Page 24 of Screwed
“It’s been a fun day, hasn’t it?” Callie asked.
“Oh, yes! I’m going to Disney World!”
“Thanks for letting us visit, Cash,” Callie said as she pushed the wheelchair out, Hannah waving at him.
He looked up at the ceiling. What had just happened?
He got more answers moments later, when Callie reappeared. “Hi again.”
“Hey.”
“Thanks for talking to her.” Her eyes were pink, and her lips trembled.
His gut pinched. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” She blew out a breath and pulled the chair closer to the bed. Her skirt spread out all over it. She swiped her gloved fingertips under one eye and firmed her lips. “I mean, maybe. I volunteer with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. You know what they do, right?”
“Uh yeah. Make wishes come true for sick kids.”
She nodded. “Hannah loves Disney princesses. Today we came to tell her that she’s going to Disney World, and I dressed up as her favorite princess to help deliver the news.”
He stared at her, speechless.
“Hannah’s dying,” she continued, her voice low. “She’s been through so much. She had a bone marrow transplant about three months ago, but she relapsed again. They’re not sure how much time she has.” She drew in a shaky breath and attempted a smile. “But she’s going to Disney World.”
His heart constricted watching the emotions cross Callie’s face as she talked.
She plucked at her satin skirt. “I had this dress from last year. Once a year we do a Princess Ball to raise money for the foundation.”
“Princess Ball.”
“Yes.” She nodded. “It’s really fun. Little girls dress up and come to meet their favorite princesses. We take lots of pictures, and they do crafts and get manicures. They love it, and we make a lot of money for the foundation.”
“I see.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know what you’re thinking. I’m a princess every day.”
“That’s not what I was thinking.”
“No?”
He cleared his throat, his muscles tensing. “I was thinking that’s really awesome of you to do that.”
Her eyelashes fluttered, and their eyes met. It felt like the air in the room changed, becoming charged. “Thank you.”
“I guess the Princess Ball is easier than meeting a kid who’s dying.”
Her lips trembled again, and she nodded. “Yeah. But I wanted to do it. It’s important.”
When he’d first met Callie, they’d been learning about electricity in one of his classes. Electricity was a form of energy, the flow of charge carried by free-flowing electrons. You couldn’t see electricity…but you could feel it. And around Callie, he felt something—a charge, a flow of energy. It seemed like there was an electric field around her, and just being in her presence was… Okay, he was a nerdy engineering student.
Yeah, he’d thought Callie was a princess when they’d first met, and not in a good way. She was beautiful and glowing, always perfect and polished, and she came from a different social sphere than he did—wealth and privilege and everything she could ever want. That didn’t stop him from wanting her.
Until she started dating his best friend, Beau.
She was perfect for Beau, who came from the same kind of social background she did. Cash couldn’t deny that.
But as she hung out with them and he got to know her better, he realized she wasn’t the spoiled and self-absorbed princess he initially thought she was. Sure, she took a while to get ready to go out and was a frequent customer at The Glam Bar, getting manicures and pedicures, but shewas unassuming and friendly, warm and caring. And now he also saw she was brave.
