Caught in Between

-12-

It had been a few days since the situation involving Diana. I kept thinking about what happened, and I could tell Kaleb knew what was going on with me. "Rebecca.." Kaleb softly called out my name and it pulled me out of my thoughts. I slowly looked over at him and he had his chin rested in the palm of his hand as he gazed upon me.

"Hm?" I responded, still a bit dazed.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Sorry, I didn't mean to just become distracted like that. What were you saying again?" I didn't mean to be rude, but my mind kept flashing back to when Zach whispered to Diana. I was too curious about what he had said to her.

"Distracted about what? Is it about what happened yesterday?" Kaleb was able to read me easily, and I wasn't sure if it was because I was that simple to figure out or if he was just that good.

"Sorta. I just.. I hope Keith gets over his craving soon." I glanced down at my textbook and Kaleb reached his hand over and placed it on my mid thigh, and I let out a slight gasp, glancing around the classroom to see if anyone noticed.

Kaleb leaned in a bit closer. "Relax.." He said in a lower tone and I could feel the goosebumps race all over my body. He gave my leg a gentle squeeze before he pulled his hand away back into his lap. I pulled out my notebook and began to copy the required questions down of the lesson onto the paper.

I never thought I would think about Zach that much, but I did. And I knew what I was going to do during lunch.

***

"I need to talk to you." I approached Zach who was shoving things into his locker. I crossed my arms and leaned against the locker next to his. I stared at him, waiting for an answer as he stuffed another book inside and then pulled out a different book that he placed into his backpack that he was holding. He sighed as he closed his locker and turned to look at me.

"About what?" He asked as he slung his backpack over his shoulder. I didn't know why he was acting so annoying. Usually, he'd be excited for me to be talking to him. Was he playing hard to get or something?

"About yesterday," I answered and he let out another sigh. He checked the time on his phone and then looked at me with an impatient expression on his face. He was starting to get on my nerves by how he was acting.

"Look, I'd love to but I'm actually going to be late to an appointment." He was about to walk passed me, but I grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. He glanced down at my hand that was gripping him tightly and then back up to my eyes. I took a step closer, keeping my hand tightened, and I narrowed my gaze on him.

"I need you to tell me something."

He leaned in closer, his face inches away from mine. "It can wait, Rebecca." His eyes went down to my lips then trailed back up to my eyes. He held his gaze there for a few seconds before he used his other hand to pry my hand off so he could get away. I watched him as he quickly walked away.

"Rebecca."

I whipped my head around to see Kaleb standing there with a confused look on his face. I didn't know why I felt so nervous. Was he watching the whole time? Did he misunderstand the situation? My heart was beating fast.

"Did you see what happened?" I asked, getting straight to the point. He nodded his head in return as he closed the gap between our bodies. I watched him as he stopped in front of me, leaving about a foot between us.

"I did. I just want to know what that was about?"

"Nothing really. He's been acting weird so I wanted to see what was up with him, but he didn't want to tell me." I didn't know why I didn't tell the whole truth to Kaleb. And I didn't know why I felt so guilty about it. It's not like I had something to hide or anything. I watched Kaleb as he slowly nodded his head, digesting the information.