Educating Callie

by Emma Jayne Mills

  “One day soon, I’m going to kiss you properly. I can’t wait to taste you Angel, but I’m going to take my time and give you the attention you deserve. It won’t be just a quick stolen moment, we deserve more than that.” He promised, releasing his hold on me.

  “I’m going to hold you to that.” I promised back with a grin and led him into the living room where Liv and Dana had blind folded Vinnie and were spinning him in a circle.

  *****

  Chapter Fourteen

  Me: SOS

  Nick: Dude! You haven’t even been there ten minutes.

  Me: It feels like days! I can’t do it. I thought I could, but there’s just so much pink. I know I’m weak. I’ll climb out the bathroom window. Pick me up.

  Nick: No can do Moonbeam. The lemurs are closing in. Need to stay off the radar.

  Me: You’re lying. There hasn’t been a lemur sighting in weeks.

  Nick: You can do this. Be strong. I have faith in you little warrior.

  Me: I’m revoking your best friend status if you don’t get here right now!!!

  Nick: Shit Cal! The lemurs found me. There’s too many of them. I’m not going to make it. Tell my brothers I fought until the end...

  Me: Traitor!

  “Black...like my soul!” I said dramatically. The sleepover had begun in earnest and I was trying. I really was.

  “No! You’re going to be a girl! And your soul is anything but black Callindra Cecilia Wilson!” Dana snapped; hand on hip and tapping her foot impatiently. Little did she know.

  We were choosing nail colours and they were all going with pink and peach and gold because the weather was getting warmer and it was almost summer. I on the other hand wasn’t doing pink or peach or any of those colours, not even to keep my beloved Dana happy. I did purple and blue and red and black, silver at a push, no matter what time of year it was and she was just going to have to lump it.

  “Here.” Nat said, rummaging around in her bag and handing me a shiny looking, green bottle. I took it and unscrewed the cap, examining the colour. Not quite the Hulk’s shade but it would do.

  “Yep, I can do green.” I nodded.

  “Alright, I suppose, but only because it’s sparkly.” Dana conceded gracefully.

  Liv laughed, “You were never getting pink on her Dee, you know that.”

  “I had to try!” Dana pouted as she yanked my hand into her lap and got to work.

  Between you and me, I didn’t mind pink all that much, I just didn’t want pink clothes or pink nails. Although, I did have some pretty awesome bright pink boots that looked fantastic with my black jeans.

  I was wearing my Bat Girl pyjamas and looked completely out of place among Dana’s pink polka dots, Sally’s unicorns and Nat’s butterflies. At least Liv looked more like me in her “Don’t let the muggles get you down” t shirt and red striped pyjama bottoms. I didn’t care, I loved my Bat Girl pjs, the logo glowed in the dark. Pure nerdgasm material!

  “I’m out of club soda for the mojitos.” Sally appeared in the doorway, a jug in one hand and a bunch of fresh mint in the other.

  “I put it in Adam’s fridge, I’ll grab it in a sec.” I told her; quietly glad of the excuse to make my escape before the face masks came out.

  *****

  “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope!” I stuck my head around Adam’s door. We’d left all the interior doors in the building open, so we could holler if we needed Adam and Greg. I secretly thought the guys just wanted to listen in on the girl talk, we all know men are bigger gossips than women.

  “Get in here Leia.” Adam laughed and looked up as I went in, his eyes taking me in from head to toe.

  “Nice Batma...girl pyjamas.” He grinned, remembering our conversation about the Supergirl socks. He was a quick learner.

  “The logo glows in the dark.” I announced proudly.

  “Geek.” He said, shaking his head at me with a grin and I bowed theatrically.

  “How’s it going down there?” Greg asked, pulling two beer bottles out of the fridge and handing me one. Our friends had now also embraced mine and Adam’s drink sharing and only ever offered one between us.

  “I’ve had my hair streaked purple, my nails painted and my eyebrows waxed. I’m currently undertaking a top secret and very dangerous mission in face mask avoidance.” I informed him, gratefully accepting the beer and taking a long drink.

