Life At Green Havens II

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

CORA’S POV

I didn’t know what I did wrong, what I said wrong. I wanted to stop him and apologize when someone called me. I turned around and I saw Jared standing there. He looked at me with a warm smile and I turned around to look at Caleb.

“I would let you get to it” he said to me.
“Caleb, he is just a friend. Hold on and let us talk” I said back to him. 
“Actually, I think that would be a bad idea. Besides, I have some things to do. I would see you before the end of the day, I promise” he said to me before walking off.

I stood there, trying to comport myself before turning around and meeting Jared with the most awkward smile I had in me. He walked up to me and gave me a hug. That was something that I definitely wasn’t expecting.

“What was that for?” I asked him.
“I don’t know. I guess that I am just excited to see you. What have you been up to? I haven't seen you in a while and I was really hoping that you would want to grab lunch with me today. We can leave school. I can drive you out and we can get a nice place to eat” he said to me all at the same time.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea. I have a lot of things to do at school and I don’t think it would be a nice idea to leave my brother on his own. He is still new here and I don’t want my mom calling me just to scream at me for abandoning my brother on his first couple of days in this school. Besides, I still have classes to attend” I said to him.
“Whoa, that feels like lots of excuses. Are you avoiding me or something?” he asked me.
“Avoiding you? That is the craziest thing I have heard today. I am not avoiding you. You just caught me at a bad time, that’s all” I said back to him.
“Alright, I guess. I would talk to you later. Besides, it feels like that dude over there is waiting for you. He has been staring at this place ever since he left” he said to me.

I looked up and I saw Caleb standing there. I smiled to myself and I walked towards him, leaving Jared standing there. He saw my smile and he looked away. I didn’t stop smiling until I was close enough to him. He rolled his eyes at me before turning to walk away from me and that was when I lost it. 

“What the hell is so funny?” he asked me.
“Nothing. I just thought you had errands to run” I said to him.
“Don’t be so smug about it. I just wanted to make sure that you were safe. You didn’t look so comfortable with him. Who is he?” he asked me.
“And here I was, thinking that you didn’t care about him. That is so crazy” I said back to him.
“Cut it out, Cora. He is giving me the death stare. What did you say to him?” he asked me again.
“Nothing important, I promise. C'mon, we have to get going before Cyan loses his mind trying to find me” I said back.
“I guess. I should really say this though. For someone who didn’t want anybody around her, you sure do look after your brother like he is a child. I think Cyan can handle himself just fine. He is not a kid and you don’t need to be there for him like he is going to trip and fall if you take your eyes off him” Caleb said to me. 
“I know he is not going to trip and fall but he is my brother and whether or not I am comfortable with that, I need to always make sure that he is okay. He is my responsibility, at least for now. When he knows his way around the place, I would stop worrying about him” I said to him, not thinking about my response. 
“And what would you do about you? While you are busy worrying about him, who is going to worry about you? Who is going to make sure that you don’t trip and fall?” he asked me.
“I can take care of myself. You don’t have to worry about me” I said back to him. 
“Right. I forgot who I was talking to. Cora Macaulay. The most independent girl that I know. The one who worries about everybody else but doesn’t let anybody worry about her. The famous blogger that doesn’t want to be famous so she stays anonymous on her blog pages. She doesn’t have a picture there and she hides herself from the real world. Yeah, I keep forgetting that is who I am talking to” he said back to me. 
“I don’t hide myself from the real world. Everybody knows that I am the famous Cora. I just don’t think it is necessary for the entire world to know. Being the child of the Macaulay family is more than enough fame. The last thing anybody should want is to add to that. I just want a normal life, to grow up like a normal child” I said to him, looking at him in the eyes.
“You can be a normal child if you want to. Nobody is stopping you. Just because you were born into a wealthy or a famous family. It is your childhood and you can make the most of it if you want to. All you have to do is to be normal, live normally. Have friends and make life worth living. Give people a chance, let someone into your space and experience the beauty of friendship. This would sound crazy but it is okay to trust people and let them hurt you, let them break your trust. It only helps you realize your mistakes and learn from them. It doesn’t make you stupid” he said to me.