Under the City Lights

“Bridger, what’s wrong?”

I’d called Asher about 10 minutes ago, but I was too much of a wreck to tell him what had happened. I was too worried about Callum to think straight, much less speak straight.

“Bridgey, if you don’t stop crying, I can’t understand what’s wrong.”

Yeah, I was crying. Sorry, but the boy I love have strong feelings for is most likely being abused by his own father and all I can do is sit here and hope he’s okay.

“Callum.” I said.

“What happened to Callum? Did he hurt you? Did he break up with you?” Asher said, worriedly.

“We’re not even together!” I said, through the tears. “His father got home and- and…”

“What’s bad about his father?”

“I’m worried that… that his father abuses him.” I said, still crying, though the tears have slowed now.

“Oh, Bridgey!” Asher said. “If Callum’s being abused, you can’t do much about it.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” I said, tears pricking my eyes again.

“Bridgey, if you can’t do anything about it, there’s no use in crying about it. All we can do is hope he’s okay. Did he say he would email you or call you?”

“He said he would as soon as it’s safe. But he hasn’t called or emailed and it’s been twenty minutes. I’m getting really worried about him.”

“He’ll call you.” Asher assured me. “I promise. If he doesn’t, you can hit me.”

“That makes me feel much better.” I said, dryly.

“Seriously, Bridgey. If he doesn’t contact you within the next ten minutes, then I’d be worried. But I bet you he will.”

“All right, then. I’ll check my email and my skype and then I’ll call you back in 10 minutes. If he hasn’t called me already.”

I hung up my cell phone and moved to my computer, opening up my email with my heart beating in my chest. I have no clue what kind of situation Callum is in, but I know it’s a bad one. And I know there’s no one who can help him out of it.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so anxious for an email in my entire life.

I sat at my computer, constantly refreshing my webmail to make sure I didn't miss Callum's email. I couldn't deal with the stress. I'm not very good with dealing with problems, as you can probably tell, and this was too much excitement for one day... or week.

The moment I saw Callum’s email, my heart stopped beating.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. He was okay.

“See? I promised I’d be fine.

"I’m sorry I had to go so quickly. I really wish I could have stayed longer. We need to talk face to face (kind of) more often. It kind of made my day.

"I guess I should come up with a question for you today, but I just finished talking to you, so it’s hard to come up with something.

"You asked me if I would tell you whenever my dad did something to me, but I can’t promise you that. My dad and I have a strained relationship, but I don’t want you worrying about me. I’m used to it, I don’t need your help.

"I’ve thought of a question, but you might want to say no, or just not answer. I realize that it’s kind of overstepping boundaries. I’ve actually wanted to ask it for a while, but I’m scared of how you’ll react.

"Question: Could you ever see yourself with me? As more than a friend?

"Answer: I could definitely see you as more than a friend. I know it’s really soon and I know we don’t really know enough about each other, but I can’t help but feel drawn to you in a way I’ve never felt about anyone else.

"I hope I haven’t scared you off. Even if you disagree with me, please don’t stop emailing me.

"-Callum”

…

I think I just had a stroke.