The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden(49)

“It’s fine,” I assure him, but memories explode through my brain like shards of glass.

“You know, you remind me of my sister, Amy,” he says. “I don’t know if you remember her. She was a couple of years older than us.”

I shake my head. “I don’t. Sorry.”

He opens the magazine and flips the page. “She was a lot like you. Quiet, nice, but sad.”

I notice he said was. I press my lips together as the glass in my head multiplies as it shatters into more pieces. “Will you excuse me for a second?”

I get up from my chair and scurry down the hall to the bathroom. My shoulders start to hunch over as the ache in my stomach builds. Thankfully, the bathroom is empty, otherwise I would have done it in the hall and everyone would have known my little secret. The one thing that makes me feel better during the darkest times of my thoughts. The one thing that belongs to me and no one can take it away.
***
“I think I should take you there as a thank you,” Luke says as we drive by a carnival set up in the fairgrounds. The sun is descending behind the mountains and the sky is grey with splashes of pink and orange. Neon lights and music take over the land.

“I haven’t been to one since I was like eleven,” I admit. “I was never really into the rides, especially the ones that went high.”

“Didn’t you ever go to our town fair?” he asks, pausing at a stoplight.

I shake my head. “I stopped going when I turned twelve.”

He looks at me, waiting for an explanation, but what would I say? That my childhood kind of ended at twelve when my innocence was stolen? That after it happened, cotton candy, balloons, games, and rides made me wish for a time I’d never have again?

“Well, then I’m taking you,” he says as the light changes and a green glow reflects across his face. He releases the clutch and the truck rolls forward.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” I tell him. “I was happy to help you, especially since you no longer look like you’re going to drop dead.”

“Did I look that bad?”

“You looked like shit.”

He shakes his head with a small smile on his face. “Still, I think we should go hang out. It’s better than going back to the campus and sitting in the dorms. I’ve barely gotten out of my room since school started.” He pauses as he spins the wheel and makes a right into the dirt parking lot at the side of the white tents and the neon glow of the rides. “You can call Seth and invite him.” He considers something as he shuts off the engine. “I’ll call Kayden and see if he wants to come.”

I pick at my fingernails as I try to stay calm and not get all giddy like a silly girl. “I guess we could do that.”

I pull my cell phone out of the pocket of my jeans while he grabs his off the cracked dashboard. While I call Seth, he talks to Kayden. I hear Luke being vague as to why we’re together and I wonder if Kayden’s still mad.

“Seth’s in.” I raise my hips to shove my phone back into my pocket. “And he said he was going to call Kayden to see if he wants a ride… if he’s going.”

Luke repeats what I say to Kayden, and then he snaps his phone shut, rubbing the back of his upper arm where he got the insulin shot. “Kayden says he’s in, too.” He opens the door and hops out, slanting back into the cab to snatch the keys from the ignition. “I told him we’d meet him over by the Zipper.”

I climb out, push the door shut with my hip, and meet him around at the other side of the truck. I take in all the crazy, spinning rides. “The Zipper? That one sounds interesting.”

He chuckles as we hike across the parking lot toward the gated entrance. “Yeah, we’ll see if you’re still saying that when you see it.”
***
We’re waiting in line for a ride that has a long metal center with cages attached to it. Each cage flips around as the middle section whips in a circular motion, so there is double the spin. The lights twinkle and some heavy rock music plays so loudly I can barely hear the screams from inside the cages. I watch it spin around and around, psyching myself out while Luke texts on his phone.

“Are you going to make it?” Kayden’s breath caresses my neck as his voice touches my eardrum.

I turn my head and his lips nearly touch mine. The abrupt closeness throws him off as much as it does me and we both take a step back at the same time.

He’s wearing a loose fitted pair of jeans, boots, and a long sleeve black shirt. His dark hair looks a little wet, like he just got out of the shower before he came here.