Long Hair Don't Care

by Maggie Dallen

  Yes. Fine. Perhaps that looked childish. But I was angry, and he was…he was…

  He was just so aggravating. Amusement danced in his eyes once more because, apparently, that was his default setting. “I don’t deserve Callie? Willow, what are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about you. And Callie. And how you smile and you flirt and you make people like you.” Words were tumbling out of my mouth unchecked. Some part of my brain was horrified.

  Unfortunately, that part wasn’t in control. I wasn’t sure who was in control right now, but I couldn’t seem to reign her in.

  “...and it’s just sooo easy for you, isn’t it, Roman?” I heard myself saying.

  “What’s so easy?” He looked bewildered. Bewildered, but still amused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  I stabbed a finger in his direction, just narrowly missing his nose. “I’m talking about you and Callie,” I said for what had to be the fifth time.

  “Me and Callie,” he repeated, like it still didn’t make sense. “Willow, Callie’s just my singer—”

  “Exactly!” My voice was growing too loud and I was almost positive I’d stopped making sense.

  This isn’t me, some part of my brain was screaming. I didn’t lose control. I didn’t become a senseless, raving lunatic at a party.

  I didn’t even go to parties.

  And yet, I heard myself continuing like some possessed demon. “If you had any sense at all, you’d see the amazingness that is right in front of your face, and you would reach out and take it.”

  “Callie?” He looked doubtful, like he still wasn’t sure who we were talking about.

  Idiot.

  “Of course, Callie,” I said. “She’s the kindest person you’ll ever meet. She has the biggest heart I’ve ever known. And for no reason anyone could possibly understand, she wants to give it to you.”

  His jaw dropped. “She does?”

  “You moron.” I didn’t mean for that to come out aloud, but there you have it. I’d just crossed the line from lunatic to aggressive lunatic. Any second now someone would come and take me away in handcuffs. Or maybe a straightjacket.

  I kind of wished they would.

  I was hanging out in the breeze. I was dangling over the edge. I was losing all sense of reason, and the only thing that made sense was that Callie deserved better than this dope. She really ought to be with someone like Maverick. If there was any justice in the world, she’d fall for the incredibly kind football player who’d just carted her off to nurse her back to sobriety. But this world wasn’t fair, and there was no such thing as justice.

  If there was, I wouldn’t be waiting for test results. Again.

  I swallowed a surge of panic and clenched my hands at my sides. Focus. If Callie insisted on liking this idiot, then the least Roman could do was try and be worthy of her.

  “You need to do better,” I said suddenly. I jabbed him with my pointer finger again, and my hand bounced off a hard muscular chest. “You need to be better.”

  The amusement died. His dark eyes were bottomless when he grew serious. How had I never noticed that before? Maybe you had to be right up close and glaring at him to see it, but now I couldn’t not notice that they seemed to go on forever.

  “She likes you, and she deserves a good guy,” I said.

  “I didn’t—” He looked around, alarm tightening his too-handsome features. “I didn’t know.”

  “Uh huh. Right.” I’d never really heard myself sound so blatantly sarcastic before. “So you just flirt with everyone that way, I guess.”

  “I didn’t flirt.” His brow furrowed, and I could practically see his mind racing. “Did I? Oh crap.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean to.”

  “You didn’t mean to?” My voice still dripped with bitter sarcasm when I repeated him, and he flinched.

  “Where is she?” he asked, shifting to look past me to where Callie and I had been sitting by the fire. “Is she okay?” It was the concern in his eyes that had my rage sputtering. It wasn’t exactly extinguished, but it wasn’t quite flaring anymore either. “Is she upset or something? I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings.”

  He muttered some curse words under his breath and then turned his attention back to me. “I didn’t mean to hurt her, Willow. I like Callie. She’s a good kid.”

  I flinched on Callie’s behalf. No one called the girl they liked-liked a ‘good kid.’ I didn’t have to know much about boys to know that to be true.

