500 Days of Callie
Brandon sighed deeply as he began to wash the dishes. It was his least favorite chore but someone had to do it. And right now, it was the loneliest chore. With his parents out on their long-awaited date night, and the twins not speaking to each other Brandon was forced to think. Even with headphones in his ear and phone in his pocket, Brandon couldn't help but think as he stacked the dishes. Jesus's plate, he had to go to his dad's tomorrow. Mariana's bowl, he had his audition in 12 days. Callie's dish…
Footsteps graced his open ear. It had to be Callie because Lexi was on a temporary ban until the big dinner and Mariana was on lockdown since stabbing herself in the face. Callie walked downstairs, in tight jeans and a shirt borrowed from Mariana. As she bent over to pick up her jacket, Brandon dropped her plate in the sink, creating a huge messy clatter.
Callie peered over to see who was watching the dishes. She contemplated ignoring Brandon and waiting for Wyatt outside a couple minutes early but she felt that it would be too rude. She really wasn't in the mood right now to talk to him.
"Is everything alright?" she asked Brandon, stepping into the kitchen. Brandon stood up quickly, his shirt wet, and cleared his throat.
"Yeah, everything's fine." Brandon nodded. "Yeah, yeah…everything's fine. I just…you look really nice and uh…I'm sorry. Where are you going?"
Callie shook her head. "Well, Wyatt got his car back so we were supposed to see a movie but we didn't see anything good so, uh, we might just take a walk."
"Where?"
"Um… around here I guess."
"Okay, good." Brandon couldn't help but be a little mad at her. "I just wanted to know if I had to drive far to pick you up, again."
Callie rolled her eyes. She let him have his dig at her, so he could let it out. Picking up a fork from the floor, she handed it to him.
"So, do Moms know?" he continued to grill her.
"Yes!" Callie snapped. "I would never do anything without their permission."
Brandon stopped washing the dishes. He turned off the running water and looked at Callie.
"Is that what this is about, huh, Callie?"
"Look, I'm sorry but I-I can't even look at you without you making it about…that. Look, I'm sorry you feel like you peed on my leg and marked your territory, because you think I am now obligated to date you, but you have to stop with this moping around and move on."
"What if I don't want to?" Brandon whispered, stepping closer to her. "I can't help but look at you and thinking about that either. It's not fair."
"You can't get everything you want Brandon." Callie shook her head. "Life is mean and cruel and no matter how much privilege you have, you kind of… you kind of have to see that you can't get everything you want by doing nothing but pouting. If you want everything in life, you have to break rules."
"So let's break this rule!" Brandon was sort of begging.
"God, you keep on reminding me of that other kid threatening me and my brother's happiness. And Brandon, I can't let that happen again. This isn't the kind of rules you break, those rules don't get broken without someone ending up hurt." Callie shook her head. "You have to grow on your own."
"Callie, I just want—"
"I'm not what you need, Brandon. I'm what you want. "I'm not here to be the freaking love of your life after Talya. Because, and I didn't want to say this, you were not the best boyfriend to her."
"Because all she did was obsess and get jealous, she tried to get you kicked out."
"You act just like her!" Callie hissed. "You gave Wyatt a hard time because you're jealous. And now you don't want me dating anyone! And you obsess about…that… and every time you give that long depressed sigh, your mom looks over at you and I feel that we're one centimeter out of the house."
Brandon scoffed. "You don't think about that either?"
Callie shook her head. "I can't do this. You knew she was jealous—"
"Say it, Callie. You keep saying you can't do this. Why not? What's stopping you from letting you feel?"
"It's wrong, Brandon, I literally and physically cannot do it! Not to Jude and not to me, not again!"
"You don't like the idea of—"
Callie looked down."I can't say that. You know I can't say that." She glanced at Brandon's gloating smile. "But let me tell you something, I'm not the girl you think is going to change that your sheltered and kind of spoiled. This isn't 500 days of anything, because if you keep this up there won't be 500 days for me and Jude." Callie shook her head. "I'm here for my sake and Jude's sake. And we want to stay here for as long as we can, but please stop making it hard."
"Don't you ever get tired of doing everything for Jude and nothing for yourself?" Brandon was pushing it and he knew it. She had pushed him to push her.
"I did." Callie admitted. "That's why I like Wyatt."
"You like Wyatt because he gets your mind off of me. And you think now that you have a boyfriend or whatever you guys think you are to each other, I'll magically stop liking you like it's easy."
Brandon shook his head. "Well, it's not easy getting over you."
"Why do you even like me?" Callie asked.
"What?" Brandon asked. "You're pretty, you're smart, you like music…"
"Thank you, for describing not just you ex-girlfriend—"
"You don't crazy jealous."
"You might as well have been describing Lexi and Mariana." Callie shook her head. "If I asked Wyatt, I assume, he'd have something more than that."
"I'm sure he'll make something up to impress you too."
"I like Wyatt because he's funny and…it didn't take a fancy pink gown that I hated for him to look at me like he wanted…me. I was wearing a ponytail and my ratty gray shirt and…he was looking at me the same way he was looking at me last night? And when he saw the dress, he said it was dumb and I could not have been happier to hear that."
"That's what you think you deserve? You're better than this, Callie. You're worth more than him."
"Why are you better than him? Why are you better than anyone? What makes you worth risking everything for? Why do I deserve you and not him? And if I'm so worth it, what makes you worth it?"
There was a knock on the door. Callie and Brandon broke their stare and glanced at it. She looked back to Brandon, then to the door. Making her way to the door, she stopped at Brandon's voice.
"Callie, I'm sorry." Brandon said immediately. "Look, let's just not talk about it again."
Callie picked her phone off of the counter and walked towards the door. Her hand on the handle, she didn't turn around when she answered him.
"You apologize way too much for someone so desperate to be taken seriously."
The door opened. The air blew in with such force, as the truth was a burden to carry. Wyatt greeted her, said something witty and she laughed. He didn't look back at them.
Callie didn't look back at him.
He didn't want to see.
She didn't want to see.