Unconditional

Chapter 14

Xios POV

I was very confused. I don't understand what was happening between Joey, Caleb and Aeryn right now. But then again? I haven't known them long enough to even be able to comprehend the drama that must follow them around. I sighed and walked into the cafeteria.

"Hey!" a loud and giggly voice yelled at me, "What took you so long? You and Joey were literally walking at the same pace and together. He still got here before you!"

It was Aeryn. She giggled and rolled her eyes.

I just sighed and shook my head. Rubbing the back of my neck, "I needed to think of a way to redeem myself after you embarrassed me like that in the hallway. You weren't supposed to tell Joey what happened yesterday." Even though I knew they followed us most the walk yesterday, but I don't think they saw me acting the way I was.

"Redeem?" Aeryn seemed confused for a second. I don't think she's buying it.

"Y-Yeah, you know, after I had to hide behind my notebooks?" I lied.

"OH YEAH! You were being all cute and embarrassed. I saw your ears turn red. So innocent." She smiled and laughed. Even after everything that had happened she still managed to crack a smile. It was cute. She was cute. Even though she looked fucked up, she was still cute.

I think I was deep in thought because one moment I was standing and the next? I was on the floor. I blinked and looked up to see a very rude Aeryn.

"Oh my gosh! Are you ok?!" Aeryn looked down at me then up at a group of people who had pushed me down, "What the hell is wrong with you guys!" I heard her yell. Joey came running over and helped me up. He looked at me,

"Are you ok dude?" He didn't look as worried or mad as Aeryn but that's because there was no need to worry. I was fine. I landed on my back pack so there was no damage done.

"Yeah, I am all good."

"You hear that Aeryn?" Joey gently nudged the pissed off Aeryn, "He said he's ok."

"And I am glad Joey, but that doesn't give them the excuse to be a bunch of rude sacks like that!" She went to walk towards them but Joey stopped her. He pulled her to the side and had a small talk with her. I saw her roll her eyes and sigh. She waved for me to walk over.

"Hey, come on, we can go to the gym or something. Somewhere away from them." She said as she walked out. I let her go. But then I remembered that I saw Caleb earlier. And Joey looked like he did too because he ran behind her and I followed. Before I was gone though, I looked back to see the group. There was a girl who stuck out from the group. She had long red and orange hair. She was smiling at me and I smiled back, waved, then chased after Aeryn.

She was odd. Wonder why she would push me, then watch me fall, smile at me and then wave. Weird. Girls are weird. So weird.

I sighed and caught up to them. Joey had picked Aeryn up and she was back to smiling and laughing. They had passed the music room and I had peeked in. I saw Caleb in there but just him. I wasn't surprised, I would wanna seclude myself too if I fucked up as bad as he had.

"Hey! Whatcha looking at?" Aeryn said as she ran over. Joey had set her down once I had caught up to them. I quickly moved to block the small window on the door.

"Nothing, I just thought it was cool that there was a music room here. You guys really have everything. I am so lucky to be here."

"Ok? Weirdo. But yeah, there is a music room. I used to come here all the time with..." She stopped and her smiled disappear for a second. But only a second.

Aeryn's POV

"With Caleb." I quickly smiled, but I was really upset. All those memories I had with him. All the memories I had in general were mostly in that music room and now I wouldn't be able to go in there without breaking down.

"Are you ok Aeryn?" Joey walked over and I nodded. I didn't want them to worry. True, I was mad at him for shoving me. But that wasn't him. Not the real one. The soft and forgiving one. It was him being stupid and drunk.

"Yeah, let's go to class." I checked my phone. I didn't even realize how long we had been standing there. We had enough time to hang out in the gym, but now? The bell will ring in a few minutes. I sighed, "Sorry guys. I lost track of time."

"No worries weirdo," Joey said, "Let's get goin to class. We only have a few classes today since there will be a drill later."

"I forgot about that," I say, "Come on Xios." I offer him my arm and he takes it. Then I offer Joey my other arm and he gladly takes it.

All three of us walk to AP Psychology. We had a substitute, again, so they just made us watch a few movies. Again. So technically? I could've skipped today. But I didn't. I wanted to be with my friends because Xios is too new to skip class and Joey wouldn't have stayed home if Xios was going.

So I sit in my desk and lay my head down. I fell asleep and start dreaming, or a better term might be remembering, about a time in the music room.

"Like this?" I say as I smile and plug a chord into a speaker. Caleb nodded at me and got up from his chair.

"Yeah. Perfect. Now, pick a song." He said as he handed me his phone. I gladly took it and heard Joey make a sound of disapproval.

"Dude, never trust a girl with your phone. She will go through it and find all those bad texts from other girls or dudes."

"Dude, first of all," Caleb said as he walked back to his chair, "I trust Aeryn. Second of all," He decided to get up and sit on the couch, "I have nothing to hide. And C! She needs it to pick a song. Especially since you didn't bring your speaker with you today."

Caleb laughed and Joey groaned. He wasn't wrong. Joey would always forget his speaker whenever we had after school jams. I looked over at Caleb and he smiled. He was also a bit nervous.

"Wh-What?" He said.

"You trust me? Like, I would never ask for your phone because I all around trust you, but you trust me enough to give me your phone?" I said. I was touched. Like, really touched. Anytime I need to use Joey or Chris's phone, they don't let me because they think I am going to snoop.

"Of course. You are my best friend! I trust you more than anything. Now," He said as he comfortable, "Sing for us!"

I giggled. He was my best friend too.