It was four days until I heard anything from Caleb. Throughout the entire weekend I had contemplated on whether or not to keep calling him, to keep sending him messages asking him where he was. I had sent him a text when I'd woken up the morning after the Halloween party, but hadn't heard a word from him. He hadn't been to school Monday or Tuesday, and I had finally stopped trying to get in contact with him.
Jace and I were closer than ever; him and his friends had even abandoned the popular lunch table to sit with Carrie and me; much to Carrie's glee and Stacy Keegan's dismay. She hadn't joined us, so I guess we still weren't good enough for her, but who cared, right? After the second day of eating lunch with us, Jace, Taylor and Keith managed to turn our regular table into the new cool people's table. Our table had been full all week. When one person got up to leave, another was quick to take the vacant seat.
People were actually greeting me in the hallways when I walked to class, showing just how much popularity can rub off on you when you're close friends with the star quarterback. Somehow, Jace always found a way to sit next to me at lunch. He had spent the whole weekend cheering me up after I had remembered I'd been stood up - again.
We had spent Saturday on the couch watching movies. Our parents had left us to ourselves, I think there were some wedding details to go over. So Jace and I had made a huge bowl of popcorn, provided ourselves with plenty of soda and candy and had our own little movie marathon. Zeus was quick to catch on and had immediately jumped up onto the large leather couch and settled himself by my feet. Our parents had been back to make dinner, but since we had been in the midst of watching Lord of the Rings, Return of the King, they went into Patrick's office after we had eaten and let us finish the movie.
At one point during the movie, I lay down and settled my feet on top of Jace. He casually placed his arms on top of them and several times I felt him gently stroking my ankles. I didn't even bother to notify him. It felt too good. Again, I knew I was heading into a gray zone, danger danger, but I didn't know how to stop.
We had gone to bed without many words being spoken, besides the usual good night and sweet dreams.
Sunday, at around nine in the morning, Jace had knocked on my door from inside the bathroom, telling me to get some warm clothes on. He led me to the garage and said we were going to spend some time riding on their quads. It had coaxed a smile out of me and I happily obliged. Quad riding was so much fun, and I had tried it a few times before.
The forest area between the backyard and the lake was the perfect place to ride around.
"Remember not to press the throttle too hard, or it'll probably lurch forward and knock you off if you're not paying attention," Jace instructed as we got our gear on. Helmet and gloves, okay not much gear, but still.
"Yeah, I got it, don't worry," I replied, smiling up at him as I put on my gloves. The sun was out and despite it being early November, it was not too cold, but I had still bundled up in a warm jacket and jeans. Jace smiled back at me and after a few seconds I had to look away and occupy myself with my helmet because of the awkward tension that somehow hung in the air between us. Jace cleared his throat and got onto his quad, a silver Honda and I got onto my red one.
"Right. Let's have some fun then," he said and kicked his to start the engine. I followed suit and raced after him out of the driveway and down the dirtroad intot the woods.
On Wednesday I had barely set foot onto school property before I realised that I recognised the motorcycle sat at the front of the lot. I glanced around nervously, but the owner wasn't in sight. I followed Jace through the main entrance. He turned his head and sent me a smile, causing several of the people around us to openly stare. It had happened with Caleb and now it was happening with Jace.
Jace's smile quickly turned into a scowl, but he was no longer focusing on me, but rather on something behind me. I had a pretty good guess what it was.
"Chloe." Hearing his voice after not talking to me for several days had my insides knotting together uncomfortably. I looked up at Jace, who kept shifting his gaze from me to Caleb, but when he caught me looking, his scowl softened a bit, at least in his eyes.
"Chlo, you don't have to if you don't want to." His voice was soft and it lay itself like a protective layer around my heart. I must have looked almost desperate to Jace, because when Caleb called my name agian, his face hardened.
"Piss off, Constantine, she doesn't want to talk." A warm arm encircled my upper body and with that verbal warning, Jace escorted me down the hall. I didn't even have the guts to turn around and face Caleb, so I let Jace lead me away.
"If he keeps bothering you, call me, okay?" We were standing outside of my classroom. Jace hadn't wanted me to walk by myself, so he had taken me all the way to homeroom. Carrie was waiting for me inside. Despite sharing homeroom together, Caleb kept him distance when he entered the room. Jace hovered at my desk until the second warning bell chimed. I told him to go so he wouldn't be late for his own class. He appeared reluctant to leave, but finally did, after giving my hand a reassuring squeeze. As soon as his hand left mine, I felt chilled.
Homeroom ended with me not even looking back towards Caleb's table. I got up quickly after the bell sounded, gathered my things and left with Carrie hot on my heels. In the hallway, I felt his presence hovering behind me.
"Chloe, would you please talk to me? At least look at me." His saddened voice sent stabs of raw emotion surging through me. On one hand, I wanted nothing more than to turn and look into those gorgeous brown eyes of his, but on the other I didn't want to put myself out there again, just waiting to be burnt again. Like Jace had told me this very morning on the way to school: "perhaps it's better to just let him go and move on?" Perhaps he was right.
