Hush by Jess Wygle Read Free Book Online Page A

You’re younger than you look.  I thought you were probably twenty-four, twenty-five, but not that young.”
    “Twenty-one isn’t that young,” I protested.
    “It is for a pediatric oncologist residing at a private practice.”
    “Well it does when you put it that way.  Since you’re getting so personal here, how old are you?”
    Callem’s mouth curved up in one corner.  “How old do you think I am?”
    “I’d say thirty-two.”
    “Close.  Thirty-six.”
    “No, you don’t look a day over thirty-four,” I replied playfully.
    Callem chuckled.  A matching set of dimples appeared on his cheeks.  “I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you.”  He reached for his glass of water and took a long sip, keeping his eyes on me from the top of the rim.  “So this whiz kid thing you’ve got going on, do you have any siblings who are geniuses too?”
    “I don’t have any siblings, biologically at least.  I was orphaned at a young age.  My mother didn’t know who my father was, which is sad in more ways than one, and she died when I was pushing five.”
    “How did she die, can I ask?”
    “She died of leukemia when she was only twenty-four.  I became a ward of the state and spent the next ten years bouncing from home to home.  I’d get with a foster family that I’d like or one that was decent and they’d end up giving me back.  It’s not easy fostering a gifted child.  The state was aware of my talents, for lack of a better word, and it was required of my foster families to keep up with my accelerated learning and some families just couldn’t do it.  I managed to land a wealthier family and I stayed with them for a few years.  They got me through high school and Ole Miss.”
    “And then you moved out here?”
    I nodded.  “Yeah.  Since I was underage, I moved in with another foster family and I still consider them my family to this day.  They have a biological daughter who is my age.  She was in high school when I was going to Berkeley so I was living vicariously through her.  She’d teach me things, oddly enough, about how people my age interacted and social norms.  Those were the kinds of things they couldn’t teach you at the university and the kinds of things I was severely lacking.  She’s great.  She’s always accepted me even though I was weird and awkward back then.”
    “Does she still live around here?”
    “Yes.  Well she lives in Downey with her parents for now.  She’s finishing up a nursing program at East Los Angeles.  She’s hoping to get on at my office when she’s done and she’d probably move in with me until she can save for a place of her own.”
    “So you guys are really close.  Did she want to be a nurse because of you?”
    “I don’t think so.  I think she’s always wanted to do that, to go into that field.  Besides, she’s much more of an influence on me than the other way around.  I was probably a good example for her particularly when it came to school work, but other than book smarts, I didn’t have much to offer at that age.  I didn’t have friends.  I didn’t have time for friends.  She taught me how to be a friend to someone.  We fought a lot when I first started living with them only because I didn’t know how to treat other people.  I didn’t know the rules of a friendship so she’d get testy and correct me and I’d learn from my mistakes.”
    “Seems to me you’ve turned out well.  I don’t think there’s anything wrong with you, socially speaking.”
    I cocked my head.  “But speaking in other terms, you’ve found some flaws, have you?”
    Callem held up his hand.  “No, no, I didn’t mean that.”
    I chuckled.  “I know.  I was just joking with you.”
    Our food arrived.  Callem took my advice and got the tilapia.  I got the seafood alfredo.  Callem kept his eyes on me as we ate, making small talk about our dishes and our approval for them.
    “I remind you of someone, don’t I?”  I