Chapter 7

POV: Victoria 

My encounter with Caleb wasn’t anything like I expected it to be. He was… nice. He made me laugh and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. I felt at ease around him, like I didn’t have to be anyone other than myself. It honestly scared me a little. I had let my guard down so quickly with him it almost seemed natural. Sam bombarded me with a million questions after the class. 

“How was it? Were you nervous? Of course, you were. What did you guys talk about? I saw you laughing. Is he funny? How did you manage to keep your composure? If it were me, I would jump him there and then. What about his eyes? Are they as dreamy as everyone says they are?” she asked me all these questions in one breath, I was surprised that she didn’t pass out.

I did not know what to tell her. A part of me didn't want to share any part of my experience with Caleb with anyone including my best friend. I doubted that I would get a repeat of it any time soon.

“Come on Tori, spill! I’d tell you if it were me,” she pleaded. I could tell by her tone that she was getting annoyed with me. I had to give her something.

“He is really nice. Funny too.”

She squealed loudly.

“I knew it! Of course he’s nice. He’s a British gentleman. Oh Tori, I have killed to be in your shoes. Alice said she would too. We should hang out with her more by the way. She is really cool. I invited her to have lunch with us tomorrow. I hope that’s okay.” Just like that she moved on to the next topic.

I didn’t hear much of what she said because my mind was preoccupied. What had Caleb meant when he said he’d see me around? Was he going to seek me out? I had to admit that we had a lot of fun but surely that was that, right? “He was just being polite. Remember what Sam just said, he is a British gentleman.

Just because he waited for you after the lesson, wanted to walk with you and insinuated that he’d like to hang out again didn’t mean that he was actually interested in you. He’s probably even already forgotten your name,” I thought to myself.

I hated that the thought of never talking to him again made me a little sad. Why was I feeling like this? I barely knew the guy. All we did was slice up Hillary together.

“Aargh!” I exclaimed.

“What? What’s wrong?” Samantha asked

I had honestly forgotten that she was still around.

“Nothing’s wrong. It’s just…nothing” I answered her.

“Are you sure?” she asked again. 

“Positive.”

We continued walking to our next class as I pondered upon what Caleb said.

*** 

The next day I got to school in a foul mood. I had trouble sleeping because I couldn’t stop thinking about a certain brunette who shall not be named. As a result, I had a hard time getting out of bed that morning. My mom eventually had to forcibly drag me out of bed. I put in zero effort in my outfit.

I normally didn’t but that day was noticeably bad. The first words out of Samantha’s mouth when she saw me were, “Yikes! Was it laundry day or something?”

I thought she was overreacting a bit. I was in a worn pair of black sweatpants and a faded t-shirt that used to be black but was now a dirty grayish color. It used to be my favorite t-shirt and the amount of wear on it clearly showed on the frayed neckline. 

“You’re exaggerating. It’s not that bad. Besides, I chose comfort over style, that’s not a crime,” I said defensively.

She rolled her eyes and said, “You choose comfort over style every day darling. Today is just bad. Did you even comb your hair?” I didn’t even bother defending myself.

I knew that there was no winning in this fight. 

“Don’t say darling like that. You sound like Edna,” I said.

“Who?” she asked.

“Edna, from the Incredibles?” She still looked clueless.

I loved Sam but in moments like this, I wanted to disown her and renounce our friendship.

“Is that one of your movies? You know I don’t watch a lot of those,” she tried to defend herself. 

“But it’s the Incredibles! You know, superheroes, Elastigirl? Everyone knows the Incredibles.” I could feel myself getting more frustrated. 

“I love that movie,” a male voice said behind me.

I knew that voice and judging by how comically large Sam’s eyes got I knew I was correct. I turned around and was standing face to face with Caleb.

“Hi Tori,” he said, smiling at me.

“Hi Caleb,” I said, trying to sound as casual as possible. What was he doing here?

“Who’s your friend?” he asked. 

