STRANGER - CAITLIN CLARK

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

「 ✦ STRANGER ✦ 」
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

NOVEMBER 16TH , 2019

Friends. That's what they agreed to be this time around. They both knew it was for the best.

Isabella was confused, and Caitlin could see it. She didn't want to make the confusion any worse, already feeling like she may have been doing that in the first place.

Kissing Isabella at the party was selfish, perhaps maybe even the most selfish way Caitlin could've went about everything. Had she known just how detrimental it would be to their relationship, she wouldn't have done it. Nothing good came from it, all it did was push Isabella away, making Caitlin wonder just what was going on in her head.

Caitlin's mind continued to circle back to the night Isabella had kissed her, and the reaction she had to her own actions, as if she didn't do them. It was as if she wasn't expecting herself to do it, like she wasn't in control of her own body.

Caitlin had found herself googling questions, spending hours reading threads and articles about what that could've been. In doing that, she realized that she related to some of the things she was reading. It put things into perspective for her about the both of them. They were dealing with the same feelings, but were also kind of on opposite sides of the spectrum.

While Caitlin was in the process of emerging from the suppression, Isabella was sinking further in. All she wanted to do was help her. She wanted nothing more to just reach in, grab her, and never let go.

Caitlin accepted that them being friends was how things needed to be, and how it was going to be. She needed to get used to seeing Isabella with her boyfriend. The same boyfriend that she hated. The same boyfriend that didn't know that with every longing stare Caitlin gave their way, the more and more pain she felt.

The same boyfriend that she wished she could be.

Despite it all though, they were somehow managing being just friends just fine, even though neither one of them really want to be just that. It was a little easier than they anticipated, given Caitlin was becoming more busy with basketball starting.

✦

"Do it again, please." Isabella laughs, asking Caitlin to reenact the situation she was explaining from practice again.

Caitlin does as she asks, dramatically acting out the situation again. Isabella grasps at her stomach, unable to stop laughing. She drops the camera, curling up into the fetal position.

"You were recording?" Caitlin yells, jumping onto the bed and reaching for the camera.

"No!" Isabella lies between laughs.

Caitlin fumbles the camera around, clicking random buttons. "Oh my God, how do I turn it off?" She asks, realizing it was still recording.

Isabella jolts up, grappling onto the camera. "No, please! You can't!"

Caitlin jumps up, holding the camera high into the air as she still struggles to find the right button to click. Isabella lunges after her, refusing to give up on attempting to get the camera back.

"Goddamnit!" Caitlin laughs as Isabella somehow manages to get a hand on the camera. Their hands brush against one another, sending a jolt though Caitlin's body that she chooses to ignore.

"Please, Caitlin, you can't delete it." Isabella whines.

Caitlin looks down at her, still holding onto it tightly. "Why not?"

"Because, it's cute!"

Caitlin loses focus, letting her guard down a little too much. "Did you just call me cute?"