by Sharlay
“Oh my gosh, did you see that?” Courtney said in an excited voice as she sat back down in front of me.
“Yeah, I saw,” I mumbled in an uninterested tone.
“That was awesome. I really think that he was jealous. He looked so hurt,” Courtney said as she clapped her hands in excitement. Apparently he wasn’t the only one.
“Yeah, it worked,” I heard Caleb say as he chuckled to himself.
I couldn’t bring myself to look at him right now.
“Look, I don’t feel too good, I’m going to head home-”
“What? We just ordered,” Courtney said in a shocked tone.
“You guys stay, its fine-”
“No, I’ll come with you,” Courtney insisted.
“No, Caleb can drop you home, right?” I asked as I turned to face Caleb for the first time. He looked at me in confusion before nodding his head.
“Good, then it’s sorted, I’ll see you both later,” I said as I started to walk away as quickly as I could. I needed to be alone, away from them both, so that I could figure out what the hell was wrong with me.
* * *
Since I had come back from the mall, I had been sat in my room thinking about what had happened. Court had text me to ask if I was ok but I couldn’t bring myself to reply. I wasn’t mad at her but I just couldn’t talk to her right now. I was mad at Caleb, and I wasn’t even sure why. I just felt betrayed but it made no sense because I didn’t like Caleb in that way. We have only just started to be civil to one another, so I know that I don’t have any feelings for him but that kiss just really bothered me. It’s like we have all this banter, and strange moments and he lets somebody else in. Oh gosh, I’m not even making sense anymore because I have no idea what I’m talking about. He just shouldn’t have kissed her-
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a light knocking on my door.
“Who is it?” I asked, reluctantly. I wasn’t in the mood to speak to anyone.
“Caleb,” he replied from behind the door.
“I’m busy,” I said as I rolled my eyes at the door.
“Tough,” he said before I heard my bedroom door open, and saw him walking in.
“What part of I’m busy did you not get?” I growled as he shut the door in and took a step into my room.
“Busy doing what, lying on your bed?” He asked, sarcastically.
“It doesn’t matter what I’m doing but I don’t want to talk to you, so goodbye.”
“Well, that’s tough because we’re going to talk anyway,” he said as he folded his arms across his chest.
“Just get out,” I replied, angrily as I walked over to the door and grabbed the handle.
“Not until you tell me what the hell is going on?” He asked as he stopped my hand from opening the door. I suddenly felt strange as he stood there, staring into my eyes so I pulled free of his grasp and avoided eye contact with him.
“I don’t want to talk to you,” I muttered like a little child.
“Come on, Addy,” he said as he gently lifted my chin with his index finger. He looked into my eyes as though he was trying to work something out. “Why did you run off like that?”
“I felt sick.”
“You’re lying.”
“Well, if you think that you already have the answers then why come and bother me?” I asked in frustration.
“Because I wanted to hear it from you.”
“There’s nothing to hear,” I replied as I took a step back from him.
“So, it didn’t bother you that I kissed Courtney,” he said, causing my stomach to go crazy. The truth was that it did bother me but I had no idea why. I didn’t want to deal with it right now, especially not with him.
“No,” I lied.
“You know, from the day that I met you, you’ve never really been very good at lying,” he said with a smirk on his face.
“I’m not lying, ok. I just want you to leave me alone-”
“So, you’re going to stand there and tell me that nothing’s wrong?”
“Exactly.”
“Fine, talk to me when you’re ready to face the truth,” he said as he turned his back to me.
“The truth?” I said, causing him to turn back around. “The truth is that you think that you’re God’s gift to women. You think that every girl that you meet is just going to magically fall in love with you. Well, sorry to burst your little bubble but that is not reality, the reality is that I can’t stand you. The only reason that I put up with you is because of what your dad told me. I just feel sorry for you,” I said before I even had the chance to think about what I was saying. As much as I just wanted him to go away and leave me alone, I didn’t mean what I had said.
“Right, that’s good to know,” he said before walking towards the door with an unreadable expression on his face.
“Caleb, wai-”
“No, I get it now, you don’t have to say another word,” he said before disappearing through the door. I knew that I didn’t mean what I had said but I also knew that I could never take it back either.
I needed to do one thing right now...talk to my best friend.
CHAPTER 17
Facing The Truth
“Come in,” Courtney said as she opened her front door.
“Hey, is anyone else in?” I asked, curiously.
“No, just you and me,” she said in a gentle voice.
“Ok.”
“Take a seat,” she said once we entered the living room.
“I’m sorry about before,” I muttered as I looked down at my hands.
“It was about the kiss, right? I’m really sorry, I didn’t even know that he was going to do it, and I never thought that it would upset-”
“It’s ok, I’m not mad at you,” I said, quietly.
