Hi again. Thanks for all of the support, messages, and reviews. I guess since I've always been a reviewer (guest until I made this verified account) that it was second nature for readers to reply. It's really hard to be encouraged to post when there's a lack of feedback but knowing the silence doesn't have to do with my story does make me feel a tiny bit better.
I know where I cut this chapter off isn't the most appealing but it gives you insight into where the next chapter will begin so there's always that to look forward to and it'll be up tomorrow.
Regarding posting, I can continue to post chapters of about 1500-2500 words, daily, or I can move onto posting longer, 5000 words or more chapters, weekly or bi-weekly. I'll probably go with the majority consensus for my decision and start after I post the next chapter. Thanks again for your responses and reviews. You're all very lovely people and I'm thankful for you reading and enjoying my story. All mistakes are my own. Sorry.
Hope you enjoy and hope to hear from you.
Still in search of a beta, I'm on my knees begging. (I can pay you exactly what I get paid to write free fanfiction for free.) (Yes, that's my snarky and rude response because how can I pay somebody when I don't get paid to do this? And why would I pay somebody to do it aside from gratitude and possibly friendship?)
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"How was your date?" Owen asked as they ran the track around the school.
"Let's just say you're not allowed to set me up on anymore blind dates." Arizona huffed as she struggled to keep up. Being deployed for all those years, mostly on ships in the middle of the ocean, she really let her training go.
"Arizona, it's been three years."
"I'm not opposed to dating, it's your choice of dates for me who I'm opposed to, Owen."
Sucking his teeth, Owen chuckled. "She seemed nice at the clinic."
"Nice wasn't the problem. Boring. Dull. And then the eight-kid thing had her running before desserts." A huge grin spread across her face. "But you'll never guess who I ran into at the restaurant. Callie Torres." She finished not giving him a chance to respond.
"Callie Torres as in your ex-girlfriend, Callie Torres? As in the one you were going to marry, Callie Torres?"
Arizona nodded and before Owen could ask, she answered. "She's married with kids," she said with a resounding sigh. "And I made plans to meet up with her at the reunion."
Owen barked a laugh.
"I know and now I'm stuck on a cruise ship with my gorgeous ex-girlfriend and her underwear model husband."
Owen smirked. "Want me to set you up with my dental hygienist for the night? She's dumb as a box of rocks but hotter than the sun."
"No. No, thank you. One disaster on the boat will be enough." Arizona pushed at Owen's shoulder, knocking him off balance, before she took off for the finish line, throwing her arms in the air in victory as she beat him.
"Hey! Cheater!" Owen called after her. "Since when did you start running again? You're the Superintendent, you don't have to worry about anything anymore." He paused as he figured it out on his own, a wide grin replacing his previous moment of annoyance. "You're trying to get in shape for Torres."
Arizona's mouth dropped open in mock shock before she tried to protest. The words falling out of her mouth might have been more believable had there not been a twinkle of truth in her eyes.
"She's married, Robbins."
"Well, doesn't mean I can't look and doesn't mean she can't see just what she is missing." The twinkle in Arizona's eyes had a devious glint behind it. Owen knew better than to try to talk her out of it but he wasn't sure who he was most concerned for, Arizona's already fragile heart, Callie's husband who had no idea what … who was about to hit him, or Callie Torres, herself. She'd always been so weak-willed where Arizona was concerned and Owen worried, not about her remaining loyal to her husband but about what having Arizona back in her world would do her sanity.
Looking up from her stretch, Arizona caught the look of concern on Owen's face. "Look, I have a month until the reunion. I'm either going to run myself into a tight, red dress or I'm going to run Callie Torres out of my system. Let's not borrow trouble until it's inevitable."
"I think we're at the inevitable stage," Owen mumbled as he strolled over to help Arizona stretch out her quads.
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The month flew by in what Callie felt was the blink of an eye. Wasn't it just yesterday she was begging her little sister for her help getting her on this stupid ship? And now here she was, 30 days later, hoping one of her kids fell ill or threw one of their impressive tantrums causing Callie to have to cancel plans and return home. Callie clutched her cell phone tightly in her hand as she boarded the ship as if it were her very own life vest. One ring was all she needed. One ring in the next 45 minutes before they departed the dock. She didn't know what the hell she was even doing here or how. Well, the how was easy. Because Aria had been part of that crowd, a cheerleader, popular … straight, she pulled strings to get Callie on the reunion cruise well after the reservations had to be in. And because they caved so early, Callie worried they had only accepted her to give them someone to poke fun at all these years later. She wasn't … hadn't exactly been … Callie was a dork in high school. She lacked any self-confidence, she wore over-sized clothes hoping to blend into the background, she chewed on her hair when she was nervous, which was often, and to top matters off, she liked girls. She had no idea why the hell she wanted to put herself through all of that drama again just to see Arizona. Arizona and her wife.
A night of cleaning up glitter from shag carpeting sounded more fun and less stressful.
Sure, she'd come a long way from her high school days. She now embraced her body and sexuality. She was confident, secure, and proud of the woman she'd grown into. Sure, that was all true … until she stepped foot on that damn ship and felt like a 15 year old outcast all over again. Arizona had always been the one who stood up for her, been by her side, was the reason she made it out of high school alive. Callie had been an awkward kid and the brunt of too many jokes back then. If it hadn't been for Arizona coming to her aid, changing her life in so many ways, Callie wasn't sure she'd be the woman she was today.
Sophomore year had to be better than freshman. That was her transition year, this was her making it year. Her mom had taken her shopping the week before, picking out a completely new wardrobe, something to give her a bit of confidence. Fashion Club's sponsor this year was Callie's favorite teacher, Ms. Drummond. Yes, Callie had a huge crush on her but really, she wrote it off as it being also nice to have a strong female role model. Or at least that was what she was telling herself. Callie was definitely ready to face the rest of her high school career.
