A Sugar Summer

Chapter 16

Callie held her breath for a beat or two as Beck flinched around her. His adverse reaction to her soft question also left her heart cringining but she tried not to feel too hurt at his silence. She told her story to him but perhaps he wasn't ready yet. Or wasn't planning on telling her, Callie thought miserably.

"My sister Chloe was two years younger than me."

Beck's voice wavered through the still cabin. Callie lifted her face so she could read those brilliantly emotional green eyes though his face remained stoic, only a pinched brow breaking the mask. Chloe. The name sounded familiar and in an instant, the day of her first panic attack flashed in her mind. Luca mentioned that name in his taunts.

"What happened?" Callie squirmed a little to free her arms so she could hug them around him as his focus wavered from the present to the past. Beck was silent again for a minute as Callie watched him close off his green orbs to her.

"She was a lot like you. Kind of quiet, but funny. The kind of person that stared at the world and everything in it with a smile. The kind of person that prayed for strangers she'd never meet and reminded those around her that we're all human. That we all make mistakes and it's perfectly fine to be imperfect as long as we never gave up trying to be better."

Callie heard Beck swallow hard as he unknowingly drew her a little closer.

"I used to joke that she must've come from another family since our parents definitely didn't believe in those things. They wanted perfect kids with perfect grades to showcase to their uppity coworkers and friends."

Callie hummed as she listened to the ache in his voice, her head now pressed against his chest. It must've been exhausting to live up to whatever standards they held. Callie was a natural in school. She never had to study late or force herself to sit still and finish homework. Books were read for fun since the worlds they transported her to and the lives of the characters were always far more interesting and less painful than her own.

"She was a logophile. She loved words." The smile in Beck's voice was obvious as he shuffled a little against her. The hand at her lower back came up to fish the necklace Callie noticed earlier out from under his shirt. He rubbed his thumb over the now exposed, little oval locket strung on a silver chain, staring at it for a second before prying his thumbnail along the edge. The little metal oval popped open with a click and he tilted the single, tiny photo inside so Callie could see.

The first thing Callie noted were the nearly identical green eyes genuinely smiling back at her. The girl looked a few years younger than Beck, maybe fourteen or so. Her pitch black hair was braided over her shoulder. Lips pulled thin into a wide smile that made her features glow. She was naturally pretty, Callie could tell. Even though it looked like the image was cut out from a small school portrait photo, the girl was completely relaxed in front of the camera.

"She's beautiful." Callie whispered, suddenly afraid of disturbing the air that seemed to still when he opened the locket. It was obvious the locket hadn't been opened that often if the cleaner shine on the inside was anything to go by.

"She was." Beck whispered back, his own eyes trained softly on the tiny photo. He sighed softly before clicking the locket shut and tucking it back under shi shirt with a look of pain.

"Chloe was great at a lot of things. She was social, smart and didn't mind the pressure our parents often put on us. I gave up trying to please them a long time ago but she was a genuine trophy child."

"She didn't mind them constantly pushing her?"

"No. Or at least she never showed it. She always had great grades and a strong work ethic. She made friends easily and showed everyone the same amount of kindness. We talked a lot, about anything really. Like you and Ryleigh, we were closer than most siblings I guess since our parents were distant with us unless we were around company." Callie tried to envision Beck in more formal attire being showcased in front of a room with a handful of posh people.