I called my mom and instead of tears, I got a lot of screaming and questions. That was the thing about my parents. They were quite different but fit each other. My dad was softening as he got older and I loved him all the more for it. I ended the quick call with the promise to FaceTime them with Greta this weekend. I practically floated to the food court. I wanted a burrito and nothing was going to get in my way—I was on cloud nine.
* * * *
“He doesn’t stay on one girl long. Frankie had him for three months and that was the longest one yet. This new girl, Cal something—she won’t last.”
“She’s too sporty. A guy like Zade needs a knockout. No offense to her. I’m all about supporting women and all that, but it’s like she doesn’t even try.”
“I know! I knowIcan capture his attention. I bought his jersey and made it into a dress. Well, I guess some might call it a dress…it’s a tad too short.” The girls burst into giggles and I took a deep breath. I held my tray and walked by them, making sure to hold eye contact. I grinned at them and winked. Let them talk shit. We weren’t in high school and they didn’t know me. Plus, I was still so high from the opportunity to work with the team that no petty bitches would ruin my mood.
I sat down at a table away from them and waved at them, and one of them gasped. They should be ashamed. I put on the new playlist I’d made that morning. It was a sick mixture of old rock, classic funk town and eighties. I was feeling the eighties hair bands lately and the upbeat tunes put me in a better mood.
Zade and I weren’t labeling anything and I figured it was best. No labels meant less pain when shit hit the fan, right? I wanted to text him everything about what had happened but figured I’d wait until I saw him next. If our history was to repeat itself, I had a feeling I’d see him later anyway. Regardless of those bitches, who didn’t know he’d been with me for three hours last night. I blushed at the thought.
“Ay, yo, girl!” Aaron marched up to me, a wicked smile on his face. “Can I join ya?”
“By all means.” I pulled out the headphones and noticed the stares of the girls around us. “Must you draw so much attention by wearing that crap?” I pointed to his extremely low-buttoned shirt. He might as well have left it all unbuttoned. It looked ridiculous paired with skintight black jeans. “You’re dressed like you’re channeling a rock star who lost his fortune.”
“It works for the ladies, Callie. Trust me.” He spread his arms around the chairs next to him and winked at some girls walking by.
“You are ridiculous, but you make me laugh. So, we can be friends.” I eyed his plate. “Four hamburgers?Really?”
“Oh, yeah. This stallion needs to eat to keep his amazing stamina.” He shot a finger gun at me and I laughed. “You have a nice laugh, Callie.”
“Why, thank you, Aaron.” We ate in silence for a minute, until one of the girls from earlier walked up to us. Aaron had a shadow of a frown on his forehead and I faced the awkward girl.
“Hello. May we help you?” I knew her type and tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but her eyes said it all. She was vindictive and had only come for the sole intention of being mean. Ihatedmean girls.
“Hi, uh, Callie. You’re all over the Zwillows Pillows Twitter and I know it’s none of my business, but I wanted to let you know about what happened last night.” Before I reacted, she shoved her phone in my face and I was met with a picture of Zade being kissed on the cheek. She swiped to another. Same outfit, but he grinned down at the girl with a very intimate expression. My stomach fell to my toes and not in a good way. It was a sickening swoop of nerves, but my dad’s words played back to me. ‘Never let ’em see ya sweat.’
“I’m sure your intentions were just of the best quality, hun, but showing me pictures of a well-known athlete around campus…what’s the point?”
“He isn’t yours.” Her eyes flared.
“Of course he isn’t. He is his own damn person. He’s not a damn pony to show around.”
“Us girls have to stick together, right?” she sneered. “He’ll drop you, like the others. Girl power. Bye.” She walked away, stiffer than before. I side-glanced at Aaron, to catch an amused expression on his face. I released a long, drawn-out breath and met Aaron’s eyes. They were on the brink of laughing, but he held back. “What? Spit it out, Aaron.”
“You good?” A concerned expression replaced the amused one and he reached out his hand only to pull it back. “That was awkward as fuck.”
I laughed without humor. The sour feeling in my stomach had nothing to do with the half-eaten burrito I was chowing down on. “I can handle myself. Don’t worry, Aaron.”
“I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes here, but those pictures don’t mean anything. I know you and Zade are involved… I would hate to see something like that mess it up. He’s seems stupidly fucking happy.” His sparkling eyes were now dark. “Shit like that will probably keep happening.”
“Thanks for the pep talk. I’ll be okay. Shit, that came out poorly.”
“You think? Damn, woman. You got a tude.” He laughed, the mood lightening. “You ain’t you when you’re hungry.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” I picked up the burrito again, swallowing down the warning in my head. I needed to have an intervention with all the parts of my body trying to control me, but today was not the day. “Hangry is one of the top three words I often use to describe myself. I get angry when I’m hungry.”
“Damn, I like it. I’m going to use it now.” He sent a quick text to someone. His phone went off and he frowned. His expression changed from forlorn to amused. “Fucking hell.”
“What now?” I asked exasperatedly. Aaron was a rollercoaster of emotions. Happy, sad, amused, annoyed…hangry and now frustrating.
“You’re trending on the campus Twitter. You have a hashtag.”
“No, I don’t.” I checked out his phone and saw he wasn’t lying. It read in bold words #cattycallie #calliehasclaws. “Kill me now.”
“I have to say, Callie, I thought life was crazy before you, but I was damn wrong. This shit is perfect. Better than TV.”
