Callum & Harper (Sleepless 1)

“What is exactly supposed to be funny here, Callum?”

“I don’t want you anymore, Sam.”

“Uh! What? That can’t be, Callum. You don’t stop loving someone just out of nowhere like that.”

“I think what I felt for you was more lust than love, Sam. How can you truly love someone who harbors no real interest in you? I may have been pathetic but I knew I was worth more than the way you treated me. Besides, it wasn’t meant to be. Trust me, it just wasn’t meant to be.”

I started walking towards Cherry’s but she pulled my sleeve hard and I almost lost control of the bag I was carrying.

“Callum Tate, I’m giving you a chance. I think we both know you’d be missing out if you didn’t take it.”

“Ah, and there’s that winning charm. You may still be a sort of sweet girl, Sam, but you really have no idea what humility is nor do you know what really matters in life.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “Oh come off it, Callum!” I didn’t acquiesce and that made her visibly angry. She tucked her hands at her side and leaned her head back. “And I suppose this Harper chick, she knows what’s important in life? I already know how humble she must be seeing as her simple looks have probably already instilled that little life lesson.”

I dropped the bag I was carrying and instinctively got closer to her face, my blood boiling underneath my skin. “If you ever talk badly about Harper again, Sam. You and I will never speak again.” I picked the bag back up and started to walk off quickly but stopped and threw over my shoulder, “You and I both know that her simple looks are a little more complex than you’re implying. In fact,” I said, turning and walking back to Sam, to drive the point home, “I’d go so far as to say she’s the most complex girl I’ve ever come across and that includes even the most illustrious version of you, Sam.” I stared her down and it took her quite awhile to remember to blink. “See you tonight.”

When I walked in to Cherry’s, Cherry and Harper were cuddled up next to one another laughing like they’d known each other their entire lives.

“What are you guys talking about?” I asked, already laughing.

“Oh, Cherry was just telling me about the time you were at one of her shows and were dancing with a girl with bright orange hair, lost control of yourself, then fell through the bathroom doors.”

“Oh God! Cherry! You told her that?”

“Yeah, but I forgot the part where you...” I had already dropped breakfast on the nearby coffee table and was on top of Cherry, my hand covering her mouth, before the rest could come out.

“Don’t even think about it, Cherry Bomb!” Both the girls were laughing so hysterically at me that I couldn’t stifle the grin threatening the corners of my mouth. “Seriously, Cherry, if you tell her the rest, I’ll never talk to you again!” She nodded but the laughing tears in her eyes told me otherwise.

I slowly unwound my hand from her mouth and she jumped up, running to the other side of the room.

“And then,” Cherry said, betraying me, but she stopped talking just in time to escape my chase. She finished her story as I chased her in circles, as if I wasn’t humiliated enough. “He couldn’t stop the momentum and...”

“Don’t do it, Cher, I beg of you!”

“He tripped face first into the urinal on the wall!”

I gave up the chase and fell to the ground, my back on the floor, and covered my face in utter embarrassment. “You did it. You told her.”

“And the worst part is someone had their camera out and caught it all on film,” Cherry finished, sucking in a labored breath.

Harper was laughing so hard, she couldn’t breathe.

“Why is my life so hard?” I asked the ceiling.

“Oh my God, Callum. That is the best and worst story I’ve ever heard!” Harper said, falling to her back on the sofa in amusement. She sighed loudly, like she’d just caught her breath.

“I’m going to die of embarrassment,” I said.

Cherry started to rummage through the bags, chuckling to herself. Harper stood up and laid down next to me. She wound her arm with mine and I let my hands slide off my beet red face to the floor. I turned my head to stare at her.

“You can’t die of embarrassment, trust me.”

“Can I die of humiliation?”

“No,” she said, taking in my flushed face. “Well, maybe,” she teased.

I elbowed her, then stood up before taking her hands and bringing her to her feet. Her body came dangerously close to mine as she stood and I had to shake my head to regain composure. All I wanted to do was attack her face and neck with my lips.