Never Easy

Banner by me!

Callie yawned as she struggled to open her eyes. The weight of her closed eyes lied heavily and took much effort to open them even a little. By the time she had done so, the digital clock on her night stand was flashing quarter till eleven. Letting out a content hum, Callie rolled over to her right side and hugged one of her small pillows.

Another yawn escaped her lips as more sleep seemed to be the only idea on her mind. Callie closed her eyes once more and tried to ignore the sunlight that was entering the room via her windows. She turned back to the side she was on and fell back asleep, letting her Saturday morning go by.

Two hours later, Callie woke up feeling refreshed from her sleep. It was almost one o clock now and she figured it was probably time to get up. Using her elbows to proper herself up, Callie pushed her way up so that her back was finally touching the headboard of her bed.

She lifted her right hand to her hair to brush the stray bangs out of her face. Callie sighed and swung her legs over her bed. It took her a few seconds to maintain balance from the tiredness, but she was able to make it to her bathroom.

The look of tiredness was quickly replaced with a look of disgust as Callie faced her reflection in her mirror. Her hair was all over the place, sticking up in every direction. She tried patting it down which produced very little results. Callie sighed and ran her fingers through her knotted hair.

Callie walked over to her shower and twisted the knobs on the wall. Water came rushing out of the nozzle from above. She stepped back quickly and let the water rise to the temperature she wanted. Stripping out of her pajamas, Callie stepped inside the shower and shut the sliding door behind her.

It was only when the hot water was scorching her skin, Callie remembered. The events from the previous night all came back to her within a few seconds. The insane football game, waiting for Joe outside the locker room, the weird conversation in the car, ice cream at Coldstone’s, and then his spur of the moment question.

Callie gasped for air as she started to swallow the water from being distracted by her thoughts. Reaching behind her, Callie twisted the knobs and shut the water off. It took a few seconds, but her breathing started to become natural again. Grabbing a towel, Callie wrapped it around herself and opened the sliding door.

Joe’s face flashed threw her mind as she rummaged through her shirts’ drawer. The way his face lit up when she had said yes replayed over and over in her head and made her heart sink. Callie was starting to realize the consequences that were coming along with this stupid bet.

It wasn’t like she was leading him on; she honestly did want to go on a date with him. Callie just wasn’t sure if the feelings she had for Joe, if any, were the same as Joe felt about her. Truthfully, Callie did feel attracted to him. She found him pretty good looking and the way he worked his charm was incredible. But did she actually truly have a deep down crush about him? No.

It was that little fact that was igniting the guilt. Callie had felt it last night while out for ice cream and she was starting to feel it again. She knew it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair for Joe and it wasn’t fair to herself either. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she couldn’t get out of this mess without damaging her pride.

Callie sighed and shut the bottom drawer. She tossed the clothes she had picked out onto her bed and stood in her towel as she stared mindlessly. She sighed once more and decided that her mind and heart had taken enough complicated thinking for one day.

The second she had tugged her tank over her head, Callie felt her phone buzzing on her bed. Pulling her hair onto one side, she reached over and picked up her phone. She bit her lip as she read the name that was flashing on the screen. Pushing the accept button, Callie brought the phone up to her right ear and answered the phone.

“Hello?” Callie answered. Despite the fact that she knew who was on the other line, she tried to stall a little while longer with formalities.

“Hey, Callie. It’s the one and only Joseph Adam Jonas who led the team to the win last night and should be given a round of applause for doing so!” Joe’s chipper voice reached Callie’s ear buds.

She laughed at his greeting. This was the Joseph she had heard of and spoken to before last night, the cocky, self centered, yet very charming guy. “Good Morning,” she said with a smile.

“Good Morning?” Joe questioned. “It’s past noon!”

“I just woke up, so technically for me its morning. And plus, Good Afternoon sounds like I’m some old British lady waiting to have tea,” Callie replied cheekily.

It was Joe’s turn to laugh at Callie’s antics as she made her way to the small couch in her room and sat down in it, making herself comfortable. “I love the way your mind works, Callie.”

“Thank you,” Callie paused. “I think.”

Joe laughed once more but ignored her last comment. “Listen, are we still on for tonight?”

Callie nodded and then realized that was kind of stupid considering the fact that they were on the phone. “I am if you are.”

“Alright, good. I’ll pick up at six, okay?” Joe confirmed.

“Sounds great. Where are we going?” Callie asked.

