Chapter 3: To understand a liar.
Will walked in the house and threw her bookbag on the sofa. She hadn't slept well ever since she had started liking Caleb and he started dating Cornelia, and it had been a hectic day at school. Dark bags circled her eyes and she looked awful. Will walked up to her room and grabbed the phone when it rang.
Hay Lin's voice came softly through the phone. "Hey, Will. I heard about you and Matt." She said sympathetically.
Will toyed with a pen on the table. "Hey, if it wasn't meant to be then it wasn't meant to be." She replied. 'Even if I did blurt out Caleb's name instead of his.' She thought ruefully.
Hay Lin was clearly trying to read Will's tone. "Yeah. I'm sure Mr. Right will come soon enough, you know?" She said.
Will leaned against the wall. 'Oh, he has. He just likes Cornelia better than me, that's all.' She thought. But her mouth said, "Yeah, you're right."
"You want to go for a pizza or something?" Hay Lin asked brightly.
Will smiled. "Sure, I'll meet you at the pizza place." She agreed. Hay Lin said goodbye and hung up. Will picked up the pen, wrote a note for her parents, and rushed out of the house.
Unknown to her, a figure waited in the bushes until she left. He looked at his smaller sidekick and signaled for him to stay quiet, then whispered, "You be the lookout. Warn me if anyone tries to go into the house and distract them so I can leave."
The smaller figure nodded, and the taller figure ran into her house, then pulled off his ski mask. Darn it! Where's Will's room? Caleb thought as he tiptoed down the hall. He climbed the stairs slowly, trying not to make any noise,
and opened the first door on his left. A bathroom. He walked on. After discovering a guest room, linen closet and her parents' room, Caleb slid the door open to Will's room.
He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for, or even why he had decided to break into her house, but somehow Caleb felt that this was necessary. He opened the nightstand drawer and pulled out a small, pink book entitled My Diary. Slowly he opened it at random and read the first few pages.
Dear Diary,
Today I saw Caleb again! I wish he knew I was alive. Well, he does know, but not romantically. Anyway, Matt and I are finally together, but we keep fighting for no real reason. I have a feeling we'll break up soon, and maybe then Caleb and I can talk...
Caleb turned the page and read the next entry. It was clearly the most recent, written hastily, and he sank down to her bed as he read the few words.
Dear Diary,
Matt and I did break up today. I called him Caleb instead of Matt. Of course he made a big scene...I just hope Corny didn't see or hear because she might tell Caleb and that's the last thing I need right now.
Caleb slammed the book shut, threw it back into the drawer, and rested his head in his hands.
'Great. She broke up with Matt because she still likes me! Flattering as that is, shouldn't I be trying to make her get back with him?' Caleb thought. 'Will is sweet and kind, but is she really what I want?' He thought.
A car door slamming brought him back to reality. Will and her parents were home.
Panicking, Caleb shoved Will's window opened, climbed into the tree outside her window, and slid down the trunk. Fleeing in panic hadn't been what Caleb had wanted to do; rather he had wanted to sit somewhere quiet to think about how he really felt. And now he was even more confused than before. pICTURES OF wILL AND Cornelia danced in his head as he ran down the road.
MEANWHILE...
"It looks like we've been robbed!" Will's mother cried in shock as she saw the house in mild disarray.
"This is just shameful." Grumbled Will's father. "Will, go check and see if your cell phone or t.v. is gone."
Will walked up to her room and looked around, frowning when she saw that for the most part her room was spotless.
Then she saw it. Caleb's jacket lay on her bed. Will picked it up, and called to her mother,"I have to go to Hay Lin's for a second!" She walked out of the house, eyes narrowed in anger, as she clutched Caleb's jacket too tightly in a fist.