Caleb

Chapter Eight - She Has A 'Date'

CALEB'S POV

    In the gym locker room one day after lunch, Jason started talking about Ciera.

“So, Caleb, do you think you’re going to ask Cherry to homecoming?” he asked me, loud enough for only us to hear. The question caught me off guard. I hadn’t really thought about homecoming, especially because at the moment there was no girlfriend making me go. I didn’t like to get dressed up just to go dance. I’d always sweat, making the clothes stick to me. Super uncomfortable.

“Um…” I started, not knowing what to say. We weren’t anywhere close to a relationship, I wasn’t even sure if she liked me.

“Why? Are you thinking about asking her?” I asked him, trying to sound nonchalant. He shrugged.

“I don’t know, man. We’ve never really talked.” I managed to keep myself from chuckling. I remembered what it was like to want to talk to her. To not be able to do it, that was bad.

“Well. She’ll probably say no in a cool way. Like, let you down easy.” I snickered at him. He shoved me onto the bench, trying to hide his worried look with a laugh.

“Yeah, she’s going to say no.” He said.

            In gym the next day after lunch, Jason just sat on the bench. I was kind of worried, but guys just don’t ask other guys about their feelings here. Unless they’re really close. Or they wait to be alone. When the other four guys left the room he was still sitting there, staring at nothing.

“You okay man?” I asked, leaning against the wall and shoving my hands in my pockets. He brushed a hand through his hair and blew out a sigh.

“She said no. Well, she didn’t say no, but she basically said no. We’re going together if she doesn’t get a date.” I looked down for a second then back at him. I feel kind of ashamed, but I was a little excited. That means, if I wanted, I still had a chance with her.

“So what are you going to do?” I asked. It was the only thing I could think of saying. I couldn’t tell him for sure that she wasn’t going to get asked.

“Well, she’s hot, so I bet she’ll get asked by some other guy. Probably a guy she talks to. Probably a nerd. I’m better looking than all of the guys that hang around her! Why didn’t she say yes?” I cringed when he called her ‘hot’. It was disrespectful. A girl like that doesn’t deserve indecent compliments like being called ‘babe’ or ‘hot,’ but deserves something more reserved like ‘sweetheart’ or ‘beautiful.’ Ciera wasn’t some girl who wore yoga pants to get attention. She was more of a lady.

“I don’t know man. Maybe she just isn’t ready to go on any type of date yet. Not even something barely meaningful, like homecoming.” He looked at me with a raised brow.

“You’ve got a sister, right?” He asked me. I nodded. “So then you should know homecoming isn’t just homecoming to girls. She’s probably waiting for you to ask her. Are you going to?”

            Right when he asked me if I was going to ask her Mr. Ringwald walked in and told us we’d be counted absent if we didn’t get ourselves into the gym room. Jason was a good bud of mine, but Ciera… Well, Ciera was my Cherry. My damsel. I’d saved her. Judging from Jason’s past with girls, maybe I could ‘save’ her from becoming one of his flings.

            Ciera’s cast had been off for three weeks that day. Homecoming was in a week’s time. We hadn’t spoken since she’d gotten her cast off. She was walking around the track when I jogged up beside her. She seemed startled by me coming over to her once more.

“Talking to me again? Or just stringing me along?” I stopped jogging. I had no clue what she meant. She turned and her agitated expression met my wide eyes. I guess it was more confused than agitated.

“What do you mean, ‘stringing you along?’” I asked cautiously. She was as fiery as her hair, and just as unpredictable as that fire, too.

“What I meant to ask is why did you do it. Why did you save me, hang out with me, and then just drop me?” I looked down.

“I didn’t realize you wanted to stay friends.” At that she scoffed, and I raised my head.

“Didn’t want to stay friends? Any girl in this school would love the chance to be friends with you. But apparently you don’t need any friends like me, so why would I want to stay friends?” A rhetorical question, but I didn’t see it as what it was.

“If you didn’t want to stay friends,” I began. “Then why are you upset?” She started walking once again, and I began walking with her. I could feel Jason’s eyes boring into the back of my head. Ciera just shoved her hands into her jacket pockets and huffed, looking at me with brows furrowed.

“You really don’t get it do you?” At this point I was so lost.

“Get what?” She huffed in disbelief then turned to look at me as Jason and Luke passed us.

“You just don’t get girls, do you?” No. I understand girls. I just don’t understand you, Ciera.

“No, I do.”

“Then why don’t you understand?” she asked, almost yelling.

“Because you’re different, Ciera!” I ended up yelling, everyone in the room stopping to look at me. She blushed, looking at me with pursed lips. I waved everyone else off, some affectively, others not. Jason and Marcy were some of the not’s.

“Ciera, you’re different than the other girls. You’re more honest, you tell me when I screw up, you’re not afraid to stand up to me. Other girls don’t do that. Other girls don’t challenge me the way you do.” She stood there for a second as others passed us. Mr. Ringwald was watching just to make sure things didn’t get out of hand, not caring about either of us just standing there because our grades were good. She looked down after staring confusedly into my eyes for moments.

“Then why did you drop me?” She whispered.

“It’s… It’s complicated. Actually, I came up to you today… To ask you to homecoming.”

“Despite this conversation… my answer is yes.”