dead wrong (l.h)

"this might be totally out of line"

chapter twenty
calum

7:34 PM
Wednesday, October 12

"Thank you for coming over," I told Martha as I opened the door to see her standing with her arms crossed. Despite the annoyed look that had previously been on her face, her expression softened in response to my words and an amused smile appeared on her lips.

"You're lucky I was looking for a reason to stop studying for the exam I have next week," she told me as she pushed past me. I closed the door behind her as a small smile found its way to my lips.

"You're studying a week early?" I asked her through a scoff as I turned around to see her walking into my living room. She turned to look at me, making eye contact with me for just a moment before walking out of sight. "That's kind of nerdy, Meyer."

"You caught me," she joked from the other room. I stopped as I made it to the archway to the living room and leaned against the wall. Martha was already sitting on the couch; I watched as she pulled one of the throw pillows into her chest, just like she always did. "What's up, Cal? This better be important."

"This is actually about how incredibly awful you were to deal with this weekend. We can't ever have that happening again," I teased as I pushed myself away from the wall and began to walk toward the couch. She rolled her eyes at my words but I watched as a blush started to creep onto her cheeks. "Kidding... I'm glad you had fun."

"It's embarrassing," she admitted before covering her face with the pillow in her hands. "Kidding or not, I promise you that I will never be doing that again."

"Don't be embarrassed," I told her through a laugh as I sat beside her and pulled the pillow away from her face. I felt my heart flutter as I revealed her face to see her dark green eyes staring back at me. "Seriously... you were no trouble at all."

"You know, if I said anything super weird that night or anything... just erase it from your memory, would you?" she pleaded. A few specific things came to mind, but they weren't leaving my memory; if anything, I decided to cherish them. "If my memory serves me correctly... which I wouldn't count on... you're a pretty shit dancer." I gasped at Martha's words and she began to laugh at my reaction.

"Clearly, your memory does not serve you correctly. I happen to be one of the best dancers I know," I told her and watched as she sent me an unconvinced look. "Whatever. We're done talking about this weekend... for now."

"So... what's this actually about then?" she asked; she almost seemed nervous to know why I had invited her over, which confused me.

"Luke came over here yesterday," I began my explanation, "and I can't tell Evelyn what we talked about, but I can't be left with my own thoughts. So... that's where you come in."

"Oh... wow," Martha said as she sat up a little straighter. "That actually makes me feel sort of important... and overly responsible. You trust me not to tell Evelyn?"

"Marty... you can't tell Eves," I told her and watched as she took her lower lip between her teeth. "You promise?"

"Yeah... of course," she told me with a nod of her head. "It's nothing bad, is it? Because I'm actually sort of starting to think I can maybe be nice to Luke again."

"Depends how you define bad in regards to Evelyn and Luke," I said through a scoff. "It's nothing that's not expected, I guess... it's just happening sooner than I thought it would."

"He wants to get back with her?" Martha asked as she turned her body to face me; she was sitting with her legs criss-cross on the couch.

"That's not exactly how he put it. I mean, the simple answer to that is yeah but... I'm just worried he's getting in over his head. Not to say that Evelyn's not interested, because I know that's not true, but... I don't know. I'm just so worried that they'll rush into something. And I told Luke that I think it's too soon, but... god, I don't know. I don't even know what there is to talk about, but I just knew I needed to talk, and you were the only person I wanted to talk to." Martha's expression once again softened as she looked at me and I sighed before falling backward into the cushions of my couch. "I think part of me has realized from the start that all of this is probably going to end up with them back together... it's just not knowing what comes after that's really scaring the shit out of me. I know it's selfish of me, but I don't feel like losing Luke a second time... especially if it happens just because they realized they made the mistake of getting involved too quickly. If they get back together and things crumble but this time it's not because Luke fucked up... then where does that leave me?"