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Chapter 3

"You don't actually care about what's best for anyone but yourself, do you?"
"You and I both know that's not true Amelia, so stop lying to yourself about it."
This is what greets me when I finally get home after walking the whole three miles from the station, dad having forgotten to pick me up. Again.
"Me?! I think you have the roles completely mixed up, Robert!"
"Hi guys" I interrupt their most recent fight somewhat wearily. Dad turns a wide eyed face on me.
"Rachel! Oh, I'm sorry honey, I lost track of time!" I force a smile and answer:
"It's fine dad, don't worry." I want to stop there, but after a tiring an emotional day, I just can't help myself from adding sarcastically:
"It's not like I have 2 projects and a reading to be finished by tomorrow or anything." I immediately regret what I have said when I see the looks of shock on both their faces. I very rarely complain about anything, especially with everything that is going on at the moment. It's not my parents' fault if dad is now jobless and the tension is getting to them both.
Well, it's not your fault either! My subconscious, still reeling from the emotions of the day, fights back. I shake those selfish thoughts from my head and finally break the silence.
"I'm going to have a shower and finish my homework" I whisper and head towards the stairs.
"Dinner will be in fifteen minutes" Mom calls out.
"I'm not that hungry, I think I'll grab something later" I answer drily and climb the stairs to my room.

I've finally finished my latest project on biodiversity and throw my pen down dramatically with a contented sigh. I check the time: 10.05 pm. Crap! I make a dash for the shower, meaning to rush through it and grab myself a sandwich before going to bed. In the end, with the hot water pounding on my back an my mind working overdrive and processing everything that has happened today, I find myself losing track of time and by the time I step out of the shower it is 10.27. I feel my stomach growl in protest but decide to let tiredness overcome it and drop into bed, falling asleep to the thought of those jade green eyes...

