Too Short To Ride

1 2 : It's chill

"What's up buttercup?" Caleb said as he picked up his little sister and hoisted her onto his hip.

"Nothing, buttercup," she responded. "Say the name you call me!"

"What? Rosie posie?" Caleb walked into their living room and threw Rosie onto the couch. "Rosie posie nosie tosie!" He chanted as he tickled the 5 year old girl. Her laughter filled the room and when Caleb stopped joking around, she prodded him to start back up again.

Their dads weren't home at the moment, and Caleb had picked up his sister from her babysitter who was a couple houses down. The siblings' parents weren't usually there during the day due to their jobs, but that didn't diminish their care for the children.

When Rosie was first adopted, Jeremy, one of the dads, took a leave from work so he could help take care of their precious flower. Marcus, the other dad, was just as committed to his children although he worked more behind the scenes. Like saving up for Caleb's convertible and making sure they were always free whenever there was a basketball game or an event at Rosie's preschool.

"Are you excited to start kindergarten?" Caleb asked the little girl. She nodded furiously.

"Dana said she's gonna start kindergarten with me too."

"Awesome!" The older brother ruffled her hair. Rosie pushed him away and began taking out tons of dolls from her toy bin. "Make sure you clean it up after."

The little girl ignored her brother and focused intently on getting a tiny shoe onto her Barbie.

Caleb relaxed on the couch and took out his cellphone. Because it was summer, there wasn't much to do besides play basketball and hang out with Logan. He scanned through Twitter and then saw a post from James.

James K.
@jaaaamms

hey all, don't forget to stop by at the Northsand court to watch @cclark_5 @pabloflexobar @derekkedya and me face up against some of the Canton guys

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clara!!!!!!!
@santaclara32

wow, good going genius. What time and when  🙄

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James K.
@jaaaamms

oh heh this sunday at 6

Caleb had nearly forgotten about the match against Canton. During the basketball season the two schools had had a pretty heated rivalry, so after school ended Caleb and his friends decided to set up a friendly game with a couple of Canton's guys. It wasn't supposed to be anything extreme, but the way some people were talking about it made it seem a little different...

When they began planning the game, Caleb hadn't expected anyone to really watch, but news was spreading and people wanted to see the best players go head to head.

Caleb looked back at his phone and realized he had opened up his messages with Karter. What the hell, he pressed the home button and paused, then opened up her texts again.

He wanted her to be at the game. They were friends after all.

Yeah, Caleb reasoned, it wouldn't be weird to ask her to come.

Despite his attempt at rationally assessing the situation, he still couldn't bring himself to type out a text.

What if she thought he was being clingy?

He cringed at the thought and quickly turned off his phone, tossing it across the couch. Caleb watched Rosie for a second and then quickly lunged across the couch to turn his phone back on and text Karter.

As soon as he typed out his message: hey, do you want to come to a basketball game?, his finger paused above the send button.

I went to her surfing competition. This isn't any different, he thought, Besides, it could help her convince Jessica. It's really not that big of a deal.

He pressed send.

...I really want her to see me play.

Without a second thought, Caleb chucked his phone onto a chair across the room and covered his face with a throw pillow.

This was a bad idea, this was a bad idea, this was a bad idea, this was a-

*ding*

The text message sound went off and he flew off the couch and to his phone in an instant.

KARTER: yeah! are you talking about the game against some guys from that other school?

Caleb's stomach did somersaults at her response but he quickly pushed away those feelings.

It's chill, he though, I'm totally chill.

A smile spread across his face.

It's chill.

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3/16/18