The Calm in the Storm // caden conrique

seven

•Berlin• 

~one month later~

"So you're saying that he's your soulmate, and you both know it, but he's dating someone else?" Bailey, A girl that I have become close with since Dylan and my falling off, asks, looking across the lunch room at Caden and his new girlfriend. 

"The tattoos are wrong, Bails. We aren't soulmates," I sigh. Bailey is obsessed with finding her soulmate. Her tattoo is of a little butterfly. God knows what that could even mean. But I've learned not to care about the stupid tattoos. They were just a sick joke, that's all. A game. And I found a way to lose. 

"It doesn't bother you?" She asks, looking at me. I can see her through my peripheral vision even though I'm staring straight at Caden. Did it bother me? No. Of course not. Caden and I were NOT meant to be together. We had nothing in common and he is, well was, my best friend's brother. 

"No. He's happy." At that exact moment, he looks up and his eyes meet mine. I see a glimmer of emotion in his eyes, an emotion I'd never seen before from him that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I turn my attention away from him.

"I've come to accept that I don't have a soulmate." I pick up my tray and throw it in the trash. We still had 10 minutes of lunch left but I needed to get the hell out of that cafeteria. My first instinct is to go to the bathroom.

When I get in, it's empty. I take this as an opportunity to pour out all the emotions I hold in. Did it hurt seeing Caden with someone else? Yes. Of course it did. Because deep down I know he's supposed to be with me. And both of us are pretending like the other doesn't exist. 

As I'm in the middle of crying, the bathroom door opens. I turn to look at who came in. To my dismay, Hazel, Caden's girlfriend, walks in. 

"Are you okay?" She asks, walking over to the sink next to me. She looks in the mirror and fixes her curly red hair. I sneak a peek at her tattoo. I nearly burst out laughing when I see a small butterfly tattoo. Never had I ever seen that coming. But good for them. 

"I heard you're dating Caden," I say as I turn around and look in the mirror to fix myself up.

"Yeah." She has a bright smile on her face. 

"Do you guys have matching tattoos?" I question. Obviously I knew the answer. I just wanted to know what Caden was telling people.

"Sadly, no. But Caden said that he gave up on trying to find his soulmate and I did too. We're basically just killing time until we do find them. And I'm fine with that because he is such a good kisser," She says with a little laugh. I nod along with her.

"What about you? Did you find your soulmate?' She questions. I shake my head.

"I don't think I have one," I tell her. She looks at me confused before her phone starts buzzing. She looks down with a smile.

"That's a text from Caden. I gotta go. It was nice talking to you though," She says before walking out without giving me a chance to say anything in return. 

I walk out of the bathroom minutes later to see Caden standing there, almost like he's waiting for me. I walk straight past him.

"Germany!" He calls. I don't look back. There was no reason to. All talking to him would do is lead to a fight.

"Germany!" He calls again. I sigh and turn around, knowing he won't stop following me until I give him attention.

"What do you want?" I ask. 

"I want to talk to you. Can I come over after school?" He asks. I hesitate before answering. 

"Sure," I sigh. He smiles and nods before mumbling an awkward goodbye and walking away. 

Caden coming over wouldn't be that weird. Right? 

---

Yikes this sucks but it's an update regardless. School is currently kicking my ass. I can't wait until it's finally over. Anyways, ignore any spelling errors this was written at 1 AM.