The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden

by Sorensen, Jessica

  Her hair is twisted up in a messy bun and she has a short sleeve shirt on with a jacket tied around her waist. She stops biting on her pen to examine one of the papers closely but when my shadow casts over her, she glances up and her whole body spasms. For a second, I think she’s going to leap to her feet and run off.

  She catches her breath and puts her hand over her heaving chest. “You scared me.”

  “I can tell.” I drag my fingers through my damp, sweaty hair and then crouch down in front of her slowly, so I won’t scare her again. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that she doesn’t like people getting into her personal space without forewarning. “What are you doing out here?”

  She looks at the papers and then up at me again. “Homework…. I like hanging out here sometimes.” She gazes out at the field with recollection on her face. “It kind of reminds me of when I used to hang out with my dad while he coached.”

  “I don’t remember you ever being there,” I say, feeling like a dick again for not remembering her. “How old were you when you did that?”

  “I did it for years.” She swallows hard and focuses on her papers. “Besides, I can’t do my homework in my dorm a lot of the time. My roommate… well, sometimes…” Her cheeks blush and I find myself smiling at how cute she looks, in a really innocent way. She sputters, “She has guys over a lot.”

  I scratch my nose to stop myself from laughing at her. “I see. So you have to give her the room for a few hours.”

  She puts a hand on each side of the row of papers and rearranges them together until they form a stack. “Yeah.”

  I pause and an apology slips from my lips. “I’m sorry.”

  Her brows knit as she elevates her chin to meet my eyes. “For what?”

  “For not telling Daisy to shut her fucking mouth,” I say. “I should have. She was being a bitch to you.”

  She shrugs, staring at the field. “You don’t need to stick up for me. She’s your girlfriend. You should be on her side.”

  I kneel down on the grass, getting closer to her. “No, I should have stuck up for you. I owe you that much.”

  She presses her lips firmly together, returning her attention to me. “You don’t owe me anything, I swear. What I did that night wasn’t that big of a deal. If I would have walked away from the situation then it would have been a big deal.”

  I do owe her though, so much. Because of her, I have fewer scars. I wish I could take away whatever makes her look so sad all the time. I set my helmet on the grass and pick up her books for her as she reaches for her bag over by the bottom of the tree trunk. “What are you doing tonight?”

  She stuffs her papers into her bag, crinkling the edges, and then I hand her the books. “I’m probably going to just stay in and watch a movie or something.”

  “How much longer is your room preoccupied?” I ask and smile as her cheeks turn even redder.

  “I don’t know.” She rises on her knees, shifts her bag onto her shoulder, and gets to her feet. “I’ll probably just go hang out with Seth until her friend is gone.”

  I scoop up my helmet and follow her as she heads down the line of the fence. “Why don’t you come out with Luke and me? He wants to go check out this club down in the Town Center. It might end up being a complete shithole, but it’s better than just sitting around in your room.”

  She halts, adjusting the handle of her bag on her shoulder, and bites her bottom lip so hard the skin around her mouth turns purple. “I don’t think I can.”

  “Why?” I ask in a playful tone as I grin at her. “Am I that bad to be around?”

  Her arms fall to her sides and her eyes fasten on mine. “No.”

  I rub the sore muscles on the back of my neck. “Okay, then come with us. It’ll be fun and if it’s not, we can go do something else.”

  She balls her hands into fists and then stretches her fingers back out. “Okay.”

  I’m shocked. I’d been flirting with her out of simple fascination with how she gets flustered, but I didn’t think it would work on her. “Okay, meet us at Luke’s truck at like nine-ish?”

  She nods and turns her back to me, walking away so quickly, it’s like she’s terrified I’ll stab her in the back. She seems afraid of everyone, except for Seth. But why?

  Callie

  I remember pink and white birthday balloons floating around the room, red streamers hanging from the ceiling, and gold wrapping paper balled up on the floor. The way the flames of the candles danced and the trail of smoke flowed up to the ceiling. My mom on the other side of the table, with a camera in her hand and a smile on her face as she clicked the button over and over again.

  The flash hit my eyes and I kept blinking, wishing she’d stop taking pictures that would forever mark this God damn day.

  “Make a wish, sweetie,” she said and the camera flashed again, lighting up the face of the people that surrounded the table.

  I stared at the pink frosting, the “Happy Birthday Callie” Make a wish?

  A red balloon floated over the table, slowly, up and down, up and down.

  “Make a wish, Callie,” my mom repeated as the balloon moved over her shoulder.

  Everyone was watching me, like they could see that I wasn’t whole anymore.

  Make a wish? Make a wish?

  The balloon popped.

  There are no such things as wishes.

