Lincoln
My legs carried me across campus without my permission. It was as if my brain was on autopilot as I walked across the quad and towards the familiar dorm building. There were a couple of students already moving themselves back into their space, and because of that it didn't take me long to squeeze in after a girl with a hot pink suitcase. I veered off towards the staircase at the end of the hall, taking two steps at a time towards the second floor.
The building itself was the exact same as I remembered it being the last time I was there. The halls smelt like someone had emptied an entire bottle of air freshener into the navy blue carpets. I made my way past the floor's common area and down to the other end. My steps slowed to a stop as I reached the number 210.
I raised a fist to knock on the door, hoping that I was right and that Cali was the kind of overachiever who liked to return to campus a few days before classes started back up.
The door clicked open, Cali's head popped around from the other side. Her brown hair was tucked back in a messy ponytail, a few loose stranded framing her oval face. Cali's doe eyes blinked at me as if I were a mirage.
"Hey," she greeted, opening the door wider. The sweater she was wearing engulfed her. It was the same sweater she wore the night we had spent together. I chewed on the inside of my cheek. I had to get my mind out of the gutter. "What are you doing here?"
That simple question caught me off guard. What was I doing there? I don't know if my impromptu visit really had a purpose. After my conversation with Whitmore my world had been flipped upside down. It may have been selfish of me, but I knew Cali would brighten my mood. Seeing her then, I knew I had made the right decision.
I stuffed my hands deeper into my pockets. "I was on campus and I thought I'd stop by to check-in and see how you were doing."
Cali's smile lit her face up like a Christmas tree. "I'm doing okay. How are you?"
"Better now. Did you have time to hang out for a bit?"
She worried on her bottom like, eyes darting down the hall. Any semblance of happiness that she wore before was replaced with unsettling discomfort. "Uh, sure. Come on in."
That discomfort didn't dissipate when I stepped into the room. Clicking the door shut behind me, I stood off to the side as Cali made her way towards her bed. She had a half-empty suitcase spread open on her bare mattress. If I had to guess, I would have assumed she hadn't been back for more than a couple of hours.
"Who dropped you off?" I asked, taking in Ella's empty side of the room.
"My dad drove me over," she replied, creating a pile of clothes next to her luggage. "Harper offered to drop me off in a couple of days, but I wanted to get back and have my own space back. You know?"
I nodded, but she was still honed in on the task at hand. "And Ella?"
She slipped by me, her arm brushing mine and sending a jolt of electricity through me. "She should be back tomorrow."
She was much more cautious when she passed me again to return to her luggage. A heavy feeling settled in my stomach and I remembered how distant she'd been since the start of exams. I had chalked it up to stress and wanting to be present with her family. Cali had her own life outside of my issues. But standing with her now... the usual warmth that she gave off was gone.
"Hey," I started when the silence dragged on for too long. "Is something going on? Did I do something?"
Cali placed another pile of clothes on her bed before straightening out. "What? No. No, you didn't do anything. It's..."
I remained rooted by the door. "You can be honest with me, California."
Cali fanned out the ends of her ponytail between her fingers. She inspected them, plucking at imaginary split ends. "Do you remember the last night I was at your place? Before exams?"
It was hard to forget any night Cali had come over to visit. The rundown hell hole was more vibrant when she was around. "Yeah, I remember. You were telling me about how you were thinking about changing programs."
Cali rolled her lips, letting out a nervous breath. "That night, when I came back to campus, there was some guy outside the dorms. He was standing by the doors, smoking a cigarette, and I didn't think much of it at first. I thought that maybe he was waiting for someone. But the more I reflect on that night, the more it feels like he was waiting for me."
"What makes you think that?" I furrowed my brow, trying to get her to meet my eyes. "Did he say anything to you?"
Cali stared down at her open suitcase. "He was talking to me about you."
"Me?" My spine turned steely.
It was pretty well established that I didn't have many friends on campus. I preferred to keep to myself. So to have someone approach Cali outside her dorm building in regards to me sent alarms off in my head.
"I figured that he knew you well enough," she mumbled. "He knew about The Pit... well, he alluded to it."
