Welcome to My World

Chapter 13 Callum's POV {Mixed Feelings}

It's been a few days now. Rayla's still in the hospital, or so I think. I've been hanging out with my new friends, Matthew, Jamie, and Ravi. We're an odd combo. Jock, Geek, Popular, Artist.

The preparations for the Spooks' Ball have been going great. But when I told Ellis and Ez why Rayla wasn't coming to school, I swear their faces looked like they blamed me. Still, life is cool. Now that Rayla isn't coming to school first, I'm popular. Like, way popular. I can't help but get this feeling that maybe me and Rayla weren't meant to be best friends. Or girlfriend boyfriend. I mean, I'm popular, so maybe I should change my reputation.

I feel a cold little twinge of guilt at thinking that maybe I'm better off without Rayla, but I squash it, because she's walking into school right now. She looks a lot better from when I last saw her. She's still got her bandages, but she isn't struggling to keep her balance anymore. She walks straight, her violet eyes sweeping the crowded hallways.

"Rayla!" I call. Her eyes narrow, and she searches for me. I push my way through the crowd to her. "Sit with me at lunch?"

She looks at me closely, as if she's trying to gauge if I'm serious or not, then she nods. "See you there." She says finally.

Even if she literally said just three words to me, I feel like I'm floating. Ravi, Matthew, and Jamie come up to me. "Hey, dude, your crush talk to you or something?" Matthew teases.

"Yeah." I reply dreamily. "She did."

Jamie grins. "Gonna tell us who she is yet?"

"Genelyn?" Ravi guesses. "That chick is hot, popular, and rich. Not a bad crush."

"Ellis?" Matthew says. "She's cute, smart, and sweet."

I shake my head. "Nah. Ellis and I aren't even really friends, and Genelyn? I don't think of her that way."

Jamie laughs. "I know. It's that white-haired weirdo, right? What's her name again, Reyna?"

"Rayla." I correct.

Matthew snorts. "You mean you have a crush on that klutz who fell off the obstacle course after freaking Naruto running?"

"You don't know her like I do." I snap. "She's a good person. Even if she is a little weird at times. And she fell because she had a flashback thingy. And in case you forgot, she was the only one to finish the course. Even you didn't, Matthew."

Matthew holds his hands up in surrender. "Chill, dude, I was just teasing."

I nod. "I'm going to try to make it up to her and ask her out at lunch, ok?"

All of them ooh, and I blush. "Sure thing, bro." Ravi says.

All nod, and we start walking to class.

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I'm so excited for lunch. I get food from the canteen as usual, heading to Rayla's table. I notice she brought food from home today.

We sit down, the awkward silence thick and heavy. I can hear my friends joking around a few tables away. "So." I say to start conversation. "How's your head?"

"It's fine." She replies quietly. "Did I miss anything?"

"Nothing you didn't already know." I assure her. I'm about to say something when she looks up at me. Her violet eyes betray her hurt feelings. "When I fell, on Monday. You were laughing at me. Why?"

I stutter, unsure how to answer. She saw me? "I-I-I was laughing at a joke Ravi made." I lie quickly. Technically true, but the joke was, 'hey, look at that klutz!'

She sighs, taking a bite of her food. Her eyes widen and she spits it out into tissue. I laugh, because that means that Runaan cooked today. He is terrible at cooking. The only thing he can cook well is plain pasta and Rayla's favorite dessert, moonberry surprise. And by 'cook well' I mean 'not totally massacre'.

"Ok then." She says, settling on eating her apple instead.

"Will you go with me to the Spooks' Ball?" I blurt out suddenly.

Rayla looks surprised. "Um..."

"Please?" I beg.

She hesitates, then shakes her head. "No."

My heart sinks. "What? Why not?" I say, disappointment lacing my voice.

She sighs. "It's just... You know. My head still hurts with all the lights and noise, and it's gonna be bright and loud. Sorry, Callum." She looks up at me. "Maybe next time."

"Oh." I say, my heart crushed. "Yeah, that's ok. I understand. You just get better."

She smiles. "Thanks, Callum."