The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden(60)

I wonder why no one questioned our injuries, but maybe that’s why we were always playing sports. As soon as we turned the right age, we were thrown into soccer, t-ball, and when we got a little older, basketball and football. These were good excuses that my mom gladly passed around.

I thought about telling someone a few times when I got old enough that my brain could grasp the idea, but the fear and embarrassment stopped me. Besides, I shut down at an early age. After that pain was just pain. I can do pain. That’s the easy part of life. It’s everything else, happiness, laughter, love, that’s f*cking complicated.

Callie

“I’m nervous about seeing Kayden,” I admit to Seth as he walks me to my room. Neither of us have class this morning, so we decide to go out to breakfast, just him and me so we can talk.

Fortunately, the scarf isn’t on the doorknob and when I open the door, Violet isn’t in the room. Although, she’s left soda cans everywhere and there’s a nasty looking sandwich on the desk.

“Can I make a suggestion?” Seth says, observing Violet’s unmade bed. “Please spray disinfectant everywhere.”

“Suggestion taken.” I grab a plaid shirt and a pair of jeans out of the dresser. “Can you step out so I can change?”

Nodding, he backs out the door. “Hurry up though, I’m starving.”

When he shuts the door, I slip out of my shirt that smells like cotton candy mixed with cigarette smoke. I inhale the scent, remembering how it felt when Kayden kissed me, before I toss the shirt on the bed and insert my arms through the sleeves of a plaid shirt. I pull on a pair of jeans and then grab a brush to put my hair up, but pause, thinking about my fears and how Seth told me this morning that I should tell them to f*ck off.

After the incident last night, before I returned to Seth’s room and went back to bed, I promised myself it would never happen again. When I woke up, I felt better.

I slip the elastic out and let my hair hang down to my shoulders. “You can do this,” I mutter, grabbing my bag. “You made out with a guy for God’s sake.”

When I step out the door, there’s a smile on my face, but my happiness vanishes when I see Seth talking to Luke, and neither of them look happy. Luke is wearing black jeans and a black fitted t-shirt. It’s a lot of black, but it works for him

When Seth catches my eyes, his expression is filled with sympathy and pity.

My eyebrows furrow as I stroll up to them. “What’s wrong?”

Luke has a guilty look on his face as he turns around. “Hey, Callie, what’s up?”

I fiddle with the strands of my hair, tucking them behind my ear. “Nothing much. Seth and I are just heading out to get some breakfast.”

“Yeah, we were just talking about that.” Luke hurries backwards down the hall, like he’s desperate to get away from me. “I was asking Seth if I could borrow his car, but I’ll just find someone else.”

“Why? Where’s your truck?” I ask, and his shoulders stiffen as he pauses in the center of the hall.

“Kayden took it somewhere.” He waves at me, before spinning on his heels and hurrying off. “I’ll catch up with you two later.” He disappears between a group of cheerleaders, dressed in their uniforms.

I turn to Seth, confused. “What was that about?”

He stares at me contemplatively, then sighs and loops his arm through mine. “We need to talk.”

We step out into the crisp autumn air and beneath the cloudy sky. The liveliness of the campus yard surges around us and yellow and orange leaves skitter across the dying grass.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re looking at me like you’re about to tell me my dog died?” I wonder as we step off the curb of the sidewalk and down onto the asphalt of the parking lot.

He looks left and right, before we hurry over to his car. “I have something to tell you and I don’t know how you’re going to take it.” He frees my arm and we part ways, going to opposite sides of the car.

When we get in and shut the doors, he turns the key in the ignition and pauses as he scrolls through his playlists on an iPod. “Kayden borrowed Luke’s truck.” A song pops on as he places the iPod back into the stand on the dashboard. “To go back home for a few days.”

I fasten the seatbelt over my shoulder. “Okay, why are you acting weird?”

He shoves the shifter into reverse and looks over his shoulder as he backs out of the parking space. “Well, because he didn’t say anything to you.” He straightens the wheel and merges the car out onto the road. “Wait a minute. Did he tell you?”