“You’re not?”
“Of course not,” I replied as I looked up at her smiling face. After mine and Caleb’s talk earlier, I called Courtney to ask if I could come round. I knew that she’d think that I was mad at her but I wasn’t, I could never be mad at her, we’ve been through way too much. To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t even mad at Caleb. The person that I was truly mad at was me. I never got too involved with guys, that’s why me and Rick never lasted which is why I was so confused today. I’ve never felt the way that I felt today, when I watched Caleb kissing Courtney, and I honestly didn’t understand what it meant. I was angry because I didn’t understand it, and I didn’t want to feel that way. I was scared. I hadn’t meant the things that I said to Caleb but I knew that it would make him keep his distance, while I figured things out.
“So, what is it then?” She asked as she stared at me. I knew that if I could be honest with anyone then it was Courtney. I sat back and told her everything, from the first day that Caleb arrived up until our talk before I came here.
“Wow.”
“I don’t get it,” I said.
“Do you want the truth?”
“No, but I’m pretty sure that you’re going to give it me anyway.”
“I think that you like him.”
“I do, he’s not as bad as I thought, to be honest-”
“No, I mean like really like him, like have feelings for him-”
“What?”
“Oh come on, Addy how can you not see it?”
“But he’s a jerk, and he is so irritating,” I said in frustration.
“Yeah, and he’s also done a lot of good things too,” she said as she took a deep breath. “Yes, he’s a jerk but what guy isn’t? Think about the things other than the pranks. How he stuck up for you at the party, against that guy. How he covered for you so that your dad wouldn’t ground you. He fixed your car even though you bit him and told him that you didn’t like him. And think about what he did in your chemistry lesson, just so that you wouldn’t be embarrassed. Why do you think that he’d do all of those things if he was just a jerk?”
“I don’t know,” I mumbled.
“Look, like it or not he’s not that bad,
and to be honest, he didn’t deserve all the things that you said to him today-”
“Ok, you’re right about that but me having feelings for him, well, I’m just not sure. There’s something but I just need some time to figure it out,” I stated.
“Either way, you need to fix things.”
“I hate it when you’re right,” I mumbled as I covered my eyes with my hands.
“Then you must have a hard life because I’m always right-”
“Oh please,” I scoffed as I moved my hands, so that I could see her.
“Whatever, if you’re feeling better, can we go and eat now because I’m starving-”
“Err, you are not starving, you’ve actually never experienced true starvation,” I said as I raised my eyebrows at her.
“Well, I am very close to experiencing it now, so can we go and eat before I do,” she said with a smirk on her face.
“You are truly one of a kind.”
“So you keep saying,” she said as we jumped off the bed.
“Court,” I said, causing her to stop walking.
“Yup?”
“Thanks,” I said before throwing my arms around her.
“Anytime, Cutie Pie,” she said as I chuckled to myself.
* * *
1 WEEK LATER
It had been one week, and one day since mine and Caleb’s ‘fall out’. Yes, it’s sad but I had been counting. Things were awkward between us but only when we actually saw each other which didn’t happen very often. After I got back from Courtney’s last Friday, Caleb was nowhere to be found which I was really happy about since I was not ready to face talking to him at that point. Then he wasn’t there on Saturday or Sunday either. Apparently he was staying at a friend’s house, according to his dad. That’s probably code for sleeping with as many girls as he could. I know that he claimed that he has only been with one person but I fail to believe that to be true. Anyway, he finally made an appearance at school on Monday morning but that didn’t make things any better. I crossed him in the hallways, and he didn’t even look at me or anything. I knew that I had said some pretty hurtful things but he was being a little dramatic in my opinion, and I began to get irritated. So, because I am so mature, I too began to ignore him. I even asked to switch seats in chemistry so that I wouldn’t have to sit next to him. I was pretty sure that I saw him laughing when he heard me do this, but it was replaced by a scowl so quickly that I‘m not sure whether or not I dreamt it. This went on for the rest of the week; us ignoring each other at school and him spending every evening out with his ‘friends’. It was ridiculous, and awkward for everyone else involved but if that’s how he wanted it then I wasn’t about to make any changes.
Unfortunately, tonight was going to be even more awkward. My dad had decided that Caleb and I should travel to the party together. He didn’t want me to drive the forty minute journey alone. He and Bill were going to arrive early since they were going to work, of course. So, that’s where we were at; me, getting ready while he sat waiting, impatiently downstairs.
Courtney suggested that I wear my hair up in a bun as it would look ‘great’ with my grey dress. I am actually glad that I listened to her, for once as it did work really well.
