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Caleb: How’s the internship going?Teagan: I have a new task at the aquarium, but I’m reluctant to tell you about it.Caleb: Why?Teagan: Because you’ll laugh at me.Caleb: I promise I won’t. Tell me.Just typing the words made me laugh.Teagan: I have to dress up as a dolphin and give out tickets to the dolphin show.He didn’t immediately respond. So I typed again.Teagan: Stop laughing. You said you wouldn’t.The little dots danced around as I waited for his response.Caleb: It turns out laughing is involuntary.Teagan: Sigh.Caleb: I must come see this.Teagan: Please don’t.Caleb: You’re a good sport.Teagan: I have no choice!Caleb: You could have fought it. But I’m certain you went with the flow.I’d been accused of hiding my femininity. But I now knew that nothing makes you feel less feminine than a furry dolphin suit. I definitely didn’t have to worry about getting hit on at work now.
I decided to send him a photo my co-worker had snapped of me in the costume.Teagan: I figured I’d save you the trip.About a minute passed. Then he responded.Caleb: I think I nearly woke Veronica up. That is hysterical.Teagan: Glad I could make you smile.Caleb: You always make me smile, even when you’re not dressed in a ridiculous costume.I wanted to strangle my heart for beating so fast. My own opinion of myself didn’t line up with that.Teagan: Why do I make you smile? In general, I’m a pretty miserable person.I waited forever for his response.Caleb: I don’t buy that. You like to keep to yourself, but that doesn’t make you miserable. When you do smile, it’s genuine. A genuine smile is worth more than a thousand fake ones. You’re not capable of being disingenuous.He clearly saw something in me that I didn’t.Teagan: What about you? How often are your smiles real? How often do you pretend?Caleb: I’ve pretended less since arriving here.Caleb: And I’ve never pretended around you.My heart fluttered.Teagan: I’m glad.Caleb: I’m not sure I want to go home, but I know I have to. My mind doesn’t wander as much to dark places here.He’d only been here a few months, but the idea of Caleb leaving already made me anxious. He made me feel less alone, like there was finally someone in this house who understood me a little.Teagan: My mind wanders to dark places, too.After several seconds of nothing, he responded again.Caleb: Tell me your darkest thought, and I’ll tell you mine. Murky waters are less scary to navigate when not alone.I didn’t have to think about it. My darkest thought was recurring.Teagan: My darkest thought is that my mother was right—that she shouldn’t have had me. Whenever I feel out of place or detached from everything around me, I think maybe that’s because I wasn’t supposed to be here.I could see he was typing something.Caleb: Our darkest thoughts have a similar theme. Mine is that I wish with all of my heart and soul that it had been me who climbed into that chest instead of Emma. So, you and I are two people who wonder whether we belong here. We have that in common.Wow. I guess we do.Teagan: I definitely feel less alone since you arrived.I hadn’t intended to be so candid. I wished I could take it back until his response.Caleb: You’re not the only one, Teagan.CHAPTER TEN* * *CALEBIt was about seven in the evening, just before dinner. I’d been looking forward to spending my first night back at the house in a few days and resuming my study sessions with Teagan tonight.
The doorbell rang, and Maura went to answer it. Then I heard my name being uttered by someone with a British accent. I went downstairs to check things out, and the sight of my friend from the UK standing in the doorway nearly knocked the wind out of me.
What the hell is he doing here?
Archie spotted me at the top of the stairwell and held his hands out wide. “Surprise!”
I ran down the stairs. “What’s going on? Why are you here?”
“It’s good to see you, too, mate.”
Maura smiled wide, probably thinking this was a pleasant surprise. It really wasn’t. This was weird.
“I’m just shocked. You didn’t tell me you were coming.”
“I know. It was supposed to be a surprise. Your mum gave me the address. I applied for a three-month work assignment here in the States and wasn’t sure if I was going to get it. I finally got confirmation a couple of weeks ago. And here I am.”
“Who’s this nice young man, Caleb?” Maura asked.
He answered before I had the chance. “I’m Caleb’s best friend, Archie.”
Best friend? That was a bit of a stretch. Archie and I had known each other since childhood, yes. But I’d never referred to him as my best friend. I had a friend back home called Charlie who’d always been given that distinction. Archie was more of a person who always happened to be in close proximity, one I couldn’t get rid of—sort of like a wart.
