Page 18 of Whatever It Takes

I’m just the shadow in the corner.

When I head down the narrow staircase, squeezing my duffel through, the sink shuts off, and my mom emerges in the living room. I slow down between her and the front door.

She dries her hands with a towel, poker-faced and more resilient. “I’m not paying for this,” she says. “You’re on your own now.”

A tear slips down my cheek. “Okay.” I guess she’s hoping I’ll become afraid, run out of money, and turn around. I want to be brave enough to stick it out, but I’m not sure if I’m wired that way.

She adds, “You’re old enough to do what you want, and you’re old enough to make your own mistakes.”

I think about her around my age, pregnant and making some of the hardest choices she had to make. I suppose she would believe that I’m an adult now if she was forced to be one back then. But I’m scared, and I feel like a plastic doll headed for a toy car, unable to see outside of my Polly Pocket house. What lies beyond—I don’t know.

“If you need me,” she says, “you have to come home yourself.” She works for the post office and has almost no vacation days—definitely not enough to chase me to Philadelphia. And I’m not asking her to.

I wish I could say that I’m full of bittersweet love, but I’m mostly dark and resentful. Most of mehates, and I can barely meet her eyes without feeling tricked and fooled and deceived.

I want to meet a different pair of eyes that hold greater truths and sentiments, and they’re not hers.

I just nod, turn around, and open the front door, the sun already gone. The street lamps already turned on, and I unlock my gold ‘90s Honda. I jiggle the handle for it to open. The car used to be my Grandma Ida’s, and I’m just grateful I have it, something that I can use to leave.

“Drive safe.” I think I hear my mom.

I look back at the front door, but it’s already closed. The lights are already off, and I wonder if she’s happy that I’m going, if all this time I’ve been a bad memory for her.

Maybe just like Loren Hale has been.

The Calloway Sisters & Their Men – Fan Page

Back Then | Followers: 11K

Are you new here? Welcome! This is the fan page for all things Calloway Sisters & Their Men. It’s not an “official” fan page and is in no way associated with the Calloways, Meadows, Cobalts or Hales. It’s just run by a dedicated blogger (me, Olive!) who is in love with all things Calloway!

Don’t know who they are? Let me give you a crash course…

There are four Calloway Sisters, but only the youngest three sisters have gained notoriety after a huge scandal. Headlines wereeverywhere.Even national news channels! It leaked that Lily Calloway is a sex addict, for real. It probably would have just breezed through the media if not for the fact that they’re all heiresses. Their father owns Fizzle. So the Fizz Life or Diet Fizz you’re drinking—yeah, the Calloway Sisters are heiresses ofthatsoda fortune.

The Calloway Sisters (and their current ages):

Poppy Calloway (30)

Rose Calloway (26)

Lily Calloway (24)

Daisy Calloway (19)

That’s right, their parents named them after flowers! How cute is that? So the biggest deal is that Rose, Lily, and Daisy all currently live together in a mansion (with their men) in Philadelphia. It’s like a real-life episode ofFriends! And you’ll probably find a lot more fan pages about them, but I promise to bring the latest and best news about the Calloway sisters. So let’s get to their men…

Dating

Daisy Calloway & Ryke Meadows (25) – the adventurous couple. Daisy is a former model and Ryke is a professional rock climber, but they’re often caught riding motorcycles together!

Engaged

Lily Calloway & Loren Hale (24) – the geeky couple. Lily owns Superheroes & Scones, while Loren is the CEO of Hale Co. and Halway Comics.

Married

Rose Calloway & Connor Cobalt (26) – the genius couple. Rose owns Calloway Couture, a fashion company for the everyday working woman, and Connor is the CEO of Cobalt Inc.