The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden (The Coincidence, #1)

He giggles. “But you’re going?”


I nod with my heart squeezing inside my chest. “Yeah, I’m going. Just as long as Kayden will give me a ride.”

He covers his mouth with his hand to muffle his laughter. “I bet he would love to give you a ride.”

I press my lips together, holding back a smile. Pretend all I want, the idea makes my body tingle. I begin putting my clothes in a bag, ignoring his remark.

“Do me a favor.” He steps in front of me and looks me in the eye with a stern expression. “Let him get close to you if he wants to, okay? In fact, you can cross off number thirty-four on the list.”

I fold up my jacket and set it in the bag. “That’s let someone get close to you and I already have—you.”

“Well, I’m crossing it off and putting Kayden’s name up there.” He backs for the door, pausing before he walks out. “Call me every day so I don’t worry.”

“Yes, sir,” I say firmly with a salute and he laughs. “And vice versa.”

Once he’s gone, I finish packing and sink down onto the bed to dial Kayden’s number.

“Hey,” he answers and something thumps in the background.

“Hey... are you getting ready to head back home?”

“Yeah, we’re carrying our stuff out to the truck right now. I was actually just getting ready to come over to your dorm.”

“Why?”

He chuckles into the phone. “To make sure you were getting packed to go back home.”

I peel away at my thumbnail. “Who said I was going?”

“I saw Seth this morning and he promised me he’d talk you into it,” he says. “And I knew he would.”

“Seth’s kind of turning into a traitor,” I reply, lying back on the bed and staring at the poster on the wall across from me.

“Callie, if you don’t want to go, you don’t have to.” He pauses. “But I really want you to.”

I’m still not sure I want to. “Okay, I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

I hang up and stare out the window at the leaves and dirt splattered against the grass, put there by the wind. How could the direction of my life change so fast? I’m doing things I wouldn’t normally do, trusting people, feeling things, living life. I wonder how long it will last.

Chapter 15
#21 Let Yourself Be Bored

Callie

It’s been two days since Kayden and Luke dropped me off at my house. Luckily, it was at night, so my mom didn’t run out and embarrass me. I’ve heard from Kayden quite a few times through texting, but we haven’t hung out.

The entire drive home, I had an out-of-body experience. I was riding in the truck with Kayden and Luke and it was surreal, like I was watching it happen to me instead of living it. I’ve had a few similar moments, but they were never good like that. They were bad and full of images I wish I could have been blind to.

It’s a couple of days before Thanksgiving and my mom and I are in the kitchen. The cupboards are stacked with food, the stove with pans, and the sink with dirty dishes. There are orange and brown leafy decorations along the tan walls, in the center of the table, in the windowsill, framing the doorway—my mom has always been a big holiday decorator.

“I still can’t believe how much you’ve changed.” My mother beams at me and I shake my head, chopping an apple on a cutting board. She touches my hair, noting the length of it. “And you stopped cutting your hair. I’m so glad. I’ve wanted it longer since the day you cut it off.”

“I’m not sure if I’m a fan of it,” I lie, angling my head sideways and moving it away from her. I’m a fan when Kayden’s touching it, which he did during most of the drive here, but that’s it. “In fact, I think I’m going to chop it off again.”

She puts her hands on her hips and narrows her hazel eyes. “Callie Lawrence, you will do no such thing. You look so beautiful, honey. A little skinny, but that’s probably because you’re not wearing all those baggy clothes.”

I fidget with the corner of my fitted black t-shirt. “I’m as skinny as I’ve always been.”

She reaches behind her back and refastens the tie on her apron with little apple patterns on it. “Well, we’re going to fatten you up a little. I’m making food galore.”

I set the chopping knife down and reach for another apple. “Why? If it’s going to be just you, me, and dad.”

“Oh, we’re going over to the Owens’ this year.” She takes a wooden spoon out of a drawer, tucking a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear. “They’ve invited a lot of people, like they did a couple of years ago.”

I frown as I recollect the dinner she is talking about. That was the year Kayden started getting serious with Daisy and she made that dinner for me a living hell. “Who’s going to be there?”

She shrugs and starts humming to the song playing from the stereo. “Should we go get our hair done that day before the dinner? Wouldn’t that be fun? To get all dressed up?”

I’m about to tell her no, and that it sounds like the last thing I want to do, when my phone beeps, announcing there’s a text message waiting.

Kayden: Did you know that Mrs. McGregor is having an affair with Tom Pelonie?

Me: Um… what?

Kayden: Or that Tina Millison is getting a new Mercedes for Christmas?

Me: Should I know this? Because I’m really confused.

Kayden: I think my mother needs a friend. She’s been following me all over the house, telling me the latest gossip. She even wanted me to take her to get her nails done.

I snort a laugh, but quickly erase it when my mom looks at me questioningly.

Me: I guess she misses you.

Kayden: No, she’s bored and needs to lay off the wine. I think my dad’s been on a lot of trips while I was gone and the empty house has made her lose her sanity more than she already had before I left.

Me: Mine wants me to go get my hair done with her.

Kayden: Yeah, but you’re a girl.

Me: Oh, I forgot for a sec. Thanx for reminding me.

Kayden: I haven’t forgotten at all. In fact, it’s all I think about all the time.

Me: That I’m a girl???

Kayden: That ur a girl I very badly want to touch right now.

I press my lips together, uncertain how to respond. We’ve barely kissed once since I dropped my secret on him and suddenly he’s talking dirty to me.

“Callie, what’s wrong?” My mother asks with concern. “You look flushed.”

I glance up from the message at her worried eyes. “I’m fine.”

She reaches for my phone. “Who are you texting?”

I turn my back on her and walk to the table, so she can’t see my face.

Kayden: Did I scare u off?

Me: No, I was just thinking about something.

Kayden: About me touching you?

“Callie, the pans are boiling over,” my mom says. “Can you turn the temperature down?”

Me: I have to go. My mom’s having a cooking crisis

Kayden: Okay, I’ll text u later. Be prepared to give me an answer ;)

My skin is hot as I run over to the stove and turn the knobs to low. Steam fills the air as I take a lid off one of the pots and stir the noodles in the water.

“So, about getting our hair done.” My mom picks the conversation up right where we left off. “What do you think?”

“I think I’m going to go up to my room,” I evade her question, wiping my hands on a paper towel. “I’ve got a lot of stuff to do.”

“But it’s break time,” she says. “We’re supposed to be spending time together. What are you going to do up there besides be bored?”

My mother has always wanted me to be things I’m not, even before I changed. When I was six she wanted me to be a ballerina and I wanted to be a football player. When I was ten she thought it would be neat if we bought me a whole wardrobe of dresses for school and all I wanted was to pierce my ears. When I was eleven I decided I wanted to learn how to play the guitar. She signed me up for beauty pageant lessons.