Meant To Be (The Callahans Book 4)

by Monica Murphy

  Marty grins. “Holy shit, I love it! Bitch got what she deserved. Wish I’d been there to see it.”

  “I’m not one to condone violence but…” I’m about to explain myself further but Ellie starts talking instead.

  “She’s a nightmare, let’s be real. Plus that overbearing mother of hers, God. I was in volleyball with her during middle school and let me tell you, you’d think her mom was running the team, not the coaches. And when Cami didn’t get her way? Forget it. She turned into a complete lunatic. Both of them did,” Ellie says, her tone bitter.

  “I never saw her mom around much, but it always feels like Cami is right there. In front of my face, taunting me nonstop.” I shake my head. “She’s the worst. Seriously. I sort of feel bad for hitting her, though.”

  “You shouldn’t,” Marty says firmly. “She’s been a schoolyard bully since kindergarten. And a complete judgmental bitch. It’s about time someone knocked her to the ground.”

  They both laugh and I do too, but I still feel uneasy. Haven’t heard from either of my parents yet, so that’s part of the problem. They’re going to be so angry with me. I just know it. Cami was Jake’s girlfriend at one point. Well, at a few different points. I’m sure Mom and Dad will be incredibly disappointed in my behavior.

  “Hey, Ava!”

  I glance over my shoulder to see Hannah approaching our table with a wide smile on her face. “Can I sit with you guys?”

  “Of course,” I say, though before I even got my answer out Hannah was already scooting in next to Marty. They give each other a hug since they’re such good friends.

  “Where’s Sophie?” Marty asks her.

  “With Tony,” Hannah says with an eyeroll before she starts laughing. “Though I shouldn’t act like that. I’m always with Jake.”

  “True that,” Marty says with a pointed look. I know sometimes he feels abandoned by his best friends Hannah and Sophie since they got boyfriends. He’s confessed as much to Ellie, who told me. But I also know once he got with Thomas, he’s sort of glad he wasn’t hanging out with his best friends so much. I bet not having them around forced him to be a little more open. And a lot more social.

  “Where is Jake anyway?” I ask his girlfriend. Sometimes he goes off campus to eat lunch with his bros, but most of the time I see him with his girlfriend.

  “He had to go meet with his dad. Your dad,” Hannah corrects at the last second. “Something to do with football. Of course.”

  “My dad is on campus?” My voice comes out way squeakier than I expected and I clear my throat, hating how dorky I sound.

  “I guess so,” Hannah says with a shrug before she glances around, then leans in across the table. The rest of us do the same, fully expecting Hannah to share some major gossip. “So is it true?”

  “Is what true?” I ask, even though I know what she’s asking.

  “That you punched Cami during cheer practice yesterday?” Hannah’s brows shoot up.

  Here come the rumors. “Yes, it’s true,” I say with a little sigh.

  “Oh my God!” Hannah holds up her hand over the table. “High five!”

  I slap my palm against hers, marveling at how my socking Cami has turned into some sort of hero moment. Who knew that many people hate her so much?

  Me. I should’ve known.

  “Tell me allll about it,” Hannah says eagerly.

  So I launch into the story all over again, and everyone listens intently, like it’s the first time I’ve told it. More people join our table as I continue talking, and when I’m finished, I’m rewarded with a round of applause and words of encouragement.

  This is freaking surreal.

  “Seriously,” Marty says, reaching out and settling his hand on my arm. “Thank you for standing up to her. Not enough people do. This is why she gets away with so much. It’s almost like we’ve all become so used to her, her bad behavior doesn’t faze us anymore.”

  “Well, it should. And unlucky for her, she said the wrong thing to me at the wrong time,” I tell him. “I can’t stand her and her big mouth. She shouldn’t be allowed to say such awful things.”

  “She’s the worst,” Hannah agrees, and others have something to say about Cami too. We spend the rest of the lunch period listening to people voice their complaints about Cami. The girl has terrorized people on this campus for the past three years, and they’re all over it.

  The animosity toward Cami is much worse than I thought. I believed I was the only one going through my own personal hell with her. Turns out, we all are.

