What Summer Brings

Chapter 14

{Song in video: Cyn - Believer}

To my surprise, Manuel wanted to pick me up. I didn't know if he was still going to do that since he ditched me yesterday. I still felt a bit upset about that.

I went into his car without saying a word.

"Hey," Manuel greeted me, giving me a smile.

"Hi," I greeted back, faking a half-smile.

He leaned over to kiss me, but I turned away from him, scoffing with my arms crossed.

"Look, I'm sorry about last night. I shouldn't have left you by yourself at a party without you knowing anybody." He sighed as we started to drive to school. "I'll make it up to you somehow."

"I didn't even want to go to that stupid party in the first place, and you knew that." I gave him a look. "We even had plans."

"I know. I thought it was going to be a small gathering with a few friends. He brushed his hair back. "So who was the friend that picked you up?"

"Oh...uh, Caleb, the new guy." I tried to not sound flustered. I didn't even know why I felt weird saying that.

We parked into the school's parking lot. He turned to me, glaring. "Caleb? You're telling me another guy picked you up?" He sounded serious.

I gave him a look, rolling my eyes. "It wasn't like that. I tried calling and texting you and my friends first, but you weren't replying, Nina wasn't replying, and Savannah and Sadie couldn't."

"Then your first instinct was to text the new guy? That doesn't make any sense." He shook his head, looking annoyed.

"If you didn't ditch me at that party in the first place, I wouldn't have had to do that." Why is he so annoyed by that? I should be the one that's annoyed.

"You still didn't have to get a new guy to pick you up."

"Caleb is part of my friend group. I don't know why you're acting jealous. It's not like anything weird happened. All I did was show him around town."

"You showed him around town? Just you and him?" He scoffed as he gripped the steering wheel.

I shouldn't have said that part. "We were planning it at sometime anyways. He's new, and doesn't know his way around town." I gave him another look as I got out of the car. "And nothing weird happened, obviously."

He got out of the car, and locked it. He sighed, brushing his hair back. "It's fine. I'll see you later." He walked toward the school, looking straight ahead.

I went inside the school, and walked over to my locker, where my friends were.

"Tinsley!" Nina called out, whipping her head at me as her long purple earrings jangled, noticing me walking toward her. "I'm so sorry I didn't see your missed calls and texts until later."

"Yeah, what happened with that?" Sadie asked me, frowning.

"It's fine, Nina," I said to her.

"I was with Nate."

Then, I turned to Sadie. "Manuel took me to a gathering, which turned out to be a party. Then, he disappeared with his friends, and I couldn't find him, so I finally got a ride from Caleb."

Sadie raised her eyebrows in surprise as she crossed her arms. "So he ditched you?"

I paused for a moment, then nodded my head. "Yes, but I ended up taking Caleb downtown, so it got better."

She gave me a look. "Nothing weird happened, right?" She asked me. "Not that I think you would do anything."

"Of course not. Manuel didn't like it when I told him about it though." I rolled my eyes at her asking such a question. "All we did was go to a boutique, and then a bakery shop."