  “Yeah, well…” I started to back away. My heart still raced wildly in my chest, but without the anger to cling to, it just made me dizzy. “If you like her so much, do her a favor and leave her alone.”

  Two

  Roman

  * * *

  So here’s what I didn’t do. I didn’t leave Callie alone. Maybe I should have. I definitely thought about it. In fact, I thought about little else except Willow’s words in the days after her insane tirade by the lake. And in the end, I realized she was right. Not about everything, obviously. I hadn’t flirted with Callie—at least, not on purpose. Truthfully, I’d never even seen her that way. She’d always struck me as more of a little sister sort. A friend, hopefully, but nothing more.

  But that got me thinking. Why was that? Why didn’t I see her as something more? Willow was right about Callie. She’d nailed it. Callie was a sweetheart. Kind and genuine, funny and caring. She was the real deal. The kind of girl any guy should want by his side.

  But Willow was right about something else. I didn’t deserve Callie. I couldn’t even imagine why she liked me in the first place. I wasn’t the good guy. I was the guy who forgot to call after hooking up at a party. Okay fine, I was the guy who forgot to even ask for a number.

  Everyone at Lindale knew what I was about. I went to parties, I played in my band, and I made as much cash as I could working at my uncle’s restaurant. That was me. That was all there was. What you saw was what you got, much to my mom’s horror.

  My dad would probably be horrified too if he were around to see how I’d turned out.

  But he’d left years ago, and my mom had given up on me—her words, not mine. Just so long as I earned enough money to pay my own way, she didn’t care what I did. Which was good. It was great. It meant I had all the freedom in the world.

  But Willow’s words poked a hole in my perfect little world. I didn’t know what it was exactly, but I’d felt like a deflated balloon ever since she’d reamed me out in front of my friends.

  It wasn’t every day I got yelled at. By anyone, least of all a girl my age. That was probably it. It was a shock, that was all.

  But after nearly two days of replaying Willow’s lecture over and over again, I’d come to one decision. Willow was right. Callie did deserve better. But for whatever reason, she liked me, and if I had any sense, I’d thank my lucky stars that someone like her would even give me a shot.

  So when Callie and I were working the same event on Sunday, I did it. I asked her out.

  It was weird. Super awkward, especially when Maverick came over and interrupted. All this time I’d thought Callie had a thing for the giant football star but, not surprisingly, I was just as off base about who Callie liked as I was about everything else in my life.

  She said yes. So I guess Willow was right. I flinched at the thought as I headed to my uncle’s restaurant with Callie at my side. Of course Willow was right.

  It wasn’t like I’d intentionally flirted with Callie, but that was just kinda who I was. I flirted. It hadn’t occurred to me that Callie might take it seriously. But she had, and it was on me to make this right.

  So here I was. On a date.

  On my first date, truth be told. I wasn’t big on the whole relationship thing, but maybe with a girl like Callie I wouldn’t mess it up. I grabbed a menu, and we slid into our seats. I hated making anyone actually wait on me here since this was where I worked. It was also basically my second home, and I’d stupidly thought that if I b
rought Callie here, I’d be more comfortable.

  I was wrong.

  I was so very wrong.

  Sweat trickled down the back of my neck as I stared at this sweetheart with wide eager eyes across from me. Everything in her gaze spoke of expectation. My ribcage felt too tight as I realized that...whatever she expected? I probably wouldn’t be it. I wasn’t sure why she had a thing for me, but it wouldn’t last once she got to know me. Either she’d see that or I’d mess it up, or—

  “The band sounded great today,” she said as she fidgeted with the menu.

  “Yeah. That last song was the best we’ve ever played it.”

  We both relaxed a bit as the conversation turned to band practice. That was what we had in common, after all. And I could talk about music all day and night. A little while later I realized that was what exactly I was doing.

  Callie had a smile plastered on her face but her eyes looked glazed over. It was only then that I realized I’d been rambling about guitars for way too long.

  “I’m gonna go get our food,” I said before slipping out of the booth and into the kitchen.

