Lost

Chapter 12 - Pick Up

"You can go to the house, I've got to get Jodee." Ace mumbled, his words directed at Caleb as they neared the area where Ace lived.

Caleb bit his lip, anxiousness seeping into his veins as he asked Ace the question he'd been wanting to.

"W–why — why don't I go get Jodee and you can start dinner?" Caleb started off shaky, and finished a little too fast.

Ace was quick to react, his lazer blue eyes shifting to his friend instantaneously and practically cutting through his head. "Without me?"

"Yes." The one in question breathed.

Woah.

It was a big step for Caleb to ask about doing something with Jodee without Ace. It was a big step for Ace to even hear this and consider it ... or think about considering it. Ace knew that it wasn't even a whole something. Caleb would introduce himself to Edith, tell Jodee that Ace was at home, walk across the street and they'd be done. Less than 10 minutes, maybe even less than 5 minutes.

"I dunno..." Ace trailed off, his mind working overtime as it raged a war with himself.

Yes or no, yes or no ... yes or no — YES or NO?!

"Please." Cal said shortly. "It'll be so short. 20 minutes or less." He tried to negotiate with his friend, attempting to ease Ace's nerves.

Ace's eyes turned into slits as he studied his friend. "Ten."

Caleb's eyes lit up and he couldn't help a grin from splitting across his face. His friend's harsh glare quickly had him scrambling to turn his face back to neutral, but it was near impossible to contain his joy.

"Deal! Yep, yep, ten minutes. No more. I got it!" He quickly bursted out, turning and starting to take a step.

Ace grabbed his arm, "I'm serious. Ten or I'm coming."

"Got it, dude, relax." Cal was on such a high right now there was nothing that could realistically bring him down, so he quickly shook himself out of Ace's grip and began practically skipping to the front door of Edith Gardner's house.

Ace's electric blue eyes burned holes into his best friend's back as he studied him going up to the front door. His brain willed him to move and keep going, but his feet stood stubbornly rooted in place as they angled him so he was staring right at the other boy. Caleb turned around when he got to the front door, hesitating on doing anything more until Ace stopped watching him. Caleb turned around, lifting his left hand cheekily and waving to Ace — a friendly wave, but one that said, 'leave' nonetheless. Ace's upper lip curled slightly and his nostrils flared, his shoulders rippled with tensity when he finally took his first step away from the door. He took step by step very slowly, trying to avert his eyes from Caleb and taking deep breaths in and out to calm himself down. He was practically a robot with how slow and mechanically he was doing.

When his own door came into frame, Ace stopped. He decided that it would be a good compromise for him to stand here and wait for Jodee and Caleb to get back — maybe he could even move back to watch Ms. Gardners door once Caleb had gone a little inside and wasn't paying attention to him. Plus, there was a little half wall on Edith's porch, so Cal couldn't see him unless he stepped off of the porch. Yes, this was a perfect plan.

And it was, until Ace saw a little boy with dirty blonde hair peek his head out from the little wall. Damn him! Ace cursed in his head. Caleb grinned knowingly when he saw his friend standing there, lifting his hand once again to wave him away and flashed his smile even bigger so Ace could definitely see it. Ace didn't move. Caleb turned his friendly wave into a quick, 'shoo' wave, glaring his friend down. Ace's lip curled up, big time, as he reluctantly opened the door and stepped inside his own house.