Sam jumped in and held her hand out to him. “Samantha Lee. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” You could hear the excitement in her voice.

“Real subtle Sam,” I thought.

“It’s nice to meet you Samantha. Nice boots by the way,” he said casually gesturing to the black studded boots that she had worn. He didn’t know it then but at that moment, Caleb Stallone had won over Samantha Lee. She was literally putty in his hands.

He turned his attention to me. “You were talking about the Incredibles, right? I loved that movie. Anyway, it’s Friday and we have history now. I thought we could walk to class together. Are you ready?”

I continued to stare at him wondering what he was playing at. There was no way he actually meant it. Sam pushed me forward and answered the question for me.

“She’s ready.”

No, I wasn’t.

“I don’t have my books Sam.”

She reached into my locker, got my history book and pencil pouch and shoved it in my hands. 

“There, now you’re ready. You go, I’ll close your locker for you.”

She was serious. I shrugged and decided to go along with it.

“I guess I’m ready. Let’s go,” I said to Caleb

. 

“So, who is your favourite Incredible and why is it Dash?” he asked. 

“DASH? Absolutely not. Elastigirl is the best. She is a bad ass. I’d take elasticity over super-speed any day,” I answered, absolutely appalled by his initial assumption.

We continued to argue all the way to class. I noticed a few people staring at us but I was too busy trying to argue my point across to bother with it.

*** 

At lunch time, I walked to my regular table and saw that we had a new addition. She and Sam were deep in conversation, giggling at something when I got there. I remembered Sam saying that Alice Cooper would be  joining us. I set my tray down and they turned their attention to me.

“Hi Victoria!” Alice said cheerfully.

Her enthusiasm was infectious.  I sat down and the three of us started talking. Alice fit in perfectly with us. It felt good having another person in our little group. I had just started eating my tater tots when I felt someone tapping my shoulder. I turned around and saw Caleb. 

“I’ve given it some thought and you were right.  Elastigirl is the superior incredible. I’ll catch you later. Bye Tori!” he smiled at me and left to go sit with the rest of the popular kids at their table.

“HE CALLS YOU TORI!!?? Are you guys friends or something? If so, where can I apply?” Alice said loudly. Samantha nodded along enthusiastically. I had to laugh at their antics.

“We’re not friends, you guys. We have only ever had two conversations. Well....three if you count this one.” I tried to convince them. Caleb Stallone and I were not friends.  Caleb Stallone and I could never be friends. It just doesn’t happen. 

We finished our lunch and headed to our gym class. I picked up my gym bad and headed to the girl’s locker room to change. I hated this class and just wanted to get it over with.  I had my leg on one of the benches so that I could tie my shoes. I saw shadows approaching and looked up to find Brianna accompanied by two of her minions: Jane Applewood and Christine Shrute surrounding me. I gulped.

“Here we go,” I thought to myself. 

“Hi ladies! What can I do for you today?” I asked in such a cheerful tone, I thought that rainbows would shoot out of my ass. Kill them with kindness, right?

None of them said a word to me. Brianna had murder in her eyes. I could tell from her expression that she was pissed. She walked up to me so close that I would smell the flavour of the bubblegum that was in her mouth; it was watermelon mint, coincidentally, also my favorite. 

“What’s your deal with Caleb?” she asked.

What was up with everyone assuming that there was something going on with Caleb and me? The allegations were starting to piss me off.

“There’s nothing going on between Caleb and me. I have literally only talked to him three times. I didn’t go looking to talk to him, he sought me out,” I said praying that that would be enough to get her to leave me alone.

She seemed satisfied with my response and stepped back a bit. Thank God that was over or so I thought.

 “Stay. Away. From. Him. You’ve got that?”

She poked my shoulder after each word. Hard.

She turned and left, her blonde ponytail almost hitting me in the face. As I rubbed my shoulder, I made the decision to just avoid Caleb Stallone. He wasn’t worth the trouble.