I sit in the girls toilets for a while, staring at myself in the long mirror with my hands clamped to the surface in front of me.
I want to cry, to release a hurricane of humiliated tears, but I grit my teeth, holding the storm back. However, I'm sure that if I hold it in for any longer I just might cataclysmically implode.
There is cheese dripping down my shirt, and my hair is soaked with soda. Why did I say anything against Phoebe? Why didn't I just keep my mouth shut like I have since it all started?
Why was today any different?
One tear silently falls down my cheek, staining my porcelain skin with a line of dampness, while my bottom lip quivers slightly.
But when I hear someone slip through the door, I wipe the tear away, hoping that whoever it is will quickly leave without bothering me.
But when I see their reflection in the mirror, I can't help by gawp. It's Caleb.
In the girls' toilets.
He breathes a sigh of relief when seeing me. He doesn't say anything, but as he observes the cheese on my clothes and the wetness of my hair, his lips press together into a thin line.
He walks over to me as I try to bite back humiliated tears once more, and I freeze when he places both of his hands onto my waist.
Before I can question what he thinks he's doing, he lifts me effortlessly onto the surface beside the sinks.
Then, without saying anything, he gets a bundle of tissues from one of the cubicles, and runs a tap over them. He moves to me again, and starts to prod away the cheese.
I don't pull away, I don't even think to do it. Instead, I let him do it, I let him help me.
"What are you doing in the girls' toilets?" I ask quietly, letting the burning of my cheeks subside.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" he returns, smirking slightly.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I mumble after a long pause, watching his focused expression.
Avoiding my gaze, he responds, "Someone told me that Phoebe confronted you because of me. I felt guilty, so I came to find you."
"So you're doing this to clear your guilty conscience? Thanks, but no thanks," I mutter, beginning to slide off the surface.
He stands closer to me, so that he's pressed nearly against me. His hands go to either side of the counter, trapping me, while my legs are spread either side of him. I notice how very awkwardly positioned we are, but he doesn't do anything to move.
His face is so close to mine that I can feel his warm breath on the tip of my nose. "I also don't think it's fair what she did to you."
"News flash: high school isn't fair, Caleb. Life isn't fair," I murmur, turning away from him to look beside me. My heart is beating extremely quickly with his closeness, but he doesn't make a move to put any more distance between us.
He tightens his lips, as if trying to figure something out. Then he leans back slightly, beginning to prod at the cheese again.
"Why are you being so nice to me, though? Not just now, but in general. Why'd you sit with me at lunch yesterday, why'd you sit with me in biology?" The questions come rushing out, everything I have been thinking in the past few days crashing out at full speed.
He hesitates, and it is the only time I have seen an ounce of uncertainty on his face. "Sometimes there isn't really an explanation for these things. I saw you, and I wanted to know you."
YOU ARE READING
Finding Lena | ✔️
Teen Fiction"I think there's more to you than you're letting on, Caleb Myers." He chuckles, but a knowing look flashes across his eyes. "What do you mean by that?" "I think you're hiding a lot." "Aren't we all."