  “I figured we’d be seeing you sooner or later. I knew you’d have to escape at some point.” Greg laughed. “How close are you to ringing Nick?”

  “Nick is dead to me, that traitor already sold me out!” I told him. They both laughed, I didn’t find it funny. “They’ll come for me if I’m gone too long. If they send Nat I’m screwed.”

  “She seems even less girly than you.” Adam observed, sliding an arm around my waist, hooking his thumb in the waistband at the front of my pyjama bottoms and pulling me against him, my back against his front. Maybe I could just stay here?

  “Actually, you’d be surprised, she’s no match for Dana but she doesn’t mind all that stuff.” I said, inspecting my nails.

  “Green?” Adam asked.

  “They wouldn’t let me have black.” I leaned back against him, “This was a compromise because it’s sparkly.”

  “You let her do it because the Hulk is green didn’t you?” He smiled knowingly and ran his fingers gently through my new purple streaked hair.

  “Yes, but you can never tell her that.” I tilted my head to look up at him as I relaxed into his touch.

  “You two need to stop denying you’re together.” Greg pointed his beer bottle as us then grinned and walked out of the kitchen, shaking his head.

  “I better go.” I ignored Greg’s comment and took a big gulp of the beer, handed the bottle to Adam, then gathered the three bottles of club soda out of the fridge. I stretched up on tip toe to kiss Adam on the cheek, he leaned down to meet me but he turned at the last second so that I caught his mouth instead and he smirked at me. I rolled my eyes at him.

  “Later Greg.” I called as Adam followed me out into the hallway.

  “Later Cal, have fun!” Greg replied sarcastically.

  “My sofa is available tonight if it gets too feminine down there for you later.” Adam winked at me as I reached the top of the stairs.

  “And will you be on it?” I asked, smiling.

  “Only if you are.” he flirted.

  “Save me a space.” I called over my shoulder. As I reached the bottom of the stairs I heard Adam groan as he went back inside. Greg’s voice travelled down the stairs and I couldn’t help but overhear.

  “Shit cous! You’re just a constant walking hard on around her.” he laughed and I smirked to myself, happy in the knowledge that it wasn’t just me that was affected by our closeness.

  “Tell me about it.” Adam’s pained voice followed and I felt a twinge of guilt.

  “I’ve never seen you like this over a woman before. Are you going make a move?” Greg asked.

  “No, she’s not ready yet. She knows how I feel but this has to come from her, if I push her it won’t last.” Adam said.

  “You’re really serious about her then?” Greg asked. “This isn’t just a fling for you? Because I don’t want to see her hurt again and Dana would probably kill you in your sleep.”

  “I know she’s your friend cous but you don’t have to worry. I’m playing for keeps. There’s no way I’m letting that woman go once she’s mine. She’s everything I never knew I wanted.” Adam told him and my stomach flipped.

  *****

  The witches were in full on disco mode when I got back downstairs. They were dancing in the middle of the room to a Grease medley. I pulled out my phone and texted Nick a picture of a lemur with bulging eyes and the caption “I own you” before heading into the kitchen to mix more cocktails.

  “Karaoke! Get the machine out Dana.” Liv squawked excitedly. She was getting her happy drunk on again.

  “Yes!” Nat and Sally a
greed, bouncing up and down.

  “You gonna sing us a song Cal?” Dana asked.

  “Yeppers!” I said, singing and dancing like an idiot was something I had always excelled at and I was in high spirits after overhearing not only Adam’s confession about how he felt about me, but Greg making sure his intentions were good. I had the best friends and it was time I started to enjoy them again. Since the darkness came I hadn’t really involved myself in any of this stuff as much as I used to and aside from messing around at work with Mick I avoided it. I knew I needed to make an effort to get that part of me back, even if I was on borrowed time.

  A few minutes later I was belting out “Living on a prayer” like a pro. A screechy, slightly tipsy pro, who sounded like they had a sore throat, but a pro nonetheless. My voice wasn’t exactly singing calibre since my abduction and the damage to my vocal chords, but I could carry a tune and I gave it my best shot. We took turns choosing songs for each other and of course, Dana got Barbie Girl, which she fully embraced. Liv did a surprisingly tuneful version of Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” and Sally and Nat shouted their way through “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, before Liv picked out “Before he cheats” for me, which turned into a group sing along. It was a real girl power moment that made Dana’s night.