  “A date!” Uncle Albert’s voice boomed in the small kitchen, and the small crew gave me knowing grins.

  My uncle loved to embarrass me—always had and probably always would. Ever since my dad took off, my mother’s brother had been the next best thing. “Yeah, yeah,” I said as he cracked all kinds of jokes about what a fine upstanding gentleman I was becoming.

  He was joking, obviously. My uncle was always pointing out what a screwup I was. An ambitionless slacker, that was me.

  I normally laughed it off. I was good at laughing things off. But right now, his teasing made Willow’s words return in full force, and it threw me off balance.

  She deserves better. You need to be better.

  Crap. That nerdy librarian was in my head in the worst possible way.

  “Yo, Romeo.” My uncle lightly smacked the back of my head, which was his loving way of getting my attention whenever my mind wandered. Right now I appreciated it because the last thing I needed was to stand here and stew over that freaky chick’s words.

  I swear, some part of me was convinced she was a witch or something, and her words had been a curse.

  “You gonna get back out there or what?” my uncle asked.

  Or what. I had our plates full of food in my hands, but I didn’t want to go back out there. I was failing. It was written all over Callie’s face. She might have liked me at some point, but tonight she was getting to know the real me and she didn’t like what she saw.

  Surprise, surprise.

  My uncle clapped a hand on my shoulder and gave me a shove. I didn’t need to be told twice. Willow was right. Callie was the best. I should be so lucky as to have a girl like her.

  But no matter how much I told myself that, I couldn’t quite make us click.

  And she couldn’t either.

  It wasn’t that we didn’t have anything in common, there was just no...spark, I guess.

  I returned to the table with our food and set the plates down on the table. We sat and ate, the silence growing more awkward by the second.

  “This is kind of weird, isn’t it?” she suddenly blurted.

  “Yes.” I nearly slumped over in relief that we could stop pretending this wasn’t ridiculously awkward.

  She started to laugh, and then I couldn’t help but join in. It felt like the tension had been pricked by a pin and now we could finally breathe easily.

  In what came as no surprise to me, she ended up telling me how Maverick had a thing for her. What I hadn’t realized, but probably should have, was that she shared his feelings.

  But she was sure she’d messed things up for good.

  Having seen the way Maverick watched this girl, I knew she was wrong, but it was probably best she figured that out for herself. So I offered to drive her to the party where I knew Maverick was hanging out, and we passed the drive in silence.

  I had a feeling Callie was wondering what she was going to say to make things right. And me…? I found my palms getting clammy as I clenched the steering wheel.

  Maybe Willow would be here. I wasn’t sure if I liked that idea or not. All I knew was, it seemed crucial that she know that I’d tried.

  But the moment we arrived, Callie darted off to find her guy, and I walked around aimlessly. No sign of the terrifying librarian or her giant bun anywhere at this party.

  I did find Flynn, though. He and his girlfriend Isla were laughing together in a corner when I approached. “Hey man, glad you could make it,” Flynn said.

  Isla narrowed her eyes. “Where’s Callie?”

  Before I could answer, we all heard the commotion going on in the other room, and a quick glance answered Isla’s question.

  Maverick and Callie were kissing in the middle of the living room for everyone to see.

  Isla’s grin was triumphant. “Well, I guess she finally came to her senses.” Flynn arched his brows meaningfully, and she turned to me with a wince. “No offense,” she added.

  I laughed. “None taken.” I nodded toward the happy new couple. “They seem like a good fit.”

  “Not exactly obvious at first,” Isla said, shooting Flynn a knowing grin that gave me a pinch of envy. “But a good fit nonetheless.”

  Flynn wrapped an arm around her waist and whispered something in her ear that made her giggle.

  “Hey, uh…” I instantly regretted interrupting their moment. Even more so when I had no good reason to ask this question. “Have you seen Willow around?”

  I was met with two blank stares.

  “Why?” Flynn asked.