  When lunch is over, I’m headed to my class when Jocelyn, the ex-girlfriend of Diego, who happens to be my brother’s best friend, calls my name.

  “Can I talk to you?” she asks, her words hesitant and her expression full of uncertainty.

  “Of course.” I wait for her to approach, stepping off to the side so other students can walk past us.

  “I know what happened between you and Cami.” She breaks out into a smile. “And this may sound evil, but when I heard what you did? I couldn’t stop laughing.”

  With that statement, she actually starts laughing.

  I let her, because if there’s anyone who deserves to punch Cami in the face, it’s Jocelyn. Diego was cheating on Jocelyn with Cami for a long time, and it caused a lot of problems between them. And between Diego and Jake, since Cami is his ex. It turned into a big disaster, Diego and Jocelyn broke up over Cami, and then that other major rumor started across campus after homecoming.

  That Jocelyn was pregnant.

  Hannah confirmed to me that the rumor came straight out of Jocelyn’s mouth. Not that I’m going to ask her about it now. It’s none of my business.

  Though I can’t help but be extremely curious.

  “Did you get in trouble?” Jocelyn asks once she’s finished laughing.

  “Yeah.” I nod. “I’m off the cheer team for a couple of weeks and I have to do Saturday school.”

  “Was it worth it?”

  “Considering I don’t know what’s going on with cheer, or whether I’ll be let back on the team or not, I don’t know. That part sucks. I’m going to miss cheer.” I shrug. “But going to Saturday school two weeks in a row isn’t so bad.”

  “If I ever got my hands on her, I don’t know if she’d survive,” Jocelyn says, her expression darkening. “That bitch ruined my life.”

  “I’m sorry you and Diego broke up,” I offer. If you ask me, she should be pissed at Diego. He’s the cheater in this situation. Not that Cami is an innocent party, but come on. Diego knew what he was doing, and he did it anyway.

  “So am I,” Jocelyn says bitterly. “Especially since…you know.” She sends me a pointed look.

  “I know what?”

  “That I’m…pregnant.” She presses her lips together, like she can’t believe she said that.

  Or maybe she can’t believe she’s actually pregnant.

  “Is it…true?” I ask, my voice lowering.

  A sigh leaves her and I swear her eyes mist up. “Yes. It’s true.”

  “Oh Jocelyn.” My heart breaks for her. Not because she’s pregnant—though that’s traumatic enough—but because she’s alone. Diego is with Cami. Even if Diego wanted to get back together with Jocelyn, she’d probably turn him down. He did her so wrong.

  “It’s okay.” She stands up straighter, sniffing. “My family has been really supportive. I’ll switch to online school after winter break. It’ll work out. My mom said she would help watch the baby while I go to college.”

  Her words are optimistic, but I hear the sadness there too. She’s so young. So is Diego. And I feel so bad. I don’t know what I would do if I was in her position.

  Unable to help myself, I reach for Jocelyn, pulling her into a hug. She clings to me for a moment, and I squeeze her tight. “You’re so strong,” I murmur as we start to pull away from each other. “You’re going to be fine.”

  “I think so too. It’s hard though. This entire breakup has been such an emotiona
l rollercoaster. I still miss him.” Jocelyn seems to shake herself out of her funk with a quick toss of her head, her long black hair falling down her back. “Forget him. I just wanted to thank you for doing all of us a service and taking out Cami. What you did was huge.”

  “It really wasn’t,” I say, but Jocelyn laughs.

  “Don’t act all modest. No one has dared to ever cross her before. Not really.” Reaching out, Jocelyn gently pats my shoulder. “I need to go to class. I hope you get back on the cheer team.”

  “Thank you,” I tell her, turning and watching her as she walks away. She’s the hero in this situation. Rising above it and taking care of herself—and her future baby.

  I can’t believe she’s actually pregnant. And Diego is strutting around campus acting like his life hasn’t changed one bit.

  Not sure how my brother can still be such close friends with him. Diego did him dirty too, getting together with Cami…

  Frowning, I head for my class. I didn’t mean to become some sort of leading advocate for the anti-Cami campaign, but somehow, that’s what I ended up being. And it’s freaking weird, though I’ve always fought for the little guy, so I guess it fits.

