No Ordinary Exchange

related rates (of your heartbeats)

I apologize that it's been a while! I planned to upload a new chapter last weekend, but I got sick and barely had enough energy to do my homework. A week later, I am still sick, but hopefully the new medicine I've started will help soon. (I also have two tests the day I go back to school - wish me luck.) I hope you enjoy the chapter!

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"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" Callum mumbled to himself for the umpteenth time, running a hand through his hair and sighing. "Thou art more temperate and more fair. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May."

He didn't know why he was rereading the sonnet again. It wasn't like that had helped the previous twenty-something tries.

God, why had he taken poetry to fulfill his English requirement? Mostly because he thought it'd be easier and slightly more interesting than traditional literature, but it was turning out to be just as difficult. In a different, more excruciating way. He hadn't expected sonnets to be so important, although he probably should have.

He just didn't understand what he was supposed to be looking for. Listening for. Whatever. Logically, he knew he was looking for sound devices, sure, but that hadn't clarified much for him. The poem all sounded the same. Words. Old, fancy words. Leaving his mouth. Huzzah.

English had never been his strong suit, and apparently college was no exception to this rule. How unfortunate for him.

His phone rang, breaking his concentration. 'Rang' wasn't the right word, of course, as he never had his ringer on. Rather, his phone buzzed loudly and got his attention. He glanced at the caller ID, raising an eyebrow but finding himself smiling as he read who it was.

Callum didn't typically answer phone calls, unless it was Ezran or Harrow. Claudia, too, though she hated talking on the phone almost as much as he did and therefore relied primarily on texts. Maybe he'd answer Soren once in a blue moon, though it wasn't like he and Soren talked much outside of physical interactions. Anyone else? Not likely.

But this was Rayla.

Surely he could make an exception.

He picked up his phone. "Hello?"

"Oh thank God you picked up." The relief in his friend's voice was evident, the thickness of her accent increasing and making her words nearly unintelligible.

Callum sat up, suddenly feeling much more alert. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine," she reassured him. "I need your help with something. It's important."

Callum frowned, trying to figure out what could be so serious that she'd called him to ask for assistance. "What do you need?"

An almost comical beat passed.

"It's my calculus homework."

Callum groaned at her words, slumping against the backboard of his bed in relief. "Jesus. You nearly gave me a heart attack, Rayla. I really thought something bad had happened."

"Something bad is happening!" she protested. "I can't do my math assignment! And I'd normally ask Claudia for help, since we take calc together, but she had to leave about an hour ago to do something with Professor Viren. Her dad. Whatever."

Callum snorted. "Glad to know I'm second on your hierarchy of helpers."

"Please just come over and help me. I know you're smart and good at math and science and all kinds of boring stuff like that."

"Insulting my field of study isn't exactly winning you points, you know."

"Oh, shut it. I'm in Claudia's dorm. Er, my dorm. Our dorm?" She sighed, and he could practically see her blowing her hair out of her face in exasperation. "Just get over here." With that, she hung up.