The Redemption of Callie and Kayden Read Free Page A

bag from the desk,
    sniffs her shirt, and shrugs. “But some advice: Maybe you shouldn’t
    judge people by their looks.”

    “I don’t,” I tell her, feeling bad. “I’m sorry if you think I judged
    you.”

    She collects her phone from the desk and tosses it into her
    bag, then heads for the door. “Listen, if some guy named Jesse
    comes by, can you pretend that you haven’t seen me all day?”

    “Why?” I ask, sitting up.

    “Because I don’t want him to know I’ve been here.” She
    opens the door and glances back over her shoulder. “God, you’ve
    been a little snippy lately. When I first met you, I thought you were like a doormat. But lately, you’ve been kind of cranky.”

    “I know,” I say quietly, with my chin tucked down. “And I’m
    sorry. I’ve just been having a rough few weeks.”

    She pauses in the doorway, eyeing me over. “Are you…” She
    shifts her weight, looking uncomfortable. Whatever she’s trying to
    say seems to be hard for her. “Are you okay?”

    I nod and something crosses over her face, maybe pain, and
    for a second I wonder if Violet’s okay. But then she shrugs and
    walks out, slamming the door behind her. I release a loud breath
    and lie back down on the bed. The need to shove my finger down
    my throat and free the heavy, foul feelings in my stomach
    strangles me. Damn it. I need therapy. I reach for my phone
    without sitting up and dial my therapist’s number, aka Seth, and
    my best friend in the whole world.

    “I love you to death, Callie,” Seth says as he answers after
    three rings. “But I think I’m about to get lucky so this better be
    important.”

    I scrunch my nose as my cheeks heat. “It’s not… I just wanted
    to see what was up. But if you’re busy, I’ll let you go.”

    He sighs. “I’m sorry, that came out a lot ruder than I planned.
    If you really need me, I can totally talk. You know you’re my first
    priority.”

    “Are you with Greyson?” I ask.

    “Of course,” he replies with humor in his tone. “I’m not a
    man-whore skank.”

    A giggle slips through my lips and I’m amazed how much
    better I feel just from talking to him. “I promise I’m fine. I’m just bored and was looking for an escape from my English book.” I
    shove the book off the bed and roll onto my stomach, propping
    myself up onto my elbows. “I’ll let you go.”

    “Are you really, really sure?”

    “I’m one hundred percent sure. Now go have fun.”

    “Oh, trust me. I’m planning on it,” he replies and I laugh, but
    it hurts my stomach. I start to hang up when he adds, “Callie, if you need to hang out with someone, you could call Luke… You two are
    kind of going through the same thing. I mean, with missing
    Kayden and not really understanding.”

    I bite at my fingernails. I’ve spent time with Luke, but I’m still
    uncomfortable being alone with guys, except for Seth. Besides,
    things are weird between Luke and me because we haven’t
    officially talked about what happened at Kayden’s. It’s the white
    elephant in the room, the massive, sad, heartbroken elephant. “I’ll
    think about it.”

    “Good. And if you do, make sure to ask him about yesterday
    in Professor McGellon’s class.”

    “Why? What happened?”

    He giggles mischievously. “Just ask him.”

    “Okay…” I say, unsure if I really want to. If Seth thinks it’s
    funny then there’s a good chance that whatever happened might
    embarrass me. “Have fun with Greyson.”

    “You too, baby girl,” he says and hangs up.

    I hit END and scroll through my contacts until I reach Luke’s
    number. My finger hovers over the DIAL button for an eternity and
    then I chicken out and drop the phone down onto the bed. I get
    up and slip on my Converses—the ones stained with the green
    paint—because they remind me of a happy time in life. I zip up my
    jacket, put my phone into the pocket, and collect my keycard and
    journal before heading outside.

    It’s