Caleb

Chapter Eighteen - Ciera - The End Of The Show

"Ciera, you're overreacting!"

"Really, Caleb? Am I?" I was crying at this point. I couldn't believe he'd kissed her. And now they had it on camera. On television.

"Yes, you are. I didn't kiss her. She kissed me! Lucille and I are done for and we have been since you came into my life. Cherry, you're my world, please," the crowd 'awwww'ed. I started crying harder.

"Caleb.... You're not pushing her away... Just look at the picture," The picture was on the screen. Her arms were wrapped around his neck. His were at his side, not pushing her away.

"Don't you think I did? If they got a video instead of just a picture you would have seen me push her away."

"I don't want to do this anymore. I knew I'd regret dating you. I'm done, Caleb," I ran off the stage and called my mom. I was going home.

Three days later I still hadn't left my bed. I was so glad it was spring break. My phone was ringing off the hook, so I'd turned it off. Just as I was about to open another tub of cookie dough I could hear my mom's heels clicking down the hallway.

"Sweetie? There's someone on the phone for you. They say you aren't answering?" She opened my door and I stared her down.

"I don't want the phone, mom."

"Ciera, he sounds worried."

"He, mom? If it's Caleb- tell him to go to hell!"

"It's Joseph," I sat up. Joseph was a really close friend of mine a few months before Caleb and I started dating. After I got in my crash though, I basically stopped talking to him. I felt terrible.

"Give me the phone," I said.

"Sweetheart, didn't you just say-"

"Mom, give me the phone! Please?" She did. "Hello? Joseph?"

"Hey, Ci," he was the only one who didn't call me Cherry. "How are you feeling? I saw your break up. Was worried about you."

"Yeah, um.... I'm fine," I said, ignoring a look from my mother. She rolled her eyes and walked out.

"You don't sound fine. You're not even dressed, are you?" Well, he wasn't wrong. "I'm coming over in an hour-"

"But-"

"But nothing. Take a shower. A warm one. I'll bring bubbles," I moved my cookie dough to my side table and stepped onto the floor for the first time in a while. I stood up and fell down. Turns out my legs had fallen asleep.

An hour later I was sitting on my freshly made bed, wondering at how great it felt to clean myself up and braid my hair. The doorbell rang and once again I heard my mom's heels clicking and heard voices. Joseph was climbing the stairs. He knocked quietly on the door and I swallowed.

"Come- Come in," my voice almost failed me. He peeked his head around the corner and half smiled at me.

"Hey, Ci. I brought bubbles," he said, coming in, closing my door, and blowing some at me. I smiled and tried to bounce them on my hands. We used to just blow bubbles all of the time.

In another hour we would have eaten a tub of cookie dough, blown many, many a bubble, and watched an episode of SpongeBob. I was feeling happy, resting against his shoulder. The last time somebody had sat with me like that was when I was in the hospital with Caleb. I shook my head, trying to get him out of my mind. Joseph looked down at me with confusion riding his eyebrows.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Ci, be honest. It's me." I sighed. Damn him.

"No. Not really," I started. "My life was fine before him. Before Caleb, and now

it's all upside down. I was fine being hidden in the shadows during the school day

and only being in the spotlight when I was literally that- in the spotlight. But then I-"

I trailed off for a moment, swallowing my tears that had started to swell. "But then I

got hit and he saved me. Why couldn't he just let me die? I get looked at in the halls,

Lucille and her little elves hate me, I'm getting hate over the internet-"" cutting off

that time wasn't my fault. Joe interrupted me.

"Wait. You're getting hate? Why?" He asked. I nodded, pulling up my

computer and logging onto the email my mother got me for therapy and such.

Somehow this person had found it and had started emailing me things like "you

dumb whore, obviously he doesn't like you" and "God must have wanted you to die if

you got hit."