9. Lincoln
NINE
LINCOLN
“ F uck,” I whispered under my breath, cautiously observing Sadie with a side glance. She held my hand as we stood by the bus stop—watching as other university students scampered on by. I pressed the phone harder to my ear and let out a sigh.
“Sorry, man,” Andrew drawled through the receiver. “If I would have known, I wouldn’t have picked up this shift.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure out something.”
“I really don’t think you should go to this one,” Andrew said before I could cut the line. “See if he’ll reconsider.”
“You and I both know that’s not going to happen,” I said. There was a moment of silence on the other side. “Don’t worry about Sadie, tonight. Come by after your shift, if you can.”
Then I hung up.
Well, it’s official. I’m fucked.
One of the biggest matches of the season and I had no one to watch Sadie. Not having Andrew around to babysit was going to be an issue. From the moment he mentioned his extra shift work to me, I knew it would. I just didn’t think it would screw me over this early on.
“Come on, bubs. We don’t want to be late.” I said, swooping Sadie’s tiny frame into my arms. She giggled from the movement, her braid flying around her head.
The walk to the main campus library was much faster without having to slow my pace for her. She laughed while perched on my hip, holding out the arm that wasn’t around my neck and pretending that Beary was flying through the air.
The hallway leading up to the library was busier than normal.
Students swarmed in and out of the open doors as they prepared for midterms. Once we were through the main doors, I beelined for the study rooms. As to be expected, Cali was already sitting at the round table.
I observed her for a moment from the window.
Her head was bent over an open textbook, her chocolate brown hair cascading down in waves—some strands coming loose from behind her ear.
Whatever she was reading had her utmost attention.
She nibbled on her bottom lip, lost in concentration.
Hopefully, whatever she was focusing on would distract from the fact I was five minutes late. If I was being honest—considering my track record—that was nothing to complain about.
The door to the study room creaked in welcome. Cali’s eyes drifted from the open pages and landed on me before they zoned in on Sadie.
“Hey,” Cali said from the other side of the compact room. Her smile widened as she addressed Sadie. “I’m glad you could join us again.”
As expected, Sadie didn’t respond. I could feel her pull her teddy bear closer as she regarded my tutor.
While she wasn’t fond of strangers, I could tell she wasn’t completely uncomfortable around Cali either.
I hoped so, anyway. From the looks of things, she would be joining me more often.
At least for the next little while, until my mom rotated off night shifts.
“I brought a couple of things for you today.” Cali bent below the table to dig through her bag. From under the table, a jumbo pack of crayons and a coloring book materialized.
I placed Sadie down in her chair. As I took off my backpack, Cali slid the art supplies over. “Do you like to color?”
Sadie nodded, her blue eyes focused on the fairytale characters decorating the front page of the coloring book.
Cali simply smiled before she opened it, flipping through until she found the page she was looking for. “I thought you might like this page. It has a family of bears that look just like your teddy.”
Realization dawned on Sadie’s face, a slight smile lighting her up.
Cali lowered back into her seat, appearing pleased with how happy Sadie was with her gift. Which only made me feel worse. Why hadn’t I thought of that?
“Thank you,” I said, settling in my chair. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know. I wanted to.” She gave me a kind smile before rummaging through some of the neatly stacked papers beside her. “You, on the other hand, don’t get so lucky.”
“Dammit, no coloring pages for me?”
Cali breathed out a laugh. “Unfortunately, no.”
She pulled out a short stack of papers. On top was a pink sticky note with my name on it. “You get the pleasure of writing a mock quiz today.”
A heavy sigh left my mouth as I leaned into the plastic chair. It rocked back with my weight. This was the last thing I wanted to do right now.
“Don’t be like that.” Cali slid the booklet in front of me. “I’m using this to get a better idea of what we need to focus on.”
I ran both hands through my unkempt hair, allowing them to rest on the top of my head. “I can tell you that without doing the quiz.”
“Oh yeah, and what’s that?” She appeared generally curious.
“Everything.”
Shaking her head, I watched as she smiled down at the notes in front of her. “You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
Taking a deep breath, I sat back up. The legs of my chair hit the carpeted floor with a thump. “Alright then… let’s get this over with.”
I stared at the title on the top of the page.
“Do you want me to go over it with you?” Cali offered when she noticed I was hesitating.
I rubbed a thumb against my jaw. “No.”
It wouldn’t make a difference.
Cali analyzed my face—searching. “Then what are you waiting for?”
“I need a pencil.”
“I was hoping that was the one thing you would have brought…” She reached into a rectangular pouch resting on the table and pulled out a freshly sharpened pencil. Without a word, she placed it down in front of me. “Anything else?”
I shook my head.
“Great,” she beamed. “You have forty-five minutes.”
It was hard to concentrate on writing the so-called ‘mock quiz’. And not because I didn’t understand half of the terms in the paper, but because I was too busy taking in how well Cali interacted with Sadie.
Not long after I started writing her test, Cali had moved to sit across the table.
Now she was nestled next to Sadie, the two of them coloring one of the pages of Sadie’s new book together.
Occasionally, Cali would comment—complimenting my sister on things like how neatly she colored or the shades she chose.
She didn’t probe for a response, almost as if she wasn’t expecting one.
Sadie’s body language shifted. The tension she held earlier melted into ease as she made marks on the paper. I even witnessed her point to something on the page for Cali to acknowledge. She did, and my baby sister’s face lit brighter than a billboard on Broadway.
It was nearing the end of our time in the study room. Cali was packing up, and I was finishing getting Sadie’s jacket on when a stupid thought came to mind.
“Are you busy tonight?” The question was out of my mouth before I could second-guess myself. Part of me wished that I had. Cali’s doe-like eyes practically popped out of her head. “I have a match, and I have no one to watch Sadie for me.”
Cali blinked, seemingly pulling herself together. “I—uh… yeah, I’m free, I guess.”
My tongue brushed over my bottom lip. “In any other circumstance, I wouldn’t be asking, but I’m stuck. My mom and Andrew are working, and the neighbor that occasionally watches her is still out of town.”
She studied me for a moment, causing the back of my neck to heat up. “I have an assignment to work on for Hamilton, but I can watch her at the dorms if that’s okay.”
“Yeah,” I said, relief washing over me. “I can drop her off there before my match at eight. Which dorm block are you in?”
“Wilson Hall. Text me when you’re there, and I’ll come down and let you in.”
I nodded, making a mental note. There was a long pause before I continued. “I don’t know when I’ll be done; it might be a late one.”
“That’s okay. I don’t have anywhere to be,” Calista said regarding me. Then, the corner of her lip rose. “Just don’t make a habit of it.”
I really hoped it wouldn’t be.