Except her sophomore year was also Aria's freshman year which meant all of Aria's little, annoying friends were also invading Callie's school. She had enough of their annoying giggling and snotty attitudes over the summer and didn't want to have to put up with it in school, too. But she'd deal, it wasn't as if any of them had the brain power to be in any of the advanced classes she was taking, Callie would only have to deal with them in the halls. Yet it took them all of ten minutes to ruin the first day of Callie's sophomore year. They were why for the first time in Callie's entire life, she skipped a class. All of her classes that day. And they were also why she met Arizona Robbins.
Callie could still hear them calling her a Carpet Muncher and a Muff Diver, taunting her as she went down the hall. Ran down the hall. Of course, of all the people in the world, it would be Aria's evil friends who knew her secret attraction to other girls. She knew her diary had been picked even though Aria fervently denied it.
She was never going back in that school and it wasn't as if she could go home to tell her parents why. They'd throw her out on the street faster than Father Kevin could her 'sin'. Maybe she'd just drop out and hit the road. Backpack through Europe. She was almost 16. At 16, there was little they could say or do if she dropped out of school. And until 16, she'd just hide out far away from everybody, stay in the shadows and off the grid. Which is where Arizona Robbins found her, hiding out on the empty bleachers at the empty baseball field across campus.
It was Arizona's first year at the school, having just transferred there. As she stood in the hallway trying to make heads or tails of her schedule, she witnessed Callie being taunted by the younger girls. Having been through it herself, too many times to count, she understood just what Callie was going through. She had followed Callie outside, slowly making her way to where the other girl had run off toward. Not wanting to scare her, Arizona cleared her throat to make herself known. Callie said nothing, turning away from the intruder, using the sleeve of her jacket to wipe away her tears. Arizona sat down next to her, also saying nothing. It wasn't until the bell rang for first period that Callie spoke up.
"Classes started," she said in hopes that the stranger would leave her to her humiliation in peace.
"I'm gay," Arizona blurted out.
Callie's head spun around and she finally got a good look at the girl beside her. She snorted a disbelieving laugh. Yeah, right. The perky looking cheerleader type next to her was definitely not gay and being in such a bad place, Callie could only assume she was there to make matters worse.
"I'm not."
Taking a deep breath, Arizona reached out, putting her hand on Callie's knee. "I'm gay, I like girls," she repeated with confidence.
Callie took a good look at the girl next to her. She didn't seem like she was trying to be anything but sincere.
"I'm not gay," Callie mumbled, looking down at her tennis shoes. "I like boys."
Arizona heard the pause in her voice and waited. There was more wanting to come out and Arizona wasn't in a hurry.
Kicking at the metal of the bleacher stand, Callie stared helplessly at her new shoes trying to form the words out loud. For the first time, outside of her diary, she was going to do it.
"But I like girls, too," she said a few moments later, her voice almost a whisper of response.
Arizona squeezed Callie's knee in a comforting gesture before picking up her hand and extending it out. "Arizona Robbins."
"Callie Torres." She took Arizona's hand, her entire body setting in chills as they once again made eye contact.
"Nice to meet you, Callie Torres." Arizona smiled. "Do you want to go back in?"
Callie shook her head, dropping her gaze back down to her feet as she detangled her hand from Arizona's.
"My dad's away for work, do you want to go to my house? Try again tomorrow?"
Callie looked up again, confusion etched across her face. "What about your mom?"
Arizona gave her a comforting look. "She'll understand why we're there, she'll probably even write us absent notes." It wouldn't be the first time her mom was her sanctuary. Three times last year before their fourth and final move this year, Arizona had come out at her schools. And three times she ended up
at home just shortly after the day started, her mother there to nurse her emotional (and once, physical) wounds before setting her back out to face the world again. Arizona was certain her mom would be understanding for Callie. And probably excited that it wasn't because of her daughter that they were home.
The next day as Callie stood out front of the school, taking deep calming breaths and trying to talk herself into entering, Arizona joined up next to her. Arizona gave her a warm smile while slipping her hand in Callie's before they entered the school together.
After downing her first glass of wine to calm her nerves, Callie stood by the bow of the ship, sipping another while staring aimlessly off to sea.
xx
Three dress changes later and Arizona was finally ready to leave her cabin. She knew Callie had made it after overhearing some of their classmates commenting on Callie's transformation from geek to beauty. Arizona had always seen Callie as a beauty. She knew beneath the baggy clothes and insecurity was an amazing woman. In high school, Callie only let Arizona into that part of her. She trusted her. And for a ROTC kid, a gay one with aspirations of a military career whose life was regulated and scheduled, it was a big deal to Arizona. Callie was her polar opposite, gave her a run for her money. She had loved Callie and if she was honest, she really missed having Callie in her life. That thought alone gave her the confidence she needed to be able to get past Callie's tighty-whitey model of a husband.
Making her way out to the deck, a glass of wine already in her hand, for a brief moment, Arizona's heart stopped beating as she caught sight of Callie. Arizona watched from a distance as Callie conversed with somebody whom she didn't recognize. What she did recognize was Callie's fake smile and the slight boredom behind her eyes but only somebody who knew Callie as well as Arizona knew her, would see it. It warmed her heart that after all these years, she could still pick up Callie's cues. It also was a good thing because she watched alarm flash into those beautiful brown eyes. Following Callie's gaze, she saw Tara, Callie's old high school bully, beelining for Callie.
To be continued . . .
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Get excited because you know what's coming next. Can't wait to hear from you all. Have a great and relaxing day.
