Page 5 of Changing Caleb
When we broke up, it was pure torture seeing him every day. He was a constant reminder of what we’d lost. Years we spent together, years that I thought would become something more. Then, all that was shattered.
Tori Sims.Even thinking her name makes my blood boil. She was my arch-nemesis in high school, always going after Caleb. He never gave in. Until one night, he did. He swears it meant nothing and was only oral, but she claims a different story.
I was done. Especially since I was…
“Did you hear me?” Derek cuts into my thoughts. “Are you hungry? You didn’t eat much at Jack’s.”
“No, I’m…I’m good.”
“Okay, I’m going to stop and fuel up, then we’ll head home.”
I nod as he whips his car up to the gas pump. While he pumps gas, I call Jade. My head is reeling from Caleb being in back in town. She’s my best friend. My go-to person.
“Are you back to normal now?” Jade answers. “Cause you know you had morphed into bitch mode for a little while there.”
“Ha. Ha.”
“I’m serious, Case. You worried me. I thought you were over Caleb.”
“Do not go there, Jade. I’ve been over him for a while now.”
“That was easier when he was gone, wasn’t it?” she asks. “I was the same way about Brady. It’s easy to move on from someone when they aren’t around. Then he came back, and well,you know how that went. Caleb is back and it seems like he’s changed. At least he was sober and not the drunken mess he was before he left.”
There wasn’t a day that went by when he wasn’t drinking. Didn’t matter if he had to be at work. He’d become a complete alcholic, slurring words and all. It was painful to see him like that, knowing I played my part in his self-destruction. I was hurting, too. I just didn’t drink my pain away.
“You think that was the real him? Because I don’t.”
“And if it was?”
“It changes nothing,” I answer. “Listen, Derek is about to get back in. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay. Things will work out, Case. You and Caleb just have to find a new normal.”
Yeah, a new normal. Normal to me is fucking and fighting with Caleb. I may be with Derek now, but it doesn’t erase the memories I have of Caleb. Memories of him have been imprinted in my brain for over half of my life. From that first day I met him when my family moved here in the fifth grade. He’s always been there.
Brady and Caleb came riding down my street on their bikes, saw me and stopped. They just made themselves at home, rummaging through my boxes and helping my family carry stuff in. We were only ten, but even then, I felt a strong pull toward Caleb. We were all friends from that day forward until he fucked Tori.
He can put on a show all he wants. I know the real him. That’s not who I saw tonight.
5
Caleb
Waking up to the smell of my mom’s cooking is never a bad thing. It’s one of the things I missed while in L.A. Avery’s not a bad cook, but no one’s cooking compares to my mom’s. Except for maybe Marlene Thompson. Brady’s mom definitely knows how to cook.
I sit up on the side of my bed and rub my eyes. The bed at Avery’s was better. I’ll give her that. My parents still haven’t sprung the money to get me a king-sized bed here. Fine…Ihaven’t sprung the money to get me a king-sized bed here either. Still the same old full-sized bed I’ve had since high school. Same one I popped Casey’s cherry on.Lots of memories on this bed.
Which is precisely why I need to get rid of it and why I need to find my own place. Starting today. After breakfast. Food has to come first. I walk into the kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of joggers. My mom slaps my arm with the greasy spatula, and I wince.
“How many times have I had to tell you, Caleb?” she scolds. “You are a grown man now. Put some clothes on.”
“What’s this about clothes?” My dad questions as he walks into the kitchen wearing the same attire as me. “Men don’t wear clothes around here, woman!”
“Keep walking around like that, and I’ll have you committed,” she mumbles, and my dad pinches her behind.
My mom huffs and rolls her eyes, but I can see a smile playing at her lips. My parents have been like this ever since I can remember. Playful banter and quips. Come to think of it, a lot like Casey and I were. Only a lot less arguing.
My mom likes to pretend we’re upstanding citizens of Hollis. Our house is always in pristine condition, never a manicured bush out of place. She had a pool put in last year, probably because our neighbors did the year before. She never leaves the house without looking her best. Clothes ironed. Not a hair out of place. Makeup perfect. My dad, however, doesn’t care if he leaves the house with mix-matched socks on.
