was staring at the ceiling when she heard the front door shut and the phone ring at the same time. The world was spinning out of control, and her life was going to Hades as fast as it was moving forward. She heard the knock on her door and felt the blanket being pulled over her just as the door opened. Slamming her eyes shut and prepared for the worst to start, she held her breath, dreading the yelling and berating that was sure to follow.
But the voice she heard didn’t ease her pounding heart. “Hey, uh, phone.” Her older sister, Savannah, rushed then shut the door just as fast.
Cally looked over and couldn’t believe Dakota was fully dressed. She couldn’t believe he had gotten fully dressed in the time it took her to walk in the house, answer the phone, and come in here. How the world had he moved so damn fast and without her knowing it?
She grabbed the phone from the end of the bed. “Hello?”
Cally knew she had cringed when she heard Seth’s voice. “Did you tell him?”
Not knowing how she was going to explain her way out of this, she popped off, “Nope.”
Seth sounded suspicious. “Is he there yet?”
“Yep.” Her answers just seemed to get simpler and harder all at the same time.
Seth seemed to understand something, but most likely not what she was thinking. “Call me back when he leaves.”
“Okay,” was all she could get out as she hung up the phone and dropped it on the bed.
Cally closed her eyes as she reached over her head behind her and grabbed her black slinky dress. There was no way she was sitting up without having something on. She didn’t care what just happened. She needed the safety and comfort of being fully dressed before she could even think about getting out of bed, pulling it on as she sat up, unsure of what to say or think or do.
Dakota looked at her, a little puzzled. “Who was that?”
What in the world was she supposed to say? Oh, that was my ex-boyfriend that I had told that I was breaking up with you so that we could get back together. And he was checking to see if I had done it yet so we can go out later. Yeah, that was so not happening, especially after what had just happened between them.
Taking the coward’s way out, she stretched the truth a little. “I wasn’t expecting you back till tomorrow, so I had made plans to go out.”
He smiled, and there was more to it, but there was no way she was going to admit it to him. “I want to take you home, and we can tell my parents.”
Cally fell back on the bed, wanting nothing more than to die. How had this gone from her breaking up with him to “we’re getting married?” Some cruel fate was coming down on her right now, and she had no idea what it was. It was a good thing that she knew how to adapt to the situation fast, because she had to figure out how to get herself out of this mess that she had just stepped into. The only thing was that she wasn’t the giddy bride-to-be that she should be right now, and she sure as heck wasn’t ready to go around announcing this to everyone; but clearly, he was.
Cally shook her head, trying to find some excuse or even a small piece of reality, and muttered, “They’re at work?”
He just laughed. “Come on, we have to tell my sister.”
Reaching down and grabbing her black strapped sandals, she shook her head. “I’m at least going to fix my hair first.”
“You look beautiful,” he insisted.
“I’m not leaving looking like this,” she protested as she stood up.
She just prayed she didn’t have to see Savannah before she could escape and figure this out. What in the world was she going to tell people? How were they going to tell Savannah, let alone her mom? Standing in front of the mirror, she fixed what she could of her hair and makeup. Cally wrestled with the newest problems the universe seemed to think was funny to throw at her.
She was slipping her shoes on before she opened the door, trying to gather her shaking nerves. She started down the hall and just wanted to die when she heard them talking. Savannah was saying, “You didn’t! What did she say?”
Cally stopped in the doorway, and Dakota smiled at her. But her eyes went to Savannah whose look told a whole different story. She knew that Cally was talking to Seth and she knew Cally was thinking about breaking up with Dakota. Savannah had warned her that if she broke his heart, she was going to kill her, and Cally was pretty sure she would literally kill her. Dakota was one of her sister’s friends, and her sister was very protective of her friends. Yeah, she was so dead, but on the upside, at least, she wouldn’t have to deal with trying to fix this mess she had sunk herself into.
“Let me see.” Her sister’s words barely registered with her. Absently, she held out her hand as Savannah grabbed it very hard and pulled Cally in closer. She knew her sister didn’t want to see the ring; this was her way of sending a warning of what was coming if Cally broke his heart with all the crap she was entangled with.
Her sister looked back to Dakota and asked, “What are you two doing tonight?”
Cally’s hand was hurting as she seemed to lose the ability to speak, so she was thankful when Dakota answered for both of them “We’re going to my parent’s house now. I want to tell them the good news.”
Savannah had a look that just showed trouble coming at her like a tank ready to run her over. “We’re all going up to the boardwalk tonight.” Her sister glared at her with an almost commanding tone. “You should come out with us.”
“Maybe later, after we tell my parents how it went,” Dakota answered, and she knew there was going to be more to this.
“Your parents know?” was the most she could manage to get out.
Dakota looked at her like she should know something. “I had to tell them when I asked for my grandmother’s wedding ring.”
Okay, well, clearly she had missed something or a lot of some things. She didn’t remember half of what he had said outside, let alone how or why she had agreed to any of this, and here she was, leaning against her bedroom wall, trying to figure out what was going on. Maybe by the end of the night, she would get to hear the whole story; because right now, she seemed to be the only one that didn’t have a clue what was going on.
Apparently, Cally had spaced out again before she knew what was happening, she was being pulled from her bedroom toward the front door. This day was nothing like what she had imagined when she had woken up this morning. What had happened to the day where she ended up spending the night crying for breaking his heart? What happened to knowing what was going to happen? Yeah, in less than ten seconds, everything that had ever made sense was now out the window and running down the street without her.
A broken heart and extreme pain was all gone, and in its place was some strange new hope and love that she still couldn’t figure out where it had come from. No, nothing made sense anymore; everything was absolutely and completely shot out the freaking window with her nice, normal, easygoing life.
They walked out the door, and he even opened the car door for her like she was some important fancy movie star or something. Cally almost had to wonder if it was because he didn’t want her to run, because she was still considering it. There were no explications for this; there was nothing but pure fear overwhelming her, and something unexplainable that was controlling her every action. She was engaged! She couldn’t believe she was engaged to marry an angel! What was she thinking?
When Dakota started the car, he took her hand in his as he drove. Cally didn’t know what it was, but she didn’t know what to say, or do, or think; it was like all her words had suddenly disappeared. She was fifteen, in high school, and getting married. This kind of thing just didn’t happen in this day and age. Seriously, it took, like, courts and parents and a whole mess of stuff she didn’t know of to do something like this. The thing was she wasn’t pregnant, so that didn’t explain any of this, and up until a half an hour ago,