Between Us

Chapter 44

The dilemma didn't last for long because I never ended up speaking to Caden. I wanted to. Like I'd said before, a lot of obstacles. One of them was whenever I went to his house, he wasn't there. Either jogging, at work, or band practice, maybe. And sometimes when I did catch him, he was with Leilani or his bandmates.

So fate didn't want me to speak to him. It was funny how that worked. When I didn't want anything to do with him, he was left, right and centre. Now that I wanted to see him, he'd disappeared.

My head was resting on my desk, the cold wood turning warm from my skin. A message notification rang in the air and I flipped my phone over. It was Leo.

'I wanted to go to a club nearby. Wanna come with?'

I pursed my lips. Not really. My experience with clubs hadn't been the best.

'Paris is coming as well.'

Well, that changed things! I sat up. Would I be able to speak to her about what Jordan said to me? I bit my bottom lip. I responded with a 'Sure, why not?'

When I mentioned my plans to my parents, my dad peered at me from over the top of his glasses. "Don't forget to come back early. We've been invited over to Dave and Lara's."

"I still can't believe you guys made friends."

"It feels good to be able to speak to people normally again," my mom said, wistfully.

"I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks this is all weird without..." my dad trailed off, "but at least we have each other. That's how I'm getting through all this."

Same as the rest of us.

It was the first time he had ever brought up Saria. We shared looks of affection and understanding, but also pain; it wasn't masked by a heavy silence that hung over us. It was marred by an absence that we desperately tried to fill, but that was how we were coping.

Trying to ease the tense air again, I choked out, "You're so cheesy, dad."

"I don't see your mom complaining."

"That's because complaining will probably end up in a divorce." My eyes widened. Since when did mom joke around? I shook my head. I guess since now.

This had turned out well for them, but I felt a little like things were worse off for me. In fact, I was contemplating being homeschooled for the rest of my life. If there were no problems at home, problems outside of home never failed to bring people down.

If this were the kind of problems an average person had to deal with in terms of relationships and friendships, then I wanted no part of it.

***

It wasn't just Paris that he had invited. Apparently Trixie as well. I wasn't so sure how I felt about Trixie after seeing her lip-locking with Caden. I mean, it wasn't her fault she was likeable, I guess. It wasn't her fault that for some dumb reason I cared.

The bubbling in my stomach and the squeezing of my throat trying to find fault in her—there were none, if you couldn't tell—told me that my jealousy was off the roof.

And to make things worse, we were at Cupid's Kisses. The club Caden worked at.

Fate and God wanted to destroy me.

"Can't we go somewhere else?" I whispered to Leo as we stood in line. I adjusted my black leather skirt over the tights I wore but the night wind was only lifting the hem up more.

"We only have two clubs in this dumb town," he whispered back. "Cupid's Kisses is the best one out of them both."

Did he know Caden worked here? Probably. Then why did he want to come here willingly?