Caleb

Chapter Thirteen - What Am I Doing?

CALEB'S POV

        “Ciera, wait!!” I yelled frantically, barely heard above all of the laughing. I couldn’t believe what just happened. I chased after her as she ran out of the room, soaked in punch. People were clearing the way for her to leave, which wasn’t helping me.

        “Ciera!” I called again. She looked back at me for a second and her heel broke. She cried out as she fell to the floor, tearing her dress on the concessions table. She looked back at me once again and I could see the pain in her eyes. I don’t know how I knew or why she did, but I knew she blamed me for this. This incident was exactly the type of thing I broke up with Lucille for. Ciera got up after taking off her shoes and throwing them aside at Marcy, who was trying to help her up. After Ciera took off I passed Marcy as she started screaming profanities at the girls who had done this. Many people joined her, but I could hear Lucille laughing into the mic as I followed Ciera into the parking lot.

        “Ciera, let me drive you home or somewhere!” I called, my voice cracking.

        “No, Caleb!” I managed to hear her scream back, her voice soggy with tears.

       “It’s dangerous for you to be running out here, barefoot, at night!” I panted out. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t caught her yet. I was on the football team and the basketball team, and she wasn’t in any kind of sport, yet she was out running me. I finally caught up and reached out for her. I grabbed onto her arms and she slowed down.

        Her body shook as I pulled her closer to me. Her arms folded in front of her as she turned toward me and laid her head on my chest. I hugged her to me tightly and tried to keep her standing but her legs buckled as she sobbed. I could feel her tears warming my chest under my now-pink shirt. I was glad it wasn’t her blood this time.

        “I’m sorry Ciera,” I whispered into her hair. “I’m sorry for this.” She tried pushing me away from her but I wasn’t going to let go. Her makeup, though there wasn’t much of it, was smeared across her face from her trying to wipe away the tears. She had gotten most of the punch and it was dripping off of her. Her hair was matted against her skull. I heard people stepping around us and saw flashes. People were taking pictures. Marcy caught up to us, holding our jackets. She draped mine over me, and after she put Ciera’s around her shoulders I moved it over to her.

        “Caleb,” she whispered into my chest, “I don’t want to go home.”

        “Okay.” My answer was short and simple. Marcy and Luke moved into the crowd, getting people out of the way. Ciera and I stood up, but I didn’t want her walking on the pavement with bare feet so I picked her up. Marcy and Luke continued to move people out of our way as I carried her to my car. Luke opened my passenger side door and I set Ciera down in the seat, as gently as I had when she’d crashed. I closed her door and hopped in on my side.

        “If you don’t want to go home… where do you want to go?” I asked.

        “This place is beautiful.” I said. Ciera and I were seated on a hill on the outskirts of town. I had taken her home to grab a change of clothes. She had hopped in through her second story window and had come back out ten minutes later wearing her hair in a ponytail with sweats and no makeup. I had also gone home, but I just changed into sweats and put my shirt in the laundry. She smiled softly, stretching her legs out in front of her and leaning back. Her hand brushed mine, and for once, neither of us moved away.

        “My parents and I used to come here when I was little. Then Darren was born and my dad got a different job, and we don’t really come out here anymore.” She looked over at me.

        “What about you?” she asked.

        “What about me?” I replied, unsure of what she meant.

        “Do you have any secret family memories?”

        “No, not really. My family’s always been really close, but we never really do anything.” I thought about it for a minute. Between volleyball, basketball, football, and soccer from my sister and I and our parents’ jobs, we didn’t ever really did anything as a family. When we could we’d support each other at games. That was it.

        Ciera and I were quiet then, just sitting together and watching the lights of the cars below. I wanted to say something, but didn’t know what to say. Suddenly she burst out laughing.

        “Oh, my God, Caleb!” she managed to get out between giggles. I raised my brow questioningly at her, but she was having too violent a giggle fit to say anything. When she had calmed down enough, she sat back up and looked at me.

        “Your hair,” she started, interrupting herself with laughter. “The punch died it pink!”

        “What?” I exclaimed, frantically searching for my phone. I looked into the screen and realized she was right. The punch had died my hair pink. I groaned and then looked at her. She looked like pure happiness as she sat there, looking at me and trying not to laugh. Eventually I couldn’t help it and I laughed myself. I grabbed a handful of leaves and threw them at her, standing up.

        “Hey!” she exclaimed, shielding her face from the leaves. She grabbed some herself, and before I could get away she had caught my wrist and threw the leaves in my face and ran off. I sputtered as one fluttered into my mouth, then took off after her. After a while of running she tripped and I fell over her. She shrieked as we started rolling down the hill. I stopped myself after a while and held out a hand to help her stop. She took my hand and I pulled her up, sitting up. She smiled at me and moved to sit next to me, resting her head on my shoulder. I looked down at her, wondering how we got to this point. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and she looked up at me. Within me I felt the feeling I’d had earlier at her house grow and I brushed some hair out of her face, my hand caressing her cheek gently. I leaned down and kissed her. Oh, God, I thought. What am I doing?