The Redemption of Callie & Kayden

remember.” I glance at the photo again. “That was the year he couldn’t play for a few weeks because he’d hurt his arm, right?”
    “Yeah, that was the one. And we lost three games in a row because of it.”
    “My dad was so mad.” I turn around to face him. “He used to chew him out during dinner.”
    “Oh, I bet.” Luke’s mouth turns upward and I realize he doesn’t smile very much. “He used to chew us out all the time at practice.”
    Thinking of Kayden hurts my heart. “Maybe we should go see him,” I suggest.
    “I was planning on it.” Luke clicks the mouse on the PRINT PAGE button on the screen and the printer beside the tower illuminates. “Right after I plan our running away.”
    “Aren’t we a little too old to be running away?” Seth asks, looking up from his phone. “Isn’t it more like a road trip, which is something I suggested a few days ago?”
    “It sounds more adventurous when you say running away,” I admit. “Like we’re doing something scandalous.”
    Seth’s shoulders jerk forward as he sputters a high-pitched laugh. “Oh my God, I’ve been such a bad influence on you.”
    My mouth droops into a frown. “What did I say?”
    He stands up to shove his phone into his pocket. “
Scandalous
. That’s something I would say.” He bounces back down on the bed.
    I shrug and shuffle my toe across the carpet in a half-circle in front of me, feeling silly. “So? It’s a compliment being like you.”
    All the humor evaporates from his face and his honey-brown eyes. Within seconds he has me in his arms and he hugs me like I’m the most important thing in the world to him. “Don’t ever change, Callie Lawrence,” he whispers in my hair. “Promise me you won’t.”
    I enfold my arms around him and set my chin on his shoulder. “I won’t. I promise.”
    The printer starts making shrill noises as buttons glow and flash and Luke clears his throat. “I hate to break up your little moment, but I’m ready to share my plan.”
    We break apart, but still hold hands as we turn to him. He swivels in the chair, back and forth and back and forth as the printer spits out pieces of paper stained with ink. When it stops, he collects the papers and holds one up. It’s a picture of a light-blue beach house that sits near the ocean. The sky is unblemished and the sunlight reflects off the water and makes it look like crystal.
    “You want us to go to the beach?” Seth squints at the photo as he bends forward, leaning in.
    Luke nods as he gathers the papers and lines them up by tapping them against the desk. “Yep, my father has a beach house in California that he hardly ever uses and I have a key and everything.”
    “You want us to
drive
to California?” Seth gapes at him like he’s insane.
    Luke shuts off the computer, grabs the papers, and strolls toward his organized closet with the papers secured underneath his arm. “It’s only, like, ten hours.”
    Seth glances at me with skepticism. “Really? Only ten hours?”
    “I’ve never been to the beach,” I admit. When Seth and Luke gape at me, I shrug. “What? My family doesn’t like to travel. My grandparents even live in Florida, but in the central area and every time we’ve been there my mom refuses to drive anywhere besides the closest grocery store. And my dad always just wants to watch the sports network.”
    Luke blinks as he shakes his head, and then he begins yanking shirts off hangers, some falling onto the brownish carpet, but he doesn’t bother picking them up. “Well, that gives us even more reason to go.”
    Seth bobs his head up and down in agreement. “Agreed completely. And might I say that it’s a brilliant plan. Much more brilliant than my lame old road trip I was planning to a cabin up at the sky resort.”
    Luke throws a few shirts and pants into a large navy blue duffel bag that he gets from the top shelf and then he adds a pair of striped shorts and a pair of sandals and sets the bag onto his bed. “I’m just desperate to get away from here, man. That’s all.”
    I wonder what he’s running away from. “How long are we going to be gone?”
    Luke’s shoulder moves up and down as he zips up the bag. “Until break’s over, I guess.”
    I look at Seth to see if he agrees and he merely nods his head. “We have nothing better to do than hang out with your mom.” He makes a disgusted face. “And I for one don’t want to do that.”
    “Yeah, but telling my mother that I’m not going