Outsider Series: Outsider Part 4

Logan sighed. I nibbled my food and added to the conversation whenever I could actually get a word in.

I noticed the significant glance that would transpire between Bentley and Chris. Bentley would study her, with a gooey expression on his face, and once caught would look away, and vice-versa. Their glances didn't go unnoticed by Logan either and I could tell that even though Bentley was his friend he didn't like the idea of him with his sister.

I also noticed how Charlotte, bashfully, eyed Logan but he was absolutely oblivious to the whole thing. I guessed he was too worried about his little sister to notice her affections and I knew that Charlotte was too shy to do anything about it. She maybe said one word through the whole lunch.

Bryce, around a mouthful of chicken nugget said to Caeden, "Oh, by the way Travis is in our math cla.s.s," he swallowed. Caeden's fist clenched. "And he couldn't keep his hands of off Sophie. I would've hit him except... well you know Mrs. Harding," he said shrugging his shoulders.

I hadn't told Caeden on purpose. Anyone could see the animosity brewing between him and Travis and I didn't want to give him another reason to punch him in the face. I glared daggers at Bryce, who put his next chicken nugget down, and innocently said, "What did I do?"

"He did what?" Caeden hissed at his younger brother. Once again Caeden was doing that weird, s.h.i.+mmery, vibrating thing.

I put a hand on Caeden's shoulder. "It was nothing. He's just hoping to start something with you by bugging me."

Suddenly Caeden was standing. "I'll kill him," he growled.

"Sit down," said Bryce and Bentley. After a moment Caeden listened.

"You're just doing what he wants," said Charlotte and I was shocked to hear her voice.

Logan said, "Travis just wants to pick a fight with you. Don't let him. Show him who the Alpha male around here is."

I rolled my eyes at Logan's term alpha. What were we animals?

The bell rang dismissing us from lunch and I was once again thankful that Caeden had taken the time to show me around because none of the others had the same study hall that I did. I started to head in the opposite direction when suddenly Caeden jogged up beside me.

"Really, I know which way I'm going. You don't have to walk me," I said.

He shook his head. "Maybe I want to."

"Be my guest," I said.

Up ahead of us I could see Travis and in the pit of my stomach I just knew he was going to be in my study hall. Sure enough Travis turned into the cla.s.sroom in which I was headed. Caeden growled.

I stopped just outside the cla.s.sroom to say goodbye to Caeden but he walked purposefully into the cla.s.s. I quickly went in after him, afraid he was going after Travis again, but instead he strode to one of the two-seater tables, the farthest away from Travis, and sat down. I raised an eyebrow and sat down beside him.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

"He's not a good guy, Sophie," Caeden whispered. "Trust me. You need to stay away from him and since he apparently can't stay away from you I'll be right here," he said and leaned back in the chair. "I won't let him hurt you."

"What happened in math was nothing," I said. "He just wanted to mess with me because he thought I'd come crying to you. I'm stronger than that. I think I know who to trust and who not to trust. And despite the fact that you punched him I can tell he's the wrong sort." I glanced over in Travis' direction and he was glaring at me. Not at Caeden but at me. I s.h.i.+vered involuntarily. "Something about him... it's not right."

"You can say that again," muttered Caeden.

Caeden somehow managed to convince the teacher that there was some kind of mix up and he was supposed to be in this study hall. Travis' face turned redder and redder in anger. I noticed his fists clenching and unclenching Caeden and I talked and laughed. It was so easy being with him. He was like the friend that I never had. In just a few days' time we had become friends and his friends were pretty great too. I felt accepted. Like I belonged, and with moving all over creation that wasn't a feeling I was used to, I hoped it never went away.

Caeden and I had all three cla.s.ses at the end of the day together. Luckily Travis wasn't in any of those and the tension in Caeden's shoulders seemed to relax a little. But there was still tomorrow. A whole new set of cla.s.ses and chances were Travis would be in one. The school wasn't large and the senior cla.s.s was small so lady luck was not on my side when it came to the avoiding Travis matter. I was never one to have good luck but I sent up a silent prayer that I would be wrong.

The last cla.s.s of the day was woodshop. Woodshop?

I looked at Caeden and the rest of the roomful of boys. It was a small cla.s.s. Only fifteen of us where most cla.s.ses had thirty or more people.

How did I end up in here? I silently guessed.

"My guess," said Caeden leaning over. "Is that this was the only cla.s.s with an empty slot."

