He was a Boy, She was a Girl

Callies POV

So school has been really awkward. Jamie won’t hang out with me when Logan is around, and is still best friends with Aiden. I’m defiantly not talking to Aiden, at all, even if we do live together. I’m not exactly dating anyone at the moment but I have been spending a lot of time with Logan, who didn’t get the spot on varsity this year. Aiden got that. I can’t lie and say I don’t miss him. Because I do. And I don’t hate him. Quite the opposite actually.
Though I know he doesn’t love me anymore. It’s obvious since he’s with that Emily chick now. I thought he hated punks? It sickens me to see them together. Aiden hangs out with Justin and them, which is hard for Christie since she’s still dating Justin. She says he never talks about me and when she brings me up he’ll just not talk.
Cathy could feel the tension in the house, I knew she could, but she never said anything about it. I think she still believes we’re going to get together again, Aiden and I.
“so, I’ll meet you at my house?” Logan asks. I shut my locker and turn to him.
“yup. We’ll attempt the math problems together.” Ugh. Calculus was not what I wanted to work on at the moment.
“great. See you in a little while.” I nod and smile, then turn down the empty hall. I had to talk to my history teacher about one of the assignments. I really wanted to do my project on the womens suffrage but someone else had picked it from the hat. Instead, I got stupid world war one. Well, the beginning of it.
“you cannot switch.” My teacher says. I walk in then, hoping I could.
Both pairs of eyes look up at me and I just continue my way to the desk.
Did I mention Aiden is in my class? Well he is. And that’s who was trying to switch next to me.
“what can I do for you Callie?” Mr. Tretcher asks.
“I was wondering if I could switch with whoever had womans suffrage. I really wanted to study that.”
“what is it with women getting the right to vote? It’s not that interesting of a topic.”
“well-“ Aiden and I say at the same time and then freeze. He wanted to do it too? I roll my eyes, of course he did.
“it was a very important part in women history. They stood out there protesting through a war. No one goes against the government during a war.” I stare at him, shocked he even knew that.
Mr. Tretcher looks at me for my answer, “um, I’m a feminist and believe that it was a very important time for women. Plus it brought out the best and worst in our nations politicians.”
“well, you both have good reasons to want to do the subject, so I’ll have Kayla switch with-“ please me, please me, please me, “Callie.” YES! “You two can do Women Suffrage together.” Wait, the teacher says WHAT!?
“um, sir, I don’t think that would work out too well.” Aiden comments. Hey, look at that, we finally agree on something.
“I agree with him. We’re the last two people you want working together.”
“I don’t see any problem. You do live together, that makes it way easier to actually do the project.”
“but-“ I start.
“do you want the switch or not?”
I glance over at Aiden and he gives a small nod. “yes.” I tell Mr. Trtcher.
“great then, on you go. I have papers to grade.” Aiden and I leave the room without another word to each other and go our opposite ways.

About an hour later I was laying on Logans floor working on math. “okay, I got x for number 19, but I can’t figure out the rest.” I complain.
“and you expect me to?” Logan laughs. He wasn’t exactly the best at math. I wasn’t either, but much better than him.
“whatever. what did you get for 18?” I ask him.
“20.” He answers plainly. We continued on like that for another half hour or so. Then we heard a crash downstairs.
Not really a crash, more like the door slamming shut. Memories flashed through my head of the last time I really spoke to Aiden. The day it became officially over. Panic crosses Logans face as he stands up.
“I’ll, uh, be right back.” He says and hurries out of the room before I can reply. I tried to ignore it. I really did, but just like last time I was drawn in my their voices.
“what do you mean you can’t!?” another guy yells.
“it means I’m not doing this anymore. Get the money some other way.”
“You can’t back out of this Logan, we had a deal.” Wait-I recognize that voice from somewhere.
I tiptoe to the top of the stairs and look down.
“what are you going to do about it? Kill me too?” kill who? I strain my neck a little and catch a glimpse of the other guys hair. I just needed to be a little bit taller…I stand up on my tippy-toes and look over the edge. Just as I was able to see him I lose my balance and fall down the stairs, landing with a loud thunk.
The room falls silent. I stand up with my eyes closed, now afraid to open them and see who was standing there.
“are you okay?” I hear Logans voice.
“she’s fine.” That voice, I swear I know that voice. I dare to open my eyes and when I do I regret it. Because the pair of eyes staring back at me were identical to mine. Because the guy staring back at me was Tristan.
