Lady Of The Hour

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A/N: I included a song in this one just because I felt like it fit the end of the chapter really well, so let me know if that's something you like or don't like!

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"Tell me again how I rationalized this?" I groaned, guzzling my second RedBull and eyeing the unopened can next to Caleb, seriously considering sticking it with a key and shotgunning the damned thing.

"I don't think you even bother rationalizing most things, you kind of just recognize that something's a terrible idea and then do it anyway."

"There you go again, seeing right into this old soul of mine." I replied, looking wearily at the familiar building in front of us.

Caleb opened his phone and checked the time before turning to me, looking as if he was preparing himself for combat.

"How long?" I asked, tossing my empty RedBull can into the plastic 7/11 bag we were using as a makeshift trash bin.

"Ten minutes." He answered, clearly dreading getting out of the truck and facing the day just as much as I was. 

"Actually," I drawled, "I'm sure Miss Lane wouldn't mind if we skipped class just this once."

"If I miss class without a valid reason, I lose my scholarship. Plus, I actually kind of like her class. She's nice."

"To look at?" I supplied, feigning disinterest.

"No, Rowan." He chided. "Nice in general. Which you'd know if you hadn't written her off as an airhead on her first day and actually made an effort to talk to her."

Little did he know, I had made an effort. Look where that had gotten me.

"You know," he added, "she kind of reminds me of you."

It should have been a compliment. She was beautiful and charismatic and downright lovely, and although part of me still hated her for the way she treated me, my real issue was with the implied 'but'. Of course, Caleb would never have said what he did if he knew how I would interpret it, but that didn't change the fact that it was true. 'She kind of reminds me of you, but she's nice' — whatever 'nice' even meant. But she's kind to others without having an agenda. But she hasn't made it her life's work to ensure that nobody ever fully knows her. 'She kind of reminds me of you, but you're certainly not her.'

When someone tells you that you remind them of someone like Claire Lane, they really just mean you're a step down. It should have been a compliment, but it really wasn't.

"Sure." I replied quickly. "Let's get going then."

•••

"She asked about you once." Caleb admitted as we made our way through the building.

"Hmm?" I prompted, not really paying attention.

"Miss Lane." He replied, and my eyebrows raised before I had a chance to act blasé. At my obvious surprise, he laughed and continued. "Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too. You don't exactly advertise your presence in her class."

"Oh, don't you know, Caleb? I turn heads everywhere I go." I joked in a valley girl voice, flipping my hair obnoxiously.

"And you're so humble about it." He replied sarcastically.

"Seriously though, what did she ask? I didn't know you two were close." I tried to keep the jealousy out of my voice. Caleb was a good guy, but what did she think was so horrible about me that she could spend time with him but she'd only deign to speak to me when I failed an assignment?

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