Chapter Six

The week had gone by in a blur, and spent most of my time with Callum, getting to know him better. We found that we had a bunch of things in common. We liked the same kind of music, watched a lot of the same shows, and discovered that our birthdays were a week apart. Mine being October 20th, and his, the 27th. Though I was born a year after him.

The attention we were getting was now simmering down, and it seemed like people were finally getting used to us being friends; with the exception of Mel, Justin, and the other "populars".

While things at school got better for me, at home things had gotten worst. After the day that Callum met my step mother Eliza, it had been nonstop harassment from her and her daughter. I thought back to when Eliza had first found out about my budding friendship.

I was up in my room changing when I heard the doorbell ring. I feared that it was Callum, so I hurriedly got dressed and grabbed by things. From the top of the stairs, I could hear Eliza say

"Uhh yea, hold on a minute." just before closing the door on the person.

She turned around and watched me as I slowly walked down the stair, meeting her at the last step. She stared at me like I was diseased, if looks could kill I'd be six feet under.

"You really think you're something, huh?" She asked, her hand on her hip.

"I'm not sure what you mean?" I said, looking at her confused.

"What I mean is that you think you're hot shit, having boys ringing my doorbell for you."

I blinked at her, not knowing how to respond to her accusation.

"Um I-I don't. He's my friend." I stuttered.

"Oh really? Since when do you have friends? Seems to me like your out there being a little slut." She sneered.

Taking aback by her statement, my face started to heat up. I shook my head at her and bit my tongue. If she only knew what I wanted to say to her in this moment.

"If you'll excuse me Eliza, I need to go. My friend is waiting for me." I said calmly.

"Go ahead, don't come home crying when you get knocked up and your so called friend refuses to be your baby daddy."

I clenched my fists and took a deep breath. Just eight more months of this and I am done. I don't know how much more I can take. I walked to the front door, opened it, and slammed the door behind me.

Eliza must have told the twins about Callum picking me up from the house, because Mel who rarely acknowledges me at home has been on my back everyday since, and Justin who constantly torments me hasn't even been able to look at me (which I was happy about). Mel accused me of stealing Callum away from her, even though he hadn't spoken two words to her. I explained to Mel that Callum and I were just friends, but she wasn't having it. I had to start locking my bedroom door so she would stop coming in and bothering me about the situation.

Eliza would make little remarks here and there whenever she saw me, but I was used to it after having to deal with her terrible behavior for the past nine years.

I shook those thoughts out of my head, and focused back on my book. It was the third period of the day, and I was in study hall. Unable to control it, I yawned loudly, receiving weird looks from some of the students around me.

"Sorry." I whispered, and could feel myself blushing. I had been really tired these past few days, because every night since we went for ice cream, Callum and I would text until one of us fell asleep. Last night, we had texted each other until 3 am, which was a new record for us. I haven't had a close friend like this since middle school, although, I didn't have a crush on my friend then. This all felt very new to me.

My free period was almost over, so I began packing up. I left the classroom and walked to my locker, where Callum and I had agreed to meet so that we could walk to lunch together like we did everyday.

It looked like I had beaten him here.

"Hey there." A voice said from behind me.

I turned around, and there he was.

"Hey, hows your day been?" I asked, as we walked together towards the cafe.

"Boring as usual. I wish we had class together so that you could entertain me."

I laughed and responded "I think you have it the other way around, your the entertainer here."

"Oh really, cause you were the one texting me made up lullabies last night so that I would fall asleep. I never knew you were such the wordsmith." He laughed.

"Just one of my many hidden talents." I replied, giving him a small curtsy.

"Come on, lets get some food." He said, putting his arm over my shoulder.

I got a burger and fries, while he got two slices of pizza and we made our way to our usual table.

"So, you excited for tonight?" He asked, as he grabbed a fry of fo my tray.

"Hmm, what's tonight." I said, looking down at my nails. But I knew exactly what tonight was, and I was dreading it.

"Oh you know.. the party." He said, grinning.

"Oh that, forgot about that, I don't think I'll be able to attend. I have more pressing matters." I responded, giving him a mischievous look.

"Pressing matters like what? A new book?" His eyebrows raised.

"Maybe.."

He laughed and said "Sorry, but you already agreed so there's no going back."

"Do I really have to go? Can't we just hang out with Sara or something?" I pleaded.