  Crap, I figured I was going to get into major trouble and be grounded yet again. Still haven’t heard from my parents, so the potential is there, but even if I do, I’m kind of thinking hitting Cami and getting kicked off the cheer team was worth it.

  Standing up for yourself usually is.

  Twenty-Two

  Ava

  Me: I’m meeting up with Eli after his practice.

  Mom: Oh no you’re not. You need to come home so we can talk.

  Me: It’s Wednesday. I don’t have practice.

  Mom: I heard you don’t have practice for the next two weeks AT LEAST.

  Oh shit. When Mom uses all caps, you know you’re in for it.

  Me: I can explain.

  Mom: You don’t have to. Mrs. Adney filled us both in.

  Dread sinks my stomach to my toes. Mom and Dad know what’s up. I can’t believe I didn’t get a call or text sooner.

  My phone lights up with a call from Mom and I reluctantly answer it.

  “Were you never going to mention that you got called into Mrs. Adney’s office this morning?” Mom hesitates for only a second before she continues. “Because you punched Cami Lockhart in the jaw?”

  “Like I said, I can explain,” I start, but she cuts me off.

  “I’m sure you can. I’m sure you have a perfectly valid excuse. But you can’t go around hitting people, Ava Elizabeth Callahan. I don’t know where you learned to be so—violent, but let me tell you something. I. Don’t. Like. It.” Mom punctuates those last four words with enough force they’re like bullets shooting out of her mouth.

  Heh. Talk about violent.

  “You wouldn’t believe the things she’s said and done to me over the last few months, Mom. She’s like, the worst human being on the planet,” I say, though I don’t really get into the details. Especially about the last thing she said in regards to Eli.

  I get mad all over again just thinking about it.

  “Where are you right now?” Mom asks.

  Dude, she pretty much ignored everything I just said. So annoying.

  “I’m sitting in my car in the parking lot. School just let out.” I was going to hang out with Ellie at Starbucks and we were going to do our homework together while sipping on PSLs until football practice was over. I may as well take advantage of my free time and spend it with Eli.

  “What are your plans for the rest of the day?”

  “I was going to do homework with Ellie at Starbucks.”

  “Really.” Mom sounds like she doesn’t believe me.

  And I’m immediately offended.

  “Yes, really,” I huff.

  “Oh. I figured you were only wanting to spend time with Eli,” Mom says.

  “He has football practice, remember? I was planning on seeing him after though. Unless I’m grounded again,” I say, sounding like a bratty teenager.

  Ooh, guess what? I never give my parents trouble, but I guess I’m feeling kind of bratty.

  Mom sighs. “I don’t know. Should you be grounded?”

  “Mom, come on. Cami sucks. You didn’t particularly like her, I know it.”

  “Jake could’ve done so much better,” Mom mutters.

  “Right. And he did. He’s with Hannah now, and Diego has to deal with Cami. Who is a terrible human being as you well know, and says terrible things to me all the time. She says terrible things to everyone at this school. I actually had all sorts of people congratulate me today for hitting her. How messed up is that?”

  “It’s pretty messed up,” Mom agrees before she sighs. “Fine, you’re right. I suppose she’s a terrible human. I’m sure she said something that warranted a reaction, but hitting her, Ava? It’s so unlike you. Violence is never the answer.”

  Tell that to Jake, is what I really want to say, but I keep my mouth shut.

  “I know, I know. I guess I just hit my max level with her,” I admit.

  “What are you, a video game?” Mom laughs and I start to relax. Maybe I’m not going to get in trouble after all. “Fine. I suppose your punishment from school is punishment enough. How long until you’re back on the cheer team?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I don’t want to go back. Not if Cami’s there,” I say, hating how sad those words make me feel. I do want to go back. But maybe not this year. Let Cami have her moments of glory as the cheer captain for the rest of the season. Then she’ll graduate and be gone, and I can come back without ever having to deal with her again.

