Page 76 of We Thought We Were Invincible
He jumped from the deck, landing in front of me. His arms circled my waist. “I love you Callie McCoy.” He held me to him as he dipped me back, almost to the ground, and kissed me like none of the rest of it mattered. Bringing me back up, he grinned. “I've always wanted to do that.”
“Nerd.” I laughed, still a little breathless. “I do love you though. Not just because of the interview. It's everything. Jamie, I can't believe you got my board fixed. I thought it was a goner.”
“I have a guy,” he said. “He went out of his way to keep the original.”
“I did it. I went back out there today.”
Before I knew it, I was being lifted off my feet and spun around. Jamie let out a yell. “I'm so proud of you. How did it feel?”
“Like coming home.”
30
Callie
Hurrying out of the school, I did my best to tie my hair up into a ponytail. I was running late. Surprise surprise. Jamie cornered me after my last class, pulling me into an empty room and kissing all sense of obligation right out of my head. I'd forgotten I promised Kat I'd be at the diner right after school. She had some kind of meeting she wouldn't tell me about.
I hiked my bag higher on my shoulder and scanned the parking lot for where Colby parked his car. He was hitting the weight room with Jamie and would get a ride to the diner for the dinner shift.
“Dammit, Colby,” I mumbled to myself.
My eyes scanned each row, finally settling on the familiar death trap. We McCoys seemed to have a penchant for barely running cars. Man, I missed my truck.
Before setting off in that direction, I spotted Morgan sitting alone on a bench. She kicked her toe against the ground with her head dipped low, refusing to acknowledge anyone around her. There was a battle going on inside of me. I wanted nothing more than to get in that car and drive away. I was already late, and this was a girl who'd been nothing but nasty for months.
But my body seemed to have other ideas. I walked toward her. Rocking back on my heels, I waited for her to look up.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey.” She tucked strands of her blond hair behind her ears. It wasn't styled as it usually was, perfectly straightened and then curled. No, it looked stringy, like she hadn't bothered trying. That wasn't the Morgan I knew.
When she finally looked up, her gaze was on some far-off place.
“Are you okay?” Can you sayawkward?
“I'm fine.” She wiped a hand across her face and sniffled.
“Where's your car?”
“I sort of crashed it last week.” She shrugged.
Why didn't I hear about that? Last semester, this girl changed my life, she changed me - gave me confidence that I hadn't had in years. She made me happy. Did I owe her anything even after these past months? No, I didn't. But a part of me couldn't stand seeing her like that.
“Do you have a ride?” I asked.
“My mom was supposed to pick me up, but she's been… forgetful.”
“Well, I have to get to work.” I pointed over my shoulder at the rows of cars. “But do you feel like a coffee?”
Morgan didn't react right away as she weighed my words. With a tiny nod of her head, she said, “That'd be nice.”
The ride to the diner was stifling. I didn't know what to say to Morgan, and she seemed intent on not saying anything at all.
Kat was waiting for me when I walked in. “I told you to be here right after school let out.”
“I know, I'm sorry.” I inclined my head toward Morgan and Kat's scowl fell.
“Hi Morgan.” She gave her a soft smile and then, to my surprise, pulled Morgan into a hug. “We've missed you around here.”