"What else did he say?"
She wrapped her arms around herself, brows furrowed in concentration. "He knew about your last match with Silva. He said that the reason why you got hurt was because you've been too distracted with me."
Anger ignited within me as if someone had struck a match. "I got hurt because Silva's a fucking psychopath who has a problem with losing. It had nothing to do with you."
"I know," Cali drew in a breath. Her light brown eyes met mine. "Logically I know that what happened with Silva had nothing to do with me. But this guy was convinced that if we continued the way we were going that you would end up getting hurt again... or worse." Her gaze drifted from me and my chest went cold. The lit match blown out like a birthday candle. "I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you."
I couldn't take the distance anymore. I inched closer to her. The need to comfort and reassure her burned into me. My fingers brushed against her wrist, begging for her to return her attention back to me.
"Now that I've had a taste, I don't think I could live without you." I wanted to promise her the world–anything that would keep her with me. All I could do was give her my word and hope she believed me. "Nothing's going to happen to me."
"But what if it does?" She whispered, eyes burrowing into mine. "I told you before, I don't think I have the stomach to stand by and watch you fight for your life. Claudio made it seem like–"
My heart stuttered. "Who?"
"He said his name was Claudio."
Those six words sucked the air right out of me. "Fuck," I muttered, running a hand over my chin. "That fucking asshole."
"Who is he?" Cali asked.
Instead of responding right away I jerked her into a hug. The thought of my father being so close to her without my knowledge drove me crazy. "If you ever see him again I need you to call me right away," I told her. "I don't care if he approaches you or not. I don't want you anywhere near that fucker."
"Okay," Cali promised, but she was hesitant. "But who is he? Should I be concerned?"
The gears were turning in her head. She was trying to piece the puzzle together and as much as I wanted to protect her, I knew that the only way to keep her safe now was to tell her everything.
"Claudio is my father."
Cali stilled in my arms, her body ridgid. She knew enough about my sperm donor to know that he was not safe to be around.
"I'm not fighting in The Pit anymore," I murmured into her hair. The scent of vanilla and honey tempting me in closer.
"You're not?" Cali wiggled back a few inches to inspect my face. "How... I thought you said it wasn't possible to back out?"
If I was being honest, I didn't know if it was possible either. But like the rest of my life, I wasn't being left with very many choices. "Whitmore found out about the underground street fighting. He threatened to go to the Dean with everything unless I bowed out."
"But Claudio... he's the one making you do this, isn't he? He's not just going to let you stop."
"I know," I said, brushing a strand of hair off of her forehead. "My involvement in The Pit has kept him away from my family, but only because the prize money would feed his addictions. I don't imagine that he'll let me go without a fight. I explained everything to Whitmore. He's going to reach out to some lawyers to help me build some sort of case against him. Something to keep him away long enough to get my mom and Sadie somewhere safe."
Cali's tone brightened at the news. "That's a good thing, right?"
I nodded. "I'm tired of giving that bastard control over me. If I'm going to fight for anyone, it's going to be for the people I care about most––my mom, Sadie... you."
"For me?" She breathed.
"I'll always fight for you," I murmured, bringing my lips a fraction away from hers. "I want to be with you, California. No one else."
A slow smile grew onto her face. "I want to be with you too."
That was all I needed to hear. Bringing my lips down the rest of the way, I met hers in a dizzying kiss that I had been dreaming about all winter break.
* * * * *
author's note:
Three. More. Chapters.
I'm currently writing the next update as this goes up and... I don't know if you guys are ready for what's about to go down. It's all very exciting!
For those of you who got the notification, you might have noticed that I have posted the blurb and teaser chapter for the story that I will be writing this summer. It is titled Shutout and will follow Ella's love story with the starting goalie of the Fenton Falcon's hockey team, Hendrix Tate. If you have the time, I'd love if you could go check it out, show it some love, and add it to your reading lists/private library. It really does help a lot with visibility on Wattpad.
If you have any questions or comments about Extra Credit or Shutout, I'd love to talk to you about them.
Have an amazing rest of your week!