Free Seasons in the Sun by Kristen Strassel Page A

just didn’t think we’d--”
    She cut me off. “No, you didn’t think. You’re both expected at work tomorrow. The rest of us shouldn’t have to suffer because of your poor decisions. First ferry back in the morning.”
    “Okay.”
    “We will discuss this more tomorrow. And Calliope, use your head tonight. I mean it.”
    The phone clicked in my ear.
    “That went well,” Tristan said as I handed the phone back to him. “Let’s head down to the beach.” I noticed while I was on the phone he’d grabbed blankets and sweatshirts out of the trunk. My heart was already pounding from the phone call. My brain couldn’t process the fact that we were having a sleepover.
    I rubbed my forehead then looked up at the sky before falling into step with him. “Nothing ever goes well with my mother. She called the police, you know.”
    He laughed. “I’m sure they cared. ‘My daughter didn’t listen to me, and now I’m really mad’.” He mocked her voice.
    I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. “She would have told them you kidnapped me, but she said she didn’t out of respect to your aunt.”
    That made him laugh even harder. “So Caroline didn’t think she was a complete psycho, you mean?”
    “Tristan! Stop it.”
    “Okay, that was a little out of line. She’s your mother, but my god Callie, she’s unbearable. She has to understand if she keeps treating you like she does, these are the things that are going to happen.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “She controls your every move. She doesn’t let you go to a real school, she’s got you working at her restaurant all the time, I’m not even sure you have any friends outside of the restaurant since you never talk about them. It’s like she keeps you in a cage.”
    I stopped dead in my tracks, my brain processing what he said. “I never thought of it like that,” I said quietly.
    “Of course not, because you never knew it any other way.” Tristan surveyed the spot I’d stopped in. “This looks good.” He spread the blanket out and sat down, patting the spot next to him for me to join.
    I sat down, and he handed me one of the sweatshirts. I pulled it over my head, inhaling his scent as it surrounded me. I wrapped my arms around my middle, my eyes not really processing anything, just thinking about what he’d said. Tristan left me alone with my thoughts for a minute, just watching me.
    “But she was right, look what happened. You.” I instantly felt bad blaming him for the trouble I was in. Sure, he’d wanted me to come, but the decision to go was all mine. “The day was out of control, and now we missed the ferry.”
    He started rubbing my back. “Callie, she would have reacted the same way if we’d gone to a church social. It sucks that we missed the boat, but even if we didn’t, you’d probably be dealing with the same thing. And I’m going to be honest with you, I’m kind of glad we missed it.”
    He leaned in closer. My breath caught in my throat.
    “Me too,” it was barely more than a whisper.
    We sat there just like that, just holding each other, for I’m not sure how long. Taryn’s voice thundered in my head, and I did my best to make it go away.
    “Why do you do it?” I craned my neck up to look at him.
    “Do what?”
    “You know,” I was losing confidence in my question. “The drinking, and the other stuff.” I wasn’t quite sure what the other stuff really was.
    He didn’t answer me right away. At first I was afraid I’d upset him, but I could tell by his expression he was thinking about what to say.
    “You know how I said I wasn’t sure if you had any friends outside of the restaurant?” He was rubbing my back again, but it was more of a nervous thing this time. I nodded. “I don’t have any real friends, besides Taryn, and only because she’s my sister. There’s plenty of people around, but they only tolerate us, or want something because of our parents. They get what they want, and they move on. They don’t