“She’s a great kid. She means no harm.” He grinned. “She told me you took her out yesterday.”

“Yeah. We had a nice lunch at the Japanese restaurant.”

“It meant more to her than you realize.”

The fact that Caleb had lost his sister was still heavily on my mind. I wasn’t sure if I should ask him about it… I suppose he would’ve mentioned it if he wanted to discuss it.

I moved on to another subject. “How was the movie yesterday…with Veronica?”

He shrugged. “It was alright. It was Italian with subtitles. But Maura was right about that place. There were some dodgy characters in there, and that was on a Saturday afternoon with plenty of normal-looking people around.”

“Did you ever stop to consider that I might enjoy any potentially crazy people I find in the theater? Or that I might be one of them?”

“You bring up a good point.” He winked.

After a moment of awkward silence, I said, “So…you and Veronica… You’re dating…”

Thanks, Captain Obvious.

He hesitated. “Yeah. It’s new.”

A rush of jealousy hit me again. “She’s really pretty.”

“Yeah. Indeed, she is.” He smiled. “What about you? Are you seeing anyone?”

“No, not at the moment. My last relationship ended a couple of months ago.”

I’d dated a guy named Thad for a few months. While he was really sweet, I didn’t want to have sex with him, so I’d ended it.

“What happened?”

“I just didn’t see the point in continuing.”

He laughed. “I guess that can be reason enough. You weren’t that into him?”

“He was nice. We got along really well. But I wasn’t that attracted to him physically.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Physical attraction is important. People you get along with that you’re not physically attracted to are called friends.”

I chuckled. “That’s true.”

He clapped his hands together. “So when are we studying together?”

I guess he hasn’t forgotten.

“Whenever.”

“Alright. Eight tomorrow night after dinner sounds good to me, too.”CHAPTER FOUR* * *CALEBShelley poked her head into my room Monday afternoon after I’d returned from class. I’d just started a set of arm reps when she interrupted me.

“Wanna see something funny, Caleb?”

I put down my weights. “What’s up?”

She pulled up something on her phone.

“What’s that?”

“It’s this karaoke app where people can sing and record songs. If they make it public, strangers can sing the same song and join their performance. Then the app puts it all together like a duet.”

I wiped my forehead with a towel. “That sounds wicked. You’re into that, huh?”

She shook her head. “No. But look who is.” Shelley giggled as she handed me the phone.

I hit play on the video. It took me a few seconds to realize I was watching…Teagan. Teagan singing! Teagan singing “Someone Like You” by Adele.

I was gobsmacked. Just when you think you have someone figured out… Her voice wasn’t perfect by any means, but putting herself out there like that was impressive. I made a mental note of her username: teagirl888.

“Thanks for sharing. Better not to tell her I know, though. Okay?”

My phone rang right then, interrupting the conversation.

“I better take this. It’s my mother.” I winked.

Shelley left the room to give me some privacy.

I answered the call. “Hey, Mum.”

“How’s my baby?”

“Good. Everything okay back home?” I opened a bag of Hot Cheetos. I’d been addicted to them since arriving here.

“Yes. I just wanted to check on you. I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

“I know. I’m sorry. It’s been busy here. Managed to get a job, though.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I’ll be waiting tables at this pub down the street from school.”

“Very good. When does that start?”

“This weekend they train me. I’ll have shifts during the week as well.”

“That’s excellent. And are you still liking the house you’re living in?”

I popped one of the Cheetos into my mouth. “It’s bloody amazing. My bedroom is bigger than half our flat back home.”

“Brilliant. And the people?”

“The Carrolls are a really nice family. The father, Lorne, is a real man’s man, you know? Like Dad. He loves to watch American football. He’s a professor. The mum, Maura, is very sweet. And Shelley, their twelve-year-old, is hysterical.”

“You said their oldest daughter goes to school with you, right?”

“Yeah…” I sighed. “Teagan. At first she was a bit narky with me, but we’re getting along better now.”

Mum laughed. “Why was she narky?”

“I’m not really sure. I think she found me intrusive. I haven’t quite figured her out yet. She’s part genius, part closet extrovert, apparently. But we’re supposed to be studying together later. So, I suppose I’ll get to know her.”

“That should be…fun? Seems like she’s a lot different from her sister.”

“Teagan is not Maura’s daughter, actually. No one’s made mention of Teagan’s mother aside from Shelley saying she’s not around anymore.”

“Meaning she’s dead?”

“No, she’s alive, I think, just not in the picture.”

“Oh, that’s interesting. Wonder what the story is on that. Poor thing. A girl, especially of that age, needs her mother.”