Ok Caleb, he thinks to himself as he stacks books near closing time. The sun is just beginning to graze Heatherfield's tall buildings, but he is unable to drink in one of planet Earth's most enrapturing sights when Cornelia is on his mind. She's a Guardian. You dream about the Guardian girl. He stares at the book in his hands and resists the urge to hit himself in the head with it.
It had been almost a week since their first meeting; she was so much more than he even dreamed she could be, all grace and coy smiles and sunshine hair, slightly cynical with the wit and good humour to make it up for it, so unreal that she couldn't possibly be human. And of course she wasn't. He was...unsettled since their meeting, his thoughts jumping to unexpected, uncomfortable realisations. Her name played through his thoughts all day, Cor-ne-li-a, the soft syllables like a melody stuck in his head. When he closed his eyes that night, she was there, as she always is, but different than he recalled; this time, she hovered above him on fluttering wings with leaves falling from her golden hair. This time, he remembered.
Just because she's a Guardian doesn't mean that we can't be friends. Right? he wonders, scratching his head. Caleb reflects on the concept of irony, adding more romance novels to the shelf. There's an ache in his spine from bending down to the boxes. Earth is so much more mundane and fascinating than he ever could have imagined.
Not if you're putting the mission at risk, another part of his brain pipes up. And besides, you're about to take her best friend to Meridian.
Caleb clenches his jaw against the guilt. Hey, we don't know what Phobos is going to do with her! Caleb thinks. Maybe he just wants to reunite with his sister. Doesn't Elyon deserve to know where she comes from?
Ok, his internal voice monologue in once more, and the urge to smack a book to his forehead returns. Here's what we're going to do. When she tells you about being a Guardian - which she will - you tell her about the mission. Got it?
The bell on the door rings, and Caleb snaps out of his reverie. Stacking the last book in the genre, he turns to her, arriving as if on schedule. She wears an olive green skirt, and he thinks of the earth. When he sees the girl from his dreams, he grins on instinct regardless of his earlier argument with himself. I am done for, he scolds himself.
"Caleb!" Cornelia says, approaching him with a slight smile. "Have you seen Elyon recently?"
He picks up another pile of books to stack. "No. Why?"
"She's been acting really weird lately." She leans against the door, and Caleb realises he would be satisfied to stare at her there all day. He cannot muster the disappointment he should feel in himself. "Will you let her know I'm looking for her if she drops by?"
"Sure thing," he nods, unwilling and unable to tear his gaze away from her.
Cornelia hesitates and fidgets with her necklace, waiting for an invitation to stay. "Well, I guess I'd better-"
"Wait, Cornelia, I…" Caleb says. Could you try speaking to her without tripping over your words? he thinks to himself. "Do you want to talk about it?"
She perches on an empty table as Caleb busies his overactive mind with the books. "I wish I could talk to you about it, it's just…"
"What? Something you can't tell me?"
"How did you know?" Her sky blue eyes grow wide, and Caleb has to look away.
"Lucky guess," he murmurs.
"Hmm." Cornelia moves from the table to the other side of the shelf to help him stack the books. "Where will I put this one?"
"Uh, over there, I guess." Frankly, Caleb has no idea where the book goes, but he faces Cornelia through the bookshelf and she smiles at him fondly.
They pass the time in companionable silence. He wonders how things could be so very normal with a girl he just met, and knows that things will never be like that with them. They could never really have a first meeting, for some higher power, something in the universe, decided that they were to meet in a different plain of existence. Maybe they aren't the first people this has happened to? Or maybe they're the lucky ones? Either way, he steals glances at her from the other side of the bookshelf and tries to calm his rapidly beating heart.
"Do you miss your dad?" Cornelia asks when the silence stretches on.
He gulps. "Yeah, all the time."
"I can't imagine what you must be going through." Her face is sympathetic, almost affectionate, the most real and genuine thing he has ever seen.
Caleb turns the corner to pass her a book, and suddenly they're standing close enough that he can feel the heat emanating from her body. "Tell me about it," he says.
Cornelia can make out every feature of his face; his sharp jawline and sallow skin, his soft green eyes, his lips. Her pulse picks up, and, flustered, she hastily begins to stack. "Was he...young?"
"Yeah." A memory enters his mind, but his father is some faraway dream, remembering him like squinting through murky waters. He thinks the promise he made to himself, and stops before he can reveal too much. "Hey, can we talk about like...anything else?"
