Chapter Text
It was the Friday afternoon after midterms were finally over, and the only thing on Callum’s mind was getting home as soon as possible. He had a new sketchbook he could crack open and start on, Ezran would probably be down to play a couple rounds of Mario Kart, he could lie down on his beautiful, soft, sweet bed-
“All indoor activities, basically.” Callum deadpanned to Soren, currently holding him hostage outside his last class of the day, trapping him against the wall.
“Okay but dude, you saw the invite. I know you read that DM.” Soren responded, clearly indignant. He was right- Callum did see it, and chose not to respond hoping Soren would get the hint, so really, this was kind of his fault for assuming Soren was even capable of taking hints.
“Soren, you know I’m only in the 10th grade, right?”
“Not even a problem dude. Yours truly’s talents and services don’t just extend to promoting-“
“You’re the bouncer too?”
“That’s called a hustle, my friend. Might do you some good to come out tonight to watch and learn.”
Callum rolled his eyes. He’s always had something of an odd relationship with his neighbor Soren. He was really much closer to his sister Claudia- they were closer in age, and they’ve always bonded over their more book-ish interests (and a childhood crush he really did not like talking about). Callum knew though, however close they might be, Claudia’s number one best friend has, and always will be, Soren- wherever she was, there he was not far behind. So it was kind of inevitable that Callum and Soren would eventually end up being friends as well despite their differences (and believe him, there were many, many differences).
He hadn’t been seeing much of Soren lately however- not since he started his lucrative new job as a party promoter for a club with a name Callum was profoundly uncomfortable saying out loud. He didn’t really entirely understand the logistics of the job and he wasn’t too sure Soren did either, but he did know attendance was pretty important for these things, and basically the entire point of his job. So he here was, Friday afternoon, dreams of sitting down at home on his bed, staying put vanishing into thin air right before him while Soren attempted to coerce him into doing the complete opposite: standing around at some stranger’s house party.
“Why isn’t this party at your weird club?”
“Club’s rented out for the night- but the owner’s got this sweet house that can fit a ton of people.” Soren’s face shifted then into a mild layer of desperation hidden underneath his characteristic smugness. “It’d honestly be too easy to hide in there with how huge it is.”
Despite being the decade long headache he was, Callum wasn’t much to put up a fight against Soren when he was like this- clearly trying to not break his cool facade, but really, really not doing a great job of it. “Okay, I can…stop by. Maybe . Don’t get too-“
“ Sweet! Doors open at 8. It’s $20 for guys before 10 but for you, my friend- $15.” With that generous gesture, Soren turned around smoothly and triumphantly and Callum was finally free to head home and sulk until 8:00 before Soren caught his attention again, quickly turning around.
“Oh, invite that foreign chick you’re always hanging around too, girls get in for free!”
“She’s Scottish , Soren, and she has a name.” Soren was already disappearing down the hall however, no doubt patting himself on the back for a job well done, nary a care in the world regarding the peaceful evening he ruined for Callum- and the now semi-awkward position he’s put him in.
“Is Rayla...even into things like that?”
—-
He contemplated this question some more once he was home, lying in bed with his thumb hovering over his text message screen. Rayla was a new-ish student in school, having just started this year, fresh from a tiny town in Scotland Callum was always forgetting the name of, but was a little too scared to ask again. Their homeroom teacher decided Callum was the perfect student for the job of introducing Rayla to the school and getting her settled in, likely because his step-dad was the principal of Katolis High, though Callum liked to think he was just kind of a personable guy, too.
That theory was tested for a bit when Rayla seemed to almost want nothing to do with him- they took a quick walk around the quad and when he asked her if she had any questions, she brushed him off with a stern and heavily accented “no” and walked off to her next class.
She had waltzed right into the wrong classroom in the complete opposite direction of their shared math class, and Callum knew then that he could not, in good conscience, leave her alone quite yet. Luckily after that rocky first day, the two ended up getting along quite well instead. Turned out, Rayla was just kind of shy (not that she actually admitted this, but this was Callum’s very educated guess).
She also managed to figure out her entire class schedule fairly quickly after that first day, but she stuck around Callum anyway. They shared most of their classes together, so it made sense for them to just keep walking back and forth together. They shared a lunch period, so it made sense to walk to the cafeteria together too- and sit at the same table, share notes, phone numbers-
They were friends now. He didn’t entirely know why he didn’t entirely realize that until Soren pointed it out- it had only been about three months, but Rayla was now maybe the person he hung around with the most at school. They joked around, he liked asking her about her home in Scotland, they liked talking about their interests, different as they may be- duh , they were friends.