“It’s a surprise. All I’m telling you is dress nice,” Joe claimed.

Callie raised an eyebrow. “Not even a hint?”

“Nope,” Joe said, popping the last consonant of his answer.

She let out a small chuckle. “Okay, if that’s what you want to do.” Soon after, Callie and Joe ended their phone call despite her pleas to know where they were going tonight but to no avail, did she get any other information out of him.

The next three hours of her day seemed to pass by relatively fast. Pounded with homework, Callie spent the time she had to crack open her books. The laws of physics were crammed into her brain for her chemistry exam on Monday, along with all the Spanish vocabulary she had learned since the beginning of the year.

She was on the verge of throwing her chemistry text book at the window when she glanced at the digital clock and saw that it was almost four thirty. Thankful for an excuse to stop studying, Callie closed her textbook and set it back into her tote bag.

Callie pulled out her cell phone and scrolled down her phonebook. Finally reaching the name she was searching for, Callie hit the call button and put her phone up to her ear. Flipping on the light switch outside her closet, Callie walked in while the rings continued playing in her ear.

A voice finally picked up on the other line and Callie quickly started talking. “I have a date with Joe Jonas tonight and I have no idea what to wear.”

“What?!” Shannon exclaimed. “You got a date with him already? How?!”

Callie found herself for the next fifteen minutes or so leaning against the wall of her closet explaining to her best friend what had happened over the course of the last two days. Needless to say, Shannon wasn’t exactly too pleased with the situation, but agreed with her there wasn’t really a way out.

With the help of her best friend, Callie found her outfit for that night. It was a dress from a couple years ago from freshman year. Callie remembered buying it for the Homecoming dance that year. It was a strapless pink dress that ended about four inches above her knee and was covered in sheer material which sparkled in the lights.

By the time five forty five rolled around, Callie was fully dressed. The dress fit just as well as it had two years ago, her legs were freshly shaved, simple but elegant makeup covered her face, and her hair was straightened but curled at the end.

Callie made her way downstairs with a silver purse in hand and walked into the living to find her parents talking on the couches. She joined them for the few minutes before Joe arrived and she was well aware that her parents would want to meet Joe. They always did with the guys she went out with.

She found herself glancing at her cell phone every few seconds to check the time. It wasn’t till her mother reprimanded her for shaking her leg while sitting on the couch, that Callie realized she was nervous. The butterflies were there in the bottom of her stomach, and yet, Callie couldn’t understand why she was nervous at all. She had been on plenty of dates before, and the last time she could remember being this nervous was on her very first date back in freshman year.

The sound of the door bell ringing jerked Callie out of her thoughts and she watched as her mother patted her on the shoulder before standing up to go answer the doorbell. She could hear low murmurs coming from the front foyer and after a minute or so, Callie stood up slowly and followed her parents footsteps.

Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Joe standing in front of her parents. He looked good. Black dress pants covered his bottom half with a simple white dress shirt covering the top half. His hair was naturally swept to the side which he kept brushing away from his eyes with his hands.

Callie let a small smile fall on her face once both Joe and she made eye connection. Joe copied the expression on her face and found himself smiling also. Goodbyes were quickly made and Callie was luckily able to leave the parents radar in less than five minutes.

The familiar sight of Joe’s car was parked on the driveway as she walked from the entrance of her house towards his car. Joe managed to make his way in front of her and open the door for her. The action surprised her, just like it had the night before, but still again Callie smiled as a thank you.

By the time she had set her purse down and had buckled in her seatbelt, Joe had slid into the drivers seat and jammed the key into the ignition. He turned around to begin backing out of the driveway before changing his mind and turning to look at Callie. “By the way, you look beautiful tonight,” Joe complimented with a small smile. Another easy smile found its way onto Callie’s lips as she thanked him. It certainly was going to be an interesting night.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soft sounds of melodious music played in the background as Callie took in the restaurant for the first time that evening. Candles were lit at every table along with glowing lamps from the ceiling, adding to the homey yet stylish atmosphere. Quiet chatter could be heard from the surrounding tables but not to loud that Callie could understand their conversation.

Her train of thought was broken once a chocolate sundae was placed in the middle of the table, next to the burning candles. Across from her, Joe thanked the young waiter as Callie looked longingly at the desert in front of her. She picked up one of the metal spoons that were on the plate and dug into the sundae.

