Capstone

Chapter 7 - March

"Hey." Cale's voice filled with energy as he slid across from me at lunch.

Since I had figured out that Sophie Kim was the mystery girl, we had been sitting together a couple of times a week. No one suspected anything since Cale was my capstone partner, and Sophie and I were friends.

"Hello." My greeting was closed, as I knew what was bursting in his mind, and I was unsure if I wanted to discuss it.

"So..." He prodded.

"So, that math quiz was tricky," I tried to divert.

Cale's face dropped in shock. "Math quiz? Are we just ignoring the epic relationship destruction in the parking lot this morning?"

"What's that now?" I knew exactly what he was talking about, but as the memory returned, I didn't want to think about it, let alone talk about it.

"Delly, come on; Chris is still your best friend, even if things have been off the past month," Cale prodded.

"Are we still best friends?" My tone hit the word best harder than I intended. "Wouldn't he have told his best friend when he got a girlfriend? Wouldn't best friends answer each other's calls and texts? Aren't those best friend things to do?"

"Delly, come on. The situation is..." Cale's mind struggled to find the right words before he shook off the attempt. "He's your best friend. You can't write that off because of one, albeit lengthy, transgression."

"Transgression? Transgression! Cale Benton, you're so..."

"Uh-oh, what did he do now?" Sophie said in her calm, pleasant voice as she slid in next to me.

"What did I do again? I did nothing," Cale protested.

"He called the whole Chris-Bella thing a transgression," I explained, relieved to have a sympathetic ear.

"Well, I mean, with how it ended..." Sophie was trying to remain impartial, but it was clear where her loyalties lay.

"Et tu, Brute?" I murmured.

"Okay, I think we might be a little dramatic here." She tried again to defuse the situation. "Cale, I think we can all agree that Chris hasn't had a gold-star month in the best friend department. And, Dee, I think we can also agree that his betrayal was not Greek tragedy status."

"Fine," Cale and I said in unison.

"You have to find him, though," Cale added.

"Why? He clearly never wanted to talk to me about Bella. Why would he want to talk about it now that it's over?" I shrugged, still feeling a little defensive.

"Delly, he must be upset. I mean, that fight in the parking lot. I don't even know where to begin. It was so...."

"Public," Sophie finished with a knowing look.

Cale's shoulders slumped as he added, "yes," with a sigh. The display between Bella and Chris was why Sophie wanted to keep her relationship with Cale private.

"Cale is right, Dee. I saw Chris after third period, and he looked terrible. He could use a friend right now, his best friend."

"It's Chris, Delly," Cale added with his puppy dog eyes in full effect. "You know you want to be there for him."

"You're right, both of you," I sighed.

"I'm sorry, I know this isn't the time, but is there any chance I could get you to jot that down?" Cale teased.

Sophie kicked him under the table before adding, "acknowledging the bad timing doesn't absolve you of having the bad timing."

Cale winced as he rubbed his shin and added a "sorry" in a mutter.