Chapter Text
Goddamn Sloan , is the 17-year-old Callie Torres’s first somewhat conscious thought as she wakes up to her best friend snoring on the floor of her room. The boy’s hair which has gotten long over the summer is all messed up and all he’s wearing are grey boxers.
Memories of last night come flooding back. Come on, Callie, it’s my last night of Summer. Of freedom . You don’t wanna waste that, right? Sloan had said. Good alcohol tolerance was not one of Callie’s many excellent qualities. She remembers opening the third can of beer, and then nothing. Why had Callie agreed, why ? Not that it was her loss, really. It is Sloan’s first day of college. Callie wouldn’t be starting her senior year of high school until next week. But she doeshave a half-naked, hungover boy in her room. Shit shit shit.
Callie sits up on her bed and discovers she’s wearing Sloan’s old band shirt.
“What the fuuck..” Callie whispers to herself, but it’s enough to wake the boy up. Sloan flinches and stands up. Callie almost laughs at how alert her best friend is, but just almost, as she still has a boy in her room.
“What’s the time? Sloan asks. He sounds actually frightened. Callie checks the alarm clock on her night table.
“Just over eight”, Callie answers, remaining as calm as she can just to piss off Sloan.
“FUCK I should already be there!! Callie, this is bad. I cannot be the same person I was in high school!”
“I don’t think they’ll figure out you’re a whore from you being late.”
“Why are you wearing my shirt?” Sloan brushes Callie’s comment off.
“Good question. You don’t think we, uh you know, again?”
“Nah, probably not.”
“That’s good enough for me”, Callie smirks.
“Remind me again, why we shouldn’t anymore..?”
Callie throws a pillow at Sloan.
“Because I thought you didn’t wanna be the same person you were in high school.”
“Shit, right.”
15 minutes later Sloan is wearing his own clothes and leaving through the window.
“Be good, Torres”, he says and places a wet kiss on his best friend’s forehead.
“No, you be good, stupid.”
“I’ll try”, Sloan promises, jumping out of the window and into the ground, which isn’t many feet below, luckily.
Just a silly little year ago Callie had really thought she was in love with Mark Sloan. He was her favorite person, after all, and additionally the only one she had ever had sex with. And it had been good. Not that she had anything to compare it to. Later she had come to the conclusion that it wasn’t supposed to be like that. Sloan was her best friend. Why would the most important relationship of her teenage years have to be romantic? That would only make everything more complicated. Besides, Sloan wasn’t really a relationship person. Maybe college-Sloan would be. Doubtful. Even if he would be, it just wasn’t supposed to be like that between the two of them.
Maybe last night was worth it, after all. Not the maybe-sex part. That hopefully didn’t happen. It shouldn’t happen anymore. Not the getting-blackout-drunk either. Just the general, spending time with Sloan. Not that they hadn’t been doing that all summer long. And the school year before that. But starting today, everything would be different. Mark is actually going to college. Callie had one more year of high school to go. She could do this.
Callie leaves her room in her pink bathrobe and heads to the bathroom, but as she crosses the kitchen on her way she sees her Mom sitting at the dining table drinking coffee.
“Oh, hey, Mom”, Callie exclaims in her everything-is-normal voice. “How long have you been up?”
“Just woke up.” Thank God. Callie’s Mom’s looking at her kind of weird, but then again, when doesn’t she.
Callie’s parents are, well, quite religious. Not that Callie doesn’t believe, she does! Actually, her faith is one of her favorite things about herself. It’s just that her parents are the really traditional sort. The environment of Callie’s parents' household sometimes feels kind of suffocating. Her Mom had once been a lawyer, but from what Callie has understood, she hasn’t worked a day since the birth of Callie's older sister, Aria. Now Aria’s 19, and Callie’s 17, but she still hasn’t returned to work. Callie doesn’t know if being a housewife for so long has something to do with her Mother’s values or if there’s something else up with that. She doesn’t really talk about that sort of thing with her parents. Or anything deeper than “how was your day?” Callie just isn’t sure how she fits into all this, especially now that she’s not a child anymore, but her own person. And especially because lately she has been thinking that maybe she’s into girls, too.