  My roommate, Violet, enters the room as I finish writing the last line. She’s tall, with black curly hair streaked with red. Her nose is pierced and she has a tattoo of a star on the back of her neck. She has a pair of plaid pants on, a torn black t-shirt, and combat boots.

  “Have you seen my leather jacket?” she asks as she shuts the door and tosses a bag onto her unmade bed.

  I close my journal and slide the pen into the spiral. “I haven’t.”

  She sighs as she collects her books from the desk in front of the window. “I think I might have lost it at the club. Fuck.”

  “I’ll keep an eye out for it.” I tuck the journal underneath the pillow and get up from the bed.

  She opens the drawer of the desk and glances over her shoulder at me as I slip my shoes on. “Are you heading out?”

  I nod, easing my arm through the sleeve of a grey hoodie. “I am.”

  I hear a bottle of pills rattle as she shuts the drawer and holds up a red scarf. “I might have someone over tonight. I’ll put this on the doorknob if I do.”

  Again? What does this girl do? “Alright.” My fingers wrap around the doorknob. “I’ll make sure to check first.”

  “You better,” she says, her hand hovering near the drawer. “Otherwise you’re going to see something you don’t want to.”

  Sighing, I walk out the door, wishing I had my own dorm room.

  ***

  “I think I just got myself in over my head,” I tell Seth as he lets me in his room. “Like really bad.”

  Seth pauses the television screen, sits down on the bed, and pats the spot beside him. “Come sit down and spill your problem.”

  I let my bag fall to the floor and sink down onto the bed. “Kayden asked me to go to a club with him and Luke tonight, and I accidentally said yes.”

  “How do you accidentally say yes to something like that?”

  I huff out a breath of frustration. “He kept smiling at me and getting me all flustered and I couldn’t think straight.”

  Seth grins and a giggle escapes his lips. “Oh my God, you have a crush on him.”

  I shake my head, getting flustered just by the thought. “No, I don’t.”

  The mattress concaves beneath me as he bounces up and down like a little kid with too much sugar in their system. “Yes, you do. You have your very first crush, Callie. How exciting!”

  Still shaking my head, I sit up and smooth my hair away from my forehead. “I don’t have a crush on him. Is he good looking? Of course. And he’s known that since we were in third grade.” I pause, getting agitated. “And I’ve had crushes before, just not
for a very long time.”

  “You so have a crush on him.” He picks up the remote and turns off the television. “This will be good, and then we can cross number five off on the list.”

  “I’m not dancing,” I argue, cringing. “Dancing equals touching and getting close to people. I just can’t do it.”

  “Yes, you can. You’ve done it with me like a hundred times,” he encourages. “I mean, think about when we first met. You would barely talk to me and you always looked like you were going to stab me with a pencil or something. Now look at you. You’re sitting on my bed in my room, just you and I. You’ve come so far my little Callie Girl.”

  “But you’re you.” I sigh, discouraged. “I trust you.”

  “Yeah, but I had to earn it.”

  “I know and I’m so sorry for making you do that. I’m surprised you stuck around like you did.”

  He hops off the bed and opens the top dresser drawer. “Whatever. You were so worth it.”

  I swing my feet over the edge of the bed. “You seem really happy today.”

  He takes out a green button down shirt with a front pocket and holds it out in front of him. “You remember that guy I was telling you about? The one in my Sociology class?”

  I nod. “The one with the really soft looking hair and pretty blue eyes?”

  “That’s the one.” He walks over to the mirror, fussing with his hair as he inches his face closer to the reflection. “He talked to me today and I mean really talked to me for more than five minutes.”

  I scoot off the bed and pick up a marker from a cup on his nightstand. “Do you think he likes you?”

  He shrugs, clamping his jaw shut to keep from smiling. “It’s hard to tell who he likes, but maybe if I talk to him more.”

  I work to get the cap off with my teeth and then spit it out on the bed. “Are you going somewhere?”

  He tugs the shirt over his head, wiggling his arms through the sleeves and then rearranges his hair back into place with his fingers. “Yeah, with you to a club.”

  My shoulders relax as I go over to the board on the back of the door with a very long list drawn on it, with very little numbers crossed off. “Are you going to be okay? I mean, I know how you feel about football players, considering what happened to you.”

  He fastens a leather watch to his wrist. “That Luke guy seems pretty nice. At least he was during our ten minute conversation when we were out smoking and I think he knows about me.”

  I put the tip of the marker up to the board. “Why would you think that?”

  “I just got a vibe,” he says. “It seemed like he didn’t care.”

  I scratch off number five very slowly and the marker squeaks. “But I’m only dancing with you.”

  “Sounds like a great plan to me.” He offers me his elbow and I link my arm with his, feeling safe with him by my side as we saunter down the hall to go outside.

  It’s late, the sky is black, and the stars look like pieces of shimmering glass. Crickets chirp in the damp grass and there’s a couple sitting on one of the benches kissing each other fervently. It makes me blush a little because for a split second I picture Kayden and I in their places.

