Knock, knock, knock.
I've been standing outside Asher's house for the past 5 minutes and he still hasn't answered the door.
I turn around to leave, what's the point? He probably wasn't going to talk to me anyways, this is just him avoiding me.
The door bursts open before I get to the end of the sidewalk. "Hey." Asher calls out. "You weren't leaving were you?"
I pause, not looking at him. "Hi.." I hear his footsteps coming towards me.
"So.." he says, now behind me.
I don't reply at first. He wraps his arms around my waist and sighs. "Are you mad at me..?" I whisper timidly.
"Why would I be mad?"
"Because," I say. "Of yesterday."
He sighs. "What about yesterday?"
"Well, the anniversary was amazing." I say heartedly. But then I look down glumly and exhale. "The aftermath however,"
He nods, understanding what I'm saying. "Yeah. I know." He turns me towards him, holding my gaze.
But looks away as soon as I'm about to say something. I sigh again and wonder if I should leave; this obviously isn't going anywhere. Just as I turn away from him, he pulls me back, into a kiss. My arm is in his grasp, his hand's in my hair and I'm resting a hand on his chest.
"I'm sorry. About last night." he says when we part. "I was stupid, I shouldn't have gotten mad at you."
I nod understandingly. "I know.."
"Do you forgive me?" he asks, not letting go of me.
I look at his face, so sincere. "Yeah. You're forgiven."
He sighs with relief. "Good."
I give him a fake smile. He finally releases me and I step back almost immediately.
"Well, I've gotta get back to my mom." I lie, turning away from him.
"Why? What's going on?" he asks.
"Just stuff with Rory." I reply, walking fast.
He follows me. "What stuff?"
"Just..stuff!" I exclaim. He spins me around to face him. "What?"
"Callie.." he sighs. "I thought today was our day."
"It was! But.." I look away. "I need to be with my family right now.."
He scoffs. "Oh..I see."
"Asher don't get upset.."
"Right. Right.." he says. "You get to blow me off but I can't get mad."
"Asher.." I sigh.
He pulls away from me and steps back a bit. "No, Callie."
I don't say anything. I cross my arms and examine the ground.
"I think.." I start. "I think we need a break."
He stares at me. "I think so too."
"Okay." I say, with relief. "So..I'm gonna go.."
"Yeah..me too."
We both stand still. "See you around, Callie." he turns away and hurries into his house.
He slams the door, something he never does. I know he's really angry. I, however, am fine.
I wonder if this is what Dean told Rory and she just assumed he was breaking up with her. I have to ask her about it.
* * *
I walk around town, trying to figure out where Rory and Mom are. Then I realize, they went to the movies. As I turn a corner, leading to the the movie theater, I bump into someone.
"Oh jeez!" I exclaim, putting a hand to my forehead. "I'm sorry.." I apologize, standing straight.
"Callie?" The guy asks.
I look up at his face and gasp.
"Lopez?" I shake my head with a smile. "Of course, it makes perfect sense I'd see you today."
"Yeah, it's been that kind of day." he sighs. "So how have you been? I haven't seen you since..."
I nod. "Yeah. Uh, I'm okay. How are you?"
"Good, good." he replies.
"Good. That's good.." I say.
"So, what're you up to?" he asks me.
"Oh nothing..I was just looking for my sister--"
"Rory? Right?" he asks, pointing at me with an unsure expression.
"Yeah..how'd you know. I never talked about her."
"I'm in her English class." he says simply.
"But, my sister's in grade 10. How could you...?" I trail off, realizing they're in the same grade. He's older than me. "Oh."
"Yeah." he replies. Just as I'm about to say I've gotta go, he speaks up. "Do you want to get a cup of coffee?"
"What?" I ask rhetorically. "Coffee?"
"Yeah. I've noticed you like coffee quite a bit."
"A bit?" I say, raising an eyebrow.
He laughs as we start to walk away from the corner. "Where are we going?"
"Luke's." I tell him as he makes a questioning face. "Look, it's the best coffee in the state."
He raises his eyebrows. "Really? The whole state?"
I nod. "Probably the entire country. Maybe the world."
"Wow. I need to try this magic coffee you speak of." he grins.
"Well, it's not magic exactly." I say. "I actually don't know what he puts in it."
"Maybe you should work there, then you'll have to make the coffees." he suggests.
I click my teeth. "I dunno...Luke is awfully protective of his coffee. I don't know if he'll even let me look at his coffee recipe."
He smiles. "We'll just have to see won't we?"
I smile to myself. "I guess so."
* * *
"Oh hey Callie." Rory greets me when I enter the house.
"Hey." I reply shutting the door. I glance at Rory. "Where are you going?"
"Oh, um," she shows me a paper.
I take it and read the title. It's an invitation to Madeline's party. "You're going to that?"
"Yeah!" she says cheerfully.
"Alone?" I ask, setting the paper down on the table next to the rabbi.
"No, Lane's coming with me." she replies.
"Good." I say. "So, what did Mom say when you told her?" I ask, walking into the kitchen.
Rory follows me. "Well, she asked me if I was really going to go."
"Yeah.."
"Then she told me to stay home and read 'The bell jar'."
"Same effect?"
"Exactly." she laughs. "Do you want to come?"
"No.." I sigh.
"Oh okay." she says as I look in the fridge, knowing there's nothing there. "Why not?"
"Well..Asher's gonna be there." I tell her.
"So..?"
I sigh. "We're not really together anymore.."
"What?" she asks in disbelief. "When did this happen?"
"We technically broke up today but it was over yesterday.."
"Yesterday? You mean your anniversary?" she asks.
"Yeah." I admit. "Sorry I didn't tell you what was going on."
"No, Callie. It's fine. I mean, I haven't even told Mom why we broke up." she tells me.
I nod. "Why did you guys break up? If you don't mind me asking.."
She shakes her head. "No, it's okay."
I close the fridge door and slide my backpack off as I slip into a seat at the table.
"It was my fault." she sighs sadly. "We had this huge and amazing anniversary and I messed it up."
"How could you mess it up? You're Rory."
"I'm not perfect y'know." she retorts. "Callie, He was building me a car."
"What?!" I exclaim in shock. "A..A car?"
She nods. "We were sitting in the car for a while, taking in the night." she tells me. "But, then.."
I wait for her to continue but she doesn't. "Rory?"
She shakes her apologetically. "He..told me he loved me..."
"What? Rory.." I sigh happily. "That's great."
She turns away. "No...It's not."
"What? Why?"
"Because...I didn't say it back." she admits.
"Rory..." I say, standing up. "Why?"
"..Because I didn't love him."
"Rory.."
"I'm fine. I just need to move on. Moping about it won't do any good now." she says.
"But--"
"Will it?"
"No." I agree. "I understand. Me and Asher are over too."
She shakes her head. "I forgot about that. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Maybe we both need a break. Let's go to the party."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I don't care how evil Paris and her pawns are, I want to party."
Rory laughs. "Okay then. Go get ready. I'll wait for you."
"Kay."
I pick up my bag and hurry up the stairs to my room. It's time to party.
* * *
Hello!
Just a disclaimer, the next chapter will each be one month, meaning, I will write a chapter taking place in February then the next chapter will take place in March; and so on.
I have already written the last chapter in anticipation for the ending. This book will end at 40 chapters with a small epilogue for the sequel. Depending on how busy I am these next few weeks, I could be done by November/December. But if my life gets busy, then the book will end by February or March.
Thank you for reading. See you in the next chapter. Byyee!! ^W^