The Only One Who Needs to Know

“Oh My God, this sun is mega hot! You don’t get sun like this in Ebbw!” Rachel exclaimed as they loaded their rental car with their luggage.

“Two minutes you’ve been here and already you’re moaning about the weather!” Cali replied slamming down the trunk door and walking around to the drivers side.

“Um Cali, you’re driving!” Rachel said staring at her in bewilderment.

“Yeah I know, Rach we drive on the opposite side over here.” Cali replied getting into the car.

“Oh my god! Really, well I never new that!” Rachel replied getting into the car.

“Why’s that then Cal?” Cali glanced over at her friend and rolled her eyes.

“Because there’s these little things in the road that break the car if you drive on the wrong side of the road over here.” She replied chewing the inside of her lip to keep her face serious.

“OH MY GOD! Really, what they just put holes in the tyres or something do they?” she replied.

“Yeah something like that.” Cali said stifling a laugh.

“Oh Cal! Oh My God, I can’t believe I fell for that!” Rachel yelled seeing the small smirk that Cali failed to hide. Cali fell into a fit of giggles as she pulled out of the parking lot. It was so easy to wind Rachel up; she would believe anything anyone told her. Cali had lost count of the amount of times she’d wound her up like that.

“Sorry Rach, it’s just too easy sometimes.” Cali replied once she’d stopped laughing. “Put some music on.”

Rachel gave one final glare towards Cali before putting the radio on, immediately starting to sing along to Wings of a butterfly. They continued to sing along with the songs of the radio as they drove towards their new home.

“I think this is it.” Cali said as she drove slower down a street looking for their apartment building.

“Yup, here it is.” She said pulling up into a parking space.

“Great, come on let’s get our stuff up there, I’m sure I can hear my bed calling me.” Rachel said getting out of the car and opening the trunk.

“Yeah mine too, mom said she’d unpacked most of our stuff and made our beds for us ready.” Cali replied pulling her case out of the trunk.

“Just please don’t tell me we’re on the top floor!” Rachel moaned as they pulled their luggage up to the front door.

“Rach, there are only three floors. And we’re on the middle floor and mom said there’s a lift.” She replied seeing the look of horror on her face. Rachel sighed with relief as they stepped into the lobby.

“Oh My God, are you sure we’ve got the right place?” Rachel yelled as she followed Cali into their new apartment.

Cali had to admit, Rachel’s reaction wasn’t over exaggerated, at first glance this was a pretty nice apartment. Her mom had done her proud. She walked further into the living room as her eyes scanned over it as she placed her cases down beside the couch.

“It is pretty awesome.” She said as she walked over to the archway that she found led into the kitchen. She took a step in turning to face Rachel as she followed her.

“This isn’t a room that concerns you Rach.” She said holding her hand up to stop her. “This is my domain.”

“That’s fine by me.” she replied smiling.

“Actually come here.” Cali said beckoning Rachel over to where she was stood. “Coffee machine and dishwasher.” She added pointing to the two appliances with a smirk.

“I think I can handle them.” Cali replied with a smile as she turned, leaving the kitchen in search of her bedroom. Cali followed, finding the bathroom before finding her bedroom.

“Honey, I’m shattered, I’ll see you in a few hours!” Rachel called from somewhere down the hall. Cali chuckled at herself before calling back and deciding that she had the right idea. She kicked off her chucks and walked over to her bed. it was then she noticed a small piece of paper place on top of what turned out to be pyjamas. The note had been written in her mother’s handwriting and had simply said “Welcome Home.”

A tired smile worked its way onto Cali’s lips as she turned to place the note on her nightstand before changing out of her travel clothes and into the pyjamas her mom had left out for her. She climbed into bed pulling the duvet around her and quickly found sleep taking over.

She groaned loudly at the sound of her cell phone ringing from the nightstand. As she tried to open her eyes and focus she blindly felt around for the cell. When she found it she brought it closer to her face, squinting through sleepy eyes to try and read the caller ID.

“Unknown.” She grumbled in two minds whether to answer it or not, however before she could make up her mind the ringing stopped.

“Great! Thanks for that whoever you are.” She mumbled at her phone before putting it back on her nightstand and settling back into her comfy bed. she’d barely had time to close her eyes when the ringing started again. Cali’s eyes snapped open and grabbed the phone glaring at the screen as again it read ‘unknown’.

“Hello!” she said harshly as she answered.

“Cali?” a male voice asked.

