* guess you'll have to stick around to find out ;) I love you all to bits for reading this, you know that? Comment and vote please! Thanks for reading! Another chapter'll be up soon!