Categories > Celebrities > Fall Out Boy > Fate
Chapter Seven
Avery, being the loud mouth that she is, calls over, immediately stands up and practically runs to the door. She must have invited the guys over because they began walking towards us, along with the waitress. They pull another two tables over, one on each side, surrounding us. Naturally, my eyes stop on the red head. He look sullen, like he’s in a bad mood. He also avoids looking at me. They guys sit down, but right as Caleb tries to sit next to Reid, Marc scoots in, leaving the only open seat next to me. I hear him sigh and close his eyes for a moment. A moment longer than a blink would have taken making its prolonged status purposeful.
Everyone exchanges greetings and it strangely goes silent as we contemplate the menus. Mine is frayed at the bottom and I can’t help but mess with the little plastic peeling free from rest of the page. I stare at my watch too.
“Want to share a nacho platter Reid?” I ask, breaking the silence after about a minute. I can feel Caleb’s negative energy and it’s tension that I’m not in the mood to feel. I’d rather be distracted by something else.
“Why don’t we get that to share?” Avery suggests. There are nods and noises of agreement. Now what?
“Now you have to get something else!” Reid laughs, poking my side. I poke her back and she ends up kicking the person across from her.
“Hey what did I do?” Kyle whines. Jonathan pokes him and he ends up kicking Reid back.
“Payback’s a bitch,” she says, grabbing her shin and glaring at Kyle.
“I’m going to go get another pitcher. Same thing?” I ask, dying to get away now. Everyone is starting their own dialogue and Caleb is like a rock next to me. Good to hide behind in warfare, but a lousy conversationalist. Everyone agrees and I move my chair back, grab the pitcher and walk towards the bar.
“I’ll help you with those glasses,” Kent offers as we wait for the drinks.
“So,” he starts, looking like he wants to ask me a question but stops.
“Well?” I ask, expectantly.
“Is there a reason you haven’t responded to Caleb’s text messages and calls?” he blurts out. I laugh and then get serious.
“I left my phone at Avery’s. At least I hope I did. Is that why he’s being so chatty?” I ask.
“Seems so. He’s been weird all day. So now we need a plan to let him know you don’t have your phone. He might get pissed that I brought it up to you,” he explains. I think for a second before responding.
“You’re sitting catty corner to me, ask me to take your picture and I’ll tell you that I don’t have it and left it at Avery’s,” I say, picking up the pitchers while Kent takes the glasses. He nods enthusiastically.
When we return to the table, it appears a straw wrapper war has taken place. Straw wrappers are everywhere. It also appears that they’ve moved onto throwing chips at each other.
“I leave you alone for five minutes and this is what I come back to?” I tease. Caleb stands up and takes one of the pitchers from me and I hold back my surprise.
“At least you don’t have your phone on you,” Jonathan says when I sit down, grinning from across my seat.
“We were going to send text messages to Josh,” Reid giggles. So that’s why Caleb is acting like the guy I met last night. He found out the reason I’ve been “ignoring” him.
“Thank god. Wait, how do you have his number?” I accuse. Avery slides over a slip of paper. It’s obviously for Reid. From Josh. With his number.
“You were going to text him from my phone and pretend to be Reid? I don’t deserve that torture!”
“Hey, you brought him back and he ruined my morning,” Reid says, rolling the paper into a ball and shooting it at Kyle from across the table. He catches it though and throws it back.
“Ew I don’t want that. It’s probably infested with Josh germs!” she squeals. I grab it and throw it on a passing bus boy’s tray. He doesn’t even notice though. I think he hates his job.
“We ordered for you,” Avery says before returning to her conversation with Jonathan.
“What? How did you know what I wanted?” I kick her from across the table when she shrugs.
“Remind me again why I’m friends with you?” I say, rolling my eyes.
“Because I’m pretty,” she replies like it’s common knowledge.
“And because we’re the only friends you have,” Reid says like this too is common knowledge. I try to look offended but I know it’s true.
“That’s not true! Crystal is my friend,” I exclaim.
“Crystal is in high school. They don’t count,” Reid points out. I’ve lost this battle.
“Fine, you’re the only mature immature friends I have. Or is it immature mature friends? I’m going with the latter,” I say, grabbing a salsa drenched chip and chewing away happily. Free chips make me happy.
Our lunch goes on with laughs and more sharing of interests and life.
“Well, we better go,” Marc says once we’ve finished dessert.
“Yeah, we’ve got a flight to catch,” Kyle adds, stretching. His long arms almost smack the waitress coming to give us the check. Avery snatches it up before anyone else can.
“I’ve got it,” she says, pulling out a card. The guys start to protest, but she holds up her hand.
“Keep in touch and we’ll consider it even,” she says, handing the card to the waitress before they can say anymore.
