After I left

V

She didn't sleep well that night, with all of the tossing and turning going on she was more likely to get abs than sleep. 

As the morning light flooded the room, she wished that the curtains were black. Even so, she pulled the covers off of her tired body, her feet meeting the cold wooden floor for the first time that day. 

After they talked, Nate left Callie's room. He grabbed a pen to write down the name of Callie's ex-boyfriend first, though. 

Nathan really didn't want Colton to show up looking for her, but if he did he wanted his mom to know not to let him in. 

"Callie, ready for breakfast?" Nathan asked, knocking on her door. 

She stepped out, wearing a pair of leggings and a baggy tee-shirt. 

The bags under her eyes were covered with a bit of makeup, but not enough so that Nate didn't notice them. 

"Didn't sleep much, huh?" He queried. 

"No. I kept thinking about Colton and Serena. I miss Serena, and that would lead me to think of Colton and how much I don't miss him," She mumbled, rubbing her temple. 

"I actually have a bit of a headache," She mumbled. 

"Oh, let me get you a Tylenol or something," He said, rushing to the pantry. 

He dug through the pantry until he found their medicine box. He quickly grabbed a Tylenol and handed it to Callie. 

"There should be some orange juice on the table, or do you want milk?" He asked, realizing she might not like orange juice. 

"No, orange juice is fine, thank you."

She walked over to the kitchen table, relieved to know that Nancy was not there. She didn't dislike Nancy but knew that Nancy disliked her. She didn't want to face Nancy at all today, in hopes of keeping the awkwardness to a minimal.  

"Good morning you two!"

Nathan and Callie both turned their heads to see a very happy Keith walking through the door. 

"Good morning, Keith," Callie said, noticing the mud on his jeans. 

"How long have you been up?" She asked. 

"Oh, since like five?" He said, looking at the clock to make sure. 

"Why do you get up so early?" She asked curiously.

"If I don't feed the horses, who will?" He asked, smiling at her like an idiot. 

"Me. Or maybe Mom. Even the stable hand is a possibility," Nathan said, smiling at his brother. 

"Yeah, well I like the company of them," He said, pouting. 

"Speaking of horses, wanna go for a ride?" Nate asked, turning to Callie. 

"Sure, I haven't ridden one since like... tenth grade," She said, thinking of her last experience on a horse. 

"You used to ride?" He asked curiously. 

"Yeah, Colton didn't like it, though, so I quit," She said, remembering the night Colton started a stupid fight about it. 

"You spend too much time with the horses. I don't want you doing barrel racing anymore, too many guys check you out," He said, throwing his phone across the room. 

She remembered it so well because that's the first night he put her in the hospital, and she had to act like it was an accident. 

"I fell down the stairs," She told her parents, referring to her black eye, busted lip, and broken wrist.