It was way too early for day two. I stumbled out of bed, tripped on a pair of shoes to land on my face. I was greeted by laughter. The good thing was he's awake. "I have to go to school. Come on Caleb let's go." I was moving around trying to get ready. Minutes were passing by. Caleb hadn't moved from his spot on the sofa. He looked rather sad. Of course the famous situation when you invite a homeless dude over whether they rob you or don't want to leave. Here's the latter. Oh god. "Caleb I really need to go, you can come back after school?" I might have a too big heart and it's freezing at night. Weird enough he gave me his phone number, the guy owns a lot of phones. Once again I remember to not ask any questions yet.
"Good morning, do you need help finding your class today?" Sean gave me a heart attack appearing out of nowhere like that. I pushed my locker door aside to see the face belonging to the voice. The next thing I knew, he was walking right next to me. His voice was really loud, he put his arm around me. I shook him off. My heart was pounding, I felt my face burning. "No that's okay." I stopped down the hall in front of a large classroom, I was about to say my goodbyes when it seemed he was in this class too. Great. As we walked in, I noticed the blonde girl and her friends. Their eyes were on Sean, and I have to say Sean looked like he was praying. Praying to disappear. I saw the opportunity and took it, I took the spot next to him.
"Do you know those girls? They seem in all off my classes, and always together." Sean nodded, not looking to the girls I was pointing at. "Spencer, Emily, Aria and Hanna. Yeah always together." I noticed he didn't really answer my question. "I used to date Hanna." I frowned my eyebrows. Hanna. "The blonde." Sean added. So the blonde goes by Hanna. "Do you mean Marin?" I gasped. "Yeah, you know her?" My mouth was agape, Hanna Marin. The ghost from the past.
Those four girls seemed to haunt me everywhere. After lunch I jogged through the halls into class, I wasn't late. Just on time. I plopped into the first available seat I spotted. I looked at my neighbor and saw the most beautiful girl on the planet. Sean told me her name was Emily. She caught my eye and smiled, I tore my eyes away. My cheeks felt warm. She chuckled, she might have noticed the blush on my face. What's going on? Why does she make me feel little again? Class seemed to last for a year not an hour. That's because I tried to ignore Emily, who distracted me. Her little drawings in her book, playing with her hair, sighing every time she turned a page. It was cute. I decided to participate in class, and took for the first time real notes.
I still threw her quick glances every five minutes, she was seeming to do the same thing. We didn't talk, just being awkward. When I caught her staring, she didn't look away as I expected. Instead she continued staring, this time looking deep in my eyes. I lost the contest, I couldn't handle the tension she brought here. I hope this isn't a mean game to throw off the new kid. But her eyes are so kind. When the bell rang I threw my books in my bag and started to walk out of the classroom. I was overthinking every second of the past hour. I played with the ring James gave me. I sighed when I remembered the homework I was supposed to catch up on tonight and oh yeah then there was Caleb who probably would take me up on my word and be waiting for me. What do I have to do with him?
"Let me take you out somewhere tonight!" I shook my head, silently grateful for my homework excuse. I started working on it, sighing. "I can't do this shit." Caleb looked up. "Give it here." I got up, he took a seat and starting answering the questions without much thinking. Wow. That isn't just a homeless guy. I still didn't feel that comfortable, yet I felt kind of safe. He isn't a random homeless guy. "Okay done. Now since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, we already celebrate it today. To make it less hard for the single ones." I raised my brow. "We?"
"Yeah, Rosewood." Oh okay. I got changed and before I knew it I sat in a cab with Caleb. He was paying since he found some money on the ground today. "Where are we going?" Apparently to the famous Bridget. "I don't mean to be rude, but why do you want to go to this party so badly?"
"Free food and drinks. Parties are the best thing for my stomach." Of course, I should've known it. We walked inside, following the noise coming from the basement. People were grinding into each other, others were eating and drinking, in the back students formed a circle. Clearly playing a game, apparently I stood in the middle of the game after being here for fifteen minutes. Great, I lost Caleb which caused me to wander around and end up in the middle of a freaking circle and now I'm blindfolded and guided into a damn closet. A voice warned me to not peek, I was told someone will join me soon.
If I wasn't freaking out already I completely lost it when I heard the same voice say. "Enjoy your seven minutes in heaven." The closet got closed once again. I felt warm breath on my neck, my body was tensing up. My mind was racing, my heart was close to get a failure. Could it be Sean? I didn't see him here, neither another handsome man. What kind of guys would play this game anyway? Horny ones or nerds? My breaths were uneven, I started to shake when gentle hands reached behind me to unfold me and let the blind see.
I blinked a few times, I grasped the stuff at the side. My legs were giving me away, I was shocked. "I fancy seeing you here." She smiled. "I haven't introduced myself properly if I'm right. I'm Emily." I was drowning into her eyes. "P-Paige."
We can act like friends to make being locked in a closet less awkward or give in to the created sexual tension they created by locking us in here. I decided to sit on the ground next to her. "Who invited you?" She asked very friendly. "Caleb." She looked like she was weighing his name. "Caleb Rivers?" I shrugged. We hadn't really done last names yet. "So he's here? Wow I thought he disappeared from earth." I might get a lot of answers about Caleb in 7 minutes and maybe about Hanna. Would she ever have mentioned me? Probably not.
She smelled strong. Alcohol. Tipsy for sure. "I was thinking you were the hottest girl I'd seen around in a long time." She confessed. "You smell so good." I chuckled. I showed her the peppermints in my pocket. "Oh." She blushed. "So stranger where are you from?"
"Pennsylvania." Emily laughed. "Interesting."
"So won't nobody be pissed off that you disappeared?" She shook her head violently no. "Nope, single at Valentine's Day. My ex-girlfriend is a bitch." Wait what? Did she just say girlfriend? The looks, the words, the leaning with her head on my shoulder. It means something different to her than to me, well I have to remember it might mean something different. Okay. Thank god, she was rambling on and didn't notice the little alarm in my head. "What about you?" I spaced back in this moment just in time to answer her question. "We broke up when I moved here." Emphasizing the word boyfriend here just felt wrong. I don't want to stab her not in any way. I fidgeted with my heart shaped ring. "You're so beautiful you shouldn't be alone on this day." I leaned closer to her and gave her a kiss on her cheek. She was grinning from ear to ear.
"Here." I took my ring off my finger and slide it on hers. "Happy Valentines Emily." Bridget opened the door, time is up. I reached out to help her on her feet. "Do you want to dance?" The slow song sent alarms to my head. "I probably should find Caleb. She looked disappointed, I stepped closer to her and pulled her in a hug. "Bye." I whispered. I looked at her face one more time before I left, she smiled back. "We're good?" "You're good." I blushed at her huskily voice.