Half-glass full and cynical Calista Dames can sketch out her life in a series of plans, predictions and preparations. She's the girl who knows what she's doing and where she's going, the girl with all the questions answered, the girl with a foundati...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Chapter 9
A One Time Thing
I woke up, feeling like I just died.
Dusty streams of light stabbed me in my eyes, jarring me awake when the sharp, piercing wail of somebody else's alarm sounded. My vision was blurry as I groggily cracked one eyelid open in sleepy irritation. As I convulsed into wakefulness, sitting rapidly upright with a scowl, I glanced around to take notice of my surroundings.
The sunshine shone fell through the glass windows, casting light over the naked walls of the unfamiliar apartment. As a gentle breeze tangled through the sheer fabric of the curtains, the luminous fingers seemed to solidify into solid bands mercilessly painting my eyes in shimmering gold.
I rubbed my eyes again, confused at where the hell I was and how did I end up there. I looked down at my body. I was wearing somebody else's white t-shirt and a pair of unfamiliar boxer shorts. A sudden frightened feeling seeped into my stomach and gut, wondering if I could've been date-raped. Someone slipped something in my drink and...
"Good morning."
I almost toppled out of the bed in shock.
"Don't freak out," a guy I didn't recognize stepped forward to the bed I was sleeping in.
"What- what the fuck happened?"
He held up his hands in surrender. He was scruffy-looking, with straw salt and pepper hair and blue eyes. "Calista, chill."
Then I realized I knew the boy. "Toby?" I choked, "How- how-"
"Flynn brought you here."
"Flynn-?" Suddenly, the memories came invading me. The night, the pill, the drinks, the dancing, the tattoo- my blood ran cold. I yanked my shirt down to check my chest, only to find the word coincidence etched into my collarbone. Oh shit. My mother will kill me.
"Okay, so, Flynn was one of my best mates' band members and he said he needed a place to crash so he brought you here and then there was like a sudden booking for a show in Philadelphia- they managed to get off the waiting list for this rock festival so they had to go and you were dead asleep so...he couldn't say goodbye."
"I was asleep?" I frowned, "For how long?"
"Er...thirty-eight hours."
"What?" Oh sweet baby Jesus, this couldn't be real. Fuck. Astrid was going to kill me, my mother was going to kill me, I might as well shoot myself right now. "Where's all my-"
"Here," he pointed over to the bedside table, where my clothes were folded in neat palls and my phone sat on top. I clambered immediately to the table and grabbed my phone, trying to switch it on. Dead battery. This couldn't be happening.
