My Best Friend, Jack ✓

17. Miss You

The next week at school, I didn't see Caleb. He wasn't in class Monday or Tuesday and he didn't reply to the text I sent him. By Wednesday, I was just getting annoyed and frustrated at the lack of communication. As I made my way to English class on Wednesday morning, I was surprised to see Caleb at the desk adjacent to the one I always sat in. I liked it because it was near the window, looking out over the athletic field. I quite often found my mind wondering as Miss Pratchett tried to explain the hidden meanings of Romeo and Juliet. To this day, I couldn't tell you what they were. 

Caleb looked at me expectantly as I wandered over casually, taking my sweet time about getting to my seat. I dropped my bag on the floor and slid in to the chair. I didn't glance in his direction until he cleared his throat quietly beside me. As everyone else meandered in to the classroom, I finally looked over at him. 

"Hi," he whispered, opening his book and placing it on his desk. 

"Hi."

I tried to ignore the fact that he looked more glorious than ever. He had on a white shirt that clung to his broad chest and his arms looked even more toned than the last time I'd seen him. His hair had been cut shorter but it still curled over his forehead. He had on straight black jeans and his leather jacket was casually thrown over the back of his chair. Not that I'd stared or anything. At least I tried to act like I didn't. 

"I haven't seen you around lately," I said finally, side-eyeing him as I dived in to my bag and pulled out my book and pen. 

He nodded. "Yeah, listen I'm sorry about that. I wasn't feeling well so I had a couple of days off school."

"Oh?" I nodded, doodling absent-mindedly, not even really paying attention to the page. "I thought I saw you at the movie theatre on Saturday night?"

I could've sworn his piercing grey eyes showed a hint of surprise. "You were at the movie theatre, too? I thought you said you were too busy to hang out that night?"

I turned in my seat slightly, aware that most of the students were now in the classroom. "Well, I was. I was hanging out with Jack."

"Jack," Caleb repeated, a hint of irritation in his voice. 

"Yeah? So?" I scoffed, pulling a face at him. "You were with Missy."

"Is that why you're acting all weird?"

"Weird?" I repeated. "I'm not acting weird. It doesn't even bother me." He nodded slowly, obviously not believing me. I pressed a little too hard with my pen and pierced a hole in my notebook. 

"Well, just so you know, it wasn't a date or anything. I said I was going and she just sort of invited herself along. I didn't really know how to say no."

"Huh," I responded. "So you weren't on a date?"

"Is that what you thought?!" Caleb said, shocked. "I would never date Missy. She isn't my type."

"What? Popular, blonde cheerleader who is absolutely gorgeous is not your type?" I joked, smirking at him. 

He smiled back, his eyes twinkling. "Actually, I kind of prefer my girls with a snarky attitude and most often found with a pizza stain on their shirt."

I instinctively looked down at myself and cheered silently that I didn't have a pizza stain on my shirt that day. The food God's were obviously smiling down at me. As we smiled at each other, Miss Pratchett told us all to quieten down and pay attention as she drivelled on about the part of the book we were about to read. As much as I loved reading, I wasn't actually that fond of the classics. Most people would probably kill me for saying that, but give me a good, modern romance book any day of the week. No-one usually died and I could actually understand it. I was a girl of simple taste.