Times Like These
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or anything related to Grey's Anatomy. That's courtesy of Shonda Rimes and ABC. This fiction is not meant to make money or to be harmful in any way. It's just pure for amusement.
Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing, the ones who did. :-) This chapter is a bit of a filler, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Next chapter will be written from Arizona's POV.
Thanks to lizadizzle over at the Callie_Arizona LJ community for beta'ing.
Chapter 3 - Can't You See
"Mija, tell me. What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" Maria Torres asked her daughter as she served a plate with toast and egg.
Callie had been absent-minded all weekend. The only few hours Mrs. Torres had seen her daughter smiling and happy was when her new friend, Andy she called herself, came over on Saturday. Yes, she could see Andrea was a good friend for Callie.
"I'm fine, mamÃ. Stop worrying so much," Callie replied, as she took her plate.
Her mother sighed and sat down. "I know you Calliope. I know you don't like changes and I know you always have a hard time adjusting."
Callie took a bite of her toast. "Seriously, Mom. I'm fine. Actually, Miami High isn't as bad as I expected it to be."
"Don't eat with your mouth full, I've taught you better than that," Maria disciplined her youngest daughter. "I'm glad you're making new friends. Andrea seemed like a nice girl."
"Her name is Andy," Callie corrected her, this time before eating another bite of her breakfast.
"I'm not so sure about that," her mother winked at her.
"Coffee!" Aria rushed into the kitchen, heading straight for the coffee machine. "I'm so excited for today! My first day as an official cheerleader for Miami High... Who could've thought."
Callie snorted soundly. "I could have."
Aria eyebrow shot up. "What is it with you? You can make the best things sound awful!"
"Girls!" Maria looked angrily at both of them. "Stop fighting for once in your lives. You two need to be nicer to each other. How many times do I have to tell you that?"
Aria and Callie both looked down at the table. They hated it when they made their mother upset.
"Now, say sorry." The girls mumbled their apologies and Callie finished her breakfast in silence while Aria poured herself a cup of coffee.
"The try-outs were so much fun! I almost feel bad for saying this, but this squad is so much more fun than the one back in Nashville. The girls are so much nicer to one another. Oh, and while we were there, I also met a few new athletes, but most of them I'd already gotten to know at school. There's this one guy, he's gorgeous, mamÃ. He's pretty tall and blonde-" Callie's head shot up. "And he plays basketball. He's such a good player! His name is Tommy!" Callie didn't know why, but she felt relieved. Surprised, but at the same time relieved.
"Seriously? You like Andy's brother?"
Aria nodded and grinned. "Actually, I think he kinda likes me too." Maria smiled and walked up to her oldest daughter.
"Of course he does, mija. Have fun at school today," she told Aria as she kissed her on the cheek. Then she walked over to Callie.
"I'm proud of you, Calliope. You've shown great maturity over the last few weeks. Time to get ready for school now," she also gave her youngest daughter a kiss and then started clearing the table.
Now that Callie began to know most of the people at school, the classes started to become boring again. Teachers gave their speeches, students stared ahead of themselves, talked to one another or doodled in their notebooks and the clock kept ticking. Being a junior sucked, in Callie's opinion. Sure, the new days as a freshman and as a sophomore were over, but you still had to go two more years before graduation. Although Callie didn't have the best relationship with her sister, she was a little jealous of Aria. After all, she was better looking, had loads of friends, not to mention boyfriends, and everyone seemed to like her. Plus, she was a senior now. Callie sighed. The one thing she had in advantage of her sister was that she was smarter. Too bad she didn't have a clue what to do with her intelligence so far.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" A whisper interrupted her thoughts, coming from Andy, who sat next to her.
"The future," Callie answered. "Boring stuff, never mind. How was the rest of your weekend?"
A smile appeared on Andy's face. "It was good. I really had fun Saturday!"
Callie nodded and returned the smile. "Yeah, me too."
"You want to come over this afternoon, after PE?"
The schoolbell rang. "Sure, that'd be fun," Callie said enthusiastically.
At lunch, Callie couldn't help but drift away from the conversation she, Andy and the girls from the softball team were having. After the conversation she had with Arizona last Friday, the blonde cheerleader had haunted her thoughts all weekend. There was something captivating about her, something Callie could not quite grasp. The result being that Callie wanted to spend more time with her and get to know her better. She had actually missed Arizona this weekend, which was a little ridiculous as she only talked to her for about twenty minutes. But it was true - she missed her smile, her hair and even her scent, which was fruity and a little sweet. Another consequence was that Callie seemed to spot her everywhere at school. When she walked down the hallways, every blonde haired girl made her heart skip a beat. This didn't only confuse Callie, she also tried to deny it. After all, Arizona was a friend of Aria's, and Callie had learned at an early age that sharing wasn't something she and her sister did really well.