  “What do you want with Willow?” Isla didn’t even try to hide her suspicion.

  Jeez. I knew I had a reputation, but I wasn’t some evil villain. I might have had some run-ins with the principal, and I hadn’t exactly excelled at school. My mom still claims it was a miracle I’d graduated. I called it an administrative snafu that let me slip by with a barely passing grade, but in the end, it amounted to the same thing. I got lucky.

  My gaze kept roaming around the party as if a bun might mysteriously pop out from behind a potted plant.

  “I just, uh…” I struggled to think of a reason why I might need to talk to the uptight prissy chick who never seemed to smile. I came up blank. “I just wanted to tell her something.”

  Flynn seemed to accept that easily enough. “I’ll probably see her when I get home tonight if she’s not asleep. Want me to pass along a message?”

  I stared at him in surprise. I’d forgotten he was crashing at her place these days so he could stay at Lindale until graduation.

  “How’s that working out for you?” I asked.

  “Great.” He grinned as Isla cuddled up to his side. “Willow’s an easy roommate, and her parents are never around.”

  “She’s so lucky,” Isla said with a wistful sigh. “My aunt gives helicopters a bad name.”

  Lucky? I couldn’t help but think about that first year after my dad left and how I’d always expect to hear his footsteps in the hall or his voice booming from downstairs. “Where are her parents?”

  “Working, I guess. They travel a lot for business.” Flynn’s brow creased in concern, and even Isla nibbled on her lip as they exchanged a look that belied her earlier comment about how lucky Willow was to be on her own.

  Their shared look of concern was brief, but it left me with a nagging feeling of worry deep in my chest. “So she’s cool with being home alone all the time?” I asked.

  “Well, she’s got Flynn now,” Isla said. “And the rest of us. We’re always over at her house after work.”

  I nodded. I’d gone to one of those little parties. Although the word party was a big stretch. “Right.”

  “Why the sudden interest in Willow?” Isla asked.

  I glanced over at her with a smile. “No reason.”

  Isla’s brows knitted for a second, and I was sure she was going to call me out on the lie.
But she let it go. “Are you working the Barons’ party this week?” she asked instead.

  No. “Why?”

  “Willow will be there. You know…” Her eyes flashed with mischief. “If you still needed to tell her something.”

  I nodded. “Good to know.” I backed away. “I’ll let you two get back to it.”

  “You sticking around?” Flynn asked.

  I shook my head, which probably shocked all three of us. I had a well-deserved reputation for being the last one to leave a party. But tonight? What was the point? I’d delivered my date, and there was only one person I’d been hoping to see. Just to let her know she could stop worrying about Callie. That was the only reason why.

  “You guys have fun tonight,” I said as I walked away. My phone was already in my hand and to my ear by the time I reached my car. “Hey, Uncle Al. You catering the Barons party this week?”

  “Yeah, I got Trevor working it,” he said. “Why?”

  “You need another set of hands?”

  My uncle went quiet. “Are you actually offering to pick up extra shifts?”

  I just barely held back a sigh. Of course he couldn’t just make this easy. I turned the key in the ignition and settled back in my seat. “I need the extra cash.”

  “I thought you hated the catering gigs,” he said. He wasn’t wrong. “Thought you only wanted to work in the kitchen.”

  Again, not wrong. The only thing that made work bearable was the cooking part. I was good with my hands, and cooking was satisfyingly hands-on. Plus, the only people I had to deal with were my buddies in back, not the snotty stuck-up housewives who threw the kinds of parties my uncle catered.

  Uncle Albert was waiting for a response.

  “Do you need me or not?” I asked.

  His answer was a laugh, and he sounded way too pleased when he said, “Yeah, kid. I need you.”

  Three

  Willow

  * * *

  My parents were in a frenzy, which only made me calmer. This was always the case for me. The more people around me grew emotional or frantic, the more I was able to feel centered. Maybe that was why I did so well with the Princess Troupe. I was never more in control than when surrounded by highly emotional and erratic preschoolers.