Fuck.
Concentrate, Callum.
I shake my head, then peer once again into the eyepiece. I wonder which book she has with her tonight as she opens it and turns on the small book light. I smile to myself, remembering the night I left her birthday present on her doorstep. I knew she hadn’t wanted to celebrate her birthday, and I knew that she wanted nothing to do with me. But I just needed to do something, give her something. I couldn’t bear the thought of her reliving that night every year, so I thought that if I could just show her…
I sigh, looking down at the sketch. I spend a few minutes tracing the strands of hair around her face, then take another glance through the telescope. I see her in a WSU t-shirt.MyWSU t-shirt. I thought I’d lost that years ago. The giant red paint stain on the sleeve is the only indicator. I wonder how often she wears it. I begin to sketch her hair, then her face. Tonight, I was able to see the changes to her features. And she was so damn gorgeous.
Soon, I’d draw her in much more detail, her freckles placed exactly where they’re supposed to be, her eyes perfectly drawn with whatever expression the book made run through her. Soon, I’d have her.She’dbe yours already if you’d just tried harder.You should have told her the truth sooner, dipshyte.
My posture sags as I stare at the floor, lost in the what-ifs and should-haves.
Callum 16 Years Old
I woke up with a migraine I could feel in my eyes. The room was spinning like the tilt-a-whirl at the state fair. I reached for my phone on the nightstand to check the time, but it wasn’t there. Odd. I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands, wishing away the ache I felt. No use. My body felt like I had taken a nasty fall.
Wait. How did I get home?
I sat up on my elbows and saw Ronan asleep on the leather chair in the corner, mouth slightly ajar and snoring softly.
“Hey, dickhead!” I said, tossing a pillow at him. He jolted upright when the pillow made contact with his face.
“What the fuck, man?” He looked like I felt. Like shit. Eyes red. Clothes disheveled.
“How did we get home last night, and what the fuck happened? I feel like I was in the ring with a heavyweight champ.”
Ronan shifted uncomfortably, and I knew something was wrong. “Ronan, what is it?”
“Uh,” he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. “I’m gonna need you to stay calm while I tell you this, Cal. I mean it. Let me finish.”
“Ronan, you'd better start talking and start talking fast,” I said as I jumped out of bed, trying my best to ignore the way the room seemed to spin faster than before. I staggered to the side and crashed into the nightstand, the contents scattering across the floor. I felt pain explode in my thigh. Yep, that’ll leave a bruise.
“Nessa,” he started. “She drugged you last night and some things happened…”
“Ronan, what the fuck happened?” I managed to ground out as the pounding in my head intensified.
“Maeve, well, she—she walked into the room that Nessa had taken you into. She saw Nessa straddling you…” He trailed off, looking down at the ground.
Bile rose in my throat, and anger filled my veins.
“Where is she? Where’s my phone? I need to call her. I—”
Ronan placed his hand on my upper arm, and I whipped my head in his direction.
“Orin is taking care of her, and he’s going to try to talk to her, tell her about what happened. But she doesn’t want to see you right now…”
He looked at me with pity, and I felt like I was going to explode with rage. I shrugged his hand off and grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt from my closet, and dressed quickly.
“Cal, it’s not a good idea,” he said, taking a stance in the doorway, trying to block my path.
I plowed through him, feeling a savage satisfaction at his grunt of pain.
“You’ve got two options, man,” I said as I booked it down the stairs toward the garage, “either you drive me there, or I drive myself. Make your decision quickly because I’m not waiting.”
Ronan ran ahead of me, muttering “Arsehole” as he passed. He grabbed a set of keys from the labeled pegs in the garage and headed to the fastest car that we owned. We slid into our seats, and the engine roared to life.
“Tell me what you know,” I demanded as Ronan pulled out of the garage.
The drive was rough. I tried not to spill my guts on the floorboard while Ronan dodged traffic and filled me in on what had gone down. I couldn’t remember any of it. The whole night was like a gaping hole in my memory.