"What are you looking at all the time?" One of the girls at their table asked Callie turning her head in the direction Callie was staring at. "The cheerleaders?" The girl raised an eyebrow.
"It's nothing," Callie said, her cheeks turning a little red. The truth was she was hoping to see Arizona again.
"Something happened with your sister?" Andy asked while sticking her fork in her salad.
"Seriously, it's nothing," Callie laughed it off. "So, any games coming up?" Callie had learned one thing the week before; if there was one thing you could use to change the subject, it was softball.
The girls shook their heads. "Nah, the upcoming months are basketball and cheerleading tournaments, softball isn't until April or so."
"Hmm, that sucks," Callie said, taking a bite out of her apple.
"Not really though," Andy remarked. "It gives us only more time to practice."
"And win!" One of the girls added excitedly.
"So, how does PE work here?" Callie asked the girls, curious as that was the last activity at school that day. The week before the physical education teacher was sick, so today was the first time she had the subject.
"Well, our gym is huge, so a few classes of our school have PE at the same time. They also mix years, so seniors might have to play against the sophomores, etc. And sometimes when the gym isn't used that much, a part of a sportsteam is also there to practice," Andy replied. "Oh, and it's divided into periods - the first few weeks we start with basketball. I think volleyball is next. Again, softball and baseball is somewhere in the spring. This way, the members of the sport team have a little extra time to prepare themselves for the tournaments."
Callie nodded and a buzz sounded throughout the cafeteria. Slowly, people started moving and leaving. "Let's get going then."
Usually, Callie thought two hours of PE was way too long. But here, at her new school, she was actually having fun. She didn't know if it was her new appearance or the fact that the kids at Miami High were teamplayers, but she actually got hold of the basketball a few times - unlike at her old school. Her old classmates just pretended she wasn't there and dribbled around her.
"Callie!" A brown-haired guy called to her, dribbling towards her. She focused on the game again and walked a little towards the basketball net, evading a girl who was trying to block her. He passed the ball to her and she threw it towards the hoop.
"Score!" the same guy yelled happily. "Good job."
Andy, who was on the other team, had been right. People from all years had been mixed during PE - today they had the pleasure to play basketball with a few seniors.
The coach blew on his whistle. "Take five, everybody. Get some water or something. I don't want you all dehydrated, you're all working very hard, good job."
Callie jogged towards Andy, who was panting slightly. Together they walked over towards the dressing room.
"Wow Cal, you had me running pretty hard sometimes. Damn, you're fast."
Callie raised an eyebrow. "I am?" She grabbed a bottle of water. "I'm just taller than you."
"No, seriously, I think you have something here."
The door opened and Arizona walked in. Callie blinked a few times, making sure her mind wasn't fooling her like before.
"I mean, you lack a little technique, but you're actually good. I was just discussing it with Tommy during the game, you should really join the girls team!"
A few seconds later Aria and the rest of the cheer squad entered the dressing room and Callie stopped staring at the door. "Hey, are you listening?"
"Uh, yeah," Callie averted her gaze from the blonde cheerleader, who was chattering with her sister, towards Andy. "Joining the team, right. Sorry, but I really don't think-"
"Time's up, girls!" the coach knocked on the door. Callie took another swig of water and put her bottle away.
"Trust me," Andy told her. "Keep this up, and you'll be asked in no-time."
They left the room and before closing the door, Callie looked around one last time, to see Arizona looking back at her, flashing her a quick smile before the door closed.
They played the game for another forty-five minutes while the cheerleaders practiced on the other side of the gym. Callie wasn't as focused as before as she kept looking for Arizona between the other girls. She didn't know for sure, but sometimes she thought she was being stared back at. From a distance, the cheerleaders all looked kind of the same. Especially now they were wearing pretty revealing red skirts and matching tops. But somehow, she could always spot Arizona in a few seconds. There was something radiant about her that Callie couldn't put her finger on. God, the blonde's legs were lean, she thought to herself. The coach's whistle startled her from her thoughts and she saw Andy walking up to her. What was making her think about this girl all the time? Maybe the heat was getting to her, Callie reasoned as she walked out of the gym together with her friend.
Critique is welcome, as always!
V