Callum & Harper (Sleepless 1)

“I’m gonna’ ignore that,” I squeaked out. “My grades were decent enough, nothing lower than a B but I didn’t really care all that much because my teachers hated me regardless.”

That clearly intrigued him. “And why would they hate you?”

“I suppose you could say, I was a troublemaker.”

“What kind of trouble could you possibly make, Harper Bailey?” He asked, with a raised brow.

“The kind that changes your opinion of someone, therefore, you’ll never find out.” I laughed out.

We arrived at the beat up laundromat. Its sign flickered neon green and buzzed throughout the electric summer air. Random insects crashed into the lights and spiraled to their deaths. Callum opened the door for me.

“Don’t think for a second that I won’t get you tell me what kind of hell you stirred up.”

I eyed him carefully, a twist of a smile tickled the corner of my mouth.

He started to unload our clothes into a washer and I couldn’t help but notice that he slid mine in with his. My stomach stirred with butterflies. Seriously, Harper? It’s not that he feels comfortable with you, he’s just trying to save money. I scolded myself for thinking that this stranger was starting to think of me as a friend rather than the acquaintance we’d really end up being. He filled my palm with a few quarters and pointed to the wall machines selling detergent. As I walked away, I couldn’t help but revel at the tingle his fingers gave me when he dropped the coins against my palm. I bring back the detergent and placed the leftover quarters back in his hand. His hand lingered on mine then and gave me a flirtatious smile.

“What are you doing?” I asked, fighting a giggle.

“I’m doing our laundry, miss.” The way he emphasizes the word our heated my chest and the blaze met my cheeks, betraying me bitterly. He looked way too satisfied with that, so I turned and pretended to examine my surroundings but I could still feel his eyes on my body.

“How about we make a deal,” he pipes up.

I paused for a moment, deciding whether or not I should even hear his terms, before answering with an obvious, “What kind of deal?”

“You ask me one question, however embarrassing you’d like it to be, and I’ll answer honestly.”

“And you?”

“I’ll be informed of one trouble making incident for every answer.”

“Deal.”

“You acquiesced too easily.”

“Maybe the reveal is worth it. I’ve got some ridiculous questions for you.”

“Man, I think I’m starting to regret this game already.”

He dropped the steel lid to the washer and slid over the top of the churning machine. I slid onto the lid beside him. We were utterly alone, no one even manned the service desk.

“So, Callum, have you ever bought a Creed album?”

“Damn. You’re good and yes, unfortunately, in a fifteen year old haze, I apparently bought their first album but everyone bought that album, Harper!”

“Hey, no need to make excuses.”

“Very funny, miss. Alright,” he rubs his hands together in preparation. “Tell me one.”

“Oh alright,” I huff. “Alright, in ninth I photocopied my principal’s cell phone number and passed it around to all my classmates.”

“Oh Lord, Harper. Why?” He asked in disbelief.

Jeez, this is one of the tame things I did. I’m scared to reveal the naughtier ones.

“Well, he suspended me for three days for something that wasn’t my fault.”

“Harper?”