Chapter 11 #2
“Nice of you to finally join us.” Caleb smirks. I flip him off. I reached the top of the stairs only a few seconds after he did.
“Ladies first,” Jake says, holding his arm out like a game show host presenting the winning prize. Only instead of a brand-new car, I receive the gift of having to shuffle past all four of them down the row.
There’s some whispering at the top of the stairs, and then Caleb is the one who walks down the row and takes the seat next to me.
“You draw the short stick?” I mutter.
“Yep. They’re making me share my popcorn with you, too.” He holds the container out to me.
“I don’t like popcorn,” I lie.
“Then why did you eat some at lunch last week?” Caleb counters.
I raise both eyebrows. “Why do you know what I ate for lunch last week?”
“So I could catch you in a lie when we went to the movies this weekend,” Caleb says sarcastically. “Just take some, Matthews.”
I cave and scoop up some of the salty, buttery snack. “Thanks,” I murmur begrudgingly. I finish the handful before the movie has even started.
“Here.” Caleb holds out the bin of popcorn again, and this time I don’t argue with him.
He goes to take some at the same time I withdraw my hand. His palm grazes my knuckles, and the contact feels like touching an open flame. I react immediately, hastily yanking my hand back into the sanctuary of my seat as though I’ve just been burned.
The movie finally starts. I focus my attention on the massive screen, acting as though the film featuring a hunky actor I vaguely recognize, along with a lot of guns and gore, is all that matters in the world at this moment.
In reality, the back of my hand still tingles.
I’m excruciatingly aware the tall frame silhouetted in the seat next to me is Caleb Winters.
The darkness makes it seem like there’s no one else here besides the two of us.
I keep my eyes trained on the screen in front of me, but the movie can’t distract me from Caleb sitting only a few inches away.
I listen to him munch popcorn.
I watch him bounce his knee.
I feel his elbow bump my bicep when he shrugs out of the hoodie he was wearing.
And…I’m attracted to Caleb Winters. I don’t just find him objectively good-looking.
I like talking with him, knowing he’ll have a response ready for anything I say.
I like how he doesn’t seem to care I’m a loner and an outsider.
I even enjoy the fizziness when I’m around him, how my awareness of everything is heightened.
By the time the movie ends I’m just as clueless about the plot as I was before it started. Thankfully, no one asks for my opinion as we exit the auditorium. Jake and Caleb are engaged in a detailed discussion about one of the stunts.
“Hang on,” Jake says as we approach the lobby. “That slushy ran right through me.”
He ducks into the men’s restroom. I take the opportunity to escape for a moment as well. “I’ll be right back.”
I walk through the doorway marked with a stick figure wearing a dress, then take a sharp right to head down the hallway lined with stalls. I lock myself in the first one that’s available and tap my head against the plastic door three times, hoping it will knock some sense into me.
No such luck. The memory of sitting next to Caleb in the pitch black still causes goosebumps to rise on my skin.
This is bad. Really bad. I can’t avoid him until graduation in June and wait for this silly crush to fade.
I wash my hands and then head back down the hallway toward the exit. I’m just about to round the corner to re-enter the hallway when I hear Colt’s voice.
I pause in place. “—think it’s adorable you had to use her grandfather to trick her into spending time with you.”
“This is the sort of shit I’d expect from Jake, not you,” Caleb responds. “We happened to run into each other. She’s writing that article on me, and it’ll be easier if we try to get along. It’s not a big deal, okay?”
Colt snorts. “You’re not fooling anyone with that crap, Winters. It’s obvious—”
Footsteps sound behind me, and I have no choice but to round the tiled corner and leave the bathroom before they reach me. Both Colt and Caleb fall silent the second I appear, and that only increases my curiosity about what they were discussing.
Caleb scrutinizes my face closely as I approach. I’m pretty sure it means he has an idea I might have overheard some of his conversation with Colt. Jake and Luke are standing closer to the lobby, waiting for the rest of us.
“Are you heading home from here, Jake?” I ask, once we’ve reached the exit.
“Uh, yeah,” he replies.
“Can I get a ride?” Instead of answering, Jake glances at Caleb. So do Colt and Luke.
I don’t.
Jake lives in an upscale gated community located only a couple of blocks from the high school. There’s no such thing as “out of the way” in a town as small as Landry, but there’s no denying the fact Jake lives closest to me.
“Sure,” Jake replies, although the words don’t sound all that welcoming. Maybe he’s worried someone from school will see us together.
Relieved about managing a ride home with someone other than Caleb, I turn to the other three boys with a bright smile. “See you guys Monday. That movie was great…exciting.”
Exciting can apply to any action movie, right?
I’m avoiding looking at Caleb, but both Colt and Luke nod their heads before I head toward the exit doors.
A few seconds later, I hear Jake behind me. I hold the door for him as we emerge outside into the damp air.
Jake Barnes is known for being a jokester. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him without an easygoing grin stretched across his face.
But he’s silent and serious as we walk down the sidewalk.
Aside from turning on the radio and instructing me to play whatever I want, Jake doesn’t say a word as we make the short trip back to Matthews Farm from downtown Landry.
There are a couple of times when he opens his mouth, as though he’s about to speak, but he always closes it before any words actually escape.
“I’ll, uh, walk from here,” I say when he pulls into my driveway. I can’t handle any more of the awkward silence.
“You sure?” Jake asks.
“Yes,” I confirm, opening the door to climb out. “Thanks for the ride.”
I jump out and start walking up the dirt driveway, trying to put as much distance between myself and this weird afternoon as I can.