Page 84 of Elusion

Trey straddles a log next to me while I shamelessly watch Callie race Tony back and forth between the fire and barn. Whenever she gains the lead, Tony lunges for her, and she laughs, dodging him.

“She’s different,” Trey says with a protective look in his eye. “The last time I saw her, she scared me. It was like she’d been fighting this battle inside. I could see her slipping away. But that…”

She throws her arms up in victory, and Tony picks her up, spinning her around.

“That’s Cal.”

“Callie,” I say.

He nods and shoots me a half-smile. “Maybe that’s what’s different. She’s finally found a way to be both.” He slaps me on the shoulder before running across the grass and tackling Tony to the ground.

His comment reminds me of the multiple universe theory. What would happen if any of the worlds collided? In a way, that’s what happened to Callie. She spent months keeping these worlds separate. Family stayed on one side of the state, school on the other, and anything from her old life she could avoid, she did. It worked until Kevin and Trey walked into the dorms. Then Callista, Cal, and Callie all existed in the same space. All three versions of her struggling with one another and the expectations people held for each. But as Trey pointed out, Callie and Cal appear to have merged and displaced Callista altogether.

Jesus. I’m making my girlfriend sound like she suffers from split personalities. All Callie has done is figure out how to be herself in the midst of everyone’s conflicting expectations. Some people work their whole lives to find that balance. Others spend their time in a state of elusion, doing whatever they can to avoid the expectations. I’m firmly in the latter category. For how much longer, I have no idea.

Callie lands in my lap, bringing me out of my philosophical hole. “Oh, hey,” she says.

“Hey, beautiful.”

She jingles a set of keys between us. “Want to go borrow Trey’s cruiser?”

A wicked grin appears, and without giving me a chance to answer, she takes off.

“Shit,” Trey shouts, pinpointing her direction. He feels for his keys and sprints off after her. “Caaaal, come on! Not agaaain.”

Pete’s impersonation of him was dead-on. She beats him to the vehicle. He dives through the open passenger window and pulls his feet in as she flips on the lights. The tires throw gravel behind them, and they speed toward a pasture.

By the time the fire dies out, Tony and Shayna have passed out under a mound of blankets in the rowboat by the pond. Pete is sleeping on a porch swing with his hood pulled over his face. The horizon shows the first signs of dawn, and Trey, Callie, and I climb on top of a hay bale with a perfect view. She sits back between my legs and rests her head on my shoulder. My arms tighten around her. The muted colors gain intensity, and the stars fade away in front of us. The moment eclipses everything prior, and everything in the future faces one hell of a bar to surpass. But with her, I have no doubt something will.

Sometimes, I have great ideas. Other times, they leave something to be desired. Inviting Callie to dinner with my parents without telling them is far from my best. But I figure we should rip off the Band-Aid. We’re a month-and-a-half past our temporary setback period, and the more time I spend with her, the more I need. I have no intentions of ever letting her go anywhere.

Wait, then why the fuck am I about to introduce her to Carol?

Oh God.

I rub my head on the way up the walkway. My other sweaty palm tightly clutches Callie’s hand. She’s in a sexy black dress that falls mid-thigh, heels, her hair up in a twist. How we made it to my parents’ house without me jumping her, I’ll never understand.

A smile from her distracts me from my stress-induced anxiety for a second. All warnings about my mother have gone unheeded since she appears way too fucking calm.

“Why aren’t you freaking out?” I ask.

“Because they’re just parents.”

“You should freak out.”

She adjusts the collar of my button-down. “I’ll get right on that.”

“Maybe we should reschedule,” I say, foot tapping fiercely. “I mean, with the income tax deadline looming and all.”

“Jordan, breathe.”

She touches my arm, and I kiss her because I’m not going to not kiss her. But I get carried away, and by the time I ring the bell, I’ve felt her up enough to add hard-on to the ever-revolving list of problems in my brain.

Greta, the housekeeper, heaves open the heavy door. She hesitates, seeing two of us, but recovers with a smile and ushers us inside. I help Callie out of her coat and hand it to Greta along with mine.

“Your parents are in the sitting room with Dustin. Would you and Jess like a glass of wine?”

Fuck. I completely forgot about Jess.

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