Torn

CALLIE'S POINT OF VIEW

I sit on my bed, across from Sara's, picking off my nail polish.

"Hey Callie?" She asks. I hum. "W-What happened to your parents?" I stop picking at them, and rest them to my sides.

"Nothing, really." I pause, "They just got bored." I mumble. She frowns.

"No one would leave their kid purely because of boredom." She rolls her eyes, "Come on, tell me." I look out the window, that's scattered with raindrops. Yes, a storm!

"They..." I bite my lip. "I don't want to talk about it." I say, now staring down at my fingers. Just tell her. No, why the fuck would I let me guard down?! She's basically family now. Only Calum knows; I'd like to keep it that way. She's dating Calum, she'll find out soon enough. Calum wouldn't tell her. How do you know?He could have told her ALL of your secrets by now! I know Calum,- Better than she does? Yeah, better than she does. I know Calum better than any of them. I can't just tell her like that. This isn't like your childhood though! She won't care! YES, SHE WILL. I sigh, "Please don't tell anyone."

"Okay, I promise." She says, somewhat seriously. I shut my eyes as tight as I can, then sigh once more.

"When I was eleven..." I sigh, "Okay so my dad, he had really bad anger issues, right? Anyway," My hands have starts shaking, "W-When I was... Eleven, he was annoying me so I told him, to fuck off..." I bite my lip, a few tears escaping my eyes. Do not cry! Stop it! No! Oh my lord, you idiot! I sniff, staring at my lap, "He grabbed a gun and pointed it at me, and started yelling..." I start breathing pretty heavy... And you know what's worse? At this point, all I want is Calum. Not even romantically, I just want him here. I'm a horrible person, oh my god! "And," I whisper, "My mom... Came out and saw, so she started trying to calm him down, but when he started yelling louder, she started screaming at him and..." My breath is caught in my throat. Calum. By this point, I'm crying so hard my face is numb. This is why I hate telling the truth. The truth hurts like fucking hell, "Next thing I know she's lying on the ground with a bullet in her head and..." I put a hand to my mouth, and walk out of our room. I shut the door to the bathroom, and between to pace around, trying to steady my breath again. "You're okay, you're okay, you're okay." I keep repeating. I forgot I left my phone in here, and when it rings on the counter, I flinch in panic. The caller ID is Calum. Dammit, he always knows when to call. It's somewhat very annoying.

I answer it, trying to keep my cool, "Hey." I say, biting my lip. Not from him, from trying to keep the sobs to escape my lips.

"Hey, what's going on?" He asks.

"Sara asked me what happened to my parents." I say quickly and quietly. Somehow, Calum caught it.

"... D-Did you tell her?" He asks softly, making me miss him more than ever.

"I couldn't get through it all." I look at the ground, "Why- Why didn't you ever tell her.." I ask.

"Callie, I'd never tell anyone that stuff." He says even more softly than the last time. I push my lips into my mouth and shut my eyes. Not from being excited this time. From feeling complete and pure pain for what we used to have.

"Uhm. Well thanks. For not... Telling her."

"Sure." He says.

"I'm gonna.. Go." I say awkwardly.

"Okay, but wait, Callie?"

"Hm?"

"You know, even though we aren't a... Thing, anymore, that you can still talk to me about that stuff, right?" He asks. I bite my lip harder.

"Uh huh, thanks." I hang up. I take a deep breath and go back to my room, where Sara sits, looking very sad, "Do you.. Wanna hear the rest?" I ask. She nods slowly. I take another very deep breath, "So.. She died.. And," Don't cry again, Callie, you got this, "I started screaming at him, and crying, and he just..." I bite my lip, "He just kept... Kicking me... And uhm." I lose my eyes, "Every just went black. Next thing I know, Calum is sitting again my house outside, with me in his arms, and when I look up, my dad is being forced into a police car."

"That's terrible." She breathes, looking at her bed.

"Yeah, my life hasn't exactly been flowers and gumdrops."

"Does that mean Calum saved you?" She asks.

"Well, we used to live next to each other, so he told me that he and his sister heard screaming and then called the police.." I shrug. I hate remembering shit. Shit, A.K.A. my past.

"Were you two dating at the time?"

"Nah, that was in fifth grade, we were just best friends." I shrug.

"I'm so sorry." She genuinely says. I smile. "Do you want to what happened to... Mine?"

"I guess, if you want to tell me."

"Alright." She takes a deep breath, "They ran away together."

"Huh?"

"They basically abandoned me with my uncle so they could go live a wild, child-less life." She smile.

"That's fucked."

"Yep."She grins.

"Callie!" Calum screams again. I cross my arms and continue storming away from him. Big, cold, drops of rain hit my head. "Callie!" He shouts, even louder. I can tell he's getting closer to me, so I try walking faster, but I feel his warm hand wrap around my freezing wrist.

"What." I say flatly.

"Please, just stop RUNNING from everything!" He doesn't let go of my wrist.

"You know what Calum? I'm done taking orders from you all the time, I am FOURTEEN years old, I don't need your guidance. If I want to run, I'll run." I glare. His grasp gets tighter, but somehow not in a mean way.

"Callie if you run from all of your problems, you're just going to-"

"Going to what, regret it?" I laugh, "Calum, babe, I already REGRET everything in my life anyway!" All in one second, his other hand slams into the small of my back and pulls me into him, and his warm, soft lips lock with mine. Wait. Is Calum Hood kissing me? Holy shit this is happening. Oh my god.

He pulls back, but only about in inch, his hot air breathing onto my face. "I love it when you call me babe." He smiles. I roll my eyes and kiss him more.

*next day*

CALUM'S POINT OF VIEW

I hope Callie's okay. I was up all night last night, debating whether to text her. I just know that she hates digging up shit from her past, that's all.

Across the classroom, I see her kissing Luke, a smile on her face. Ugh. Have I mentioned I hate that guy? Fake ass bitch.

MICHAEL'S POINT OF VIEW

I stare at Morgan who's laughing about something with Jess. Do I like this girl? What does it even feel like to like someone?

JESS'S POINT OF VIEW

I open my locker later that day, only to see a rose. I raise an eyebrow, and Callie walks up to me.

"Sup with the rose?" She asks, eating a cookie. Where the fuck did she get that...

"I dunno, I keep finding them." I shrug, "I've started collecting them though." I grin.

"Well how many do you have?" She asks.

"Four." I smile, smelling it.

"Roses don't have smell, J." Callie says.

"They do for me, fix your nose." I roll my eyes.

Notes