Change of Plans

Chapter 32

Getting us kids out of the house on a school day was always a tedious task, but today, it was made nearly impossible by the fact that it had snowed last night, and the driveway was completely covered in a thick blanket of what I wished was an endless supply of vanilla ice cream.

"I can't believe it's snowing already!" Caitlyn squealed excitedly. She slung her backpack across her shoulder, grabbed her textbooks from the kitchen counter and gave me a bright smile. "We're actually going to have a white Christmas, Camille! I'm so psyched for you!"

Her excitement wasn't contagious though. I turned away and stared out of the kitchen window with a mix of worry and wariness. Sure, it was the first time that I'd be experiencing snow, but I wasn't particularly fond of the cold and according to the weather app on my phone, the temperature had dropped from 60 degrees to a whopping 14 overnight. I was probably going to turn into a popsicle the minute that I stepped out the door.

"Come on, let's go," Carter yelled from the hallway. He had yelled that statement approximately ten times in the last hour and yet, here we were.

"I forgot to grab my gym bag!" Caitlyn yelled back at him. "Can you grab it for me? It's on my bed!"

"Cait, I swear you're driving him nuts," I mumbled without making any attempt to get up from my chair. "We're so late already, why can't we just stay home?"

"Because I'll make you run my errands and we'll all have a day of winter cleaning," Tori jibed from her post in front of the fridge. She was finally clearing all the junk out and the thought of assisting was even worse than braving the cold.

"Got it. Let's go!" Carter yelled one final time before the front door slammed shut.

I sighed heavily and collected my things from the counter before trailing after Caitlyn who was practically skipping towards the door. "This day already sucks," I muttered while I locked the door behind us. "I hate it."

"Why are you ruining this winter wonderland for me?" Cait asked, sparing me a glance as she got in the car.

"Because it sucks! Weren't you listening?"

Her response was to ignore me. She scooted over so that I could force me and my heavy coat in beside her and then started a conversation with Carter as he pulled out of the driveway at a much slower pace than he usually did, which meant that we'd be arriving at school even later than before. Awesome.

I knew that I was being a killjoy, but I couldn't break free of my misery. I also knew exactly what was causing me this much gloom, but I didn't want to think about him... I mean, it.

It had been two weeks since I'd suggested that we just be friends and Aiden's nonchalant indifference was killing me and what's worse is that I couldn't even tell him that I'd reconsidered and now wanted more, because that wasn't true.

I don't know what could be worse than the awkward nods in the hallway and a few smiles thrown my way whenever we got within talking distance. It was almost like he was slowly cutting me off, but he was doing it in a way that warranted an explanation. How could we go from being more than friends but not quite dating, to this? This awkward, nod infested, non-friendship.

"Do me a favor and stay away from me until this mood is gone," Caitlyn told me before entering our English class.

I didn't even have the energy to give her request a second thought, I was too busy trying not to throw up, because not two feet from me, Aiden was standing dangerously close to Sam Jeffers, the blonde bombshell who now lead the cheerleading squad and my insecurities were picking me apart with comparisons. I think I've just found something worse than his nods.