Secret Singing Superstar

Twenty ~ ♫♪♫

When Caitlin was ten metres away from the oak tree, she paused. The person sitting at the base of the tree was definitely not Cailyn. It was a boy with messy brown hair. Who was it?

Maybe he had decided to sit there because he felt like it. The oak tree wasn't out of bounds. It was a public place. But Cailyn would've shooed him away by now - if she came early. Or maybe she was late. But Caitlin had a nagging feeling that Cailyn wasn't the one who sent that message.

It was too late to ask Leanne or Claire to come along...or any of her other friends...Caitlin had told them she was doing something that was personal and probably wouldn't be available the whole day. She'd heard that Leanne and Claire had hung out together at Claire's house after rollerblading yesterday night, and she didn't want to ruin their happy mood. She wasn't jealous that they hung out together without her - she wasn't the type of girl to be envious of others just because they had more better opportunities than herself.

At that moment, the boy happened to look up and saw her standing uncertainly ten metres away. He immediately stood up, brushing down his jeans. He beckoned her over.

Oh, no...

As she got closer, she recognised the boy. And thousands of horrible memories flew into her head. Her brain told her firmly to be mean, haughty and tell Daniel to leave her alone, but her heart wouldn't allow it.

"Hello," she said.

"Hey," he said. He grinned at her, as if they were old friends and they were just meeting up to hang out. "Do you wanna climb to the top? I've always wanted to do that. Cailyn says she's climbed to the top before and she says the view is great. Have you ever climbed to the top? You probably haven't, but my second cousin Cailyn likes to do daring things."

"I know, she's a friend of mine," answered Caitlin. She shook her head. "and no. I've already climbed up to the top before, and I'm done with climbing trees for now." She realised that Daniel didn't know that she had climbed the tree before, which meant that Cailyn must not have told him about their little conversation at the top of the same oak tree a week before. She felt grateful that Cailyn had kept it a secret. Judging by what the conversation was about, that would've been awkward.

"It's okay," said Daniel. He looked entertained, but he had beads of sweat on his forehead that Leanne would've noticed from the minute she saw him and Claire would've pointed out straight away. She smiled to herself. "Why are you smiling?"

Oops. "I just remembered something."

"Okay. Wanna sit down?" He promptly sat down on a bed of leaves. It was autumn, so the leaves were falling of the oak tree in torrents each day.

"Um..."

"Oh, come on. You aren't one of those girls who mind getting your clothes dirty like my sister, are you? Besides, I need to talk to you about something."

They made eye contact, and stared at each other for what seemed like ages.

Finally Caitlin cleared her throat. "Okay. I guess it can't hurt." She sat down next to him. For a few seconds they both just stared at the little kids playing on the playground about twenty metres away. Caitlin picked up a leaf and turned it in her hands. It was a beautiful orange-red colour. She fought the urge to stand up and run away, as being this close to him was awkward and she didn't know what to say.

Daniel broke the silence, but he said something that Caitlin was not expecting him to say so soon: "You know, I like you."

Caitlin blinked. "Like me, as in you like me as a friend, or like like me?"