Flowers and Pop Rocks

33

p o p p y

"Hey, Pop Rocks. Are you free to talk?"

I looked up from my book to face Caleb. We were definitely not as close as we used to be since he decided to be kind of a dick last week, but I just let it go. I didn't want to hold grudges. All I could do was hope he'd realize what he did wrong.

"Sure, what's up?" I shut my book and patted the empty spot on the bench beside me as a sign for him to take a seat.

Sitting by the tree on the side of the field at school during lunch was just something I liked to do when I started to get stressed from school. I didn't do it very often, but when I did, it was nice.

"Listen, I just wanted to apologize for the things I said last week," he started. "It was really out of line, and I get why you were pissed."

A word hadn't even left my mouth yet before he spoke again. "And I also wanted you to know that I spoke to Nixon earlier and told him I was sorry for the whole fight."

I smiled. It was good to know things were okay between them. "That's great, Cal."

"Took a little bit, but I figured it out eventually."

"And you're a great guy because of that. Not everyone can piece things together on their own," I praised him.

"Good to know you don't hate me," he chuckled.

I shook my head. "I don't think I can ever hate you. I don't really hate many people to begin with."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm," I hummed in agreement. "Was that all you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Actually, there was one more thing..." he trailed off.

I turned to him, a curious look on my face. "What is it?"

"After a week of barely talking to you, I realized how much of an impact you made in my life," he revealed. "I don't know. The small things like being your lab partner sometimes in Chemistry or hearing you laugh make my day."

If this was going where I think it was going... he had to stop. He was only setting himself up to fail. "Caleb, I—"

"Wait, let me finish," he requested.

I hesitated but nodded anyway, allowing him to continue.

"Then last week you told me you weren't dating anyone, and I guess that gave me the courage to finally tell you exactly how I feel," he shared.

Things had kind of changed since that conversation. Lots can happen in a week.

He wasn't done. "I know I told you before that I liked you. I think I made that pretty obvious when I asked you out on a date, but now I wanna ask you if you maybe want to be more than just friends? We can even go to the party together tomorrow."

Oh Caleb... you should've let me stop you sooner.

I bit my lip, trying to sort through the mess of thoughts in my head.

What was the right thing to say to him?

"Look, Caleb," I took his hand, and right there and then, I think he understood where I was going with it. "I'm not really... interested."

A humorless laugh escaped his lips. "I could tell you liked him more than you liked me. I just figured I'd give it a shot."

"It's not your fault, Coco. I hope you know that," I consoled him. "I think it really just wasn't meant to be from the start. And I hope you know this isn't about Blake at all."