“You really don’t have to do that,” Jonathan says. The others nod in agreement.
“Avery likes to dote upon friends. Consider yourselves friends now; she doesn’t do it for just anyone,” Reid says, yawning at the end.
“We need to get you back into bed. When is the last time you’ve slept more than 5 hours?” I ask.
“I can’t. I’ve got a test,” she starts.
“But nothing. That’s what Sunday is for.” I grab her purse and pull out her keys before she can object. “I’m driving.”
She doesn’t put up a fight, meaning she’s secretly thankful.
“Alright, have a good flight back to Texas,” I say, hugging Kent.
“Call if you’re in the area,” Jonathan says after our embrace.
“You better do the same,” Reid says pulling away from Kyle.
“You should call me,” I whisper to Caleb when his arms encircle me.
“I already have,” he says sheepishly. I smirk knowingly.
“Well I’ll call you back then,” I say.
After everyone has said their goodbyes, they climb into a cab and we climb back into our car. The drive back is significantly quieter than when we came in and thankfully Reid falls asleep in the back seat. Once we’re back to Avery’s, I pack our bags and return to the car, with Reid still asleep. I find my phone but I’m too focused on getting Reid home and into bed to find out exactly what Caleb did.
“Come on darling,” I say once we’re at our apartment. I push Reid slightly until she stirs. Her eyes flutter open and she blinks from the light.
“What?” she whispers. I laugh a little.
“Come on sleepy head, time for a nap.” I help her into the apartment and put her to bed. She’s mumbling random things the whole while. I put her bags into her room and shut the door, turning on the fan for noise, the way she likes it.
I collapse on the couch, the first time I’ve gotten to breath all day. I stretch out and pull out the remote.
I flip through channels for a while before settling on “Pretty Woman.” I love Julia Roberts. Her red hair suddenly reminds me of another red head. I scramble to my room to find my phone, anxious to see what he sent me.
15 new messages
4 missed calls
3 new voicemails
All from Caleb. Kent wasn’t lying. Geeze. Clingy? Perhaps. Paranoid? Maybe. Smothering? Ish. Sexy? Definitely.
I open my inbox first, scrolling to the very first one.
I hope you made it home alright. 5:48am
I continue scrolling through.
Good morning pretty lady :) 10:10 am
I’m up, are you? 10: 15am
Text me when you get this 10:34am
I had a really nice time last night 11:12am
I hope you did too 11:21am
Yeah, I really don’t have anything better to do 11:47am
Not that I mean I only wanna talk to you when I’m bored 11:48am
I don’t want you to think I don’t like you. I do. 11:50am
Like I said, I had fun last night. We should do it again sometime. 11:55am
I’m leaving town tonight, so maybe I could see you before then? 11:29am
Like dinner? A movie? Both? 12:01pm
Just let me know. I don’t have anything planned all day. 12:05
I’m going to just call you. 12:10pm
You must still be asleep. Well, call me when you wake up. Or get this. 12:17pm
I can help but smile at his apparent desperation. I move on to voicemail.
Punching in the password, I decide I need a snack.
“First message sent at 12:11 pm.” The automated female voice moves slowly and methodically.
“Hey Harper, it’s Caleb. From last night. I hope you made it back alright, but I’m not sure if you’re up or not yet. If you wanna give me a call when you are, that would be great. Um, bye.”
“Next message sent at 12:22 pm.”
“Hey Harper, it’s Caleb. Again. Um, the guys and I are going out for lunch and I was wondering if you wanted to come with. Avery and Reid can come too. Not that they’re an afterthought, but the guys would like to see them too. Not that I wouldn’t. Oh shit.” There is shuffling before the call ends.
“Next message sent at 12:40 pm.”
“Hey Harper, it’s Caleb. I hope you’re not sick of my voice yet. Um, we’re going into downtown Chicago. I’ll call you when we pick a restaurant and you can meet us there. Um, bye.”
“End of messages if you would like to,” the automated voice says before I push end.
I can’t tell whether to be creeped out or find it endearing. I decide I’ll text him back anyway.
Hey, not sure when your flight is, but I figured I would answer you before you had a heart attack. 15 messages? Really? And voicemails? You’re like a creepy stalker ;)
Not more than 5 seconds after, my phone alerts me of a new message.
You’ve probably read all my messages and what not and I’ve probably creeped you out. Please don’t be creeped out! I was just worried you didn’t like me. And that last night didn’t mean anything to you. It did to me.
I internally “aww”ed and a shiver ran up my spine. The love shiver. The one you get when you like someone and they like you too. I can’t help but smile the lame smile either.
I’m falling, and for once it’s not because I’m clumsy.
