The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden

him, listening to my heart thump inside my chest, to the wind sing, to the sound of someone breaking somewhere in the world.
     
    He forces a lump down in his throat. “Callie… I… you need to tell someone. You can’t let him keep going around living his life.”
     
    “It doesn’t matter. Too much time has gone by and even the cops can’t do anything about it anymore.”
     
    “How do you know?”
     
    I shrug, feeling detached from the world. “Because I looked into it once to see—to know that I no longer have any options. What’s done is done.”
     
    He shakes his head, his jaw set tight. “This isn’t fair.”
     
    “Neither is your life,” I say, wanting my moment back. I want it back. Please, God, give me it back . ”Nothing really is.”
     
    Silence builds and it all crumbles out as I collapse into his chest, tears spilling out as the secret I’ve carried with me breaks into lighter pieces. He scoops me up against my protests and cradles me against him as he carries me up the stairs and into the room as I sob out every tear I’ve been holding inside me.
     
    He lies down on the bed with me and I bury my face into his chest. Somehow, I stop crying and we lie, unmoving, feeling each other’s pain. Eventually I fall asleep in his arms.
     
     
     
     
     
    Kayden
     
    After she falls asleep, I watch her breathe in and out, trying to make sense of the world. Rage washes through me like a fucking wave crashing against the shore. I want to kill Caleb. Beat him to death in the most painful ways.
     
    When I hear her brother and Caleb leave the house, laughing as they get in the car and drive away, talking about going to a party, something snaps inside me. All the rage I’ve channeled ruptures and suddenly I know what I have to do.
     
    Callie saved me that night from a fight that would have probably left me dead, but she also saved me from myself. Before her, I was dying inside; there was nothing in my heart, but an empty hole.
     
    Gently slipping my arm out from beneath her head, I grab my phone and sneak out the door, looking at her one last time before I leave. Trotting down the steps, I text Luke to come pick me up, then I start walking down the sidewalk away from her house toward the unknown.
     
    I walk a ways in a direction I’ve never been, letting the cold air consume me. About fifteen minutes later, Luke’s truck pulls up to the curb. I hop in, rubbing my hands together as the heater blasts against my skin.
     
    “Okay, what’s up with the totally random fucking message?” He adjusts his beanie lower on his head and cranks up the heater. “You do realize I was about to get lucky with Kelly Anallo?”
     
    “Sorry,” I mutter. “Where were you?”
     
    “Down at the lake.” He cranks the wheel to the right and drives down a side road. “There was a party going on.”
     
    “You didn’t happen to see Callie’s brother and Caleb Miller down there, did you?”
     
    He halts at a stop sign, cranking up the defroster as the windshield fogs up. “Yeah, they pulled up right as I left to come get you.”
     
    “Then drive down there.” I motion my hand for him to drive. “I have something I need to do.”
     
    We drive in silence as I bounce my knee and drum my fingers against the door. The truck bounces as we weave through the trees and surface out the other end. When we pull up, I spot Caleb by the bonfire near the shoreline, chatting it up with some blond chick wearing a baggy jacket over a tight pink dress.
     
    “I need your help with something,” I say as Luke shifts the car into park and starts to get out of the car.
     
    He pauses with his leg outside. “What’s up? You’re acting kind of weird… it’s freaking me out a little.”
     
    I don’t take my eyes off Caleb. He’s shorter than me by an inch or two, but I remember him picking a few fights at parties and he can definitely hold up his own. “I need you to have my back.”
     
    Luke gapes at me as he puts a cigarette in his mouth. “Are you planning on picking a fight?”
     
    I nod unwaveringly. “I am.”
     
    “So you want me to make sure you don’t get your dumb ass kicked?” He cups his hand around his mouth and flicks the top of the lighter.
     
    “No, I want you to stop me before I kill him.” I flip the handle and hop out.
     
    “You what?” A puff of smoke rises in front of his face.
     
    “Stop me before I kill him,” I repeat and slam the door.
     
    He meets me around the