No Ordinary Exchange

renaissance (typically, rebirth. here, the birth of something new.)

A shorter chapter today; my apologies for that. It's been my first week back at school this semester and it's already hectic. Ugh. But I hope you enjoy! Think of it as a little buildup for next week's more eventful chapter. ;)

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Callum hadn't seen any of his friends in two days. Rayla he hadn't seen since he'd dropped her off at her Shakespearean Literature class, and Claudia and Soren he hadn't seen since the café and the assembly before that. He hadn't spoken to Rayla after that evening, either, when she'd texted him 'thank you' for giving her number to Claudia.

The reason he felt more hung up on Rayla's absence, he figured, was because there simply weren't many people he typically talked to in the first place. Soren was too far ahead of him in school for their paths to cross often, and while he did hang out with Claudia a lot, they didn't actually have any classes that overlapped.

The only class he knew of Rayla's was of course Shakespearean Lit, though he was well aware his odds of having any classes with her were slim. It was too bad. She seemed like she'd be fun to share a class with.

Huh. Callum really needed to branch out more amongst his fellow freshmen.

Then again, it wasn't his fault that people were too afraid to approach him because his stepdad was head of the university. Or maybe they were predisposed to dislike him because his stepdad was head of the university. Whatever. Regardless, his asocial behavior was a result of a mix of factors.

Maybe he should talk to Harrow about -

His thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing. He normally kept it on vibrate, so it startled him, but he recognized that ringtone.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Er, call.

Callum grabbed his phone off the dresser and answered it. "Hey, Dad. What's up?"

"Hey, kiddo," Harrow said, static faintly crackling in the background of the call. "I know this is last minute, and I'm sorry for that, but can you look after Ezran tonight? Amaya had to cancel because a conference was rescheduled that she can't miss."

Callum was keenly aware of the fact that Harrow knew he didn't have plans, thus he didn't understand his stepfather's apologetic manner about the subject. "Yeah, sure," he replied. "What time do you want me to be there?"

"Just from 5 to 8. I should be back by then."

Callum scribbled the time in the margin of his planner before tossing it onto his bed. "You know, I really do think you can leave Ezran on his own now. He's almost fourteen."

Harrow sighed, and Callum could practically visualize him shrugging. "Yeah, I know. But I think it's good that you spend some time with Ezran while you're still living in the state. Before you leave for your master's."

Callum snorted. "I just started towards my bachelor's degree, Dad. I don't think you need to worry. Besides - you know Ez and I are inseparable in every sense but literal."

"How could I forget?" There was the sound of someone talking in the background of the call, and Harrow clicked his tongue. "I've got to hang up now. See you tonight, Callum, and thank you again."

"No problem," was all Callum managed to get out before his stepdad hung up. He sighed, turning his phone on vibrate before placing it back on his dresser. He was sorely tempted to collapse into his bed, despite it being afternoon. Wednesday was the one day of the week where all he had was one class. That in itself was somewhat a blessing - what was unfortunate was the fact that his class was in the afternoon. Ugh. He hated afternoon classes. But being a freshman meant he hadn't had much control over his schedule, even considering that he was Harrow's son.