5. The past

Kiera let out a scream so loud Sky covered her ears and grabbed the closest pillow to put over her head.

"Oh my gosh shut up." Sky laughed. "What is wrong with you?"

"What is wrong with me?" Kiera shouted. "Are you kidding? Skylar Ava Ayres you're going out with Callen McHottie Sherwood!!"

"Yeah, I know, I just told you that."

"Bitch I will murder you in your sleep if you fuck this up. And by that I mean if you don't fuck him."

Sky laughed. She was used to Kiera's fangirling but this was taking it to a whole other level.

"I am not sleeping with him Kiera, and judging by your excitement about this, you should find a date for yourself if you're so eager for somebody to have sex."

"Don't try and change the subject on the dryness of my lovelife right now Skylar."

No one besides her mom and Kiera used her full name, and it was only in serious situations.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Kiera exclaimed, moving frantically in circles in the small space of their dorm room that wasn't scattered with clothes or books.

"What?"

"We need to find you something to wear! You can't go wearing one of those nun dresses your mom packed for you! Oh my god, we only have three days, oh my god."

Sky chose to ignore the comment on the dresses. She actually liked them and had packed them herself but she wasn't about to tell Kiera that or she wouldn't hear the end of it and would be forced to throw them away.

"Kiera if you don't stop saying oh my god and pacing like that, I will force feed you a sleeping pill. Stop making me so nervous!!" Sky complained.

"You're nervous?" Kiera laughed as if it was the funniest joke. "Skylar, this is the most important mission I ever had to face as your best friend."

"Ok, I'm out. Come find me at the library when you've calmed down."

She didn't wait to hear her friend's response and grabbed her phone before heading out. She loved Kiera but she could be a bit much at times. They would laugh about it tonight but she needed to be alone right now to process everything alone, without her best friend saying "oh my god" fifty times per sentences.

She hadn't thought of the pressure that came with accepting that date with Callen. Not only did she have to find something suitable to wear, but she also had to figure out subjects they could talk about so that the date wouldn't be awkward. Callen had been out with so many girls, how could she compete with them. She knew she wasn't ugly and that she could be funny but she also recalled how her first date with her first freshman boyfriend had gone. It had been so awkward they had talked about the weather for thirty minutes before moving on to what sort of cheese they liked. Sky was so uncomfortable she had texted Kiera from the toilet to ask her to call so that she could use a fake excuse to get out of this date.

She didn't want it to be awkward with Callen. But at the same time, what did she want with him? It wasn't like he was known to be the dating and falling in love type.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she bit her lip as her stomach churned when she recognized Callen's number. She had texted him earlier in the afternoon as planned and he had now replied. She rolled her eyes when she saw Kiera had put a name to the number in her phone.

Callen McHottie Sherwood: I was just thinking about you. What do you think about pizza and a movie on Friday? Or would you rather do something more original? I wouldn't mind racking my brains for you little Skylar.

Sky: Pizza and a movie sound good, but I'll have you know I'm five foot three.

Callen McHottie Sherwood: typing...

Sky was still staring at the screen when she bumped into a muscular body. Her phone dropped on the hallway carpet from the collision and she bent down to retrieve it, trying to stop a blush from rising on her cheeks.

"Sky! I was just texting you back!"

She looked up to see Callen smiling at her and offering a hand to help her stand back up. She took it and tried to ignore the electricity running through her spine from the simple touch.

"Hi!"

"Hi."

They smiled to each other for a couple seconds before realizing they were blocking the pathway.

"Do you want to go down for coffee? I was heading over to the Perks."

The Perks was the best coffee shop on campus. A lot of students met up there and it often held open mic nights that Kiera always dragged Sky to.

"Yeah coffee sounds good! As long as you don't handle the hot drinks yourself."

He chuckled.

"So, you named me McHottie huh?" Callen teased, glancing towards the lit-up screen of her phone still opened on the messages app.

"Oh my god." Sky muttered with embarrassment before closing the app quickly. "Kiera did that. She's the devil I swear, as if I don't get in enough awkward situations as it is, she needs to create more for me."

Callen laughed. "Well, to be fair, I am pretty hot so it's a good surname."

"I shall now replace it by McConceited."

His laugh was like warm hot chocolate on a rainy winter day.

"Careful little Skylar, you don't want me falling for you now, do you?"