Chapter Six

I woke up bright and early Monday morning so that I could get my shower before every other girl on my hall got up. As soon as I returned to my room, my phone started ringing.

"Yellow?"

"First day of school, are you nervous?" It was Celeste. I smiled in spite of the fact that it was Monday morning. I sat down on my vanity stool and stared at my reflection.

"Not as nervous as I could be. I used to go to school here, I know where everything is, I've already got my schedule. There's nothing really to be nervous about."

"You're in way too good of a mood for a Monday." I ignored her comment.

"Has Mom called, yet?"

"No, but I was planning to call her today."

"Okay, just wanted to make sure she's doing okay."

"Karli, you don't think what I did was wrong, do you? I mean, you know, leaving her like that." I paused and smiled at the fragility in my older sister's voice.

"I think what you did was completely right."

"Thank you." I repositioned the towel on my head and gasped.

"Oh my gosh, that's right. You, Miss I-finally-got-rid-of-my-sister-so-I-no-longer-call-her, have not heard about mine and Reid's little talk."

"Oh, lord."

"Yeah, it was bad, but then it got better, but then it got bad, again. He told me he has all these feelings for me and has since before we even moved."

"Using the words 'Reid' and 'feelings' in the same sentence just sounds weird."

"You're telling me."

"So, like, what else was said?"

"He told me that I looked like a fool because I still have feelings for Caleb and then I asked him why and he just gave me the look."

"The look?" she repeated.

"Yes, the look. And I told him he was crazy and he was like, 'Don't throw my feelings aside like that.'"

"Wow."

"Yeah. Then he was asking me if I could just give a chance."

"Are you going to?"

"I don't know. I care about him, still, but I've really got it bad for Caleb."

"Who has a girlfriend." I sighed.

"Who has a girlfriend."

"Did the conversation end well?"

"Eh, not really. We were still talking and my phone rang and it was Caleb. Reid was like, 'Don't you even think about answering that phone.' I did it just because he told me not to."

"Karli!"

"I know, but I'm a borderline feminist and I just like to piss him off."

"Yeah, but he was actually being a person to you and not an asshole."

"True."

"You've got to understand where he's coming from on this one."

"I do?"

"He's got all of these feelings for you and he's got to live with the fact that he's never going to be Caleb to you. He's always going to be second in line. That's got to hurt." I nodded on my end of the phone and pushed around a makeup brush on the vanity. "I mean, it's not your fault that you feel the way you feel, but it's also not his fault that he feels the way he feels."

"I guess."

"What did Caleb want, anyways?"

"For me to go to lunch with him and Sarah."

"Did you?"

"Negative, I told him I still had loads of unpacking to do. It wasn't a lie."

"You packed half the world."

"I know, but I may need all of this stuff."

"Question."

"What?"

"Would you have gone if it was just Caleb?"

"I'd love to lie and tell you that I don't know, but the truth is that I probably would have. It's not because I don't like Sarah or anything remotely related to that, it's just that I don't like to see them together."

"That's amazing that you're risking your own happiness for theirs." I grunted in reply. "Maybe Reid could, uh, help you out with that happiness thing."

"Are you pushing for Reid, here?"

"Maybe."

"Why?"

"Because I think he deserves the chance. Purely based on his being there for you when you and Caleb used to 'date.' That's so out of character for him, and I really respect that he was your shoulder to cry on when you needed him." We were both silent for a minute before I started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"You know, I could just die by ascension and then all of this worrying and drama would be for nothing."

"Karli," her voice was strong and serious, "don't talk like that."

"What did I say?"

"I don't even want you thinking like that."

"It was a joke, Celeste."

"I don't care. It's not funny."

"Sorry." We continued talking for a bit before I looked at the clock. "Shit, I've got to go if I'm going to fix hair and makeup for the first day of school."

"Call me tonight?"

"Sure."

"Good luck, Karli."

"Thanks, Celeste."

