Someone You Loved ; Caleb Finn

12

a/n
hi guys! sorry it took long for the next chapter, i've kind of been dealing with writer's block, i hope you guys didn't mind waiting for a while for the next update
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After our argument, probably our last one, I haven't seen Caleb around. It's only been a week since, but I hope he gives me the time I need. It's been a rough and busy week for me, but I always have the time to work on my story as well as hanging out with China and Chris. Seeing the two of them together, I can see that they're perfect for each other. Sure, I liked Chris in high school and seeing him with some other girl who tried getting rid of me from Chris's life, but I'm in college now. I haven't seen Chris in years, and my feelings for him disappeared along with who I was in high school. Thankfully, they didn't make me feel like a third wheel, including me in every conversation and filling me in on their inside jokes.

"Why is it suddenly quiet?" Chris questioned, looking at China and I who had our focus on the laptop in front of us. "Sorry, can't talk when I'm writing," I apologized with a shrug. "I can't either, I'd end up just speaking gibberish," China chuckled. "Looks like you have a type, Harper," Chris glared at me. "What?" China cluelessly asked, looking at the two of us. "What?" I asked innocently, forgetting China didn't know about Chris's infatuation. "You— never mind," China rolled her eyes while I looked at Chris. "That was close," I mouthed. "How's your story going?" I asked, attempting to look over her laptop. "It's going really well actually, how about you?" "It's good, I just think I use the word 'chuckle' too much, what's a synonym that could replace it?" I asked the two of them. "Laugh," Chris suggested. "Of course I already thought of that, I use it too often too," I looked back down on the screen of my laptop. "Giggle," China suggested. "Too girly," "Chortle?" I glared at Chris. "What? That's not girly," Chris defended. "I'll just leave it, why did I ask you two?" I asked myself, laughing with the two of them. Hearing the bell ring as the door to the cafe opened, I unconsciously looked to see who entered. The grin on my face disappeared when I met eyes with Caleb. To my relief, he broke our eye contact and walked towards the line to order but I couldn't help but watch him, only looking back at my screen to realize China and Chris were looking at Caleb. "Is that the Caleb guy?" Chris asked. "Sure is," China said, glaring attentively. "I'm gonna talk to him," he stood up and I grabbed his arm before he could walk any farther. "Woah, hey. You don't need to do that and you won't," I chuckled. "But-" Chris insisted. "Come on, Chris, sit. I'll talk to him," "Oh, so you can talk to him but I can't?" Chris sassily crossed his arms. "Yes, you might get violent. Do you remember Jaimee from AP Lit?" "I do remember Jaimee from AP Lit," his shoulders visibly slumped. "I'm gonna talk to him. China, watch Chris," "You got it boss," China played along. I smiled at her before nervously walking over to Caleb. "Hey," I put my hands in my pockets "Well, isn't this ironic?" Caleb laughed. "I'm not stalking you, I swear. I just wanted to apologize," I sighed. "Apologize for what?" "For yesterday. I shouldn't have lashed out on you like that," I looked down at my shoes, rocking back and forth. "Please, I deserved it. Besides, I should be the one doing the apologizing for following you around, assuming you were dating Charles— whatever his name was," Caleb smiled warmly. "It's just that we're broken up, I was really hurt, you suddenly appear everywhere I go while I'm trying to move on, you getting my point here?" "Yeah, I'm sorry, Lumi, I really am," Caleb genuinely apologized. "Apology accepted," I smiled at him. "Friends? I promise, I'll give you your space," he held out a hand for me to shake. "Sure," I shook his withdrawn hand. "I'll see you around," I nodded before going back to our table. "What was that?" China asked with her mouth agape. "That, lady and gentleman, is how you go down the pacifistic route," I said with a smug look. "You handled that really well," Chris complimented. "Please, that's how I've handled things since high school," I laughed. "Really? Because I recall you punching April Welch square in the face when she wouldn't let you get to your locker unless you agreed to never talk or even interact with me again," Chris chuckled at the memory. "She was getting on my nerves, and her voice was really annoying, I just wanted to rip out her voice box," I gritted my teeth. "Woah, hold on there miss pacifist," China laughed. "Oh God. Great Chris, you've done it, you distracted us from making our stories and it's 11:27, I have to go and get to class," I gathered up my things and put it in my book bag. "Oh, me too. See you later Chris," "Sure, okay. Bye," Chris stammered, waving awkwardly despite China already on her way out. "Smooth," I sarcastically complimented. "China, wait for me!" I called out, putting the sling over my shoulder. I ran to catch up, not looking in front of me as I made sure my bag was closed and nothing would fall out of it, when I crashed into someone else. "Oh, sorry," I felt him grab onto my arm as if to help me stand steady. "No, it's o— wow," "Um," I chuckled nervously. "Jeez, sorry. That was such a bad first impression," he chuckled. "You don't say," "I'm Hayes," he held out a hand. "Lumi," I shook it. "Sorry, I just think you're really cute," Hayes admitted. "Thanks Hayes, you're cute too I guess?" "I'd ask for your number but I can see you're in kind of a hurry so I won't take any more of your time," he handed me a small piece of cardstock paper, which I assumed was a business card. "It's my business card in case you wanted to call me or something," he scratched his neck nervously. "Sure, yeah, I'll definitely do that. I'll see you around," I gave him a warm smile, looking at the business card before stuffing it in my back pocket and continuing my run to my next class. "Where were you?" I heard China ask. "Where were you? You ran so fast it took me four minutes to catch up," I complained. "Sorry, I'll run slower next time, slowpoke," I rolled my eyes at her but couldn't help but chuckle.