For E.G.
May you realize just how valuable you are.
.
.
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Callie pressed her lips together as she stepped out of the car and walked as fast as she could toward the doors of the impressive building in front of her. It was her first day of high school, and she had never felt more unsure of herself. Thanks to freshman orientation, she knew where to go, but that still did little to calm her nerves. She was a few minutes late due to having spent the morning trying on outfits and pinning and re-pinning the tendrils of hair around her face. She still wasn't sure she had gotten her look right. Having made very few friends during her first two months in Bayport, she had little to go on. Her only insight into Bayport fashion was Iola who was wearing converse, a band t-shirt, and jeans for her first day. Callie had no idea if that was an Iola thing, a middle school thing, or a Bayport thing. Either way, she glanced down at herself before walking through the door wondering if her perhaps her wedge heels and flouncy purple blouse had been the wrong choice.
Eight months ago, Callie had first heard that her dad would be transferring to Bayport and that the whole family would be moving there over the summer. The news had come as a total surprise. Callie had spent her entire life in New York City and had never imagined leaving. New York City was home. It was part of her, and she knew she would miss it with all her heart. Her parents ended up choosing a house on the outskirts of Bayport, and nothing had felt so wrong in her entire life. Her new bedroom was huge and looked almost empty despite having every piece of furniture she owned. She missed the cozy feeling of her old room in the back corner of their townhouse and sitting at her desk looking out the window and drawing the grass behind their house in every season. When she opened the windows, she heard the chirping of crickets and birds, not the steady hum of engines peppered with the hoking of horns and blazing of sirens. For the first few days, she cried herself to sleep. Bayport was not home.
Her one consolation when hearing about the move was the thought of being with Iola. Their mothers had first met in college, and the girls had been friends their whole lives. Iola's visits to the city had always felt too short, and Callie looked forward to getting to see her more often. As time passed, Callie found her excitement turning to nervousness. She would be leaving all of her other friends behind and all she would have would be Iola. Callie loved Iola, but she knew her from texting and occasional visits. How would everything go if they were actually together? Would she feel smothered?
Callie was feeling a bit better these days, but Bayport still didn't feel like home. She had very few friends and had yet to get involved in any activities unless you wanted to count drawing or wandering the roads behind her house with her camera. Maybe that would change when school started? Callie wasn't sure. Iola had said that Bayport High was a great school, but Callie couldn't imagine that a small town school would have all the clubs and activities she had been hoping for. She would have to wait and see. In the meantime, she was feeling decidedly out of place.
After the morning assembly which seemed too much like a pep rally for Callie's taste, she wandered off in search of her locker. Her backpack was heavy, and she didn't want to lug all of her books around all day. The halls were far from empty—students were everywhere. Many of them appeared to be freshman like her who had no idea what they were doing. That made Callie feel a little bit better. She was not alone. As she was working on opening her locker, she felt her backpack shift on her back. Her first thought was that it was a bully, an idea which filled her heart with fear. She had been afraid that this would happen. But when she looked up, she saw a tall guy with dark brown hair and kind eyes looking at her.
"Sorry," he said. "I guess I wasn't looking where I was going. That's usually a Joe problem." He laughed and stretched his hand towards her. "I'm Frank."
She took his outstretched hand and shook it. "Callie Shaw."
His forehead crinkled, and she smiled at the look of confusion on his face. "You seem like a freshman, but I don't remember seeing you at Bayport Middle. You didn't go there, right?" he asked.
"No, no, I am from the city," she explained. "We just moved here over the summer."
"Then, that explains why I've never seen you before. I'm sure you'll like here. Bayport is pretty great. I've got to get to my first class, but I guess I'll see you around. Nice to meet you, Callie."
"You too," she said before turning her attention back to her locker. First impressions were rarely accurate, but she already knew that she liked this Frank guy a lot.
For the rest of the day, Callie was stuck on Frank's kind eyes. The look in them had filled her with warmth. She had no idea who he was or what he was like, but she just had this feeling that he was nice. She was a little bit surprised because she had not anticipated meeting a guy so quickly especially one that she would like so much on first acquaintance. She met up with Iola after school was out as they had planned, and the first words out of her mouth were something about Frank. Callie sighed. She liked to keep her feelings close to her chest, but they always came spilling out particularly when they were feelings about some guy. It honestly drove Callie crazy. She didn't want to act like the boy-crazy type, but she just couldn't keep her guts in.
Iola was excited to hear about Frank and asked so many questions that Callie felt that she was being interrogated. She might accidentally spill about the guy she had noticed, but it wasn't in her nature to tell everything that she had thought and seen and felt. Eventually, Iola said something about that having to be Frank Hardy, and it all suddenly made sense. Callie had heard about Frank. He was the older brother of Joe Hardy, the boy that Iola had been crushing on since fifth grade. She knew everything about Joe or at least everything that Iola knew. Joe was funny and always made Iola and everyone else around him laugh. He was confident and smart even though he tried to hide it by acting a little lazy. He played linebacker on a recreational football team, and he also loved solving cases with Frank. The brothers were best friends, and family was everything to them.
Frank, Callie had long known, was Joe's opposite. He was quieter and more serious. He liked school and was part of nerdy clubs like speech and debate and the math team. He loved computers and had even written the code for his own journaling app. Like Joe, he was committed to detective work and his family. Iola was overjoyed when she heard about Callie meeting Frank and making such a good impression. This could only mean one thing—Callie and Frank were meant to be.
Callie wasn't so sure at first. How could she be when they had only first met? She didn't know for sure that Frank was interested, let alone that he was someone who was worth her while. Time, though, proved Iola right. Frank showed up at Joe's football game the next day, and he sat and talked to her for the entire game asking her about her family and her life in New York City. For the first time in a while, she felt at home. Frank was genuinely interested in her and hearing about her life. When he asked her out for pizza the next day, she said yes eager to get to know him better.
That first date turned into another date, and before long, Frank and Callie were dating just like Iola had predicted. Despite her initial misgivings, Callie found that dating Frank was wonderful. He was just as kind as his eyes had looked on that first day, and her parents loved him. Best of all, he had taken it upon himself to help her enjoy her new life in Bayport. He had introduced her to all his friends, which helped a lot because Frank was well-respected at the high school even though it was only his first year. He took her to all of his favorite places and sometimes brought Iola and Joe along so Callie could spend time with them as well.
Author's Note: I wasn't planning on writing more Frank and Callie. However, I realized that she is actually a lot like someone I know and love which inspired me to write this. I was initially planning to post it as a one-shot, but I decided to divide it into chapters after it got long. It will probably be 4 to 5 chapters when it is finished. I'd love to know what you think of this and whether this characterization of Callie rings true for you.