"Did I say that out loud?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, you did."

I buried my head in my hands. "I may not be a girly-girl but I draw the line at saws."

"Don't worry I'll be your partner," he said rea.s.suringly.

"I won't be much help," I said.

"I figured that," he said with a laugh.

The teacher came in and gave us some basic safety instructions and said that next cla.s.s we'd watch a safety video and take a test. If we fail the test we can't work in the woodshop. For a moment I considered throwing the test but looking over at Caeden I couldn't resist the urge to see those muscles in action.

The teacher, Mr. Collins, was pretty cool. He looked more like a science teacher than a woodshop teacher though. He had thick, black framed, gla.s.ses and had a lanky build but he seemed patient. Patience would be golden for me. I had no idea how I would manage to get a good grade in this cla.s.s. I only hoped Caeden had enough skills for the both of us.

Mr. Collins dismissed us early and I had to practically jog to keep up with Caeden's long legged stride.

"Hurry," he said. "This place turns into a mad house once the bell rings. The parking lot is a mess."

Out in the parking lot Caeden kicked his bike to life. "I'll see you at Lucinda's. I have some things I have to do before I come to work."

"Don't worry about it. Gram told me that you're always a little late, that you have to do some things to do first," I said with a wave of my hand.

"I'll see you soon," he rea.s.sured me before putting his helmet on. I smiled as he climbed on the back of his bike. Kids began pouring out of the school and I decided I better get a move on. I saw Bryce and he waved. I waved back before climbing in my car and following Caeden out of the lot.

Gram had been right. Lucinda's was packed. No more than a minute after I had opened the doors there were fifteen people standing at the counter. Gram's store was tiny and I couldn't understand how they all squished inside. It reminded me of the circus and all the clowns in the tiny car. Luckily Caeden didn't take too long in getting there. Within moments we had a system down. I took the orders and called them out to him to fill. It went this way, non-stop, until closing. Exhausted I collapsed into one of the bistro chairs Gram had for customers.

Caeden laughed. "You better get used to it."

"Is it like this a lot?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. "It sucks for us but it's great for Lucinda."

"I guess I shouldn't complain. She was kind enough to let me come live with her. But this place always used to seem so magical. Now, all I feel is stress."

Caeden grinned and a dimple appeared in his cheek. "I've always thought this place was magical too. Like an escape. But... I've always had a really bad sweet tooth, so maybe that's why I thought it was magical?" I laughed and he continued, "But the magic is still here. You just don't see it because now you're in the real world. You're not doing this for fun you're doing it for your grandma."

I sighed. "I guess we need to clean up so we can get home."

Caeden smiled. "I've got it."

"No, you don't. If we do it together we can get it done in half the time. Toss me that rag," I said. He did. "Come on, I'm tired, let's get this done," I said and turned on the radio cranking the music up.

I started twirling the rag and shaking my hair, which I had finally released from a pony tail. I sashayed my hips and Caeden's cheeks turned pink and he got that strange look on his face again.

"Like what you see?" I asked.

His cheeks turned even redder and he looked away. He started mopping the floor while I wiped off the tables and counters. I was dancing and singing along to a song when my feet hit a particularly slippery spot.

My feet shot out from under me and I landed on my bottom. "Ow," I said.

Caeden busted out laughing and couldn't stop.

"Stop laughing at me," I said but my words didn't hold much backing because I was laughing too. "Help me up," I said.

He started over towards me and suddenly his feet were in the air. He landed on the ground with a thud.

"Are you okay?" I asked trying to contain my giggles.

"Yeah," he said hoa.r.s.ely. "I think the only thing I bruised was my ego."

I couldn't contain my laughter anymore and it bubbled to the surface. Caeden joined in. Tears began running down my face because I was laughing so hard.

Caeden tentatively started to stand. "I think the floor's dry now," he said but tiptoed towards me anyway. He held out his hands and I took them.

The floor must have still been wet because suddenly we were falling. Caeden somehow managed to twist his body so that he was the one that hit the concrete floor and not me. I landed on top of him though, with my hands splayed across his muscular chest. His blue eyes met my brown eyes and it was like I was stuck there. I couldn't have moved if I wanted to. My eyes moved to his lips. I wanted him to kiss me. I leaned in closer. He moved towards me and our breaths mingled together. So close, there wasn't even half an inch in between our lips. I closed my eyes.

