Bittersweet

Chapter 12 - Cayden

[Chapter 12 - Cayden]

He was in his Pre-Calc class, absentmindedly twirling his pencil. They had been paired up in groups. Luckily, Mr. Baker wasn't mean, and had paired him off with Chase. Although they were best mates, they did work well together, so all was well. Well, at least when we're not goofing off, he thought with a snicker.

"Oi, daydream boy over there. You mind helping me? These problems are not going to solve themselves." Chase said, poking him with his pen.

"Yea, that's what you're for," Cayden retorted, rolling his eyes. "Didn't you know?"

"Yeah yeah yeah, now get your lazy butt over here and help me with these problems." Chase grumbled, throwing Cayden a pen before looking down at his work again, scribbling out another answer. Cayden lazily picked up the pen and took out a sheet of paper. As he was reaching through his bag, he felt a gaze on him. He looked up, and saw Opal staring at him out of the corner of her eye. He stopped.

"What's wrong now?" Chase muttered, noticing the way Cayden had stopped.

"Why is that girl here?" Cayden mumbled, continuing to stare at Opal. Chase looked to where his friend was staring and shook his head exasperated.

"The girl sitting next to Maggie? She's the freshman that's been with us since the start of the year. The new addition to your fanclub," he said rolling his eyes, turning back to look at his paper.

"Never noticed her." Cayden muttered, coming back into his chair and starting to work on his section. He felt eyes on him again. Slightly rolling his eyes, he looked again towards the window where the girl and Maggie we're sitting. This time, he noticed Maggie send a flirtatious smile towards him. He suppressed a shudder. Honestly, why did girls think that was attractive? He shook his head, moving on to his next problem.

He occasionally snuck glances to the right side of the room, noticing how both girls were laughing at something Maggie had said. Strange, he thought. This morning it seemed like Opal hated Maggie. He shrugged, not understanding and not caring, before returning to the ugly world of Pre-Calc. Ugh.

* * *

Cayden was eating lunch next to Scott and Chase, half listening to the drama they were talking about.

"Did you see her face?" Scott asked, snickering hard, "Her mouth was wide open, and her eyes, oh lord, they were legit popping out of her head! She couldn't believe I broke up with her! I mean come on, everyone here knows my history. I'm not one to keep a girl for long." Scott finished laughing, shaking his head. Chase was barely containing his laughter.

"Who are you talking about now?" Cayden asked confused, having not heard this particular drama.

"Oh, Claire McGier, the history teacher's daughter." Scott said.

"The brunette that wears heels everyday and flirts with any guy she meets? Pffft"' Cayden made a shooing motion with his hand, sipping his water.

"Why would you waste your time on her? She's boring as hell."

"She's the last freshman on my list of conquests. I'm going to try to get sophomores now." Scott said, shrugging, taking a bite out his burger. Cayden rolled his eyes, returning to his lunch. Some things never change.

"Oh by the way, did you hear what coach said about Lee?" Scott added after a minute of silence. Cayden whipped his head around to peer at him. "No what did he say? Was that jerk finally laid off as captain?" Cayden asked hopefully.

"Nah, but it's a close call. He's been late twice already for morning practices. If he continues, you'll probably be voted captain." Scott finished. Cayden grinned. He had always wanted to be captain, ever since he joined the team. He loved lacrosse, and had played it from when he was five, up until now. It would be a dream come true to become captain.

He shook himself off from his daydream to find Chase and Scott talking about a game of some sort. Huh, since when does Chase game? Cayden thought, frowning. He didn't know that Chase liked to game, which was surprising, since they had known each other since they were five. He decided to butt in.

"What game y'all talking about?" he asked lazily. He got no response. His frown deepened, and he looked sideways. They carried on talking, not even hearing his question. Oh well, he thought, sighing internally.

He shifted his concentration to the trio of girls sitting by the other end of the cafeteria next to the windows. He stared as the red-headed girl chucked a pencil at the girl who had stalked him on instagram, raising his eyebrows as she proceeded to smack the second girl with a notebook. The girl, I think her name is Olive? and Maggie laughed hard, clutching their stomachs and gasping for breath. It had only been a week since the day in calc, but those three had already become good friends and were hardly found apart from each other. Finally the red head shook her head and started laughing with them. Cayden closed his eyes.

He wished he had friends like them. Sure, he had Chase and Scott, as well as most of the lacrosse team. They didn't hang out like they used to. He blamed it on the amount of homework they had, but he knew that wasn't the reason. Sighing again, he looked back at the three girls, now huddled up over some paper and textbooks, probably doing homework.

"Hey Cayden, wanna hang out after school and play some Minecraft?" Chase askedsarcastically, looking back at Cayden and turning around to finish his lunch.

"Can't, gotta finish the physics homework," Cayden replied easily, finishing up his lunch and packing his bag.

"Ok," Chase said, also reaching for his bag. "See you in Calc then," he waved, walking off talking to Scott.

"See ya," Cayden muttered half-heartedly, throwing his bag over his shoulder and walking to PE, casting a side glance at the trio of girls sitting next to the window, briefly catching the brown-haired girl's eye, before walking out of the cafeteria.