The Royal Crush

23

The next few days passed by with me completely ignoring Caleb and Adrian. I went out of my way to avoid them. I was so sick and tired of all the drama, I just wanted to focus on my studies, my friends and family. Though Adrian tried to talk to me a few times, Caleb ignored me resolutely. He sat as far from me as he could in class and we both sat the the very ends of the counter in Chemistry.

"Hey."

I turned and saw Zara leaning against her locker.

"Hey," I smiled. "How are you?"

"Great, alhamdulillah."

"Bless you."

Zara laughed. "Alhamdulillah means 'thanks to God' in Arabic."

Eesh. I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

She smiled. "It's fine. Do you want to skip last period and go somewhere?"

"Sure. Why?"

"Because you need to chill."

"Huh?"

"Come on," she said and walked outside.

We got into our cars and Keith drove, following Zara's Porsche. We arrived at the wonderful Downtown café Cedric and I had gone to.

"Have you come here before?" I asked as we walked inside from the biting cold.

"No, but I've heard the food here is really good," said Zara.

"It is," I said. "I came here once, with Cedric."

"The name is really unoriginal, though. I mean, Downtown? Come on."

I laughed. "True. But I promise you, the cakes here make up for it."

"I'll take your word for that."

We settled down and ordered. Keith and Khaleel sat at another table, facing us.

"So, what's all this about?" I asked, placing my chin on my interlaced fingers.

Zara took a deep breath. "I know it's none of my business, but you look awful lately."

"...thanks?" I said, taken aback.

Zara shook her head. "No, not appearance wise. You're still as gorgeous as ever. What I meant was, you look so... lifeless. Your spark has dulled. You come to school and go back mechanically, like a robot. What happened? Did someone d- pass away?"

I laughed. "No one died. And I don't know what you're talking about, I'm happy."

Zara sighed. "Chloe, today I was passing by your locker and saw George approach you and try to tell you something but you just walked past him with your eyes glazed over. You didn't even hear him."

"Wait, really? George was at my locker this morning?"

"Yeah. I'd noticed something off about you but didn't give it much thought but when I saw that, I knew something was up."

"Nothing is up, Zara. I've just been... distracted lately. I'll be alright."

"Do you know who else has been "distracted" lately? Caleb Eaton."

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I am not kidding, he legit walked into a wall today. I think someone even got a video."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Look, it's none of my business, but as a friend I'm telling you, don't you think you two should just sit down and talk openly to each other?"