Just Like Cinderella

Just Like Cinderella [14]

After that Thursday, everything went back to normal. Tammy eventually became less angry and Josi was able to survive another brutal round of abuse.

School was back to normal too. The following week went by with hardly any talk about the girl in the blue dress at the dance. Though people were still talking about Caleb Flynn's mystery girl, Ruby they were calling her.

By the time the next Friday came, Josi had heard nothing about a date from Asher—there went the possibility of him being into her—and she hadn't seen Caleb since that Thursday evening on her doorstep. She'd planned on avoiding him for as long as possible, to prevent any more trouble for herself, but he wasn't in school the next day, or through the following week.

The teachers didn't seem worried though and neither was Asher, or the rest of his friends. This made her realize it was that time of the year, when he and his family went AWOL for an entire week. Kiara had disappeared too and there was no talk in town about the Flynns.

Like every time this happened, Josi was curious. And worried this time, she hoped Caleb was okay. She wasn't able to worry much though with school and Tammy keeping her occupied.

Her last period that Friday was P.E. and it was brutal. It didn't help matters that she had errands to run for Tammy immediately after school, and work at the restaurant where she'd be on her feet throughout. So once it was over, she was grateful, and dragged her ass to the girls locker room for a quick shower.

She changed back into her clothes after, then searched for Megan among all the girls piled in there. She found her soon enough and Megan was done as well so they headed out together.

"You got a couple of hours before you need to get to work, right?" Megan asked as they walked down the hallway.

"Yeah."

"Good. Let's hang out. I feel like it's been a while since we sat down and relaxed together. One of us is always busy or something."

Josi shot her an apologetic look. "Can't today. I have work to do for Tammy."

Megan looked disappointed but nodded in understanding. "Okay. Need a ride?"

"Yeah, thanks. What would I do without you?"

Over an hour later and a very long walk back from the salon because Megan got called over to her mom's spa, Josi was home. She was thankfully done with all her errands, in record time too. That was made possible by her running all around. She was pretty sure over half of the downtown residents thought she was psycho.

She was exhausted, but couldn't rest for long. Luckily, the twins weren't around and Kitty May was with Tammy at the salon. This gave Josi a chance to breathe.

She freshened up quickly and packed her work clothes into a bag before heading out. She settled for walking briskly rather than running since she was still early.

On her way, she was right around the corner from DaDiva when she spotted a familiar figure standing out alone on the street in front of Lexi's Creamery. The place was famous as the best ice cream shop in Cary, but Josi had a feeling that wasn't why Caleb Flynn was standing outside.

Not only was it a shock to see him after about a week of him ghosting, he looked lost, as if trying to figure out how he had ended up there. He was dressed in his usual attire of jeans and a hoodie, but this hoodie she had never seen. It was red and looked a couple of sizes too small for him. She didn't think she had seen him wearing any bright colors before too.