Chapter 4
FOUR
CALLUM
“ W hat do you mean, you’re going to Denver? I thought we discussed this already. Eliana isn’t going to that competition. We can’t afford it right now.”
“Marcus, she has to go. This is an incredible opportunity for her. Are you seriously going to sit here and tell me that we aren’t going to provide her with the same opportunities that her brother gets simply because it’s inconvenient for you to work out in the budget?”
With a sigh, I roll my eyes, and put my headphones on to try and drown them out.
Lena’s at gymnastics, so she doesn’t have to hear it.
They always conveniently wait until Lena’s not home - either because she’s at gymnastics practice or she’s hanging out with Sutton - before they start fighting.
I don’t know why they bother, since they don’t seem to care about trying to hide it from me .
They’ve been fighting more and more lately, and it’s getting really annoying .
Their voices start to get louder and I try to turn up the volume to drown them out, but once the shouting starts I can’t block out the noise anymore. With a sigh, I grab my jacket and pocket my phone before heading downstairs.
Dad is practically red in the face, and mom’s waving her hands as she screams something back at him as I pass by, but I do my best to tune them both out. They’re both so focused on yelling at each other that they don’t even notice as I shuffle down the hall past them to the backdoor in the kitchen.
Tucking my head down, I quietly step out, crossing the backyard before slipping past the gate that opens to the field behind our house.
Once outside, I pause just long enough to put on my jacket, pulling up the hood before making my way down the path I‘ve worn through the long grass after years of making this same trek.
It takes me several minutes, but eventually I make it to the tree line that hides the old fort I used to hang out in as a kid, and the meadow that lies just beyond that point.
The fort is long gone, but the clearing is still there on the other side, undisturbed. It’s not much to look at these days, but when I was younger it was a great place to hang out with my friends; now, it’s become one of the only places I can seem to go to find any peace and quiet.
It’s dark out, but I don’t need to be able to see the path to know exactly where I’m going.
Making my way by sheer muscle memory, it doesn’t take long for me to find my favorite resting area.
Past the tree line with my old hidden fort, and well into the clearing, is a great little place where the blades are overgrown, except for the exact spot where the grass has flattened after years of repetition, lying there night after night and looking up at the stars.
t’s a great place to just get away from the chaos of my parents, and the pressure they always have for me to keep up with my hockey shit. The only place where I’m free to just be myself without expectations or prying eyes .
When I finally reach the grassy field, I come up short.
There’s someone here. But that doesn’t make any sense.
No one knows about this place. This is my spot.
But there is definitely someone sitting there, in my patch of grass that is almost completely flattened from all the times I have come to lay out here and daydream about getting the hell out.
Reaching into my pocket, I hit the button on the side of my phone to turn down the volume on my music while I slowly make my way forward, and my eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Shorty?” What the hell is she doing here?
“Eeek!” With a screech that I can hear, even through the earbuds blocking out most of the noise, a book goes flying as she jumps up from where she had been sitting next to a small patch of light. A lantern. The crazy girl brought a lantern with her, and invaded my spot .
“Callum! You scared me!”
“What are you doing sitting out here in the dark, Sutton?” My arms cross over my chest as I glare in her direction.
“Did you follow me?” This crazy kid just won’t leave me the hell alone.
I know she’s had a crush on me for years, and most of the time I just ignore her silly schoolgirl heart eyes, but Jesus , can’t the damn girl leave me alone for five minutes?
“What?” She crosses her own arms now, looking confused and defensive. “How could I have followed you ? I was here first.”
Oh. Right. Well, still. That doesn’t mean she hadn’t followed me before now. “How do you even know about this place?”
She scoffs, shooting me an annoyed look.
“Really, Cal? You think you’re the only one who comes out here? As if .” Sutton’s look of annoyance is emphasized by the way she rolls her eyes.
“Go home, Shorty. You shouldn’t be here.”
Sutton crosses her arms, and I swear, if she were standing, she would probably stomp her foot. God, this girl is so annoying. “Make me.”
“I swear to God, Sutton. I am not in the mood for your girlie theatrics. Go. Home.”
“No.”
“Sutton-”
“I have just as much right to be here as you do. Besides, what are you gonna do, tattle on me? Then my dad would tell your dad, and you would be in just as much trouble as me. Why don’t you just pick a different spot? I was here first.”
“Sut-”
“I’m not leaving, Cal. And you know you can’t make me. So, there!”
She says this as if she just made a grand argument, and I get the feeling it took a lot of willpower to stop from sticking out her tongue at me like when we were both kids, but she’s right - unfortunately.
I can’t make her leave without talking to her dad, who is also my coach.And not only will he tell my parents that I snuck out too, but then I’ll probably end up having to do extra drills for the next month.
As much as it annoys me that she’s here when all I want to do is just be alone, it’s not worth the hassle of fighting her further.
Pointedly ignoring the brat, I walk several feet away, and drop onto the cool grass. Grass that isn’t totally flat from years of meticulous wear and tear. It sticks out in various directions, ticking my face and making my eyes water.
Still, I’m not going to give her the satisfaction of knowing how much it bothers me.
With a forced sigh of contentment, I close my eyes.
“Fine, you can stay. Just please, for the love of God, don’t start jabbering at me.
” Not waiting for a reply, I tap the screen on my phone once more, the music blaring in my ears, even as I feel her glaring at me from across the distance.
I’m not sure how long it’s been, but the air is getting chilly now.
With reluctance, I sit up. I should probably head back.
As I stand, I glance to my left and I’m surprised to see Sutton still sitting off in the distance.
She has moved further away since we spoke, but there she is, shivering in the cold, shoulders hunched over, and she keeps writing in that damn notebook under nothing but the dim glow of the lantern and faint starlight.
Pulling out my earbuds, I make my way over to where she’s sitting, but she’s so focused that she doesn’t even notice my approach.
“Sutton.”
She doesn’t look up.
“Sutton.”
Still nothing. What is she writing in that damn notebook anyway, that could be so important? A chilly breeze passes through the clearing and I watch as Sutton shivers once more, not bothering to stop with her furious writing. What is wrong with this kid?
Huffing in annoyance, I take off my jacket and drape it across her shoulders before plopping next to her on the grass.
Startled, she finally glances up from her notebook and blinks, having to squint against the darkness to see me.
“It’s getting late. We should go.”
I watch in amusement as she bites her lip, glancing from me, down to her notebook, and back up again.
There’s this almost cute reluctance written all over her face, but the wind is picking up now, blowing loose strands of hair across her face.
Reaching out, I tuck a loose strand behind her ear before standing, and hold out a hand to her.
“Come on, Shorty. I’ll walk you home.”