******
Thanks for the comments :)
Sorry the last few have been lame. I'll try harder for the next one. I'm really not happy with the way this is going. Writers block...
xoxo,
Kade
Avery, being the loud mouth that she is, calls over, immediately stands up and practically runs to the door. She must have invited the guys over because they began walking towards us, along with the waitress. They pull another two tables over, one on each side, surrounding us. Naturally, my eyes stop on the red head. He look sullen, like he’s in a bad mood. He also avoids looking at me. They guys sit down, but right as Caleb tries to sit next to Reid, Marc scoots in, leaving the only open seat next to me. I hear him sigh and close his eyes for a moment. A moment longer than a blink would have taken making its prolonged status purposeful.
Everyone exchanges greetings and it strangely goes silent as we contemplate the menus. Mine is frayed at the bottom and I can’t help but mess with the little plastic peeling free from rest of the page. I stare at my watch too.
“Want to share a nacho platter Reid?” I ask, breaking the silence after about a minute. I can feel Caleb’s negative energy and it’s tension that I’m not in the mood to feel. I’d rather be distracted by something else.
“Why don’t we get that to share?” Avery suggests. There are nods and noises of agreement. Now what?
“Now you have to get something else!” Reid laughs, poking my side. I poke her back and she ends up kicking the person across from her.
“Hey what did I do?” Kyle whines. Jonathan pokes him and he ends up kicking Reid back.
“Payback’s a bitch,” she says, grabbing her shin and glaring at Kyle.
“I’m going to go get another pitcher. Same thing?” I ask, dying to get away now. Everyone is starting their own dialogue and Caleb is like a rock next to me. Good to hide behind in warfare, but a lousy conversationalist. Everyone agrees and I move my chair back, grab the pitcher and walk towards the bar.
“I’ll help you with those glasses,” Kent offers as we wait for the drinks.
“So,” he starts, looking like he wants to ask me a question but stops.
“Well?” I ask, expectantly.
“Is there a reason you haven’t responded to Caleb’s text messages and calls?” he blurts out. I laugh and then get serious.
“I left my phone at Avery’s. At least I hope I did. Is that why he’s being so chatty?” I ask.
“Seems so. He’s been weird all day. So now we need a plan to let him know you don’t have your phone. He might get pissed that I brought it up to you,” he explains. I think for a second before responding.
“You’re sitting catty corner to me, ask me to take your picture and I’ll tell you that I don’t have it and left it at Avery’s,” I say, picking up the pitchers while Kent takes the glasses. He nods enthusiastically.
When we return to the table, it appears a straw wrapper war has taken place. Straw wrappers are everywhere. It also appears that they’ve moved onto throwing chips at each other.
“I leave you alone for five minutes and this is what I come back to?” I tease. Caleb stands up and takes one of the pitchers from me and I hold back my surprise.
“At least you don’t have your phone on you,” Jonathan says when I sit down, grinning from across my seat.
“We were going to send text messages to Josh,” Reid giggles. So that’s why Caleb is acting like the guy I met last night. He found out the reason I’ve been “ignoring” him.
“Thank god. Wait, how do you have his number?” I accuse. Avery slides over a slip of paper. It’s obviously for Reid. From Josh. With his number.
“You were going to text him from my phone and pretend to be Reid? I don’t deserve that torture!”
“Hey, you brought him back and he ruined my morning,” Reid says, rolling the paper into a ball and shooting it at Kyle from across the table. He catches it though and throws it back.
“Ew I don’t want that. It’s probably infested with Josh germs!” she squeals. I grab it and throw it on a passing bus boy’s tray. He doesn’t even notice though. I think he hates his job.
“We ordered for you,” Avery says before returning to her conversation with Jonathan.
“What? How did you know what I wanted?” I kick her from across the table when she shrugs.
“Remind me again why I’m friends with you?” I say, rolling my eyes.
“Because I’m pretty,” she replies like it’s common knowledge.
“And because we’re the only friends you have,” Reid says like this too is common knowledge. I try to look offended but I know it’s true.
“That’s not true! Crystal is my friend,” I exclaim.
“Crystal is in high school. They don’t count,” Reid points out. I’ve lost this battle.
“Fine, you’re the only mature immature friends I have. Or is it immature mature friends? I’m going with the latter,” I say, grabbing a salsa drenched chip and chewing away happily. Free chips make me happy.
Our lunch goes on with laughs and more sharing of interests and life.
“Well, we better go,” Marc says once we’ve finished dessert.
“Yeah, we’ve got a flight to catch,” Kyle adds, stretching. His long arms almost smack the waitress coming to give us the check. Avery snatches it up before anyone else can.
“I’ve got it,” she says, pulling out a card. The guys start to protest, but she holds up her hand.
“Keep in touch and we’ll consider it even,” she says, handing the card to the waitress before they can say anymore.
“You really don’t have to do that,” Jonathan says. The others nod in agreement.