Across the bookshelf, Cornelia is embarrassed and skittish. "Caleb, I'm-"
"Don't apologise," he tells her with a smirk. "It doesn't suit you."
She returns his sly smile and throws a book to him playfully, which Caleb promptly catches. They work together in silence until the sky turns lavender, and the unspoken inevitably arises. "Maybe we should talk about…"
"The dreams?" he replies.
"Yeah."
Caleb moves to sit on the edge of the table without breaking eye contact. "I don't think we should tell the others about them."
"I am so glad to hear you say that!" Cornelia exclaims once the books are ordered. "If I told the girls I had dreams about you, Irma would have a field day."
He chuckles, shaking his head. "So...we definitely had the same dreams?"
She places a finger on her chin, deep in thought. "Well, I remember one in a forest of sorts, and one kind of near a castle somewhere that didn't feel like Earth…"
He is careful to mask his features. "Yeah, that one definitely wasn't around here," he mumbles. "But what I'm wondering is…"
"Why?" Cornelia finishes the sentence for him, and she approaches him tentatively. Skilled in hiding her feelings, her face is impassive, but the way her body moves tells him she's nervous. Caleb almost chucks at the familiarity in this dream-stranger.
"Maybe the universe wanted us to meet," he offers with a shy smile.
"In that case, the universe definitely did you a favour!" Cornelia jokes, flipping her golden hair. The smell of roses mesmerises him. She stands so close to him now that he can almost feel the warmth of her breath on his face.
"I don't know about that," he teases, eyes drawn to her lips like a magnet. "The universe did you a solid, too."
Their faces are mere inches away when the bell on the door rings. "We're closed," he says, without taking his eyes off Cornelia. A pair of footsteps sound louder and louder despite his statement.
"I said we're-" Caleb snaps, turning his head. The keeper of the Heart stands before him, breathless.
"Cornelia!" she says. "We need you."
Will takes her friend by the hand, and Caleb waves sheepishly at Cornelia as she protests. The girl from his dreams is half-dragged out of the bookstore. I am done for! he muses for the umpteenth time that evening.
The weird noise machine thingy that connects to other people's' noise machines rings an hour later. "Heatherfield Bookstore, Caleb speaking. How can I help you?"
"Well hello Mr. Librarian," she teases mirthfully.
"Cornelia!" he exclaims. "How did you get this number?"
"Duh! You're in the phone book, genius." He can almost hear her roll her eyes on the other end. "And they say people who read are smart…"
He snickers in spite of himself. "Don't push your luck, Blondie."
"Hey, don't you push your luck...Librarian-y!"
He inhales sharply through teeth. "Good comeback," Caleb says sarcastically.
"Hey, what are dream girlfriends for?" She pauses, red-faced. "I mean, that's not what I...of course I didn't mean that we're actually-"
"Cornelia, I would be honoured to be your dream boyfriend." That was the smoothest thing I've ever said, he thinks to himself. He can practically hear her smile over the line. "Actually, I'm glad you brought that up. Our conversation got interrupted earlier."
"Yeah, it did…" the earth Guardian trails off without explanation.
"You wanna tell me what happened?"
"I do but...I can't." Caleb can hear the desperation in the earth Guardian's tone, and wonders what it would be like to keep such a big secret. Then he remembers his own secret, his stomach knotting with guilt.
"That's ok. We don't have to tell each other everything." Caleb has to stifle a laugh; he has only known the girl for a week or so, yet they sometimes talk as if they're in a committed relationship.
"I wish I could tell you," she whines.
"Girls!" he groans.
"But seriously, you're right," Cornelia says. "We should talk about the whole dream stuff."
"Sure," he agrees with a gulp. It is becoming more and more difficult for Caleb to ignore his feelings for this girl.
"You know, it's not everyday I dream about people and then meet them later in real life!" she exclaims.
"That's never happened to me either, but…" he muses. "Let's say the universe did want us to meet. We've met! There's nothing else to it."
"So...That's it? We do nothing?" she retorts. "You know Caleb, when the universe gives you a sign, you should…"
"What?" He doesn't even attempt to shake his grin.
"Seize it!" Cornelia cries.
"You want me to seize you?" Caleb chuckles. He hears the door open, and Elyon walks in with a wave.
