Chapter 6:

Dreams. See.

Callie stood a little ways back and waited for Rita to finish her speech. Rita Hendricks was the director over Girls United, a group home and program that Callie had participated in and that had recently opened its third official location. Together with Rita and Mary Maltise-Callie's employer-and founder of an all-girls vocational school and guidance center called "Dreams. Girls.". Callie was helping as the two were preparing to unveil their new website Dreams-Girls-United.

The site was not only the official site for the joint venture of the all-girls self-improvement center Rita and Mary were overseeing the construction of and Callie was volunteering at during her gap year. The site was also a social media site for girls to share their stories, find friends, seek help-including suicide, self-harm and abuse hotlines and 24/7 counseling-but also to share their success stories and help out other girls that were where they had been or where they felt they were headed.

The idea came about organically when Mary mentioned to Callie that she had heard that Callie had created the Fost and Found site, which had begun as a Senior Project and had flourished into a Foster kid's guilt-free zone where kids could voice any and every grievance about the system without fear or shame. That was before it had, fallen into the hands of Justina Marks, the vicious solicitor who had conned Callie and used her in an attempt to push forth a foster care bill that would have allowed privatized foster care to take over the entire system. Thankfully, Callie had found out in time and instead become a voice for the opposition of the bill that she had originally fought to get passed and the bill fell through.

Callie did her best to stay off of Fost and Found once she found out that it was basically being used to drag her name through the mud. Through Mary, she found out that Fost and Found had actually been shut down shortly after the mud-slinging fest had been perpetrated by Justina. And Callie couldn't pretend to not feel a deep sense of relief at the knowledge.

The sound of the applause brought Callie back to the present and she glanced around the room. It was an employee only event and something of an unofficial launch of the site, before the centers opening in a few weeks. There were no more than 50 people here but to Callie it felt like the entire world and she swelled with pride at the realization that she was to be a part of something wonderful happening.

Callie listened to Rita's words closing out the event,

"And with that, I want to say that it is official! Our site Dreams-Girls-United will be officially live within the month! And we couldn't be prouder. Mary, thank you so much! Daniella, Marcus, Sela, I appreciate your contributions to this project more than anything! You know that we couldn't have done it without you coders. Seeing as, even now, I barely know what the word "gif" even stands for!" the laughs bounced around the room and Rita zoned in on Callie as she looked up at her mentor with true pride. "And last but of course not least, Callie Quinn Jacob. Thank you SO much for your unwavering support. Callie even took a gap year and has been tireless to the point of…I don't know, lunacy, in helping us get the word out about this site, our group homes and forthcoming center. You know how proud I am of you." Rita paused and Callie's tears welled up along with Rita's. Rita turned back to the crowd, "We are so proud of everyone in this room and those who aren't! We made it guys! We made it!" she shouted throwing her hands into the air triumphantly and Callie and everyone else in the room broke into thunderous applause.

Later On

After the party, Callie, Rita, Mary, Sela and Daniella stood around the room as Marcus Wallace scrolled through the site, clicking links, playing test videos, and testing the virtual tour of The Dreams. Girls. United Center. "Everything seems to be in working order." He said with a smile as he pushed his glasses up on his face. Callie smiled. Not everyone knew it, but Marcus had told her that the glasses were a fashion statement. Apparently, some girl he'd liked in grade school had told him how cute she thought he'd be in glasses. And 10 years later, he was still wearing them. Incidentally, that girl was now his fiancé.

Sela Dunn, the same fiancé Callie had just been thinking of, shook her head and leaned over Marcus's shoulder placing her hand over his as she moved the mouse and sent the pointer back to the Home Screen of the site. "There's still something missing." she said softly. If Marcus was the brain of the operation, Daniella Morris, a programmer with a flair for eccentric fashion, was in charge of the beauty-as in the design of the site-and Sela was most definitely the heart of things. A self-taught coder and writer who had majored in English literature, she knew how to words things on the site in a way that made being a part of a site dedicated to helping troubled youth sound as though it were an invitation to an exclusive club. Not for the broken, but for the becoming.

"What?" Marcus asked pensively. To say that he hung on Sela's every word was an understatement. He seemed to breathe her existence as his air. In a way, Callie truly envied their connection. In other ways, she understood. And sometimes, but only sometimes, she hated it achingly. It stood as a firm reminder of the kind of connection she wanted but felt she'd never have. Not really. Not truly. Not with…him.

"I don't know…" Sela said quietly, backing away from him. "Something,"

"Well, obviously…" Daniella hissed sharply. She wasn't exactly Sela's biggest fan, Callie had noted. But she couldn't quite figure out why. To be fair, they were extreme opposites, but Callie had a lot of friends who were opposite her or at least seemed to be. And she'd never understood people who disliked others because of their differences. She truly hoped that wasn't the case with Daniella.

"What I mean is," Sela said, giving Daniella a roll of her eyes, "There is something missing. It's too…" she paused and they all waited as she searched for the word, closing her eyes. Then, her eyes opened wide as a smile spread across her face. "That's it!" She said as she gently nudged Marcus so that he would pull his seat back. When he did, Sela sat gingerly in his lap and typed out some site name that Callie didn't recognize. When the site pulled up, music seeped out of the computer and dripped down the walls of the small office.

"What is that?" Daniella asked, "That looks like a foodie blog or something. What does that have to do with our site?"

"Nothing," Sela said "But the sound, do you hear it? Everyone close your eyes and tell me what it makes you think of?" she said and Callie watched as everyone closed their eyes and finally realized that she needed to close hers too.