“Avery likes to dote upon friends. Consider yourselves friends now; she doesn’t do it for just anyone,” Reid says, yawning at the end.
“We need to get you back into bed. When is the last time you’ve slept more than 5 hours?” I ask.
“I can’t. I’ve got a test,” she starts.
“But nothing. That’s what Sunday is for.” I grab her purse and pull out her keys before she can object. “I’m driving.”
She doesn’t put up a fight, meaning she’s secretly thankful.
“Alright, have a good flight back to Texas,” I say, hugging Kent.
“Call if you’re in the area,” Jonathan says after our embrace.
“You better do the same,” Reid says pulling away from Kyle.
“You should call me,” I whisper to Caleb when his arms encircle me.
“I already have,” he says sheepishly. I smirk knowingly.
“Well I’ll call you back then,” I say.
After everyone has said their goodbyes, they climb into a cab and we climb back into our car. The drive back is significantly quieter than when we came in and thankfully Reid falls asleep in the back seat. Once we’re back to Avery’s, I pack our bags and return to the car, with Reid still asleep. I find my phone but I’m too focused on getting Reid home and into bed to find out exactly what Caleb did.
“Come on darling,” I say once we’re at our apartment. I push Reid slightly until she stirs. Her eyes flutter open and she blinks from the light.
“What?” she whispers. I laugh a little.
“Come on sleepy head, time for a nap.” I help her into the apartment and put her to bed. She’s mumbling random things the whole while. I put her bags into her room and shut the door, turning on the fan for noise, the way she likes it.
I collapse on the couch, the first time I’ve gotten to breath all day. I stretch out and pull out the remote.
I flip through channels for a while before settling on “Pretty Woman.” I love Julia Roberts. Her red hair suddenly reminds me of another red head. I scramble to my room to find my phone, anxious to see what he sent me.
15 new messages
4 missed calls
3 new voicemails
All from Caleb. Kent wasn’t lying. Geeze. Clingy? Perhaps. Paranoid? Maybe. Smothering? Ish. Sexy? Definitely.
I open my inbox first, scrolling to the very first one.
I hope you made it home alright. 5:48am
I continue scrolling through.
Good morning pretty lady :) 10:10 am
I’m up, are you? 10: 15am
Text me when you get this 10:34am
I had a really nice time last night 11:12am
I hope you did too 11:21am
Yeah, I really don’t have anything better to do 11:47am
Not that I mean I only wanna talk to you when I’m bored 11:48am
I don’t want you to think I don’t like you. I do. 11:50am
Like I said, I had fun last night. We should do it again sometime. 11:55am
I’m leaving town tonight, so maybe I could see you before then? 11:29am
Like dinner? A movie? Both? 12:01pm
Just let me know. I don’t have anything planned all day. 12:05
I’m going to just call you. 12:10pm
You must still be asleep. Well, call me when you wake up. Or get this. 12:17pm
I can help but smile at his apparent desperation. I move on to voicemail.
Punching in the password, I decide I need a snack.
“First message sent at 12:11 pm.” The automated female voice moves slowly and methodically.
“Hey Harper, it’s Caleb. From last night. I hope you made it back alright, but I’m not sure if you’re up or not yet. If you wanna give me a call when you are, that would be great. Um, bye.”
“Next message sent at 12:22 pm.”
“Hey Harper, it’s Caleb. Again. Um, the guys and I are going out for lunch and I was wondering if you wanted to come with. Avery and Reid can come too. Not that they’re an afterthought, but the guys would like to see them too. Not that I wouldn’t. Oh shit.” There is shuffling before the call ends.
“Next message sent at 12:40 pm.”
“Hey Harper, it’s Caleb. I hope you’re not sick of my voice yet. Um, we’re going into downtown Chicago. I’ll call you when we pick a restaurant and you can meet us there. Um, bye.”
“End of messages if you would like to,” the automated voice says before I push end.
I can’t tell whether to be creeped out or find it endearing. I decide I’ll text him back anyway.
Hey, not sure when your flight is, but I figured I would answer you before you had a heart attack. 15 messages? Really? And voicemails? You’re like a creepy stalker ;)
Not more than 5 seconds after, my phone alerts me of a new message.
You’ve probably read all my messages and what not and I’ve probably creeped you out. Please don’t be creeped out! I was just worried you didn’t like me. And that last night didn’t mean anything to you. It did to me.
I internally “aww”ed and a shiver ran up my spine. The love shiver. The one you get when you like someone and they like you too. I can’t help but smile the lame smile either.
I’m falling, and for once it’s not because I’m clumsy.
******
Thanks for the comments :)
Sorry the last few have been lame. I'll try harder for the next one. I'm really not happy with the way this is going. Writers block...
xoxo,
Kade
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