"Ugh!" she says, frustrated, but he Caleb can hear her trying not to laugh. "You're so…"
"Cornelia, is there something you want to tell me?"
"Is there something you want to hear?" she quips.
Uh oh, he thinks. She's got you now. He pinches the bridge of his nose, and decides to bite the bullet. "Let's...be...more than friends?" Elyon's jaw drops, and she gives him two thumbs with almost childlike excitement. How do Earthlings do courtship again?
"Wow, you really are from another planet aren't you?" Cornelia chuckles.
"You know what I'm trying to say." Idiot, he chastises himself. Even you don't know what you're trying to say.
"So, I'll meet you at the bookstore tomorrow at seven?" she asks.
"Yes!" he says, enthused and triumphant. He recalls something he'd read in an Earth magazine about...dating? Was that what they called it? "We can get...coffee?" Caleb isn't sure he is even pronouncing the word correctly.
"Coffee sounds perfect."
"Perfect." He waits a beat before asking, "Hey, did you find Elyon?"
"No, why?"
"Well she's right in front of me as we speak," he tells Cornelia.
"Oooh, put her on the phone!" she croons.
"Have you girls ever heard of a phone bill," he says to himself more than anyone else.
"Cornelia, hey!" Elyon greets.
"Elyon, I am so sorry I've been such a flake recently," she begins. "It's just my parents have been on my case about school, and Taranee's grandma is sick, and-"
"Hey, don't worry about it! I've got Caleb anyway." To his horror, Elyon winks at him.
"Don't even think about it!" Cornelia warns.
Elyon's airy laugh fills the room. "Of course not! I'm still maid of honour, right?"
"Definitely! How do you feel about white roses?" she jokes in response.
"Well, you'll have to see if he brings any to your date tomorrow night." Elyon nudges him playfully with her foot.
"Ugh, you heard that? Am I such a total loser or what? I pretty much had to ask him to ask me out."
"Trust me Corny, he's crazy about you. He's blushing right now." Caleb frowns at her from under his book.
"Elyon!" Cornelia protests. "I'm revoking your maid of honour privileges if you keep antagonising my fiancé."
"Alright, alright!" she giggles. "Hey, I'll see you at school tomorrow?"
"See you El!"
Elyon hangs up the phone, and gives Caleb a taunting look.
"What?" he asks, putting his book down spine-up.
"You love her!" she breathes.
"I do not love her, Elyon." Caleb crosses his arms. "I've only known her, what, five minutes?"
"That's long enough to fall in loooove!" she teases, fluttering her lashes with a grin
"Very funny. Hey, how're things with Alchemy?" he says, smirking.
"Sshh!" she says, placing a finger to her lips.
Caleb glances around. "There's...no one else here?" he whispers.
Elyon sighs and leans against the cash register. Her face falls. "I mean, don't mention her to the others."
"Why not?" Caleb's face contorts in confusion.
"Hello? People aren't exactly cool with the whole gay thing," she says. "If Alchemy knew how I felt…"
"Really? Where I come from…" he trails off, leafing through the pages in his book.
"What?" Caleb doesn't answer. "Where do you come from, Caleb?"
"Don't avoid the subject!" he demands. "Tell me about Alchemy."
"I don't even know if she likes girls," she whines, her braids flying as she throws her head back in frustration. "And anyway, nothing could ever happen with us. My parents would kill me!"
"Why would your parents kill you for liking a girl?"
"Duh. Were you born yesterday?" He shrugs, prompting her to continue. "They're dying for me to end up with some man," Elyon says, "and have babies and live in a castle on a cloud."
The irony doesn't miss him. "That's not fair of them. My dad used to always tell me to be myself."
"Really?" she asks.
"Yeah! It's like, why try and be something you're not to make someone else happy?"
"You know what? You're right, Caleb," Elyon realises, looking at the door as a thought occurs to her. "I'm going to call Alchemy. If you can get the girl, so can I!"
"Wait, that's not what I-"
It's only when Elyon is gone that Caleb realises he is beginning to play Phobos' game.
a/n: hello lovelies! thank you so so much for reading. i told you it'd be gay, didnt i? and i know this is super dialogue heavy, but hey, i have no excuse. [insert generic excuse here?]
reviews make me super happy and if you read this far i do love you very much!
thanks for being fab and have a great day,
A xxxx