I spent the next two classes dreading the exposure during lunch, but most of all, Mr Clayton's geography class after lunch. The last class of the day, but also the class in which Caleb and I were partners. Throughout English, I came up with several different excuses to leave and avoid him later on. I even went as far as to consider texting Jace and ask if he would take me home. Finally I desided against all of the possibilities. I was, more or less, a grown woman for Christ sake, and if I couldn't deal with this in a mature way, then how on earth would I be able to deal with other things later on.
Lunch came around and Carrie walked with me to the cafeteria. Jace was already there and the second he spotted me, he waved and patted the vacant spot next to him.
"I can't count how many guys who have suddenly taken an interest in me after we've entered the 'cool circle'," Carrie said as we made our way through the rows of tables.
"Any cute ones?" I asked, nervously glancing around for any sign of Caleb.
"None as cute as Taylor," she replied, suddenly sporting a huge smile and I turned to see Taylor striding towards us, smiling animately at Carrie. Guess love is in the air, I thought and averted their embrace, walking the rest of the way to our table.
"Hey there. Taken down any trees during English today?" Jace joked, referring to my near collision with a pine tree during our quad ride on Sunday. I didn't hit it, which was the main point. The fact that I had to sever and nearly topple over the front of the quad was a different matter.
"Ha, ha," I muttered, opening my lunch bag and pulling out a homemade tuna sandwich. Yum.
"Are you going to be alright today?" Jace asked, looking concerned. He knew I had a class with Caleb this afternoon. He practically knew my schedule as well as I did. Was that a sign of us spending too much time together?
"Is the fact that I have narrowed it down to thirteen reasons why I shouldn't go to class any indication?"
Jace looked at me apologetically. I felt sort of sorry for the fact that he felt sorry for me. I wasn't used to feeling people's pity towards me.
"Want me to take you home instead?" Jace was giving me an out; the main source of avoiding Caleb, and here I was, hesitating. My silence clearly stated that I was not completely "over" Caleb. Jace caught on.
"I'm only a phone call away," he said, then turned his attention onto his food as Carrie and Taylor joined us at the table.
With lunch over and done with, I braced myself for whatever possible situation that could happen during class. Jace left me outside of Mr Clayton's classroom. He kept checking over his shoulder as he walked down the hallway, not even noticing the several girls who were ogling him as he went past.
My chest felt tight as I walked the rows to my usual seat. It might look too weird if I suddenly, after weeks of being in one seat, sat at a table on the opposite end of the room.
It took less than two minutes for Caleb to show up. He walked with slow steps towards his seat next to me, his eyes never leaving me throughout the entire walk. I felt it hard to swallow just then. He stopped, not by his seat, but by mine. I had to lean back to look up at him as he towered above me, looking kind of frightening.
"Chloe, I beg you, please hear me out," he said, but I turned my gaze from him and onto my geography book. We had been discussing avalanches for the past week or so. Funny how much Caleb felt like an avalanche to me right now; coming out of no where, unable to escape, drowning you in the cold before you're able to save yourself.
"Chloe, listen to me!" His voice was raised and I was on the brink of running away, just up and bolt from the classroom.
"Chloe, I had to go to the hospital." His words had me stop whatever I was thinking of doing, like running away. I looked at him and for the first time, I noticed the dark circles beneath his eyes, a clear sign that he hadn't been getting much sleep lately.
"What happened?" I asked, catching the worrying tone of my voice, not realizing I was leaning closer towards him until he took a step back himself. I stopped myself from going any further. I sat back in my seat.
"There was a family emergency on the night of the dance and I had to turn off my phone because of hospital policy. I completely forgot to call you." His eyes spoke the sincerity of his words. My anger towards him instantly evaporated.
"Chloe, I feel terrible for not calling you. I only got home yesterday morning and when I saw all your calls and texts I felt truly awful."
"Caleb, you can't be mad at yourself for forgetting to cancel on me when someone in your family was hurt. It's not like I'm top priority here," I said, a smile lingering on my lips.
"But you should be." His voice was low, but I still heard him clearly, and it sent shivers down my spine.
"Would you please, please, let me make it up to you?"
"How?" I was curious now.
"Jack seems to be missing his buddy." I smiled. His dog, Jack, and Zeus had become fast friends since the first time they had met in the dog park. Even I missed Jack. I thought it over, but the pros vastly outweighed the cons. I just couldn't not be around him.
"Zeus misses Jack too." I couldn't even tell if we were still talking about our dogs.
"It's a date then?" His expectant look nearly melted my insides to mush. Mr Clayton called the class to order, but Caleb didn't move. He kept his stance next to my desk. Mr Clayton called out for Caleb to sit down, but Caleb didn't seem to notice him; he was too busy focusing his attention on me. It made me blush.
"Caleb, sit down or you'll be in trouble," I hissed, as our teacher called a third time.
"A date then?" He asked again and I smiled. Now Mr Clayton was heading this way. Caleb was bound for a detention.
"Yes, it's a date. Now sit." Caleb grinned and obliged. Mr Clayton looked at the both of us for several seconds before he turned his back and walked back up to his desk. As his back was turned, a piece of paper flew onto my desk.
Meet me and Jack at the dog park at four pm. x
Guess class wouldn't be so bad after all.