A Sugar Summer

Chapter 29

"Call when you reach, yeah?"

Fallon squished Callie in her tight embrace, tightening her arms around her neck by the second. The curly haired girl choked out a chuckle as she patted Fallon's skinny, but surprisingly strong arms. Once she was able to escape after promising a few times that she would absolutely call, Callie took a step back and glanced at the people who were lined up at the office to say farewell for now.

Ryleigh and Anika were talking quietly behind the rest of the friend group that were busy passing Callie's phone around and importing their numbers. Fallon and Beck competed for Callie's limited time before the former eventually sauntered away after another round of promises, saying she had to go visit Mei to talk about joining another baking team.

The day passed relatively quickly after the cupcake apology. Callie and Ryleigh gave their mom a tour of the camp, finishing just in time to enjoy a late lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent loitering in the cafe and talking some more. Ryeligh kept up most of the chatter seeming genuinely happy to meet in person for the first time after years of silence. Callie had watched the two interact with each other and a sliver of jealousy tucked its way into her thoughts for about an hour before she could squash it. Ryleigh was always the more outspoken and extroverted sibling. He was comfortable in most, if not all situations. Callie was the exact opposite. Choosing to search for paperback companions over people that would just tease her for being who she was.

Still, a part of her wished she could loosen up around others quicker than the time it usually takes her to. By the time she's normally comfortable around a group, they've already moved on from her, deciding she was too cold or quiet to fit in with their personalities. After trying to make friends in school only to end up alone at the end of every year, Callie gave up trying to live up to anyone else's expectations. She had Grams and Ryleigh and as long as she was enough for them, then she was happy.

After her life's worth of drama, she wasn't sure what Camp Silver Lake would bring. Certainly not a whole group of mentor friends and some of her own on top of them. Beck shuffled closer to Callie, breaking her from her thoughts.

"You okay?" His warm hand came up to brush the rebel curl out of her face, gently tucking it back behind her ear.

"Yeah. I just feel bad for leaving so close to the end of the summer." Callie tossed a small, sad smile up at Beck. All afternoon she had tried to push all thoughts of leaving out of her mind after she told her mom she would leave with her. The smile that their mom tried to contain might have been suppressed from her lips but her blue eyes twinkled with how happy she must've felt.

"Just a few weeks. The hottest ones out of the year too. You're lucky to get to stay in the air condition all day." Beck teased, chuckling at the face Callie pulled at the mention of the cooled air. Beck had never met a person that detested an air temperature lower than eighty degrees fahrenheit. 

"Yeah well, if you weren't such a delinquent then maybe you'd get to come with me." Callie crossed her arms. A spark lit in Beck's eyes before it flitted out too quickly for Callie to read into it more.

"Too bad, huh." Beck tugged her in for a lingering hug as he dropped his chin to the top of her head. "You'll see me soon enough. Call me after you check up on your grandma and talk some more with your mom."

Callie rolled her eyes despite him not being able to see her face shoved into his shirt. "Will do."

Beck pushed her shoulders back so he could lean down a bit and scan her face over. Pretty soon his smile fell to match her own sombre one. Callie leaned forward on her toes, hands scrunched in his shirt as their mouths met in a sweet kiss. Neither one dared to deepen it any further with such an audience around but both knew they didn't need to either. The warmth and tingles left behind on her skin as she pulled back slightly was enough to convey the same emotions that stared back at her in those wondrous green eyes.