Page 98 of Caught in a Storm

Caleb minimizes the video box, revealing the chat app he has open with Justin and Shin-Soo.

Justin: DAT SHIT IS DOOOOOOPE!

Shin-Soo: I like the exploding parts.

Justin: Yeah there was a lot of exploding. I’d say more than most movies.

Shin-Soo: Which begs the question—will more things explode? I’m betting yes.

Justin: Cay you think Lawson would remember you if he saw you on the street? Like you 2 are bros?

It’s hard to imagine that he wouldn’t. They hung out. They played basketball. His mom gave Lawson a ride to the airport. It shouldn’t be so exciting that Lawson Daniels might know who Caleb is, but…it totally is. He imagines a friendship morphing into a pseudo father-son thing. Caleb could have a dad, a co-dad, and a movie star dad.

Caleb: Prob

Shin-Soo: That is so cool!

Justin: Totes!

Shin-Soo: IMDB says Car Chase 2 is already in development. More ssssploding!

Justin: I think I just exploded…in my pants.

Caleb’s phone rings, and his laptop rings, too, because it’s linked to his phone. A number appears: FaceTime from San Francisco. He freezes. The last time he answered a call from a major American city outside of Baltimore, he pretended to be the father of a tween girl and jacked up a bunch of people’s lives. The safe play here would be to ignore it. He’s not going to, though, because there is exactly one person in the world Caleb knows in San Francisco.

Caleb: Gotta go. TTYL

Justin: Booooooo

Shin-Soo: Lame!

Caleb opens the call on his computer instead of his phone, and when he does, Poppy appears on his screen in startling HD. Instead of “hi” or “hello” or any of a number of other customary greetings, Caleb says, “Oh. Wow.”

“Hey, Caleb,” she says.

“Poppy.”

Caleb catches sight of his own image below Poppy’s and is horrified, because despite being what his doctor once called “shockingly underweight,” Caleb appears to have at least three chins. He straightens his neck and pulls his shoulders back.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” says Caleb. “I’m good. How are you?”

“Fine. Just looked kinda like you got electrocuted for a second.”

As Poppy moves a strand of hair off her face, Caleb considers asking, To what do I owe the honor? but the odds of getting those words out successfully seem slight. “I just watched your dad’s new trailer,” he says.

“Oh, yeah, that,” says Poppy. “You believe he played Othello? Now he’s getting chased in a Porsche.”

“We watched Othello in English class freshman year,” says Caleb. “He was really good.”

Poppy half smiles and looks off camera, like she’s been struck by a passing thought, and it dawns on Caleb why he’s been thinking about her so much since meeting her on FaceTime. She’s smart and pretty and cool and confident looking. It’s like one of the girls from the Stanford website has come to life on his screen.

“So anyway,” says Poppy. “Sorry. I know it’s weird I’m calling. I had your number from before. I’m just doing a status check here. How’s your dad?”

“My dad? He’s good.”

“Is he, though, or are you just saying that? Like that meme of the cartoon dog in the burning building who says, ‘This is fine’?”