Change of Plans

Chapter 8

I read somewhere once that constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust and hostility to evaporate.

I wondered if kindness could ease the tension between Caitlyn and me. Her cold manner bothered me way more than I wanted to admit, but school was starting in a week and I had until then to try to resolve our issues.

It had been two days since our 'quarrel' and she was avoiding me. At least it seemed that way. I felt awful about what I'd said to her, I didn't know her that well and I judged her before giving her a fair chance to show me a different side, a softer side. I prayed that she had a softer side.

"Good morning, Camille," Blaine greeted me with a smile as I passed him in the hall.

"Good morning," I returned his smile but didn't stop to chat.

I knocked on Carter's door and waited.

"Honestly you people have no sense of time," he grumbled when he opened the door a minute later.

"It's like nine a.m," I said as I strolled past him.

"Whatever," he muttered, climbing into his bed.

"You can't be serious," I said, stifling a laugh.

"Come back when it's lunch," he grumbled and rolled over.

"Fine," I chuckled and left the room, almost knocking Caitlyn over in my haste to get back to my own room.

"Watch it!" she snapped and gave me an icy glare.

"Gee, it was an accident!" I snapped back.

So, maybe I had the wrong approach to this whole kindness thing, but how could I be kind to someone who threw daggers at me with her eyes every time she saw me?

"I think the words you're looking for are I'm sorry," she said through clenched teeth.

I sighed. "Why are you so angry with me all the time?"

"I'm not angry," she muttered and shoved past me.

"Yeah sure," I snorted and opened the door, stepping into my room.

I probably had the worst luck of anyone I knew, and that's not saying much since I only know about a handful of people, but still my luck was undoubtedly the worst.

I plopped myself down on the bed and lay there with my head hanging slightly off the edge, and thought about all the reasons why my life sucked. I summed it up to the following: I was a fatherless child living with a mother who had abandoned me before I was old enough to walk, who I barely even saw these days; stuck with a stepsister who hates me and her brother who probably finds me annoying as my only companions in an unfamiliar city, with no view of the stars— the latter being the worst.

I blinked back the tears that pooled in my eyes. "I'm living my worst nightmare."

"Be thankful that you're not living mine," someone said beside me, startling me out of my reverie.

"Why are you always here?" I asked, wiping away a few stray tears.

"There's always food," came the reply.

I found myself laughing despite my best efforts to lay there and wallow in self pity. See what I'm talking about? My luck is so bad that I can't even be sad in peace. "Logan," I sighed. "You're an idiot."

"A very cute one," he replied.

I raised my head a little to get a better look at him. "I've seen cuter," I shrugged and returned to my original position.