I don’t have the heart to tell him that I don’t actually drink coffee. I’m a tea kinda’ girl but at the risk of ruining a lovely breakfast I say, “sugar and cream, please.” I can drink it, I just don’t like it all that much.
We sit in companionable silence sipping our coffee, well, he was sipping, I was gulping to get rid of it, and eating our bagels.
“Your hair looks fabulous, by the way,” he teases.
A deep flush creeps up my neck and settles smack dab on my heated cheeks. I quickly stand and cross the room to the glass above the soundboard, smoothing out my crazy locks, attempting to tame them into a somewhat normal style.
“I didn’t say I didn’t like, Harper. Sit down,” he laughed. I sit but smooth my hands down the part and twisted the length around my hand. “Seriously Harper, it’s sexy as hell. Stop messing.”
I blush yet again. I didn’t know what it was with this boy. He said flirtatious things with such confidence I questioned whether or not it affected him as his words implied.
“So, I thought we could head to the university in a few minutes. My appointment’s at nine fifteen,” he said, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. Oh God, he’s going to bow out. “Did you...Did you still want to come with me?”
“Uh, only if you want me to,” I answered, suddenly interested in how well the cut on my knee was scabbing up. He didn’t answer right away so I glanced up.
Callum furrowed his eyebrows. “Why wouldn’t I want you to come? I invited you, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, it’s just, sometimes people change their minds,” I answered, shrugging my shoulders.
“Well, not this person. So, get dressed already. You’re gonna’ make me late,” he playfully snapped.
I hopped up and grabbed my belongings. I decided it was probably a good idea to shower again as the summer heat would dry my hair quickly and I could tame the dried creases from the night before.
When I was dressed, my wet hair combed out, I decided to put a little bit of what was left over from my makeup stash. It wasn’t much and had dwindled considerably but it was all I had to work with so I ended up improvising a lot. Like, I didn’t have eye liner so I took an old wine cork from my old foster parent’s house, wasn’t hard as they peppered their flooring like confetti. I would take a lighter and burn the ends. I’d use the burnt charcoal to line my eyes and it worked perfectly, giving them a nice, smoky effect. Also, I had this reddish liquid eye shadow, which looked hideous on the eyes but worked nicely as blush. I topped it all off with mascara and some lip gloss.
I study myself in the mirror. Not bad, Bailey. You may impress him after all. I shook my head as if to clear the stupid idea. I hauled butt down the hall to an awaiting Callum, complete with both our bags, packed and ready. I didn’t even want to think about the fact that he had to touch my underwear, how embarrassing. I met him and he immediately took my hand, leading me down the hall.
“What about your motorcycle?” I asked.
He looked at me and smiled. “You look amazing, by the way.” I blushed, again. See! Oh hush, Harper! “I’m leaving my bike here because, well, unfortunately I have no idea where we’ll be staying tonight and would rather leave it locked up here. We can take the subway.”
Sure enough, the five minute walk in the sun to the tunnels dried my hair into its natural waves and by the time we crossed the turn styles it was full and met my elbows again. We squeezed through the crowd and stood side by side awaiting the subway, pushing through the doors quickly as it pulled into the station. Callum and I were forced to sit in between two men so I squeezed as closely to him as possible to avoid touching the guy next to me. I noticed that he kept eyeing me strangely so I snuggled even closer to Callum. Callum swept the hair from the right side of my face and grinned.
“You okay?”
“Mmm, hmm. So, what is this meeting all about, anyway?” I said, trying to distract us both.
“My advisor has some stuff for me to go over and sign. It should only take a few minutes.”
“Cool,” I said, but I was having a hard time concentrating because the creepy guy next to me pushed his thigh into mine. I looked up at him and shook my head but he just smiled. I turned my attention back to Callum. “Why do you want me to go with you so badly?”
“Because, I think the reason you, and I quote, ‘can’t go to college’, is because you’re intimidated and unsure what to do. I just want you to talk with Sylvia and maybe, just maybe, she can enlighten you and I’m hoping you’ll change your mind.”
Creepy guy decided that his right hand should be resting on his thigh where his pinkie just happened to find its way to my leg. He started making lazy circles with it across my jeans.
“Stop it,” I ordered him, slightly over confident since I had enormous Callum sitting next to me.
“Stop what?” Callum asked, confused.
“Oh nothing. Hey, can we stand? I don’t feel like sitting anymore.”
“Uh, sure,” he said, standing up and taking my hand. No sooner had I stood than two women holding groceries took our seats. There was really no place else to stand because the car was crowded and we’re forced to hold the ceiling hand rails next to Creepy. The car shifts back and forth, causing the occupant behind me to accidentally fall into me. My nose pressed firmly against Callum’s chest and I got a hefty dose of fresh laundry.
“Sorry,” the patron offered.