  “Why do you have that look on your face?” Seth wonders observantly.

  I look away at the road. “What look?”

  He sighs, but doesn’t press. When we reach the grass, he stops moving his feet and pulls me back, his eyes darting to my face. “Wait a second.”

  I touch my hair self-consciously. “What’s wrong? Do I have something in my hair?”

  He slants his head to the side and then his hand snaps out, his fingers snagging my hair. With one swift yank, he’s torn the elastic from my hair and strands fall to my shoulders. “There we go. Let that freaking hair of yours down.”

  I gather my hair behind my head and stick out my hand. “Give me that back, Seth.”

  Batting his eyelashes, he raises his hand and stretches the elastic on two of his fingers.

  “Don’t,” I warn, lunging for him. “Please, Seth, don’t do this.”

  He flicks his thumb so the elastic flings through the air into the darkness. “Whoops.”

  I drag my fingers along my face as I hunch over and search the damp grass for the elastic. “Where the fuck is it?”

  Seth laughs. “Holy shit, the swear words are coming out.”

  I stand up and glare at him with rage burning in my eyes as I work to tie the strands of my hair into a knot. “I need to get my hair up. Please help me find it.” Tears sting at the corners of my eyes. “God dammit Seth, where the fuck is it?”

  His expression falls and his skin drains of color as he realizes he might have pushed the wrong button. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to find it.”

  I shake my head as tears bubble out of my eyes and trail down my cheeks. “I can’t breathe,” I gasp.

  “You’re hair smells so good, Callie,” he says, twisting a strand of my long brown hair around his finger. “Like strawberries.”

  My chest constricts as I start to sob. In three short strides, he has his arms encircled around my shoulders and is drawing me into him. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize the hair thing was that big of a deal. I thought it was more of a complex.”

  I wipe the tears away with my fingers and suck in a slow breath through my nose to regain control over my fear. “I’m sorry, it’s just… it brings back things I don’t want to remember.”

  He leans away and threads his fingers through mine, squeezing my hand. “You’ll be okay, I promise. I’ll be right by you the whole time.”

  “Maybe I have time to run back to my room.” I glance at the doors, right as Kayden and Luke come strolling around the corner of the dorm building.

  Luke is a little smaller than Kayden, with shorter hair, and a face without scars. He has a plaid shirt on, a pair of faded jeans with a black leather belt and boots on his feet. Kayden’s hair is tousled with stray pieces hanging in his eyes and he has on a hooded black thermal shirt, with dark jeans that ride extremely low on his hips. I bet when he raises his arms above his head his stomach will show.

  “Callie, you’re staring,” Seth hisses under his breath and prods me in the ribcage with his elbow.

  “What?” I blink at him as I wipe the last of the tears away from my cheeks, surprised how calm I’ve become.

  He presses his lips together, containing a smile. “You were staring at a particular someone.”

  “No, I wasn’t,” I deny. “Was I?”

  He nods his head once and then hisses through his teeth, “You were and your mouth was hanging open.”

  “Hey,” Kayden says and his forehead creases at my tear-stained face. “Were you two just arguing?”

  I shake my head and glance at Seth. “No, we were just talking heatedly.”

  “Okay…” He eyes me with skepticism. “Should we get going?”

  Nodding, I step aside so him and Luke can walk between us and lead the way.

  Seth pulls his cigarettes out of his pocket and pops one into his mouth as we trail behind them. “Are we riding with them?”

  “No.” I swing my gaze over to the rusted single cab truck where no other vehicles are parked. “Not unless they want to ride in your car.”

  “Well, let’s offer to drive then,” he says. “And then you can be our DD since you never ever drink. Although, you should try it tonight. It’ll probably calm you down.”

  “I drank a beer that one time,” I protest. “And it didn’t relax me.”

  “Oh, my naïve little Callie.” He sighs, retrieving his lighter from his pocket. “One beer isn’t going to do much to you. You need something with a kick. Something potent.”

  “We can’t drink at the club,” I say as he flicks the lighter with his thumb. Cupping his other hand around the flame, he lights the end of the cigarette and the paper burns and crinkles. “Remember what happened the last time you tried that at a club?”

  He sucks in a breath, inhaling the smoke, b
efore puffing it out in front of his face. “Yeah, excellent point. Don’t want to go back into the holding cell again.”

  “You’re lucky it was your birthday and they let you off the hook.”

  “I also flirted with one of the officers.” He grins as a thin trail of smoke snakes out of his lips.

  “So, who wants to sit on whose lap?” Kayden asks with his hand on the open door of the truck. His eyes are on me and there’s a hint of amusement on his lips. “Personally, I think there’s only one option here.”