Callie opens her mouth like she’s about to say something, but closes it without saying anything. She opens her mouth again, but just to say: “I was just gonna take a shower.”
That she does. But first she stares at herself in the bathroom mirror. Oh, God. She helped Sloan to look somewhat presentable. He couldn’t have returned the favor? Her hair looks like a big explosion. Also, it’s getting too long, as is Sloan’s. Callie makes a mental note to make Sloan cut her hair. The boy isn’t actually half bad at it. Once they even tried to bleach Callie’s hair. That didn’t go as well. They agreed that cutting was maybe more of Sloan’s area. It felt fitting, since Sloan wants to be a surgeon. So does Callie. Sloan had decided to major in neuroscience in The University of Washington, and then go to med school. The plan was for Callie to do the same the next year, and speedrun college so that she and Sloan could start med school together.
Most of Callie’s makeup from last night is gone, but her lipstick is smeared all across her face. She looks so goddamn stupid, like a kid who found their Mom’s makeup. Or- No. It doesn’t mean I had sex with Sloan. Well, whatever helps her sleep at night. Callie literally prays that her Mom doesn't think anything suspicious was going on. Callie is used to it, though. Being the bad kid off of her and her sister. Aria has either never done anything wrong in her whole entire life, or she's incredibly good at hiding it. Probably the first one. Sometimes her sister seems to have it all. At least if “it all” means a fiancé she’s getting married to the following Winter. In the Torres household, that might be the biggest accomplishment of all time. Callie’s not jealous at all. Okay, maybe a little. Just of the approval of their parents. She has absolutely zero desire to be a teenage bride.
Not that far from where Callie is having her biweekly existential crisis, there’s another girl who’s - if possible - even more of a wreck. The girl’s name’s Arizona, and it’s her first day of college. New city, new start. Exactly what she wanted, but that doesn’t stop her from panicking. What if she fucks this up? That’d be so on brand for her it’s almost funny.
She arrived yesterday and moved practically all of her belongings to the dorm room. She had met her perfectly mediocre roommate, who had introduced herself as Betty. She was neither particularly annoying nor interesting. Like, at all. It’s not like Arizona was planning to fall in love with her roommate. Or maybe she kind of was. Wouldn’t it be kind of optimal? Living with the person you’re with. However, that was a lost cause. Betty hadn’t talked a lot, but when she had, it was all about her boyfriend. It was like, you have a boyfriend, I get it! Ooh what a gentleman, he treats you like a human being? Sounds dreamy, where can I find one of those?
Now the roommate in question seems to be in deep sleep. Arizona didn’t catch her in the starting ceremony last night, and the thought of waking Betty up so that she could attend the apparently identical one this morning flashes through her mind, but then she sees the time and it’s almost 9 o’clock. Lost cause.
Arizona picks up her phone and opens the group chat between her, her brother Tim and their friend Nick. Tim was still in high school, and Nick had gone to college in New York City, which was kind of surprising, but Arizona was definitely proud of him. She just missed both of them awfully.
The last message Arizona sent before falling asleep read: Bad news, she’s definitely not the love of my life. Tim had only replied with a sad face, but Nick had written a full on novel about how love is found in unexpected places. Arizona laughs aloud. Why did he have to go to fucking NY?
An hour later Arizona finds herself at her very first college lecture. Most of the other kids fortunately seem at least as nervous as she is. Yeah, most. There’s a boy at the front of the class who draws Arizona’s attention. From the moment she sees him, she assumes she knows exactly what kind of person he is. Tim would find him cool, but what does Tim know? He’s 16, for fuck’s sake. The guy seems like such a cliche, except that you don’t expect the cliche in question to go to college. Shit, maybe he’s one of those people, who go to college to party. I didn’t think this was that kind of college.
Surprising Arizona, he does seem to be paying attention. He’s swinging on his chair but somehow taking notes simultaneously. Or maybe he’s just drawing naked women. Seems more likely. No, he is writing. Right when Arizona’s about to change her mind about the boy, his phone rings. He picks it up and answers not-particularly-quietly. “Torres!” He keeps nodding for a while and the girl on the phone keeps talking, but Arizona can’t hear what she’s saying. Does he think she can see him nodding?
