Scars To Your Beautiful : A Modern Beauty and the Beast retelling ✔

35. Just Give Me A Reason

The blaring honks from Naomi's car parked outside, made Callie rush out of her room and race down the stairs.

Abe wore a sloped smile, when she reached the base. "I'm guessing Naomi's here. Say hi to her for me." He paused, to give a stern look. "And no drinking. No drugs. Not even coke or LSD. Or Molly. Or PCP. Or DMT. None of that." He paused again to scratch his jaw. "You can drink water though. Just only sealed ones."

"Waoh, dad. That's a lot of 'em. You really know your illegal drugs. I'm almost impressed."

He shrugged. "I've been a teenager once and I'm not joking. You better come back here sober and unpregnant."

Callie sputtered a loud snort of laughter. The melodic tune sounded foreign to her own ears. "Unpregnant? Is that even a real word?"

He shrugged again and slung his beige apron over his shoulders. "I know what I'm saying. I'm not going to be on some reality show like '16 and pregnant' and talking about my experience as a grandfather."

"All babies are a source of joy, dad." Callie teased lightly. His horrified look made her laugh. "I'm kidding. Don't worry, I'm not getting pregnant anytime soon, dad. I won't turn to a pill popping pregnant junkie, just by going to one party."

He shot her a flat look. "You can never know."

Callie's lips curled, in spite of herself. Clearly, the new anxiety meds that his therapist recommended for him, seemed to put him on a fairly stable mood. Waving at him, she shot out of the house and hopped into Naomi's expensive silver Porsche. 

"Took you long enough." Naomi muttered wryly and snuck a look at her outfit. "Nice dress."

Callie glanced at Naomi's outfit too. She wasn't wearing something out of the ordinary from her usual black or grey clothes. At least, for once she had ditched her pricey black leather jacket that costs more than what Callie made in a week working at Alpha's, and had left her arms bare in a silky sleeveless polka-dotted tank top. "You look good too." she added, when she noticed a familiar part of Naomi that wasn't there anymore. "You took out the pink extensions from your hair. Wow."

As she drove, Naomi self consciously touched her platinum blonde hair. "Yeah, I just wanted to look casual. It's a party. No need to upstage anyone there." She paused, to give a quick glance at her. "Is it that obvious I took it out?"

Not wanting to dwindle Naomi's confidence, Callie quickly responded. "Your outfit is amazing. That's all that matters." Naomi sent her an appreciative nod and Callie added. "Anyway, my dad sends his regards to you. He said hi."

"He did? You know it's strange that he has never spoken to me in person. I thought you said he likes me."

Callie averted her gaze. It wasn't like she outrightly told Naomi about her father's disorder but Naomi was keen enough to know something was up with him. Just not exactly sure what it was.

Callie wasn't ashamed of telling Naomi. That would be silly. Callie just wasn't sure she wanted to pour out her personal issues with anyone when she first came to Jubilee Grove.
But talking about it now felt a little too late. Besides, Abe did like Naomi. He knew how she looked like from afar. Whenever she came over, he'd always lock himself up in his room but it wasn't completely his fault. His social anxiety made it hard for him to interact with most people.

While he never had a direct conversation with Naomi, he loved how their friendship made Callie feel happy and that seemed to satisfy anything about Naomi for him.  He just didn't want Callie to feel alone. "He does. He's always overhearing our conversations and he loves how badass you are. He once called you a rare gem and my dad doesn't throw compliments around. Trust me, he likes you."