I finally wake myself drowsily as my alarm rings for the third time. That, my friends, is the beauty of the sleep button. My drowsiness subsides suddenly as I realise that I am now 20 minutes late. I jump out of the bed as if on springs and throw on my clothes in double quick time, not bothering to put on any makeup. Checking the time, I see that I now have five minutes before we have to leave for the station. I decide not to bother having any breakfast and ignore my growling stomach, and instead finish packing up my bag. As I head downstairs, I see that for once, mom is awake at the table and is speaking quietly to dad opposite. I pause on the stairs and listen.
"We're slowly losing her, Robert. If you don't get a job soon we're going to have some real problems. It's the first time she's spoken to us like that in a long time, and to be honest I can't say I blame her." My dad just nods silently. I decide to face the music and continue down the stairs. Dad seems startled and jumps to his feet as I reach the bottom. "Hi honey. We should get going then." I nod and kiss Mom goodbye before following him out of the door.
We arrive at the station with a few minutes to spare, in dead silence, just as we had started.
I want to say something to make everything better, but words fail me as usual. Instead I give dad a small smile and get out of the car.
"Hey Rach!" I am greeted by a waving Marion and a smiling Caleb. I force a smile onto my face and go up to say hi. The train arrives on time for once and we get on together, and to my surprise Caleb follows us to a four-seater. Marion seems unphased, so I try my best to be also.
"So, how is my favourite junior today?" Caleb asks with a grin. I give him a wan smile and answer:
"Tired, but OK." I wonder whether Ethan has told him about our conversation on the train yesterday. I hope not. One of Ryan's friends knowing is bad enough. But if Caleb knows something, he doesn't let it show. A woman on my left is busy stuffing a packet of cookies into her oversized mouth. I stare at the packet longingly, feeling my stomach protest. Caleb looks at me, amused.
"I'm sure you're not the kind of person to want to stuff yourself with cookies first thing in the morning usually, so I'm guessing you haven't had any breakfast this morning, am I right?" I frown at his intrusion.
"Who says I'm not that kind of person?" I ask indignantly. Caleb raises his eyebrows, his eyes dancing with humour. I sigh and give up.
"Fine. The truth is, I haven't eaten since yesterday lunch time." I cringe as I hear Marion gasp.
"Oh no Rachel, not this again! You know what happened last time..." I cut her off in mid sentence, seeing Caleb's eyes widen in shock. "It's not like that! I got up late this morning and didn't have time, and last night..." I shake my head, not wanting to bring up last night's events. "It's not like that, I promise." I look at Caleb's face, wondering if he would still want to be friends with us now. His face gives nothing away, and he starts rummaging around in his bag. He finally pulls out a big red apple and hands it to me.
"Here" he says, his eyes not judging, but full of sympathy. I shake my head.
"No, Caleb, it's fine, I can't take that from you."
"Yes, you can. And you will" he insists a little more forcefully. I hesitate a little longer before taking the apple from him, my stomach taking over my mind. I smile gratefully as I bite into the apple and can't resist a sigh of content. Caleb looks at me, not with an expression of pity as I would expect, but more of underlying understanding, even though I haven't told him what is wrong. I guess he just has this sort of calming aura around him that I took to from the first time we met. What attracted him to me though, I have no idea. But all the same I am glad he is here right now.
That is, until I see Ryan's face appear at the sliding doors of the compartment and, seeing Caleb with us, he strides over. I almost choke on my apple. They shake hands and he then turns to me and waits. It takes a few moments for the fact that he wants me to move across a seat to sink in, and when it finally does, I do so with the utmost grace, fumbling around for my bag at my feet and dragging it with me to the next seat. I hear Marion stifle a giggle quite unsuccessfully, and I feel my cheeks go red. Having Ryan in such close proximity to me for the second time in two days does extremely weird things to me. I do my best to concentrate on the conversation going on between him and Caleb, but the words just seem to swirl around and don't make any sense. The heat that I feel radiating from him added to my fiery cheeks is suffocating. When we finally arrive at Boring, I literally jump from my seat before the train has even stopped and they all turn to me in surprise. I pretend to be looking for something in my bag to hide the blush I can feel creeping up my neck to my face. In turn they all get up, Ryan last, and start to head towards the door. I realise for the first time that Ryan is wearing nothing but a t shirt and jeans, when it is almost freezing outside. I am marvelling at how he stands it when I feel his arm brush up against me as he reaches over and pushes the button on the door. I barely retain myself from jumping out of my skin, and I feel my heart skip a beat. As we step outside side by side, I hear him exhale audibly. Geez, was he affected too?
We start walking out of the station when I feel Marion grab my arm and pull me back.
"Ow!"
"O.M.G. The tension in there was palpable!" she whispers indiscreetly.
"Glad I'm not the only one who noticed" I answer drily before striding ahead. I suddenly hear the screech of tyres and before I know it, strong arms are grasping me from behind and pulling me back. I fall back onto a muscular chest and barely retain a scream.
"Rach! Are you OK?" I turn to see Caleb rushing over, followed closely by Marion. I feel sick and my heart is racing, but I manage a nod. To my right, I hear a string of curses coming from the stopped car before it races off, it's driver scowling in protest and muttering to himself. My knees feel weak and I lean back against the chest for a moment, before realisation kicks in suddenly and I spring away from Ryan's arms as if I have been stung.
"Are you alright?" His beautiful eyes are full of concern, but I think I detect a hint of amusement in them also. I reach for my bag that I dropped on the side of the pavement and mutter:
"I don't think I'm hurt anywhere, if that's what you mean, but my pride sure took a beating" I answer, slightly ashamed. He smiles and Caleb comes over and wraps an arm around my shoulders, steering me towards the school. "We're going to have to keep you on a lead if this happens again, you know" he says with a grin. I shake my head and smile before turning back and mouthing a "thank you" to Ryan. He smiles and winks, sending a shiver down my already trembling limbs. Wow Rach, great way to start the day, my subconscious sneers. It certainly has improved my mood slightly...