: x : x : x :

Weaving my way through the halls at Spenser was like riding a bike. It took me a few minutes to adjust to the pace, but once I got it, you couldn't have picked me out as the new kid. Even though, technically, I wasn't. Being back was strange but not, all at the same time. I saw many familiar faces in addition to the new ones, and I got millions of hugs, handshakes, and "oh my God, I can't believe you're backs."

My first class of the day was my AP English class. Yeah, it was a real jumpstart to my day. I paid as much attention as I could, but nearly fell asleep more than once. Next was my AP American History class that really did put me to sleep. I'd already learned everything in there at least three times just like in my English class. Those were concrete core classes that would never change. I didn't really understand what was so AP about them, but Celeste said they were a good idea and would look good on a college application, so I took them. We had a 30 minute break between classes, and then my third period was my free lunch period. I swung open the cafeteria doors to see many of the same faces that I'd been seeing all day. One that I couldn't seem to get away from was Aaron.

"You stalking me, gorgeous?" I didn't stop walking to the lunch counter, but paused long enough to give him a look.

"Definitely not, Aaron."

"Aw, come on, humor me?" He moved closer and put his arm around me. I moved out of his reach and kept walking. He called me a bitch under his breath and walked away. I rolled my eyes and got in line. We, the Sons of Ipswich, Aaron, and myself had all been friends as kids. Aaron had chased me for years and got totally pissed when I dated Caleb, resulting in his unrelenting hatred for all of the Sons. It was stupid and childish, but I wasn't going to date him just so that he'd be nice to the boys. Reid liked the drama too much.

As I waited in line, I looked around the room. Sarah finally caught my eye with her rapid arm waving. I smiled at her and she motioned for me to come over. I quickly got my tray of amazing smelling turkey, rice and gravy, and green beans before I made my way over to her table. I sat down and smiled at Ashley who gave me a real smile in return.

"Hi, girls," I said, picking change out of my pocket to get a drink out of the machine. I got a Coke and returned to the table to see that Reid, Pogue, and Caleb had also taken seats. "Is this the party table or what?"

"I thought you didn't like Coke," Reid said, sitting in his usual position: straddling a backwards chair. I shrugged.

"I've changed." I let my eyes say a little more than my mouth and he narrowed his eyes at me for just a second.

"Awkward," Pogue said, his arm around Ashley with her head laying in the crook of his neck. We all laughed and I noticed someone was missing.

"Where's Tyler?"

"Library," someone said.

"Aw, he always was the bookworm." I started eating as everyone started talking to their significant other, well, everyone except Reid. I didn't look at him, but I could feel his eyes burning holes into the side of my skull. I glanced in his direction to see that he was tapping his fingers on his chin, per usual. "What?"

"Nothing." I rolled my eyes, sipped my drink, and looked back at him.

"At least you're talking to me."

"Why wouldn't he be?" Sarah suddenly asked. I didn't look up from my plate. Reid was going to handle this one.

"We fight a lot." Genius answer. I gave a sarcastic bark of laughter that earned me a glare from Reid.

"Oh." She could tell we didn't really want to talk about it. I sent her a thank you smile and she nodded in return.

"Karli, what's your next class?" Pogue asked me.

"Spanish III."

"Hell yes, me, too. You're definitely sitting next me." Ashley went really still and gave me the up-down. Great, just when I thought we were making progress. I finished eating and we talked for a bit longer before the bell rang. Everyone hurried out of the lunch room, but I grabbed Ashley's arm to hold her back.

"Can I talk to you real quick?" Pogue was up ahead and turned around to walk towards us. "Go on, Pogue, I'll meet you in there." He raised an eyebrow but turned back around and walked down the hall. Ashley just stared at me, waiting for me to say whatever it was that I had to say. "Whether or not you're worried about it, I just wanted to let you know that I am completely uninterested in Pogue."

"How do I know you're telling the truth."

"You don't, but you'll just have to take my word on it. I've never felt anything for him beyond a tight brotherly bond. He used to be one of my best friends and I want us to be that close again, but that's it. I'm not even remotely interested in him romantically." She squinted her eyes at me and looked at me sideways.