  Eventually we collapsed on the sofa and lapsed into gossipy girl talk which, obviously, centred on mine and Adam’s relationship status. Exactly what I had been hoping to avoid but I went with it, ready to cut them off the minute they got too deep.

  “I heard Nate tried to get in the way.” Dana said, raising her eyebrows at me in question and twirling the straw in her drink.

  “No, he didn’t.” I said sternly, waving my glass around hazardously, one finger pointed at her. No way was I having Nate brought into mine and Adam’s drama. The rumour mill had obviously been running since Nate and I went out, but I was happy to remain ignorant of the details as long as Nate’s name didn’t get dragged through the mud.

  “But he always did like you. He was your first kiss after all.” She pushed.

  “Ancient history Dee. Nothing to tell. Although, I am pretty pissed off that none of you told me what was going on with him and Jase in school.” I looked between her and Liv accusingly.

  “If Nate had asked you out first would you have said yes?” Liv asked diverting my irritation.

  “Fuck yeah!” I grinned and they all cackled like the witches they were.

  “But you and Adam?” Dana wanted to know.

  “We’re figuring it out.” I said carefully. “I’m not jumping into anything with him, but I like him. A lot.”

  “And he more than likes you!” Dana said and I looked at her questioningly. I knew how Adam felt, he hadn’t exactly made it a secret, but I wondered if he had spoken to Dana about it. She nodded towards the front door. “He was head over heels the second he found you out there. Couldn’t stop talking about you, asking all kinds of questions.”

  “He did?” I asked, suddenly curious.

  “Yup! What’s she like? Do you think she’ll get back with him? He even wanted to know your favourite pizza topping!” She frowned and I laughed knowing exactly why he had asked about pizza. “Is it mutual Cal?”

  “I think so.” I nodded. I knew it was, but I really thought Adam should be the first to hear that when I was ready to admit it out loud.

  “You think so? How can you only think so with him? He’s practically perfect in every way. How does he keep that bod of his in shape though, he doesn’t seem like a gym rat?” Nat asked with a gleam in her eye and I couldn’t help laugh at her.

  “He’s not.” I told her. Adam had told me about his love of martial arts, karate in particular and how he had competed in a lot of competitions as a teen, even taught it for a while. He still used it to keep fit now and wanted to teach me, I hadn’t yet but I knew I would give in eventually. “Karate is his thing. He wants to teach me but I’ve managed to avoid it so far.”

  “For someone who isn’t your boyfriend you certainly know an awful lot about him.” Sally observed with a smile at me. “Are you sure there’s nothing more to it?”

  I shrugged. “We talk. I ran away from him a lot to begin with, put walls between us. I was afraid of how he made me feel. It seemed too soon. I don’t know how to be with anyone but Jase and looking back now, I realise I lost myself a little when I was with him. I let him take control and the thought of that happening again scared the shit out of me. But Adam is so not Jase, we talked about it and I’m done fighting it. It feels right. So we’re taking it slow and figuring it out as we go”

  “And Jase?” Sally asked.

  I just shook my head, the texts demanding to see me were still coming, but I had ignored them. I knew Cam and Adam wouldn’t be happy that I hadn’t told them, but I wouldn’t have them getting into drama at work over my messed up love life. They felt a need to protect me, but I needed that for them too.

  “He keeps trying to talk to me, saying he wants me to hear him out. And part of me thinks I need to, but the bruises he left on my arm tell me I don’t want to go anywhere near him. It kills me that he’s not the same person I fell in love with, but I don’t know how to help him.” I told them sadly.

  “Did Amy really like him?” Liv asked Sally and Nat, they both nodded.

  “She was obsessed with him though, it wasn’t healthy.” Nat said with a shake of her head.

