Skinny • Book 1 In The Reality Series

Calum

I was in math when my name was called over the loud speaker.

My cheeks burning I hastily gathered my books and cramming them in my backpack slunk out of the room and to the principal, Mr. Cooly's office.

I had barely made it past the threshold and into the small fish tank of an office before I felt a large hand wrap around my upper arm.

Startled, I looked up to find my dad, jaw clenched and hair tussled from the numerous times he'd run his fingertips through it.

"I'm so sorry Calum." The receptionist Mrs. Flynn said sadly.

Confused I nodded slowly, allowing my dad to lead me out of the office and out of us school to his car which was parked in the pick up lane.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, confused.

"Get in." He answered quietly, his voice strained.

Frightened, I climbed into the passenger seat and buckled my seatbelt. His fingers wrapped tightly around the wheel, Dad slammed the car into drive and rocketed forward.

"Where are we going?" I questioned, watching as we zipped past our neighborhood, the hotel Luke's Mom owned and the wall of twenty foot tall bushes and palm trees which guarded the ocean from view.

"Airport."

"The airport?"

No answer.

That was  code for yes.

"Why are we going to the airport?"

Wordlessly, he reached into his pocket and pulling out two hastily folded sheets of snow White printer paper, the logo of his law firm emblazoned across the top, handed them to me.

Frowning, I unfolded the prices of paper and scanned the plane tickets to San Fransisco California.

"California?" I demanded, "Why did you pull me out of school to go to California? Does this have something to do with your whole Mr. Nice guy thing, because as much as I appreciate it, I have an art history test I really needed to pass."

Glancing in the rearview mirror as he changed lanes, he frowned.

"Why are we going to California?" I repeated, "Is this your mid life crisis? Are we moving? Are we not taking An..."

"Calum!" He interpreted.

"Yes?"

"There's been an accident."

Immediately my stomach dropped, images of my clothes, covered in Luke's blood being cut off of me, my ears rang with his last shout, I could smell it. The smoke, the gas, the blood.

"What happened?" I whispered, mentally taking note of everyone I cared about and their  whereabouts.

"Your friend." He said slowly, choosing his words deliberately, "She needs you."

"Katy?" I yelped, "Where is she? What happened?"

"Her Mother called me." He informed me, "She got a call from a hospital in California...."

"She's in the hospital?!"

"Calum, don't interrupt please, that's incredibly rude."

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

"But Katy..."

"Yeah, her Mother was told she needed to fly out immediately, but she doesn't fit in a standard airplane seat so she asked me if I would be able to."

"Why you?"

"I think it was you not me."

"What?"

"Calum," he sighed, pulling into the airport parking garage and parking before turning to face me, "Katy and her Mom... They're not like most people, they're scared, of the world. So for you to give them a reason to trust again.... That's an important thing. That girl was drowning Calum. You threw her a raft."

Stunned, I opened my mouth however no words came out.

"I'm beyond grateful to that girl." He informed me, "She helped you just as much as you helped her."

"What do you mean?" I whispered.

"You were like a coloring book Cal." He sighed, "Katy brought the crayons. She colored you in....she made you live up to your potential."

"So you're going to fly across the country for her?" I demanded, flabbergasted and wondering who would be trusted with the care of the fish.

"No." He muttered, climbing out of the car, "I'm flying across the country for you. Because she needs you to be there."

"What happened?" I questioned, not sure if I wanted to know.

"She got shot." He said carefully, "Her nephew too."

"What?" I shouted, earning confused stares from an elderly couple, "Are they okay? Of course not. Is it bad? Who did it?..."

"I don't know." He sighed.

"Will she be okay?" I demanded.

Again, he sighed, "I don't know."

"What if she's not?" I panicked, "what if she dies? What if she's already dead?"

"You really care about her."

"Dad! I... I love her."