Unexpected Love

Chapter Five: Cayden McDaniel...

Chapter Five:

"A very long time Cayden." I sighed sitting down on the bar stool abandoning my mission to make a grilled cheese.

I heard him sigh through the phone, "So how have you been all this time?"

Are you really asking me that question? I thought as I replied, "Well basically you have missed every good and bad thing that’s happened to me in the last two years of my life, which you should have been a part of. I thought we were friends Cayden? Best friends… and I thought best friends were supposed to be there for each other! Not disappear without a word all because of a minor confrontation!" I slammed my hand on the counter trying to control my anger. This is not how I expected this conversation to start out. I just couldn’t control my anger though.

"Well you know what? People make mistakes Gabriella, get over it." His tone was firm. I bet if I could see him right now he would most likely be scowling at his phone.

Rolling my eyes I gripped the phone tighter and replied, "Well it's hard to get over it as you put it.  Not one phone call, not one visit, not one letter or even a damn text. After I went by your house a few weeks after our argument to apologize it was quite a shock to see a for sale sign in your yard and you nowhere to be seen. Not to mention your cell was no longer in service when I tried to call you. Then a few months later I see you on TV singing with a band. I didn't even know you were going to be in a band Cayden, so much for being best friends who tell each other everything.”

I took a deep breath and tried to lower my voice a little. Good thing mom is out or otherwise she’s been running in here to investigate. “It hurt Cayden I don't think you even understand how much it hurt, and I missed you more and more every day after that and now when I finally decide to try and move on and let you go you just had to call me!"

The phone was silent for a few seconds before he spoke up again. "You think I don't understand? You have got to understand that I wanted to talk to you, call you, visit you but I got caught up in my career and became extremely busy. Soon a few weeks turned into a year which turned into two years. At that point I decided to not even try to contact you because you had probably moved on and forgotten about me and most likely would have cared less if I had contacted you."

Laying my head down in my arms I contemplated how to answer as multiple emotions coursed through me. After a few minutes of silence I finally answered him, "What were you hiding from me? That is why we are in this mess in the first place. You were lying to me and sneaking around and blowing me off Cayden. And how were you too busy to just call me and say hi? Your career made you that busy? You didn't have five minutes to spare? How did you even end up in a band? I didn't even know you were pursuing singing!"

“I'm pretty sure the secret I was hiding is crystal clear right now Gabriella. Maybe instead of blowing up on me that day about how I was sneaking around and spending less time with you, you could have just asked me what was going on. But no, you had to yell and scream and tell me I was the worst friend for hiding something from you, which I would never be anything but a jerk because I didn't tell you what was going on. I was embarrassed to tell you, I didn't know how you would react. Regardless of the fight my family and I were going to move that weekend--"

I interrupted him before he could finish, "No Cayden the secret is not crystal clear right now, so please elaborate!"

"I wanted to sing Gabriella! All those times I blew you off and couldn't hang out with you I was practicing with a vocal coach. Every time you saw me talking to the same older woman, and I lied and told you it was nothing, it was really an agent I was talking to. I wasn't sneaking around. I just didn't want to tell you that I was trying to pursue a music career because you always made fun of boy bands saying that they were all gay and sounded like little girls. I was sixteen Gabriella, I wanted to sing in a band but I didn't want my best friend making fun of me for it.”