A few more heads turn to stare at the guy who’s so arrogantly disturbing the lecture. After a long and awkward minute he notices the attention he’s getting and he looks- embarrassed, maybe? The surprises keep coming. What even is up with this kid?
“Shit, Callie, I’m at class right now. I think I have to stop. Sorry. I’ll call you when this ends. Love you.”
What. The fuck. Was that? are Arizona’s last thoughts regarding the boy before she remembers he’s not her problem at all. In some weird way the boy reminds her of Nick. Nick, too, would take a call from Arizona wherever she was. No, that was insulting towards Nick. This guy’s a douche. Or not. Arizona knows next to nothing about this guy, and she doesn’t care to know more.
Arizona looks back at the slideshow the teacher’s been presenting for the last how-goddamn-many minutes. Fuck that guy, and fuck everyone else bothering her studies. Well, not everyone . She wouldn’t mind being bothered by a cute girl. Shit, I’m getting distracted again. And by just the rhetorical thought of a girlfriend. Have I always been this useless? Nothing could stand in the way of her becoming a doctor. That’s what she had come here for, right? Well, that and the rhetorical girl and the escaping.. everything. Everything else she was happy to leave behind except for her little brother.
After the class the boy who talked on the phone approaches Arizona. Fuck shit fucking hell.
“Hey, blonde!”
“What?” Arizona asks in her most badass voice, trying to signal that she’s not someone to fuck with. Erm, in any sense.
“Would you like to grab coffee or something with me sometime?” he asks. He sounds actually more polite than Arizona would’ve guessed, though he completely missed the intention of Arizona’s tone. Instead of what she usually says (“no” “I have a boyfriend” “I’m gay” (most guys’ reactions to the last one are hilarious)) Arizona tries a different approach.
“What would your girlfriend think?”
“My wh- I don’t, I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“You sure? What about the one whose call you ended with ‘I love you’?”
“Shit, that’s just my best friend.”
“Sure”, Arizona does her best to sound skeptical, but he could be telling the truth. That’s how she and Nick are, too.
“What if we start over”, the guy keeps trying. “Hi. I’m S- Mark. Sloan. Mark Sloan.”
“Hi, Smark Sloan Mark Sloan. I’m gay.”
“DOPE!” Mark exclaims. This is not at all the reaction Arizona’s used to or what she was expecting. “My best friend, you know, the one I love, is… well, I don’t know what exactly she is, but I’m pretty sure she’s into chicks now.”
“Cool..?”
“Yeah, it is! I’m like, so cool with that.”
“Thank you for your service..?”
“I think it’s safe to say we have a similar taste in girls. You want her number?”
“What- Sure?” Arizona hasn’t had time to process that this fucking dude - Smark Sloan Mark Sloan - is apparently trying to pair her with his best friend. He rips off a page from his notebook and writes a phone number on it. Arizona was starting to consider downloading a dating app, but maybe this is a more organic way to meet people. What does she know about dating anyway? On the other hand, what kind of girl would be best friends with this guy? I guess it can’t hurt to find out.
“I guess I’ll see you. At least if you fall in love with Callie. Or even if you don’t, you know, here at school. Because we both go here and all. What was your name again?”
“Arizona.”
“I thought it was Gay.”
“Okay, Smark Sloan Mark Sloan.”
“Okay, state of Arizona.” What the actual fuck is going on?
Later that day Arizona is back at her dorm. There’s no sign of Betty, but instead of feeling relieved to have time just for herself for the first time in the last couple of days, Arizona is feeling… kind of bored? Not typical for her, not typical at all. She takes the piece of paper with the phone number of Smark Sloan Mark Sloan’s best friend’s number written on it. She types the number in her phone and writes:
Hi, this is Arizona. I go to school with Mark. He tried to hit on me, and when I told him I’m gay, he gave me your number? You’ve got a weird best friend.