"No, we're not hanging out with a six year old on a Friday night. We're gonna go to this party, get drunk, and act like normal teenagers."

I slapped my forehead dramatically.

"I have nothing to wear."

"That's fine, we'll go to the mall after school."

"You have an answer for everything, don't you?" I said with a huff.

"Yes, yes I do." He smirked.

-

School had ended, and Callum and I met up in the parking lot.

"How about you leave your car here, and we take my bike?" He suggested.

"Definitely not, how about you leave your motorcycle and we take my car?"

"I don't want to leave my bike here. I got it, you can follow me to my house, I drop my bike off, and we take your car." He said.

"Okay, that works." I agreed.

I followed behind Callum's motorcycle to the other side of town. We were stopped at a red light, when he turned his head in my direction and waved to me. I smiled, waving back. I watched him take off as the light turned green, and he looked incredibly hot driving his motorcycle.

We finally stopped in front of a medium sized raised ranch styled house, he parked and got off of his bike. I parked behind him as he approached my window.

"Wanna pop in and meet my parents? They've been begging me to bring you over, Sara too." He asked, nervously.

"I would love to." I responded, and opened my door.

We talked up to the house, and Callum unlocked the door.

"I'm home!" He yelled, as we stepped in.

I looked around and saw pictures of him, Sara, and who I assumed to be his parents all over the walls. They were a beautiful family. The overwhelming scent of snickerdoodle cookies filled my nose.

"We're all in the kitchen!" A voice yelled back.

Callum grabbed my hand, and led me to the kitchen. When we got to the kitchen, his family was sitting at the island, eating cookies. His mother was gorgeous, with light brown hair, and piercing blue eyes. His father looked identical to both Callum and Sara, with blonde hair and green eyes.

"Dylan!" Sara screamed, and rushed to me, instantly wrapping her small arms around me.

"I missed you." I said, hugging her back.

"I missed you too!" She exclaimed.

"Mom, dad, this is my friend Dylan." Callum said, as his parents walked up to greet me.

His father pulled Sara off of me, and shook my hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Dylan, I've heard so much." He said, in a thick Welsh accent. It sounded like Callum's but times eleven.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr Gage." I said, with a smile. After letting go of his hand, I was instantly pulled into a bone crushing hug by Callum's mom.

"It's so great to finally meet you Dylan, I've been asking my son to bring you over all week." She said, and let me go. She looked me up and down, and said "Callum told me you were beautiful, but he didn't say you were a Victoria's Secret supermodel!"

Immediately Callum's face turned red, and my heart stopped beating for a second. Callum thought that I was beautiful.

"Thank you Mrs Gage, that's very sweet of you. I wish I looked like a supermodel." I laughed.

"Oh honey, your wish is granted. You are absolutely stunning." She said seriously. I smiled at her, not knowing how to receive her compliment.

"And call me Darcy."

I nodded at her, not being able to get the large smile off of my face. Callum's family was just as I imagined, the complete opposite of mine.

Sara grabbed my hand and led me to the kitchen island.

"Here, have my last cookie." She said, putting the cookie up to my lips. I took a bite, and it was delightful.

"These cookies are amazing." I said, looking at Callum's parents.

"Thank you, the credit belongs to Connor over here. He's an amazing baker.

"If you say so." Callum's dad said sheepishly.

Callum who was quiet during the whole exchange finally spoke.

"Sara must really like you if she's giving you her last cookie." 

"Duh, she's my best friend." Sara responded, rolling her eyes.

I laughed, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, we only came to say hi, we have places to be." Callum stated, grabbing my hand.

"Noooo, I want Dylan to stay!" Sara yelled.

"Sara Annabelle Gage, lower your voice." Darcy scolded.

"Sorry." Sara said, sadly.

I let go of Callum's hand and went to give Sara a hug.

"I'll come visit you soon, okay? And whenever you want to talk, ask Callum to call me for you." I said.

She nodded, and gave me a huge smile.

"It was very nice meeting you." Mr Gage said to me.

"Please come back soon, I'll make you whatever you want for dinner." Darcy said, as she pulled me into another hug.

"Thank you guys so much, it was really nice meeting you too." I responded, before Callum pulled me out of the house.

"Now that you've met my mother, you can see why Sara is the way she is." Callum stated, as we walked towards my car.

"I love your family." I said, grinning at him.

And then we were on our way to the mall.