Callie sighed contently the second the pure sweetness and sugar touched her taste buds. “Mhm,” Callie hummed contently. She swallowed the cold ice cream and licked her lips.

Joe chuckled at her reaction. “Is it good?”

“Amazing,” Callie breathed before letting out a small laugh.

And that was exactly the world Callie could use to describe how the night had gone so far. Amazing. The second that Callie and Joe had entered the restaurant, she had fallen in love. Well, at least with Joe’s expertise of dates. They had been immediately been escorted to a table nearby a window which had the view of a small lake behind the restaurant.

Conversation had flowed easily between the two of them, just like it had last night. Callie thought they would run out of topics to talk about, but somehow, both of them found something to tease the other about or to question about. She found herself laughing to almost to tears at Joe’s stories of his family and his childhood years.

Callie had almost had a panic attack when Joe had reached across the table to hold her hands, but was able to control herself the second his soft fingers touched hers. The way his thumb was rubbing against her own was distracting enough while he was talking, but so was the starting of the butterflies to enter her stomach again.

She had been thankful when dinner arrived, for one she was starving, and two, she needed her senses back. Joe had been a smart boy, she decided, to have chosen an Italian restaurant. It was her favorite style of foreign of food and absolutely loved any type of pasta.

The food at the restaurant was beyond excellent, Callie also concluded. “This chocolate sundae is incredible.”

Joe laughed. “I think you already mentioned that.”

“Well, it is!” Callie insisted.

“I’m hearing you. We’re going to have to sneak some out of here for later,” Joe decided. Callie laughed at the idea, but agreed. It was seriously too good of a sundae to pass up.

The next fifteen minutes or so passed by quickly as they finished their desert and Joe paid the bill. As Callie pushed the glass door in front of her to exit the restaurant, she felt Joe’s hand touch the small of her back as he guided her back to the car. Just the simple gesture of that indicated that tonight had been a success.

As Joe drove back to her house, Callie began to tease him about his CD collection he had stored in his car. Flipping through, she noticed it was a variety of music along with soft rock mixed with plenty of other types of music genres with bands she had never even heard of.

The easy laughter that was coming from both Callie and Joe eased up the tension in the air of the upcoming end to the night. Callie was fully occupied with Joe’s chatter as they pulled back into her driveway.

This time, Callie beat Joe to opening her door and stepped outside into the chilly, evening air. She shivered at the sudden coldness and wished that she had brought a nice jacket or something like she usually did to avoid situations like these.

Callie let the silence continue as her heels clicked against the gravel of the sidewalk to the front entrance of her house. One small porch light was on telling Callie that she knew she didn’t have much time left outside to say her goodbyes.

Quickly making up the two steps onto her porch, Callie found herself standing in front of the door. She turned around to find Joe standing right behind her, with his hands shoved into his pockets. Neither of them said anything for a few seconds as Joe’s eyes searched Callie’s face.

It was only then he seemed to notice that Callie was starting to shiver. “Are you cold?” Joe asked concerned.

Callie nodded and looked down for a moment before meeting his gaze once more. “Just a little.” She bit her lip as she hoped that Joe would take the hint to lead the conversation.

“Listen,” Joe said softly, “I had a really great time tonight.”

“Me too,” Callie replied quietly.

Joe removed his hands from his pockets and gently laid them down on Callie’s upper arm. Callie involuntary took a couple steps forward, and just enough to feel Joe’s breath floating down.

“I want to ask you something,” Joe started. Callie nodded slightly indicating for him to continue. The look on his face seemed a tad bit nervous. “If you say no, I’ll be perfectly fine. But this is something I really want,” he paused again as he seemed to collect his thoughts. The dead silence around the was starting to build up and Callie was sure she could cut through the tension only with a knife. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

Callie stood incredibly still that she could even hear the crickets from the neighbor’s yard chirping away into the night. She let her gaze drop for a second and Callie could feel Joe’s hand beginning to slip away from its previous position as the seconds ticked by.

Joe began moving away from her as he let go of the grip he had had on her arms. Within a second, her decision was made. Callie stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, titled her head, and slowly closed her eyes.

Their lips met a second later for a short, but sweet kiss. His soft lips moved slowly with hers and it was all Callie could do to not press herself up on Joe any more than she already was.

Callie pulled back as she sighed heavily for air. Their foreheads touched each other’s and a huge grin was on Joe’s face. “So is that a yes?” Callie grinned and instead leaned up and kissed him one more time.

Snap the trap.