But nothing happened. I opened my eyes. "Not yet," whispered Caeden. His eyes were closed and I felt like his words were meant more for him than me. It stung though. I had never wanted someone to kiss me more than I wanted Caeden to kiss me.

Hurt, I rolled off of his chest onto the floor, and mumbled, "Sorry."

He sat up. "What are you sorry for?" he asked.

"Nothing," I snapped standing and brus.h.i.+ng off my pants.

"Well, I'm sorry too," he murmured.

"What are you sorry for?" I repeated his question.

"Sorry, I can't kiss you," he whispered.

"Can't or won't?" I said with my hands on my hips. He was still on the floor so I stood taller than him and was able to glare down in to his too beautiful blue eyes.

"Can't," he sighed. "I want to. Believe me. I have ever since I saw you three days ago but I can't. Not yet."

"You already said that, 'not yet', what does that mean?" I asked.

"There are some things you have to know first," he said.

"So tell me," I snapped.

"I can't. I promised I wouldn't even though everything inside me screams to tell you. Lucinda wants to be the one to tell you," he said, still sprawled on the ground.

"Tell me what?" I asked in exasperation.

"You'll just have to wait and find out," he said rather sadly.

I sighed. "I don't see what this has to do with not kissing me but I'm going to find out. Mark my words, Mister. I will find out," I said and walked out the back door.

four.

Weeks pa.s.sed and Gram never spoke of whatever it was that Caeden couldn't tell me. I quickly got over our almost kiss and things between us returned to normal. Well, as normal as normal can be when you have a major crush on the person that has become your best friend. I felt like a silly little school girl having a crush on the most unattainable guy and not only was he unattainable he was my friend too. I had thought that day at Gram's store that he wanted to kiss me but the more time pa.s.sed I was sure that I was wrong. It was already October and he acted as if that day had never happened, so I did too. But that didn't change the way I felt. I saw the way other girls in the school looked at him and it made my blood boil. Thankfully, he seemed completely unaware of their attentions.

I noticed tension arise between Gram and Caeden but I didn't ask either about it. I knew that whatever it was Gram would tell me in her own time. That didn't mean that I wasn't curious though, in fact, the curiosity was killing me. When she wasn't home I had resorted to snooping. But nothing seemed abnormal.

Halloween was fast approaching, only a week away. My parents called me every day to discuss the woes of high school life. They both seemed particularly interested in Caeden. When I mentioned Travis, my dad exploded and like Caeden said to stay far away from him. His defense was that he knew Travis' dad, Peter Grimm, and that the apple doesn't far from the tree.

"It looks great," said Gram, making me jump.

I had been so engrossed in my thoughts I hadn't heard her approach. "What?" I asked.

"The decorations," she said. "I haven't had the energy to decorate in years."

"Oh," I said. I had wrapped the front porch in orange and purple lights. A mummy dangled from the tree. I had even found a couple of gravestones and invested in some zombies coming out of the ground. "I've never had the chance to decorate for a holiday before. Dad didn't want to buy any decorations that we'd later have to store whenever we moved again."

She smiled. "Well, I love it."

"I didn't go too overboard?" I asked sheepishly.

"I don't think so," she said and hugged me. "Sophie, I'm so glad you came to live here. You've done me so much good."

"Gram," I said hugging her back. "Don't make me cry."

She brushed my hair with her fingers and pulled away. With tears in her eyes she said, "Sophie, there are some things I have to tell you."

I took a deep breath. Maybe I was finally going to find out what the big secret was. I had speculated for months.

"You must be cold," she said. "Come inside and I'll make you some hot chocolate and I saved you the last peanut b.u.t.ter fudge cupcake," she said shaking a bag. "Then we'll talk."

I took the bag from her. "Gram, are you bribing me with cupcakes?"

She smiled. "I'm just hoping it will soften the blow."

I followed her inside and sat at the kitchen table while she started the hot chocolate. I pulled the cupcake out of the bag and devoured the peanut b.u.t.ter goodness. I hadn't eaten in hours, I had been too consumed by my Halloween decorating.

"This is heaven," I said to Gram.

"They're pretty good but red velvet is my favorite."

"I like that too but the pumpkin cupcake you sell during the fall is pretty good. Although, neither of those comes close to peanut b.u.t.ter fudge."

She laughed. "You always would eat anything if it had peanut b.u.t.ter in it."