Callum & Harper (Sleepless 1)

“Sure.”

“Wait,” I said. “Maybe we should figure out what our budget will be before we start looking.”

“Right, that only makes sense.”

We dumped our cash onto the floor and separated the bills by likeness. We had a few hundreds and twenties but the lower denominations dominated. I knew Charlie kept cash straps around his house because his bands usually paid in cash so I got up and rummaged through a few drawers before finding what I needed. In the end, we had five thousand seven hundred thirty-six dollars in bills and seventeen dollars in coins.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much money in my entire life,” I said.

“Well, we worked our freaking butts off for it,” Harper said. “What does it mean, though? We can’t rely on this kind of money when school starts, can we?”

“No, I don’t think we can. I’d say the most we could rely on would be...” I said, as I did a mental calculation in my head... “probably fifty a day, before taxes.”

“What? Why so little? What is that, like, fifteen hundred a month?”

“Yup,” I said, “and if I were to guess, our monthly apartment budget shouldn’t be more than seven or eight hundred. Fifty a day is just a guess, Harper. it’s so little because we’ll each be taking twelve hours of classes or, in my case, fifteen. We aren’t going to have time to work the way we have this summer.”

Harper stared at the floor, thinking. “We aren’t going to be able to do it.”

“Why would you say that? We’ll figure it out. I promise. Listen, we have a week before school starts, right?”

“Yeah, if I was even able to get in.”

“Harper, you were already accepted.”

“I know that. I’m just not going to get my hopes up that Sylvia may have found the funding needed.

“Okay, so we’ve got five grand in our pocket. We earn another thousand this week bringing the grand total to six thousand. We’re in school ten months.” I tallied up an estimate, on a hand held calculator. “Leaving us an additional six hundred a month in added income. We can do this. We just need a little creativity.”

“Yeah, you’re right. We can do this! Gee, you’re like a regular motivational speaker, Callum. I think I’m going to start calling you Tony from now on. Certain medical school is your true calling?” She teased.

“Ha, ha.”

“Just stay away from me in the mornings. Note to self, keep megaphone away from cheerleader Callum.”

“That’s it!” I said, tackling her onto the couch, tickling her until tears spilled from the corners of her eyes.

“Please stop,” she begged. “Please!”

She giggled uncontrollably. I released her but only long enough to allow her to think I was letting up. She sat up and took a deep breath but before I could tackle her again, a look flashed into her eyes. A look that told me she wouldn’t mind if I placed my hands on her body again. She sucked her bottom lip under her top teeth, her breathing was labored, her cheeks flushed. Did I ever want to place my hands on her figure. I sat up on my knees and walked them toward her. She instinctively sat on her heels and I placed my hands on either side of her legs, crouching over her.

“Harper, are we ever going to talk about that day outside The Hope House?”

“Don’t forget the subway,” she challenged.

I fought the smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. “Or the subway?”

She breathed a sharp intake of breath when there was a hard knock on the door.

I sat back onto my heels as well. “Seriously. Everyone I know is still asleep. Who in the world could it be?” I asked the ceiling.

I climbed off the sofa and walked to the door, forgetting I didn’t have a shirt on. I swung open the door and there sat Sam, her eyes grazing every inch of my chest and stomach. I tried to cover myself up which only made her laugh out loud.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to open up Charlie’s house. Clean it up a bit before he came home tonight.”

“That’s bull, Sam,” I said, calling her out. “You knew we were here while he was away.”