I don’t grab anything from upstairs or down. I just walk out of there. Leaving them behind, and drive back to Aidens. I felt like a zombie, not really there. My body was, but me, myself, was gone, just disappeared.
I walk passed the group sitting in the living room, my friends. Past the babies room, past the bathroom and into my own safe bedroom where I sit down on the bed. I don’t cry, I don’t move, I just sit there.
“Callie?” I hear Cathy ask, knocking quietly on the door. “are you alright in there?” I don’t answer.
The door opens and she looks at me sitting there, frozen. “Callie?” she asks quieter. Still no response comes from me. Cathy sets down the plate of food in her hands and leaves.
Days went by like this. I would just lay in my bed, drinking water all day. Sometimes I’d take a bite or two but nothing like before, and I defiantly didn’t talk.
Everyday Aiden would drop off my homework and I would finish it, then set it in front of my door for him to pick up. I even did half of our project with out words. I could tell that he was worried, but he didn’t ask anything. He was the only one who didn’t. The only one who actually understood.
Weeks passed and I still stayed in my room. I could hear the voices out in the hall, knowing it was Cathy and Aiden.
“talk to her.” Cathy says. Trying to get Aiden to speak to me.
“mom, I keep telling you, she doesn’t want to talk.”
“but she may want to hear your voice. Come on Aiden, you haven’t been helping the past couple of weeks.”
“I haven’t been helping?! I feed her, change her clothes, get her homework to her and in the midst of that I’ve gotten all her friends to stop bothering her!” Aiden exclaims. He was right. Without him I would be in worse condition than I am now.
“that’s just it though. She needs her friends.”
“no mom, she doesn’t. she needs to work through whatever problem she is having by herself. That’s how Callie works.” Damn, this boy knew me.
“at least sit in there.”
I could practically hear Aiden roll his eyes. “fine.” Moments later my door opens and closes. I pretend to be asleep and just lay there on the right side of my bed. I expected Aiden to sit in the bean chair or something. But when I feel the bed move under me I know that he took another road.
I let his arms wrap around my waist. I let him pull me to him until my back hits his chest. “Hey Callie.” He whispers against my ear. I don’t respond. “do you want to talk about it?” I shake my head no. “that’s what I thought. Can I take a guess?” I knew he would guess it. He’d be the only one to know about it. I nod anyways. “well, I’m thinking that you caught Tristan at Logans house.” I stay still. “want to talk about it now?” another shaking no of my head. “okay. How about we talk about this amazingly competitive girl who I love.” I shake my head no again, though it was so slight I didn’t know if he noticed. “well we’re going to anyways. You see, I really hated her the first day we met, even though I took her out for a day of fun. And then we played board games all afternoon and you know what? She’s not only competitive, but she’s also super-smart. She wouldn’t give up the games, and had this need to win each of them. I swear she lived life like a game, always needing to be on top and would do almost anything she could to get there. Now though, it’s like she’s given up on life. And instead of competing for the top, she’s just accepting that she’s at the bottom.” I shake my head no again for no apparent reason. “no?” Aiden chuckles, “I think I’m right this time Callie.” I shake my head no, “how about this? I don’t need you to say I’m right. Or talk about what happened. Or any of that. All I need is one word. Something to reassure me that you’re still inside there somewhere.” I turn around in his arms so that our faces are barely an inch apart. He stares into my eyes and I stare back. “Callie. Please? Something, anything.” He begs. Without another word from him, I press my lips against his. It didn’t take long for him to react, but just as quickly he pulls away.
“Callie.” He says my name sternly. “I need you to talk to me.” Aiden looks me straight in the eyes as he says this. My lips stay sealed and I turn away from him. I hear him sigh and the bed shift a little. He had gotten off the bed. I guess I should be happy about this but I was actually really sad. I felt safe in his arms.
Aiden was still in my room. I could see him pacing back and forth. I watch him walk from one end to the other and back again. “I thought you didn’t date punks.” I mumble into my covers.
Aiden freezes and looks at me, “what?” I don’t respond. “all I heard was punk.” I keep my mouth closed. I talked, just like he wanted me too, and I wasn’t doing it again. “Callie? What about punks?” he sits down on the end of the bed. “are you talking about Emily?” I nod my head a little, not knowing if he saw or not. I hear his laugh echo throughout the room, “do you think I’m dating Emily?” I don’t move. This guy was too good at reading me. “Callie, Emily and Luke are dating, that’s why I’m always around her.” Oh. I bite my lip, nervously. Why was I so stupid?
