"You guys get the set list done for the wedding yet?" I spoke up, getting Luke's attention from his phone. I wanted to roll my eyes at the way Luke was so distant from me today, but he might've felt that way towards me everyday for a little while now, so I couldn't judge.
We sat in his bedroom. Once again music played while both of us did our own thing and occasionally spoke to each other. I was back to sketching and Luke was going between his phone and a composition book where he wrote down some lyrics that I could hear him humming gently to himself.
"Yeah, it's been done for a few months now." Luke smiled to himself in pride, setting his phone down. "We were so thrilled to be playing the wedding that we completed the set list a few days after Jack had asked the favor."
"How many songs are you guys going to perform?" I kept on the subject because it was warming to see Luke get so excited about something. His blue eyes lit up with happiness and so much pride because he was doing something he loved.
"Jack asked us to play 6," Luke slapped the notebook he held. "I forgot to tell you! Ana asked if the band would perform the song her and Jack share their first dance to."
"No way!?" I held a huge grin and clapped to congratulate Luke. "That's so awesome! What song?"
"Thank you, thank you. The song is a surprise." Luke dragged his pointer finger and thumb across his lips and making a 'lock' motion with them. It was just like Ana to make Luke swear to secrecy.
"Luke, you have a visitor." Liz peeked into the room and then we both saw a familiar figure enter. It was Calum. It was such an odd place and time for one of his band mates to show up.
"Talia and Calum...I'm sure you guys remember each other." Luke motioned between us. We both nodded our heads. It was quite an uncomfortable encounter, knowing we had said much to each other besides hi's and bye's and maybe we shared a hug. "I know you're a little hesitant about meeting new people or being around a lot of people, so I figured I'd start you with Calum. The calmest out of the group."
"Aw, you think I'm calm, Luke?" Calum teased. His eyes scrunched up as he laughed at Luke.
"You're the quietest and less likely to irritate the poor girl." Luke defended.
"So you think the boys and I are irritating?" Calum teased once again and I snorted seeing how frustrated Luke was getting.
"You know what I'm trying to say. Stop trying to impress Talia." Luke rolled his eyes and yanked his beanie down to cover his ears.
I liked Calum. He was pretty calm as Luke described him to be. I was pretty certain I had nothing in common with Calum as I always felt I had nothing in common with anyone I came across. I hated to come off as boring and stuck up when I met new people, but I usually found myself at a loss for words or found myself coming up with the first excuse to leave the situation. Right now, I wanted to look at my phone and tell Luke I had gotten a text from Ana requesting wedding help since the wedding was right around the corner.
"Luke says you design clothes." Calum took a seat on Luke's bed as well. Him and Luke sat comfortably next to each other at the head and I lied at the foot of the bed, going back to the new outfit I sketched out.
"They're just silly drawings. Something I do for fun." I tried to brush off the conversation, not wanting to get too into the details of anything.
"Oh, come on, T." Luke's toes poked me in the side causing me to jump a little. "Don't be so modest."
"Can I see?" Calum asked, pointing to my sketchbook. "I promise I'll look at what you're working on right now. I'm not a terrible person." He sounded convincing and I think I had learned my lesson with guys sounding like that.
I still handed my book over to Calum. I watched his brows knit together as he studied the crop top and skirt. His expression was hard to read as he sat there for a few minutes too long observing the drawing. I felt my body flush and I began sweating, unsure if he was thinking about how stupid the outfit looked or what. I looked to Luke who was scribbling something in his notebook, too busy to realize what was going on. I hated how Luke would drag me into social situations then leave me in them by myself to figure out what to say and how to act. Maybe practice made perfect because I wouldn't always have him around, but it greatly bothered me.
"This is actually really good, Talia." Calum smiled and I noticed how his eyes crinkled at the corners. "You could really go somewhere with this. How cool with that be? You could design stuff for the band."
"Oh, thank you." I gave Calum a curt nod as I took my sketch book back. I was caught off guard by the rather lovely comment.
"I tell her the same thing all the time," Luke mentioned as he continued to scribble away. "but she shuts me down every time. I guess that's the price I pay for not being Calum Hood."
"Hush, Luke." I playfully stabbed him with the tip of my pencil.
"There are many pros to being me."
"Not being a bass player."
"I am a vital piece of our band, Luke!"
I listened to them argue back and forth for a few minutes until I finally felt like my head was going to explode because I took in too many of their petty comments to each other and stashed them away for another time. Soon after, I started gathering my things and saying goodbye to them, needing time alone and needing a nap.
I wanted to walk the scenic route back home and get a chance to look at the ocean instead of trees, but the sand was so cold it felt like pins and needles were stabbing my feet at every angle. I only knew that because Luke and I had tried once before to have a late-night stroll along the shore completely barefoot, but we ended up running back to his house, screaming and almost crying.
As I passed the neighbor's house that divided Luke and I, I sighed with relief seeing my house. The front door was always unlocked because the five houses down here were gated in right off the Pacific Coast Highway and everyone had their own designated codes to enter. But I did think it was silly to be so trusting with the houses like that because anyone could enter if they were walking up from the beach. No one had an incident. Yet.
I entered the house, it was quiet like it always was. Xander was at work, Ana was house hunting with Jack all day today, mom needed to run errands, and dad went to San Diego to close a business deal.
I turned on some soft music in my room just as a background noise as I carefully stuck my new drawing on my wall and sat down at my desk to get on my laptop. The only social media I had was Twitter. That was where I kept up with Luke and the band when he was gone. Twitter felt just depressing enough for me to enjoy. I hated Facebook because I didn't care to know what all my old high school friends were doing or how my other family members were doing. Snapchat annoyed me. I felt too insecure sometimes to have Instagram. I had it for a month, but only posted pictures of the ocean or of my family and Luke, but quickly came to an end when fans started to think I was Luke's girlfriend. The thought of being romantic with Luke kind of made me gag. Not to be rude.
@Luke5SOS: .@Calum5SOS won't leave me alone :-(
I quietly chuckled at the tweet, only imagining what Calum was doing to make Luke upset.
@tkozma: @Luke5SOS @Calum5SOS maybe you deserve to be bothered lmao
I got a notification that Luke liked the tweet, but he unliked it just as quickly. He always did that to my tweets to let me know he was acknowledging what I was saying, but he didn't want anyone to figure out who I was and give me a hard time or make up lies about me or us. It was a kind gesture and even though I knew it was only the internet it made me sad that we could only be best friends behind closed doors. I knew his intentions were good, but I had my moments that made me overthink it all.
