Two
1372 Words
“They aren’t always like that.”
Callum jumped at the sound of a girl’s voice. He turned his head to see a girl standing about ten feet away. She had long auburn hair, cream-coloured skin, and deep green eyes. Dressed in a Pink Floyd T-shirt and a pair of track pants, she was beautiful. Not because of her looks, but because of the brassy confidence he saw in her.
When the boy didn’t respond, she waved her hand at him. “Earth to the foster kid. Do you speak?”
“Yeah, um, hi,” he said. Mentally slapping himself, he thought. ‘Way to mess up in front of a pretty girl, Dummy.’
She tried to smile, but the action seemed to take too much effort. Instead, she rolled her eyes and said, “Want the grand tour?”
“Do you work out,” he asked as he followed her up the flight of stairs. Again, he mentally kicked himself for sounding like a wonton ass.
“Is that your best pick-up line,” She shot back.
“I think you got the wrong idea, babe. I just wanted to know where the closest gym was,” He watched as her shoulders squared up defensively. He smirked at her back, appreciating the sight of her tight backside swaying in his face. Yeah, baby. Show me the fireworks.
“I run for the track and field team at school,” she replied fiercely, making Callum stop in his tracks. She turned, bravely pushing him against the wall that almost caved under the pressure of his weight as he temporarily lost his balance. As she poked his chest hard with her index finger, she said, “And do not call me babe.”
When she was done talking, she leaned against the wall and rolled her eyes. It was then that Callum felt something awaken inside him, drawing him to the girl. Looking over at her, he asked, "Which room is mine?”
“That one, and mine is directly across the hall,” she said as she pointed to the door behind him with a sigh.
When he opened the door, a stark-white room met his gaze. On the far wall, a few feet from the window, was a wooden captain’s bed and a nightstand with a black reading lamp. Opening the closet door, he found five standard school uniforms hanging inside. He groaned, “I thought that Social Worker dude was screwing with me when he said private school. Is this legit? Like, it’s not some kind of a twisted joke, right?”
She laughed, "It's not that bad. The teachers are okay, but the kids are little brats who think mommy and daddy’s money is all the rage. I make my own with my babysitting job and I got a decently sized scholarship, so whatever I make is mine to keep."
Her laugh surprised him, and he turned to stare at her. He rose to his feet, listening as she stammered out an apology for talking too much as he backed her into the wall while her earlier confidence seemed to take a backseat to her nervousness.
Hooking his forefinger under her chin, he guided her head up until she was looking directly at him. He was tempted to kiss her trembling lips, tempted to give the family a reason to hurt him this time. Every other place got to him before he could fight back, and he wanted to take back his control the way his father and uncles had taught him before he was taken. He pulled away from her, not wanting to give the parents a new reason to hate him. He knew when he met them that there was something about them he needed to be weary of. However, the girl sparked something else entirely.
She wobbled on her feet, but he caught her around the waist. “Hey now, I know I’m hot, but don’t get all swoony on me.”
“Cocky, aren’t you?” She retorted. “Swoony isn’t a word, either.”
He chuckled under his breath, finding her temper entertaining. “By all means, grab a dictionary to look it up. I don’t mind waiting to be proven right.”
She pulled out her phone to look up the word. Watching her face fall, he fought a laugh. “It seems I owe you an apology. I’m sorry. You were right. Swoony really is a word, and my brother would have a field day if he was here to hear me admit I was wrong.”
“Nah, everyone makes mistakes, right? You apologized, so let’s call it. It’s not like I want to be at war with a possible ally. The name is Callum Evan Hansson,” he said as he extended his hand to her.
She rolled her eyes when he kissed her knuckles instead of shaking her hand. “Uh…”
Callum grinned, “I like you. You're sassy, classy, and a little smart-assy. Did you get hurt falling from heaven?”
Yanking her hand back as her temper flared, she said, “No. I skinned my knees crawling out of hell.”
“Nice,” he laughed, loving her feistiness. He thought about his father, and what the man would say if he knew. Shaking it off, he knew he had to rely heavily on himself regardless of whether or not he found a true ally to help him without wanting something in return. “What’s your name?”
“Ambrosia Reyes,” she said. “Before you ask, that thing downstairs is my step-mother, not my birth mother. Difference is, one is a sophisticated b***h and the other is a basic that can’t boil water.”
“So, I guess that means there’s no love lost between you two, huh? Is that why you showed me around?” He smirked as he sat down on the bed.
She snorted a laugh, “Are you high? I’d rather slap her silly with a brick to the head. Letting her live past birth was a medical malpractice, and the hospital should totally be sued. As for showing you around, it’s called being a good host. I did have some etiquette lessons before I came to live with my i***t father. What a disaster that idea turned out to be.”
He laughed again, biting his lip at how easy she was to get along with. For the first time, he had found someone who didn’t try to torture him. “Nope, I’m not high. That shits bad for the brain if you know what I mean. Why would being here be a disaster? I think it’s great. I don’t get many friends, so I was kind of wanting to count on you in that respect.”
She dropped to the bed beside him and giggled slightly. “Yeah, I hear you there. Good friends are hard to find, but I’ll be your friend if you let me, Callum. You need to take my advice seriously, though.”
He arched a blond brow at her. “What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
“I'm giving you a warning while they can't hear me; one that just might save your life. Don’t trust them, don’t tell them anything personal, and don’t mention that you remember anything from your past. They will use it against you.”
He swallowed the lump in his throat as a cold chill swept over his spine. She continued, her voice low and dark with the warning he wasn’t expecting.
“Whatever hell you've been through in the past is not over. I overheard my father talking to Cindy the other day about letting you settle in before he starts on you. I don't know how, and I don’t think I want to know, but he said he knows your father, and he’s planning to make you suffer over something your dad did to him.”
His eyes widened in a mix of fear and anticipation. Watching her leave, he went over the cautionary in his head, knowing that he would follow the advice on his own anyway before he started unpacking.
- Writer