“were you jealous?”
okay, those three words for whatever reason really pissed me off. How could he just assume I was jealous!? “of course not!” I yell at him.
“whoa. Okay, I get it. You weren’t jealous.” He puts his hands up in surrender.
I go back to my silent self. Or at least try to. Aiden leans in close to whisper into my ear, “I still love you, so how could I be dating anyone else?”
My breath catches in my throat and I stop breathing for a moment. It felt nice to hear those three words leave his mouth, especially when he’s talking about me.
“you shouldn’t.” I mutter.
“I shouldn’t what?”
“love me.” I answer.
“and why not?” was his next question. I knew he just wanted me to continue talking.
I think for a moment before I answer, “because you deserve someone who treats you right.” My head was still shoved into the pillow, muffling all my words.
“I deserve nothing more than you.” there was a pause when I don’t reply. “I love you Callie. And I know you still love me.”
“no you don’t.”
“yes I do.”
“there’s no way you could.”
“you ignore me, never even glance my way, and not once have you asked Christina or Jamie how I’m doing. If you didn’t love me, you wouldn’t have to work so hard to push me away.”
He was right actually, I just didn’t want to admit it to him. “come on, get dressed.” Aiden says, pulling the covers off of me.
“no.” I hear him get off the bed and open my closet. Moment later there was a pair of cut off jeans and loose vintage t-shirt laying next to me. Aiden had also pulled out my black swimsuit and black flip-flops.
“come on. Will you please get dressed? Just this one thing, for today. I promise I won’t ask again.” With that short speech he leaves the room. I stare at the clothes for awhile before deciding to slip them on. As I do so, memories flash through my head from the first day Aiden and I met.
I open the door and find Aiden sitting in one of the bean-bags. He looks up at me and smiles, “ready?” I nod my head and follow him out to his car. No one was home, which was odd, but I was relieved. I wasn’t ready to face people yet.
Aiden let me sit in the back and sleep, or at least rest my eyes. He put on a CD and I instantly recognized it as his voice. When did he record a CD? I should probably ask but don’t. I don’t want to talk right now.
The car comes to a stop and Aiden gets out. He opens my door and looks down at me. His hand is being held out for me to grab, “come on, if I was going to kill you I would have already.” A smile slowly spreads up my face as I take his hand.
I knew where we were. It was a place that seemed so far away, yet it was so close. The clearing becomes noticeable as we get closer. The sound and aroma of the sea fills the air. When we arrive at the clearing, Aiden lets go of my hand and motions for the rope swing.
“Ladies first.” He says, pulling out his camera.

~~
After hours of swimming and then board games, Aiden grabs a basket and we make our way back to the clearing. The night sky had finally taken over, showing every star possible.
This time when we show up, Aiden lets go of my hand and pulls a blanket out of the basket, smoothly setting it on the dew covered grass. I giggle as he helps me take a seat and then he sits down next to me.
In the end, there was chocolate covered strawberries, Melanies chocolate cake, and sparkling cider.
I was confused but not fussing. Through out the time here I hadn’t said a word, except for during the games, and I was trying to keep it that way.
Aiden fills two champagne glasses with the cider and hands one to me. He holds his up a little, “one year.” He says simply, he clanks his glass with mine and we both take a sip. I had forgotten that it was October ninth, the day we met, fought, and swore we’d never be together.
Throughout the picnic, we feed each other the different foods and he talks about random things, making me laugh quietly.
It started to get colder and Aiden pulled out a blanket for us…to share. Since he wasn’t cold, yet, he let me have all of it.
“Whether you’re my enemy, friend, or girlfriend; you’ve been the best thing to happen to me this past year.” Aiden whispers, his face inching closer to mine. “I really hope that someday you can forgive me because it’s really killing me without you in my life.”
His lips were moving against mine then. Nothing hard or rough. Not even close. This was a very slow, very passionate kiss, and it proved to me that he really did love me. In the midst of the kiss I feel something cold slip onto my finger and I pull away, shocked.
I look down on my right hand and see a turquoise heart set into a silver band looking back at me. It was gorgeous. My eyes flick up to meet Aidens with question in them. Why did he give this to me?
“It’s a promise ring…in a way. Since we’ve been off and on, I didn’t want to do something too serious. It’s more of a promise ring that promises I’ll always be there for you, no matter-“ I stop him with my lips. He responds quickly wrapping his arms around me, pulling me closer.
We both pull back to breathe. “I love you Callie. I always will.
I stare into his eyes and know that he’s telling the truth. “I love you too Aiden.”