“Hey,” he greeted, taking a seat in their circle.
“Morning,” Angela replied through a mouthful of pancakes.
Jacob took in their matching pajamas as he sipped his drink. Squinting at the text on their shirts, he read, “Coffee and cream?”
The girls just smirked at each other, waiting for the joke to land.
He glanced between the two of them with a confused look.
Angela rolled her eyes, grabbing Callie’s hand and lifting up their intertwined fingers. Their vastly different skin tones contrasted each other like ebony and ivory, like….
“Ah,” Jacob said, understanding. He laughed. “That’s cute.”
“It’s what people used to call us in high school,” Callie explained, scooping at the mixture of berries and yogurt in her bowl.
“Wait, what does that make him?” Angela interjected, pointing at Jacob with her fork.
“Huh,” Callie muttered. “That’s a good question.”
The girls studied Jacob carefully with scrutinizing eyes as he sat silently sipping his coffee.
“Peppermint?” Callie suggested.
“Eh,” Angela grimaced. “I don’t think he has enough of a bite to be a peppermint.”
What does that even mean? Jacob wondered.
“Hm, yeah, you’re right,” Callie replied.
She is?
“I don’t know,” Angela finally shrugged, rising from her chair and grabbing her plate and cup. “We’ll figure it out. But for now, we gotta go get ready for work.”
“Right,” Callie responded, shoveling another quick bite into her mouth as she gathered her dishes. “Bye, Jacob!” she said with a full mouth.
“See you tomorrow,” Angela added.
“Yeah, see ya,” Jacob replied with a wave, left to sit alone at his table, befuddled by what just happened and staring at the cream-less coffee in his hands.
The memory of that conversation spurred him to add some of the sweet substance to his drink that morning at Doctor Summers’ office, and he had to admit that the cream he once thought of as too sweet now seemed like a perfect counter to the bitter bite of the strong coffee beans.
“So?” Doctor Summers repeated after the long pause. “Are you beginning to feel like you belong here?”
Jacob looked down at his cup again, wondering where he fit into the balance. He wasn’t sure yet, but Angela and Callie seemed determined to figure it out, and that thought brought a smile to his face.
“Yeah,” he answered with a nod. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
Doctor Summers returned his grin. “That’s really great, Jacob,” she warmly encouraged. “So, do you have any plans for the weekend?” she asked, folding her notebook shut and setting it on the table between them.
Jacob looked at the clock on the wall, surprised to see the hour had passed so quickly. “Not really. Just homework, I guess.”
“Well, I hope you don’t mind if I add to the pile,” she replied, jotting something down on a notecard and passing it to him. “Sometime before next week, I’d like you to go out and show your face at some of those places you’ve applied to. It always makes a good impression when you make an effort to actually introduce yourself in person.”
Jacob accepted the notecard, sighing at the assignment, but he knew she was right.
“I know it’ll be tough without a car, but if you’re going to get a job off-campus, you’ll need to be sure you can get there reliably,” she noted.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he said. “Thanks, Doc.”
“Of course,” she smiled. “You can tell me all about it next weekend.”
Jacob stepped lightly up the stairs to the library and headed for his usual table. Callie was already there, studying the page of a thick textbook with her fountain pen and composition book neatly lined up beside her.
“Hey,” Jacob greeted in a low voice as he took the seat opposite her. “Where’s your other half?” he asked, as she looked up from her book
She chuckled, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “With her other half,” she answered.
“Ah,” he replied, pulling his Psychology text book and a notebook from his backpack. “Sorry I’m a bit late,” he said, trying not to dwell on the irritation of having to wait an extra forty-five minutes for his regularly scheduled weekly parole meeting, because the parolee before him missed his bus and showed up half an hour late to his meeting. Until that afternoon, Jacob would have though it impossible for Officer Millburn’s face to house any more frown lines, but apparently clients being disrespectful of his time did the trick. Jacob thought that perhaps he would have, at the very least, earned some good favor with the man by being patient enough to wait his turn, but the officer was in an even more sour mood than usual, and he didn’t seem to acknowledge Jacob’s intentionally positive attitude.
But that portion of the day was done with, and he wasn’t about to revisit it, so he pushed those memories aside.
“Have you been here long?” he asked, hoping he hadn’t kept her from anything important.
“Just about an hour,” she shrugged. “But it’s okay. I got a lot of other stuff done, so it’s been a productive morning.”
“Oh, good.”
“What have you been up to this morning?” Callie asked, making conversation as she put away the textbook she had been reading and swapped it out for her Psychology notes.
“Um,” Jacob stuttered, trying to think of a generic way to describe seeing his therapist and his parole officer that morning. “Just a couple meetings,” he decided. “I’m trying to find a job,” he added, because technically that was true, and he and Doctor Summers had discussed job searching that morning.
“Oh, really?” she asked, interest peaked. “I know of a few local places that are hiring. Sometimes they’re easier to get than the commercial positions everyone and their mother is going after.”
“Yeah, I bet,” Jacob replied with a sigh. “Unfortunately, most of them don’t have websites, though, and I don’t have a car to go hand in resumés.”
“Oh,” she pursed her lips. Her eyes lit up for a moment, and she opened her mouth to speak, but her flushed cheeks made her pause. “Um… well, I mean, I have a car,” she said. “And I’m not really doing anything tomorrow. If you want, I could drive you around for a few hours, or something,” she shrugged casually. “I mean, you know, if you want to.”
“That would be great,” Jacob accepted the offer eagerly. “But are you sure? That kind of sounds like a hassle.” His forehead creased in concern at the very one-sided deal. What could Callie possibly have to gain from spending her time and gas money driving him around for hours?
“No, I’d love to do it,” she replied quickly. Jacob met her gaze and gave her a smile, and she looked down at her notes. “Plus, I could bring some homework or something for while I’m waiting for you,” she tossed in as an afterthought.
“Okay. Well, if you’re sure, that would be amazing,” he said, letting out a sigh of relief at what once appeared to be a monumental task being so easily crossed off his mental to-do list. “Thanks,” he grinned.