This is the story I promised readers of You and Me Forever, about Devin meeting Callie. Thank to UNDERLANDERfromtheOVERLAND, who also gave me the name for my trilogy, for the title of this oneshot.
As a side note, I wrote another companion to the trilogy titled Linens. It was posted about a week ago, and it's just a cute, funny thing between Fang and Gracie that you would enjoy if you liked the trilogy and/or Sick Days. Even if you haven't read the trilogy, that story-- and this one-- is pretty easy to comprehend.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
Devin turned from staring out the window of the minivan, but his mother wasn't addressing him; she was addressing his father.
"Max," Dad said, "we discussed this before we left."
"Well, I've had four hours in this car to think about it, and I really don't like the idea of Devin meeting some girl he's only talked to on the phone."
"We talked about it and decided he could meet her, and that's why we're in New Mexico right now, and we are not turning around."
Devin sighed and ran a hand over his face. Why had he even asked his parents? He was sixteen, he had his license, why hadn't he just gone?
"I'm hungry," said his two-year-old sister, Missouri, from the middle row of the car.
"Me too," said Blake, her twin.
"We'll eat in a minute, sweetie," Mom said.
"Yeah, we'll go right now," Dad added. "Devin, go on inside. We'll go eat and come back for you."
"Fang--"
Devin unbuckled and jumped over the back of his seat, into the very back of the minivan. He opened the hatchback and jumped to the ground, ignoring his mother's protests.
"Have fun with your girlfriend, Devin," teased Gracie, his own twin. He made a face at her before slamming the hatchback shut, effectively separating himself from his insane family.
As the minivan pulled away, Devin tugged his knit cap down further over his ears, stuck his hands in his pockets, and looked at the dance studio in front of him. For the last two years, he'd been thinking about this day. The day he would meet the girl he'd met under the strangest of circumstances, the girl who understood him, the girl who had wiggled her way into his heart when nobody else could.
And yes, he really had never met her before. But he still knew her, through and through.
With a deep breath, Devin made his way to the door of the dance studio. Through the door, he could see the chairs that were lined up, about half of them filled, for those who wanted to watch the rehearsal, but he couldn't see the dancers themselves. As his stomach turned in anxiety and excitement, he stepped inside and made to sit down, but stopped in his tracks. Because he saw her.
There were about fifteen girls dancing, all of them looking more or less the same, except for the one he just knew was Callie. She stood out among the others, who were dressed in black leotards and some with pink tutus; her tutu was lilac colored, with a flower design on it. Her cheeks glowed red, and loose curls, a beautiful shade of honey brown, bounced around her shoulders.
As Devin stared, Callie glanced his way, and once she met his gaze, she couldn't look away. No introductions were needed; they would know each other anywhere.
As they continued to stare at each other, Callie fell out of step with the dance, and a girl bumped into her, knocking them both to the ground.
"Calliope!" she huffed, getting to her feet and not offering a hand to Callie. "What are you doing?"
"You need to focus, Calliope," called the instructor as she went to restart the music. "From the beginning, everyone."
But Callie wasn't interested in dancing anymore. She walked across the dance floor in her ballet shoes, smiling a little, while the other girls stared at her. And then, when she reached Devin, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.
Devin was shocked. In the two years he'd been talking to her over the phone and text messaging, she'd been sassy and spunky and, well, kind of a smart-ass. The last thing he expected was this show of affection, but he wasn't going to complain. Instead, he hugged her back, resting his chin on top of her head. He closed his eyes to take it in, to feel her warm body against his. This was the moment he'd been waiting for, the moment when his best friend, his partner, the person he could count on would be next to him. And it was every bit as wonderful as he'd imagined.
"Thanks for coming," Callie said eventually. She pulled away enough to look Devin in the face, but they still held each other. Then she grinned. "I'm Callie. Nice to meet you."
"Devin." He smiled about as much as his father did, which wasn't often, but right now seemed like a good time to do so. "You too."
Okay… I don't know if I like this… I kind of do but I realize there's not actually a whole lot happening. I'll probably be writing more about them, and other oneshots that are companions to the trilogy. But let me know what you thought! Please review!