As she listened to the gently, bubbly and bouncy melody, Callie found herself feeling warm and happy. It was odd, how music could do that to a person, but she knew so well how deeply music could touch you. This song was like a blanket. It made her want to curl up in her mother's lap and sip cider and eat cookies or brownies or…something.

At the same time that Callie realized what it made her feel, Rita said it out loud "It makes me wanna eat." She said and everyone opened their eyes.

"Exactly!" Sela said with a point to Rita and everyone nodded. "It sets the tone for you. Makes you feel." She glanced back at the computer and pressed the back button back to their website. "That's what we're missing." She said simply. "Music."

"So, we need to set the tone for girls to want to get help?" Daniella said with that annoyed tone to her voice. Callie was honestly getting tired of her negativity.

"We don't need to." Sela said, as she delicately stood from Marcus's lap, before placing a quick peck on his cheek, "But I think it will help. I think it will add something to the site if we can make it feel like a…like a…" She searched for a word but Callie knew immediately what it was.

Having felt the need of it so many times in her life, Callie spoke it out effortlessly,

"A safe haven."

That Night

Callie lay on her bed and stared at the letter with trepidation. It was her school. She'd applied for it months ago. But, for some reason, she was still so nervous about it. The thought of not getting in. The thought of getting in.

"So this is your actual school this time right?" Aaron had said with a laugh as Callie told him over lunch about applying to the San Diego Art School. Callie laughed, remembering the lie that she'd told Aaron when she first met him. That she was a college student at NYU studying photography.

"Yes, it's my actual school this time." She said as she bit into her chicken salad. Aaron was her boyfriend at the time and they had been dating for a little over three months "Good. It'd be nice if my girl stayed close." He said reaching across the table and gripping her fingers. Callie smiled at him. Aaron was kind, handsome and an amazing person. She really did care about him. Deeply.

"I thought so." Callie said playfully, but there was still something tugging at her mind as she did. She shoved down the subconscious sadness and tried her best to stay in the moment with him.

"So you'll help me?" Callie said pulling away from his grasp and reaching into her purse for the folder.

"Sure," Aaron said with a short laugh. "How many college applications could you possibly have?"

At that statement, Callie set the 40 page stack on the table. And Aaron's eyes widened. "A lot." She said smiling.

"Why so many?" Aaron asked as he slid his hands up the stack flipping through them like cards.

"Let's just say:" Callie said coyly "I like to have back-up plans."

Aaron sipped his tea and smiled at Callie thoughtfully. "Callie Jacob? You are quite the woman."

Callie smiled at Aaron and said back "Aaron Baker? You are quite the man." Just as Aaron was seemingly leaning in for a kiss, Callie yanked out her spare pen and said in a serious tone, "I brought you your own pen."

Aaron laughed and leaned in kissing her quickly anyway and then said "I guess you're always thinking of me, huh?"

Callie smirked "Someone has to."

As she often did, Callie found herself wondering how Aaron was doing. She knew he'd moved on. He was with a girl that he went to school with now. Lily something. Callie was happy for him. They'd broken up nearly 6 months ago but their breakup hadn't been bitter. They'd parted as friends.

He was such a kind person and he'd helped her in so many ways. Just like the patience he'd shown with filling out her college applications.

Over 20 applications and Aaron had helped her fill out every single one.

Except…

This one.

Callie had kept it and filled it out on her own. Quietly. Carefully. Hopefully. For some reason she'd never thought that she'd ever get in.

But now here Callie was, staring at the thin envelope that usually meant exactly that. That you hadn't gotten in. And she felt too weary to even open it. Instead, she slid it into her bedside drawer and laid out on her bed again, her mind too tired to go anywhere except back to her conversation with Rita earlier as she used it to fill in the blanks of her mind.

"Callie here, just so happens to know an amazing music producer." Rita said to Mary with a nod to Callie.

Callie blinked at her, curiously "She does?" Callie said about herself.

"She does." Rita nodded. "Need I remind you of a certain foster brother? Hugely talented? Played at Disney Hall? Accepted to Juilliard?"

Callie gulped back her surprise "Brandon?" she said softly.

Rita and Mary both looked at her and Rita said dryly "Anyone else fit the bill?"

Callie looked down and noted that she was wearing too many rings absently. "Well, yea, I mean…no. I mean. He's in New York. You know the whole Juilliard thing?"

"Ah," Rita said gently. "Sorry, I didn't think of it. Okay. It was just a thought. I'm sure Mary knows someone?"

Rita glanced in Mary's direction and Mary nodded "I know a few people and we can call someone up too. We'll get the music done. A lot of artists would be willing to compose for a charity."

Suddenly for some reason, Callie didn't want the thought of Brandon composing it dismissed "I mean…I can ask him." she said quickly, maybe a little too eagerly because both Mary and Rita looked at her sharply. "I mean, I can find out if he's not too busy."

Rita nodded but Mary was clearly taken aback by Callie's word choice. "Well, if he's not too busy." she said "But, in the meantime, just in case, I will reach out to the other artists. Either way we are bound to get something decent out of it."

Something decent.

Callie remembered the phrase and scoffed derisively. Brandon's pieces were way more than that. They were incredible. And Callie knew he'd be the perfect person for it.

It didn't hurt that she needed to tour the school anyway. Well, wanted to, at least. So, she'd make a weekend trip of it. See the school.

See the boy.

Get the music.

Callie's mind slowly drifted her into sleep as she found herself humming Brandon's Piano Piece from Idyllwild.