Two Hearts: The Hunt [Slowly Editing]

Chapter Twenty-Four

A/N- You know how a lot of books have like those one or two chapters that are just boring and sort of filler-ish but must be read in order for the plot to progress?

Well, this is that chapter, lol.

Sorry for the lack of Catleb but this needs to happen. I promise the next two chapters will be very romantic and amazing and yeah :p

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Caleb's POV

I was late to practice on Monday.

It was completely her fault. I insisted that I drive Cat home after school now that she didn't have a ride, but she had to go ahead and turn it into a big argument-as usual with things that involved her. We spent a good ten minutes going back and forth: me threatening to carry her into the truck and drive her home, and her swearing that she could outrun me before I got the chance. I didn't understand why she never wanted my help; I mean, the whole point of me being her boyfriend was for me to do exactly that. She was definitely a strange one. Very, very complex. I was determined to figure her out.

Anyway, after I got her into the truck (looks like I had to end up carrying her after all) I drove her home and by the time I got back the team was already half an hour into practice.

I changed into my gear in the locker room, and hopped out onto the field, my eyes immediately locating Nathan and the guys doing run-and-jumps with the ball.

"Oh look, its boyfriend of the year!" Jared announced as I edged closer.

Clearly nobody had forgotten about how I (apparently) had let Cat walk to school that morning because she didn't have a car. That obviously was not at all what happened, but I quickly came to learn that the guys liked to take Cat's side against mine for obvious reasons. Nobody believed me, so in the end I just went with it. Besides, I was expecting that bit of toughness towards me. Ever since I admitted my feelings for Cat to them, my friends here had been acting distant and had only begun to slowly warm up to me since Nathan was totally cool with my situation. It was funny, though: it seemed like now that I had Cat, our team was closer than it ever was-like they all had something in common to rally up against. I didn't really mind that they were becoming more united at my expense because in the end it was that sense of companionship that helped us win games through teamwork. If that meant I would be the lone wolf rejected by the pack, then so be it.

I rolled my eyes at Jared, playing along. "You guys are never going to let me live that one down, are you?"

Jared shook his head and with a heavy swing, threw the football forwards with a lunge. He grunted as he spoke. "I know if I were her boyfriend, I would offer her a ride to school. But, y'know, that's just me."

I blew out a breath, trying to maintain control of my calm composure. This was fine; I deserved it after all.

"Hey! Caleb!" I heard a familiar, friendly voice that I instantly recognized as Nathan's call to me. I looked over to see him on the other side of the field, a couple of yards away. He was Jared's catcher.

He waved wildly, flailing his arms to get my attention and I waved back with an equal amount of fervor as he began to jog over. His loud greeting drew attention from other team members, and it wasn't long before I was being surrounded by a good majority of the team. Even coach came up to us, wearing a stern look on his rough, hairy face.

"Caleb, you're late," he said in a disapproving tone, his faded blue eyes hidden in the shadows casted by his Mill Creek High visor.

"Sorry, coach," I replied.