  “No, it was freaky. One minute she’d be all guilt ridden and avoiding him because of you, the next plotting to come between you.” Sally explained, “She would ring and text him constantly and turn up at his place every time she knew you weren’t around Callie. He always turned her away and she would go into a deep depression over it. As far as we know, they were only together that one time. He refused to be in her company before that.”

  “I don’t want to know.” I shook my head, “Amy might not have been the friend I thought she was, but I don’t want to think badly of her. I can’t. Not after what happened to her. Nobody deserves that.”

  “Do you miss him? I mean it must be weird, you were together forever.” Sally prodded.

  “She misses the sex!” Dana giggled. She wasn’t wrong and I nodded with a wry smile.

  “Ooh come on dish the dirt. How good is he?” Nat wanted to know.

  “Well, it’s not like I’ve got anything to compare it to, he’s all I know.” I defended, reluctant to give details.

  “You still know whether he’s good or not though. I mean, how often did you have to fake it with him?” Nat pushed.

  “Erm, never.” I said.

  “Never? Seriously? He made you come every time?” she continued.

  “Yes Nat, fuck woman do you want a demonstration?” I laughed. “I mean, obviously not the first few times. We were seventeen and neither of us knew what we were doing. But we practiced. A lot. And it got good, really, really good!”

  “How often did you do it?” She wasn’t giving up.

  “Every day, pretty much.” I admit, sex with Jase had been pretty fantastic and I grabbed every chance I got with him.

  “Oh please, it’s no secret. They were at it like rabbits every second of the day. Our Callie is quite the little nympho and Jase was more than happy to oblige. They were hot as sin!” Liv spilled her alcohol infused guts.

  “Thanks Olive.” I groaned, making a note to drop her in it the next chance I got. “Okay, I give in. Jase is beyond good in bed. He always made sure I was satisfied and we did it a lot.”

  “Any time, any place...” Dana sang.

  “Nooo, like where?” Sally gasped.

  “You name it.” I shrugged and they all collapsed in giggles. I couldn’t actually think of a place Jase and I hadn’t had sex.

  “Shit! How the hell do you go from raging nympho to born again virgin overnight? You must be so frustrated!” Nat looked at me with wide eyes.

  “Let’s just say Duracell won’t be going out of business anytime soon.” I confessed and downed my drink.

>   “Adam is going to be in for a real treat when you finally give in to him witch. I should warn him.” Dana smirked over the top of her glass at me and I shook my head at her.

  “You’d better hope he’s got stamina!” Sally giggled.

  “Well, I’m glad you and Adam are giving it a go. You’re perfect together. And when you marry him we’ll be related. Cousins in law are a thing right?” Dana said and we laughed.

  “Alright, Cal and Adam is a done deal, we all know that. What I want to know is if Callie has ever done the deed with Nicky the golden boy!” Nat announced.

  “Oh absolutely we’re getting married.” I laughed, as did Dana and Liv. Nat and Sally wanted more though. I sighed, ready for the interrogation to end. Why could people not just accept that nothing had ever happened between Nick and me?

  “Alright ladies, switch your ears on because this is a onetime only speech.” I cleared my throat and took a breath. “I love Nick. I loved him from the second my pig tailed, two year old self set eyes on him. I always have and I always will love Nick. I love his smile, I love his sense of humour, I love his kind heart, I love his art, I love when we laugh together at nothing and do crazy shit, I love all our stupid private jokes. I love his sense of loyalty and the way he takes care of his brothers. I love that he loves me exactly the same way as I love him. I love us. But I’m not in love with him and he is not in love with me, there is a difference.”

  “Aww, that was beautiful Callie.” Liv smiled mushily at me. “I love you and Nick too.”

  “Me three.” Agreed Dana.

  Thankfully they all moved on to the Vinnie and Jared situation after that and then Nat started talking about her drummer boy, but I’d had enough girl talk for one night and snuck outside before the others found something else to dig around for in my life.

  I sat on a bench on Greg and Dana’s deck and allowed the cool night air to surround me. The deck backed onto the forest and I found sitting there peaceful and calming. After a few minutes I heard feet on the outside steps leading up to Adam’s place. I didn’t need to turn around to know it was him.