The Redemption of Callie & Kayden

the window?”
    Luke picks up his bag and brushes the snow off it before fastening the handle over his shoulder. “What about it?” He hikes toward the side of the house and stomps his boots in a bare area of the yard. “Leave it open for all I care. I just want to get the fuck out of here.”
    Seth sighs and then, giving a push with his hands, he dismounts from the windowsill and falls into the snow. Like me he sinks, but he shimmies his hips and gets his knees bent. He easily slips his foot out and drops down on his hands. He claws at the snow with his fingers and gets his other leg free, then rolls down the rest of the way.
    “Fuck.” He flips onto his stomach and pushes up to his hands and knees, panting from the fall. “That wasn’t fun.”
    “What do you think that was about?” I ask, giving a peek over my shoulder at Luke flicking his lighter and firing up a cigarette. He’s standing near the corner and raking his hand through his hair as he mutters to himself.
    Seth shakes his head. “I have no idea, but I have a feeling that this beach escape plan is to run away from whoever that was.”
    I offer Seth my hand and he interlocks his fingers with mine.
“I think it’s his mom.” I pull him to his feet and then he holds onto my arm as we trample through the snow toward Luke, stomping the snow off our shoes when we reach a flat area near the corner.
    We don’t ask him questions because Seth and I both understand the need for secrets. If he wants to talk to us, he will. We understand thatWe step out onto the driveway, onto a thin sheet of ice and Luke leads the way down the fence line toward the road. When we curve around the last of the house where Luke’s truck is parked, my hand falls from Seth’s hand. Kayden is there and so is the motorcycle from the picture, dent and all.
    “Kayden.” I gasp at the sight of him. His lips are tinted blue and he doesn’t have a coat on, just a hoodie. His brown hair is sticking up all over the place and his cheeks are bright red. He looks like a frozen ice statue and my instinct is to run to him, so I do, moving my feet quickly, completely forgetting that I’m standing on ice.
    Two steps forward, I slip and my feet shoot out from underneath me. I go flying in the air like an injured bird. Seth’s hands snap out to catch me, but he misses and I fall flat on my back and my head slams against the ice. It severely hurts and I don’t get up right away. But I’m not sure if it’s because of the pain or the fact that once I get up, I’m going to have to find out if he’s going to run away from me again.
    * * *
Kayden
    I drive through town for what seems like forever, until I can no longer feel my fingers and my lips are as numb as the inside of me. Then I head for Luke’s because it’s better than going back home. For a split second I consider going to Callie’s house on the other side of town, but I can only imagine how that would go since her parents are so fond of the douche bag I beat the shit out of.
    Besides, I need to stay away from her. It’s important that I do. For her.
    I park my motorcycle next to the curb, relieved to see that Luke’s truck is out front. But my face falls when I see his mom’s Cadillac parked next to it. I don’t want to talk to anyone and Luke’s mom is weird and likes to talk about nonsense. She’ll want to talk too, especially if she’s heard the rumors about me.
    I pry my frozen fingers from the handlebars and climb off. Then I stand there, staring at the house, deciding if I really want to go in. It’s not like Luke would press me for what happened, but it’d be hanging in the air.
    I’m about to climb back on the bike and drive away when Luke comes strolling around from the back of the house with a bag on his shoulder. I start to walk toward him when Callie and Seth step out behind him. They’re holding hands and Callie looks like she’s struggling to walk across the ice. Her attention is focused on her feet, but her blue eyes slide up from the ground and land on me. They widen and her hand falls from Seth’s. Her brown hair waves in the wind as she starts to run toward me. I begin to back away, but she hits a patch of ice and her feet go flying out from underneath her. In a few lengthy strides, I’ve made it across the snow-packed front yard and to her. Her hair is spread around her head and he eyes are enormous and glossy. The pale, smooth skin that I know covers her entire body almost matches the shade