Liv let out a third-grade giggle. “Jeez, Vega, if you’re going to stare like that, why don’t you just snap a photo with your phone?” she asked.
I shot her a glare, my cheeks heating with mortification. “Sorry,” I said, pulling my eyes to the floor. “I just…”
“You’re just confused about which book you want to read,” Callum said, reaching past me to the table and grabbing a thick white paperback with a sword on its cover. Either he was oblivious to the fact I’d been gawking, or he was kind enough to pretend to be oblivious. Either way, I was grateful. “Might I suggest this one?” he asked. “It’ll take you out of this world and put you in a whole new one. Which, in my experience, is never a bad thing.”
“Have you read it?” I asked, glancing at the cover without registering any information whatsoever.
“I have. Something tells me you’ll find it very…informative.”
“Okay,” I replied, mesmerized by his unbelievable eyes, which seemed to shimmer in the dull light of the dusty shop. It must have been the energy-saving overhead bulbs that did it. No one’s eyes naturally looked like limpid pools I suddenly and inexplicably wanted to go skinny dipping in.
Yeah, that was it. Definitely the light bulbs.
“I’ll give it a shot,” I said.
“Oh, hey! It’s Vega’s birthday!” Liv interrupted, clearly bored by all the book talk.
“Is that so?” Callum said as he led us to the front of the shop and slipped around behind the counter. “In that case, I definitely can’t let you pay for the book.” He reached down, pulled a paper bag from underneath the counter. He slipped the novel inside the bag and he held it out to me, a glint of amusement in those perfect blue eyes.
“Oh, I couldn’t…” I began, but he shook his head.
“Of course you can. Happy Birthday, Vega.”
I smiled. The way he said my name was oddly soothing, like he’d added music to the two syllables. His voice really was unlike any I’d ever heard. Maybe it was his particular accent, or else an odd hint of maturity most teenage boys lacked. I was so used to hearing squeaky-voiced adolescent boys who hadn’t quite grown into manhood. Either way, it was a nice change from the usual.
As I took the package from Callum, his fingers grazed against mine, sending a shock of heat to my cheeks. I told myself I shouldn’t have enjoyed the accidental contact nearly so much. There was a danger in the fleeting moment of pleasure I’d shielded myself from for years, and the thought of becoming vulnerable now both thrilled and terrified me.
“Any special plans for your birthday? Are you going out tonight?” he asked, which only accelerated my raging pulse once again. Boys didn’t usually ask me what I was up to on a Friday night. Then again, boys didn’t usually speak to me at all.
Liv elbowed me impatiently as if to say Stop being a mute idiot.
“I…I mean, I might go to Midsummer Fest tonight,” I shrugged. “I’m not really into birthdays, ever since my parents…I mean, I’m just not into birthdays.”
“Me neither,” he replied, an odd flash of sympathy slipping over his face. “Once you’ve had enough of them, they all begin to blend into one another.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. He couldn’t have been much older than I was, yet he was talking as if he’d had eighty birthdays and had grown sick of them.
“Are you going to be there, Callum?” Liv asked. “At Midsummer Fest, I mean.”
“I will,” he replied. “I figure it’s a great way to get to know the town.”
“More like a way to find out how weird our town is,” I said.
“True,” Callum replied. “Of course, one person’s ‘weird’ is another person’s ‘wonderful.’”
“And which are you?” I asked, stunned that such a brazen comment came out of my usually reserved mouth.
“I believe,” he said with a wry smile, “that’s for you to find out.”
After a moment of strained silence, I finally blurted out, “Well, we should get going. Liv needs her caffeine. It seems she hasn’t bounced off enough walls today.”
“Fair enough. I’ll see you, Liv.” Callum said before softly adding, “Take care, Vega. Watch for strangers.” From the tone of his voice, he sounded as though he was genuinely concerned that something might happen to me.
“I will,” I replied, daring another look at him as I drew in a deep breath, trying in vain to calm my out-of-control heart.
“Hey, I just got a really good idea!” Liv said to Callum. “Do you want to come to Perks with us?”
I gasped, terrified and excited at the prospect of spending more time in his presence.
The boy with the impossibly blue eyes pulled his gaze away from me, shaking his head. “I can’t, unfortunately,” he said. “I’m in charge of looking after the shop today.”
“Too bad,” Liv replied, grabbing me by the arm and yanking me toward the door. “Well, I suppose we’ll see you tonight, then?”
“Tonight,” he replied. “I’m looking forward to it.”
I gave him a feeble wave goodbye, which he returned with a raised hand and a mysterious, slightly ominous smile.
Coffee Talk
When we stepped outside, Liv let out a squeal, grabbed my arm, and squeezed hard.
“Ow!” I said. “What was that for?”
“Did you see how he was staring at you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She let go and crossed her arms in an irritated pout. “Are you kidding me right now? Callum didn’t take his eyes off you the whole time we were in there.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” I shrugged.
“Well, that’s total B.S. Anyone sane would feel those eyes on her, even if you weren’t looking—which you totally were, by the way. Come on, Vega. He’s so into you. You should ask him out.”
“Or—and hear me out on this—I could not ask him out.”
Liv rolled her eyes so hard I was sure she spotted her brain. “You’re so frustrating!” she yelled as a couple of joggers dodged their way around us. “You two have so much in common.”
“Okay, I’ll bite. What exactly do we have in common? We’re both bi-pedal carbon-based forms of life?”
“He likes books. You like books.”
“Half the universe likes books.”
“He looks like a Greek god sculpted out of marble, and you’re super-pretty, in spite of the fact that you insist on wearing those awful hoodies and hiding your amazing hair all the time.”
Shrugging off her backwards compliments, I said, “I have nothing to talk to him about.”
“You could tell him about your trips to England.”
“I hardly think he wants to hear about some stupid American high school student hopping across the pond and being a tourist in his native land.”
“Fine.” Liv threw her arms up, clearly exasperated. “Then just make out with him and then tell me if he’s a good kisser.”