  But would Brandy take me back? I don’t know. I might’ve blown my chance with her forever. I need to go talk to her.

  “You shouldn’t let that girl determine what you can and cannot do,” Mom says, her voice firm.

  “It’s not that. It’s more like, do I want to subject myself to her horrible behavior every day until cheer season is over? Don’t forget, she’s the team captain,” I remind her. “After everything that happened, she’ll do her best to make my life miserable, and she’ll succeed.”

  “It’s your choice. I’ll stand by you, whatever you want to do,” Mom says.

  “Thank you.”

  “You know what’s so funny?”

  “What?”

  “You are like, the perfect combo of me and your father, with a hint of your Uncle Owen mixed in. You know he punched your dad in the face when he was only fourteen,” she says.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard the story,” I say with a little laugh.

  “Right. And I wasn’t the best behaved when I was your age either. I was actually…terrible.” She laughs too. “I didn’t get in trouble for causing fights though. More like I was the cause for fights.”

  “Yeah well, did you ever have to deal with a girl who claims she had sex with your boyfriend?” The moment the words leave me, I close my eyes and bang the back of my head against the driver’s seat.

  Shit. I sort of forgot myself just now.

  As in, I forgot I was talking to my mother.

  She’s quiet for a moment, which makes me nervous.

  “Ava. Are you and Eli having sex?”

  “Uhhh…”

  “And if you are, is he at least using protection?” Before I can answer, she drops a bomb. “Maybe you should get on the pill.”

  “Mom!” I cover my eyes with my hand, even though no one can see me. “I can’t believe you’re asking me this.”

  “You’re sixteen years old with a serious boyfriend who’s a year older than you. I am not stupid,” Mom says.

  This is the problem when you have parents who don’t forget what they did in their teen years. They ask you about your sex life and act like they’ve done everything you’re currently doing so you can’t trick them.

  Sometimes I wonder if it’s all a front. Did my uncle really punch Dad in the face? Did my parents really meet under unusual circumstances? Mom has ev
en confessed she used to smoke, too. So gross!

  “Maybe I should get on the pill?” How did this conversation swing so wildly from one subject to the other?

  “I can make an appointment for you with your doctor,” she says, like it’s no big deal. “Do you want me to go with you?”

  “Um, okay. But don’t tell Dad about this.” It’s embarrassing to know your dad knows you’re having sex. Heck, it’s embarrassing when your mom suspects it too.

  “Honey, he’s the one who suggested it to me in the first place. Don’t forget, he was once a teenage boy himself,” she says. “Be home by ten.”

  Great. Dad is way more perceptive than I thought.

  “Mom, wait! Can I come home by eleven? I’ll have my homework done, so I won’t have to worry about it,” I say, using my best pleading tone.

  “Ten-thirty and no later. There’s school tomorrow, and it’s getting extra cold at night. I don’t want you driving on those roads. They could ice up. Love you.”

  We end the call and I drop my phone into the center console, staring off into the distance. That was a lot easier than I thought it would be. My mom isn’t totally mad at me for hitting Cami, which is a miracle. Then she goes and offers to get me on birth control, which is just…shocking.

  Though being on the pill would make things a lot easier. I wouldn’t have to worry about a condom breaking, and me possibly getting pregnant. I don’t want to go through what Jocelyn just experienced. Though I would still want Eli to use a condom. He’s been with a few girls in his not so distant past. I don’t want to catch a STD.

  Huh. Life is weird.

  A few minutes later I’m at Starbucks, sitting at a table for two with Ellie, the both of us waiting for the PSLs we just ordered. While it’s cloudy and windy outside, it’s warm and cozy indoors, and there’s some folksy music playing on the speakers. We’ve just cracked open our notebooks and textbooks, and I’m tapping my mechanical pencil against the wire binding of my notebook, thinking about Eli and what we might do tonight.

  As in, will we have sex? I want to. I’ve been craving it since the weekend, but we couldn’t mess around last night. Not after he just introduced me to his mother—who was very polite and pleasant—and with Muffin scratching at his door. I eventually made him let her inside and she sniffed around his room everywhere, like she’s never been in there before.