"Promise?"

"Promise." She nodded and bit her lip before she hugged me and walked away. I stared after her wondering what had just happened.

Spanish III wasn't nearly as boring as all of my other classes, I guess because Pogue was in there. We sat beside each other and passed notes, played game after game of tic-tac-toe, and made faces at the teacher when his back was turned. All after completing our class work, of course.

Next was my Pre-Cal class. I got to sit between Reid and Caleb with Tyler on the other side of Reid. Tyler was busy talking to some girl on the other side of him, so that pretty much left Reid, Caleb, and myself to fend for ourselves. The math course at Spenser was actually ahead of the math course I had been taken at my previous school, so the majority of that class period was spent with Reid and Caleb teaching me. I was surprised more than once by Reid. He actually seemed to know what he was doing and insisted that he teach me what I needed to know. It was oh so obvious to Caleb what Reid was doing, but it was apparent by the smirk on Caleb's face that he was nothing but amused by it.

We had a short 15 minute break between fifth and sixth period, but I had no sixth period, so I was done for the day. I still met up with the rest of the group outside under this huge oak tree that had been there longer than the actual school. Sarah had found me right before I walked out of the door and had looped her arm through mine to walk me out there.

"How's your first day back been?" she asked, pushing the door open for the both of us.

"Pretty well. I'm going to have to drink a pot of coffee to keep me awake through my English and History AP classes, though. Those two first thing in the morning is not a good idea." She gave a small laugh and continued walking me to the group. Caleb was sitting Indian style under the tree, a book open in his lap. Sarah quickly released me to join him. I looked around to see Ashley and Pogue chilling in the grass, hand in hand. I walked around the huge tree to see that Reid was sitting on the other side of it. His legs were steepled with his arms laying on his knees.

"Hi," I said, toeing at the grass. He looked up and squinted against the sunlight. I watched his hand as he twisted a weed around in his fingers.

"Hi."

"Having fun down there?" He nodded and patted the area beside him.

"Care to join me?" I shrugged and sat down beside him, sitting closer to him than I had intended. We were silent for a while, with him just twisting the weed between his fingers.

"Reid, listen, I'm sorry." He looked back at me and said nothing. "For, you know, everything that I've said or done or whatever. I've never meant to hurt you or throw your thoughts or feelings aside."

"What does that mean?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you saying all of this?"

"I don't know. I'm just tired of us fighting."

"Are you going to give me a shot at this relationship thing?" I pulled my legs up to my chest and leaned my head on his shoulder. His shoulders had always been my favorite part of his body. They were broad and square, sturdy. In my mind, even with as restless and fickle as he was, those shoulders represented stability. He looked back at me. "Karli?"

"Reid?"

"Answer?" I sighed into his shoulder and rubbed my cheek against it. Reid had always been good to me, really, he had. I was the one girl that he'd slept with and had not dumped. I was the one girl who had earned and kept his respect. I was the one girl that he wanted a real relationship with. I heard Sarah giggle on the other side of the tree. I was never going to be here. Caleb was hers and whether I liked it or not, I liked her. She deserved him and I just wasn't the type of girl to break up relationships for my own gain. I stared at Reid's profile. I deserved to be with someone who wanted me, and it wasn't as though I didn't like Reid. I liked him quite a bit, actually, but had never thought to give him a real chance because of my feelings for Caleb. I mean, sure, Reid could be a total ass most of the time, he was arrogant and shallow, but he cared about me. He loved me. I knew that he did.

"Okay." He froze and turned his head back to look at me.

"What'd you say?"

"I said 'okay.' But I'm going to warn you, if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. I'm not jeopardizing our friendship for a relationship. Deal?"

"Deal," he looked into my eyes as his flashed fire. I looked at the ground in front of us as a pink tulip sprouted and grew. I picked the flower and hugged Reid close to me. He still remembered my favorite flower.