“Yeah, who’s this?” she replied knowing she recognised the voice but couldn’t quiet place it at this moment in time.

“Jimmy.” he replied.

“Jimmy?” she questioned, still a little dazed from the sleep she’d been trying to get.

“Yeah, Sullivan, you know, The Rev?” he replied.

“Jimmy?” she repeated.

“Ok this is Cali Hetfield isn’t it?” Jimmy asked sounding confused.

“Sorry Jimmy, yeah it’s me, but I’m a bit out of it, I was sleeping.”

“Sleeping at this time of day?!” he yelled in shock.

“Jim, I only flew home this afternoon, I’m still on UK time remember.” She replied allowing a yawn to escape her.

“Shit sorry, do you want me to call you back?” he asked.

“No, don’t worry about it, I’m awake now, what’s up?” she replied followed by another yawn.

“I just wanted to say hi.” He replied cheerfully. Cali rolled her eyes.

“Me and Rachel were going to have a house warming next weekend.” She replied sensing that this was the real reason he was calling.

“Really? Cool.” He replied trying to sound casual.

“Yeah, we thought it would be just what I need after my first week back in work. Of course you are invited along with the other guys and their girlfriends.” She replied.

“Cool, but are you going to be ok with Brian and Michelle in the same room?” he asked cautiously.

“Yeah, it’ll be fine Jim, me and Brian are just friends, it’s not going to be a problem.” Jimmy was silent for a brief moment before he replied.

“Ok, I guess you know if you can be friends with him or not.”

“Yeah, I can do it, it may not be easy, but it’s got to be done. So anyway, pass on the invitation to the other guys and I’ll ring you in the week with the details.” She replied.

“Ok, I’m looking forward to it, see you soon honey.” He replied cheerfully.

“Talk to you soon Jim.” She replied with a chuckle before hanging up. As she closed her phone she glanced at the time. Three forty seven. With a sigh she decided that she better get up or she’d never sleep that night.

She wandered back into the living room, contemplating whether or not to go wake up Rachel. She decided against it however, knowing that Rachel would quite happily sleep right through until morning if her appetite would allow her to go that long without food. Instead she decided to collapse in front of the TV while she decided whether she should have a shower or unpack first.

She happily found an episode of SpongeBob Squarepants to keep her occupied while she made her decision. Once that had finished she made a quick decision to take a shower first and headed to the bathroom.

As she wrapped herself in a fluffy white towel that her mom had unpacked for her she knew she’d made the right decision. She felt refreshed, more awake and ready to face the two cases that waited for her in the living room.

She quickly dried herself and got dressed before carrying the cases into her bedroom and unpacking her case. Once she’d finished she decided to make something to eat.

“Mmm, something smells good.” Rachel’s voice brought Cali out of her thoughts where she was going over the first lesson she’d be teaching on Monday.

“Hey, I was wondering if you’d be getting up at all.” Cali replied as Rachel sat down in one of the chairs that were placed around the island.

“The smell of food drifted into my dream and woke me up. What is it you’re cooking anyway?” she said raising her nose slightly to sniff the air.

“Well, thanks to my wonderful mother who has stocked our cupboards and fridge I thought I’d make chilli.” She replied.

“Mmm, have we got tortillas to go with it?” Rachel said with a hopeful smile.

“As always.” Cali replied picking up the bag and tossing it towards Rachel. “There’s a serving bowl in the cupboard this is almost ready.” She added pointing at the cupboard to Rachel’s right.

“Jimmy called earlier; I’ve invited him, the guys and their girlfriends over for a house warming on Saturday.” Cali said as she placed the bowl of chilli down in front of Rachel.

“Cool, so who else are we inviting?” Rachel replied loading a tortilla with as much chilli as it could hold before stuffing it into her mouth.

“I’m not sure, I mean you don’t really know anyone here and I’ve lost contact with most of my friends I went to school with.” Cali replied.

“So it’ll just be us, the guys from Avenged Sevenfold and their girlfriends?” Rachel said reaching for another tortilla chip.

“Possibly, but I’ll get in touch with a few of my old friends, see if they fancy coming, but I guess it wouldn’t be too bad if it’s just us and them will it? Urgh, this is Jimmy and Zack’s fault for insisting we have a party.” She mumbled.

“Cal, it’ll be fine.” Rachel assured her. “You’ve just got to make sure that you drink too much and start flirting with Brian.” Cali glared at her for a moment before allowing a smile to work its way over her lips.