“How do you know Callie?”Theo asked, and Calliope could hear an edge of something sharp in his voice.Jealousy or anger, or...possession?
No, that would be silly, that would mean?—
“She was my Painting 101 instructor last semester.”
“For the love of all things holy, can we do meet and fucking greets another time!”Izzy huffed as Calliope blinked, coming back to the here and now, starting the coffee pot as fast as she could before she stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled.Loudly.
Thestudentsin her midst ceased their squabbling, all turning to look at her.
“Isabelle, please.What are you and Spike doing here at—” She checked her wall clock, noting the time was nearing almost noon.She—and Theodore—had slept nearly nine, ten hours almost.
She’d never slept so long in all her life!And this certainly wasn’t her first hangover.
“Eleven thirty-eight in the morning?”
Izzy rolled her eyes.“That’s what I was trying to say!Spike and I were headed to the Gallery?—”
“The Leehan Gallery?”Theo asked, as they all turned to look at him.
“Is there, like...another gallery on campus?”Izzy bit as Calliope pinched the bridge of her nose.
“There is not.Izzy, please get to the point?—”
“Are you hung over?”Spike asked, the innocence in his voice almost comical.Though Spike may have looked like a man who could murder you and not blink an eye, he was far from dangerous or murderous.He’d only just become human again after nearly a century, and was still learning how to navigate the modern world.With Izzy by his side, and his friends, which included Calliope.
And apparently, Theodore.
What were the odds?
“Spike—”
“Anyway, as I wastryingto say,” Izzy huffed as the coffee spat ominously, “Spike and I went early to check out all the shit on the schedule for the new work study joining the shit show?—”
Theo raised his hand, and Calliope felt as if her head was going to explain.
“Theodore...”
“Um...am I supposed to come in today or something?”
“What are you talking about?”Callie bit.
“The Leehan...Gallery...that’s...my work study this semester.”
Calliope felt the blood drain from her body at his words.
“I’m sorry, what?—”
“The Leehan Gallery...it was all I could fit into my schedule this year, and...uh...how did you know I washere?”Theo asked curiously, his eyebrows furrowing.
Spike raised an eyebrow.“We didn’t.We’re not here foryou.”
“What does Callie have to do with the gallery?”he asked.
Izzy huffed in annoyance as the coffee pot beeped.She grabbed the pot as Calliope tried to focus on her breathing.
Her shoulders felt heavy, the world moving at the speed of sound around her, and she was starting to think she may explode.
She was not equipped enough to handle all of this with a hangover, an achy back, and short patience.
