The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden(9)

“Daisy’s not that bad. She’s probably the only girl who doesn’t care if I flirt.” I cross my arms and stare at the nerdy tour guide with thick glasses, scraggily brown hair, and a clipboard in his hands. “Do we really need to do this? I’d rather go unpack.”

“I need to know where everything is,” he says. “You can go to the room if you want.”

“I’m fine here.” My eyes zone in on a girl across the crowd; the one I ran over. She’s smiling at a guy next to her who’s whispering something in her ear. I find myself entertained by the naturalness of it, no pretenses like the one’s I’m used to seeing.

“What are you looking at?” Luke tracks my gaze and his forehead creases. “You know what? I think that might be Callie Lawrence. Now that I think about it, I remember her dad mentioning something about her going to UW.”

“No way... it can't be… is it?” I take in her brown hair, her clothes that show her thin frame, and her blue eyes that sparkle as she laughs. The last time I saw her, those blue eyes were clouded and weighted. The Callie I knew held more darkness, wore baggy clothes, and always looked sad. She shied away from everyone, except for that one night when she saved my ass.

“No, it’s her,” Luke says with confidence as he flicks his finger against his temple. “Remember she had that small birthmark on her temple just like that girl does. It can't be a freakish coincidence.”

“Fuck me,” I say loudly and everyone looks at me.

“Can I help you?” the tour guide asks in an icy tone.

I shake my head, noticing Callie is staring at me. “Sorry man, I thought a bee landed on me.”

Luke snorts a laugh and I suppress my laughter. The tour guide huffs in frustration and continues his speech about where all the offices are as he points at each door.

“What was that about?” Luke asks in a low voice as he folds a paper neatly in half.

“Nothing.” I skim the crowd, but Callie’s nowhere. “Did you see where she went?”

Luke shakes his head. “Nope."

My eyes travel across the hallway, but there’s no sign of her anywhere. I need to find her, so I can thank her for saving my life, like I should have done four months ago.

Chapter 2
#27 Invite Someone You Don’t Know to Dinner.

Callie

“What are our plans for tonight?” I fold up a shirt and place it into the laundry basket on top of the dryer. “Are we going out or staying in?”

Seth hops onto one of the washing machines with his legs dangling over the edge as he pops a piece of gum into his mouth. “I’m conflicted. On one hand, I want to stay in and catch up on The Vampire Diaries, but there’s this really awesome restaurant I’ve been wanting to try out.”

“Ew, not that one with the Sushi Bar.” I frown, pulling a flimsy sheet of fabric softener off one of my shirts. “I don’t like Sushi and I don’t really feel like eating out tonight.”

“No, you’ve never had Sushi,” he corrects. “And just because you haven’t tried something doesn’t mean you don’t like it.” He stifles a laugh by sealing his lips together. “I know this from my own factual evidence.”

“I’m sure you do.” My phone vibrates as it lights up from on top of the stack of shirts. “Dang it, it’s my mom. Give me a second.”

“Hi Mom,” I answer, shuffling to the corner to get away from the rattle of the washing machines.

“Hi, baby girl,” she says. “How’s your first day of classes?”

“First day of class is on Monday,” I remind her, pushing my fingertip against my ear to block out the rattle of the machines. “Today’s just the day when everyone’s checking in.”

“Well, how’s that going?”

“I already know where everything is, so I’m catching up on my laundry with Seth.”

“Hi, Mrs. Lawrence,” Seth shouts, cupping his hands around his mouth.

“Tell him hi for me, honey, okay?” she replies. “And that I can’t wait to meet him.”

I cover the receiver with my hand. “She can’t wait to meet you,” I whisper to Seth and he rolls his eyes.

“Tell her she can’t handle me.” The washing machine stops and he jumps off to open the lid.

“He says he can’t wait to meet you either,” I tell my mom. “In fact, he’s really excited.”