Once I was ready, I slowly made my way down the stairs, preparing myself to come face to face with Caleb. As I walked into the living room, I watched as he checked me out for a second before giving me his usual cold glare.
“Finally,” he said as he stormed past me and headed towards the front door. I knew that it was going to be a long night.
As I stepped into the car, he didn’t even look at me. He turned the radio up loud and we began our forty minute journey of silence.
I was thankful, when - after ten minutes of no talking - my phone vibrated with a message from Blake. A let a small smile fill my face before opening it up to read it.
How’s it going?
I hit the reply button, ready to write a message back to him. Since I had given my number to Blake, at the mall we had been texting each other every single day. It actually turned out that he was not that bad. He didn’t seem to expect too much from me, and we had fun, which was the reason that I had agreed to go on a date with him tomorrow.
Not there yet.
I replied before resting my phone back on my lap. I hadn’t mentioned anything about Caleb to Blake yet as I didn’t want to scare another guy off. A smirk filled my face as I noticed that Caleb tried to glance at my phone a couple of times. I also saw the slight scowl as my phone vibrated again.
So, what do you want to do tomorrow?
I didn’t really know what I wanted to do to be honest. I probably wasn’t as excited about the date as I should be but I really couldn’t help it. Blake was honestly a great guy but he didn’t leave me thinking about him when he wasn’t around. He was good to talk to but I’m not sure if that was enough. I kept finding myself comparing a lot of the things that he said or did, to Caleb which was really starting to annoy me. Maybe I would feel different after our date tomorrow.
Surprise me.
“Can you shut that thing up, it’s interfering with the radio,” Caleb growled as he glanced down at my phone again.
“Then why don’t you turn off the radio?” I replied, sarcastically.
“Why don’t you walk?” He asked, angrily.
“You know what,” I said as I took a deep breath and just stared at him for a moment. “Stop the car!”
“What?”
“I said stop the car-”
“Don’t be ridiculous,”
“Stop it or I’ll jump out,” I said, seriously.
“You wouldn’t,” he said as he glanced at me.
“One, two-”
“Ok,” he said before bringing the car to a halt. I had no idea what I was thinking, since we were on one of the most deserted roads that I had ever seen. There were no other cars around and there was not even the slightest sign of human life. He just got me so mad that I had to get away from him, and his dumb truck.
“Thank you,” I said before jumping out of the car and walking ahead of me.
“Seriously?” He said as I heard the car door of his truck open. I ignored him before continuing on my journey.
“So, you’re going to walk?”
“Yes.”
“All the way there?”
“Yes.”
“And you don’t even know where you’re going.”
“I’ll figure it out, don’t worry.”
I heard him sigh, gently before speaking again. “Addy, get back in the car-”
“No.”
“I’m not going to leave you out here by yourself-”
“Why, it’s not as if you care about me,” I scoffed.
“I never said that-”
“But you don’t,” I replied in a sad voice. I don’t know why but thinking that he didn’t care about me, sort of bothered me, and the fact that I wasn’t sure whether he did or not was frustrating.
“If you don’t get back in now then I will drag you back in-”
“You won’t-”
“Remember last time?” He said as he interrupted me.
“Do you?” I asked as I turned around to face him with a smirk on my face.
“Even if you bite me,” he said as he raised his eyebrows at me. I stood still and didn’t move a step.
“Ok then, one, two-”
“Fine!” I said as I stormed back over to his car, got in and slammed the door. I kept my head straight as he slowly got back in and sat, staring at me for a minute with a smile on his face.
“What?” I said when I got tired of him staring at me.
“You were really going to walk, in those shoes?” He said as he chuckled to himself.
“No, I was counting on you threatening to carry me back in,” I said as I tried to keep the smile from forming on my face. He quietly laughed before starting up the car again and driving off.
“Put your seatbelt on,” was the last thing that he said to me
before we arrived at the party.
* * *
The party was exactly how I had expected it to be. We were at some posh club in the middle of nowhere. No doubt, my dad’s boss had rented it out for the night. My dad and Bill were both dressed neatly in their black suits while I sat at a table, annoyed because Caleb had gone back to ignoring me again. I had no idea why it bothered me so much but it did. So, just like the other two parties I had been too, I was bored.
“Hey,” a voice said, interrupting my thoughts.
I looked over at the guy that had just spoken and couldn’t help but check him out. He was pretty tall; I’d say that he had to be at least six foot. He had dirty blonde hair that was hung slightly over his blue eyes. He had really clear skin, and his shirt did not hide that fact that he was the owner of a very nice looking six pack. I wasn’t really in the mood to talk to him but when I caught Caleb sending us daggers; I decided that he would become my next best friend.