But were they friend friends ? Like, invite you to my neighbor’s weirdo boss’ strange house party on a Friday night friends? Callum had never met with Rayla outside of school, and neither of them were particularly good texters, other than to compare notes and maybe send a meme or video here and there. It was simply an area of their friendship they hadn’t breached, and if he was being honest, he wasn’t sure if he was thinking about that too hard. For as well as they got along in school, Rayla was quite private about her life outside of it, aside from amusing and harmless stories from her hometown, and it didn’t seem there was much Callum could do about that. He figured he understood. He didn’t have any secrets per say, but he wasn’t exactly the type to overshare too much either.
So coming out of the blue suddenly, texting her randomly when they almost never did, to invite her to a party- Soren’s party-
“Are you okay?” Callum’s head whipped around to turn towards Ezran standing in his doorway.
“You’re making that scrunched up face Dad said wasn’t good for you.”
“Oh, well. Just keep that between us I guess.” Callum sat up on his bed to better face his brother who came to sit beside him.
“Are you worried about something?”
“No...not worried. Just- I gotta go to this thing for Soren.”
Ezran’s eyes widened and his voice dropped to a whisper. “You mean a party at-“
“ Don’t say the name of that club in this house, and no, it’s at...the owner of that club’s house.”
“Isn’t that kind of worse?” Ezran asked. Their pet Bait waddled in right after, twenty pounds of French Bulldog coming to perch on Ezran’s lap.
“It really is, isn’t it? You’re right, this is a terrible idea, I will in fact be staying right where I’m at for the rest of the weekend, thank you Ez.” Callum thought Bait might have shot him a mildly judgemental look, but he pointedly ignored it.
“Well…maybe it could be fun?” Ezran said, to which Callum responded with a look of dawning horror, but Ezran continued on. “I mean, I don’t think Soren would put you in a dangerous situation, right? And maybe he needs your help, ‘cause people spend money to get in those parties, don’t they?”
“My God, don’t remind me.”
“I mean, dad’s not home.” Callum’s eyebrows shot up a bit at this. “And you’ve got a car now. And you’d be helping out our friend. And-“
“Do you hate me? Is that what’s happening here? You’re fed up with me beating you at Mario Kart and-“
“You, me and Bait all know from the scoreboards that’s not true, but I mean that I think it could be fun to try something new! Maybe you’ll make new friends.” Speaking of which…
Ezran, ever the annoyingly observant, glanced down at Callum’s thumb still stiff over his phone screen. “Are you gonna bring a friend?” Callum’s entire body stiffened at this. “I, uh, am in the process of maybe, doing. That.”
“Like a da-“
“Like the complete opposite. Like. ‘I’m not even sure this person will want to go’ opposite.”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Ezran cheerfully smiled, ever annoying observant and optimistic. There was no way to weasel his way out of this with Ezran staring at him and his phone so expectantly now, so Callum began reluctantly texting.
Callum (4:32 p.m.): Hey Rayla. ( Okay, good start. )
Rayla (4:33 p.m.): hey. what’s up?
Ezran nudged Callum’s hesitant hand. “Uh, privacy?”
“Just say, ‘do you want to come to my friend’s party with me today?’”, Ezran helpfully responded. How nice it must be to be so young and naive. Callum raised his phone slightly higher to dissuade Ezran from peeping, though the half-hearted gesture didn’t do much once he not-so-conspicuously raised his head higher.
Callum (4:36 p.m.): You know my friend Soren, right?
Rayla (4:37 p.m.): that dumb guy from school?
He contemplated defending Soren’s honor, but decided at the end that beggars couldn’t be choosers.
Callum (4:38 p.m.): He’s having a get together tonight, and he asked me to invite you. Would you wanna go?
He cringed a little at his use of “get together” used in the perhaps the loosest sense of the term, but this was maybe the best word to use to jot that spot between “I’m uncomfortably asking you out” and “I need literally anyone to come with me to some stranger’s house.” He thought he might have felt Ezran give him a supportive pat on the back, but he pointedly ignored this as he patiently (and not nervously at all) waited for her answer.
Rayla (4:45 p.m.): not really one for parties, sorry
“Aw well, at least she’s honest.” Ezran said, definitely giving him a brotherly pat on the back now. Callum groaned. “I just know I’m never gonna hear of this now from Soren. Maybe Claudia might be willing-“ he was cut off then by the sound of an incoming text.
Rayla (4:47 p.m.): actually think i might be down. what time? ( Huh. )
Callum (4:47 p.m.): 8:00 PM, I can pick you up if you want?
Rayla (4:51 p.m.): sounds good. let me know when you’re on your way
With that, Rayla sent her address, and Callum had plans for the night. “You’ll have fun.” Ezran said, extending that brotherly pat to Callum’s shoulder. He couldn’t help but feel a little pathetic that his ten year old brother was assuring him he wouldn’t hate being outside the house on a Friday night, so he instead thought, maybe this will be good for me. I could have fun.
He glanced down at his phone and smiled a little. “Yeah, it’ll probably be fine.” Before he could talk himself out of it again, another thought struck him.
“What are we gonna do about you, though?”