The rest of the class had already gone home and Roy and I were the only ones left.
I carried the heavy pile of books to our classroom. Roy was behind me playing a game on his phone.
"Can't you give me a hand?"
"No." he answered curtly.
"But you are the assistant!"
"And whose fault is that?"
"Argh!" If only I knew this job would be hard I wouldn't have volunteered in the first place!
We arrived in the classroom and I placed the pile of books on the teacher's desk. I stretched my hands and my now aching back. Roy was perched on the desk not paying attention to my stretching.
"Some gentleman you are, you can't even help a lady!"
"A lady?" He scoffed. "You are more of a little monster, it might be little but the damage it makes is much bigger."
"And you...you...you are--"
"I am?" He looked up from his phone and I stammer.
"You--" I immediately reached to grab his phone but he grabbed my hand pulling me to him. I raised my head such that I was now an inch from his face. Staring into his eyes my heart begins beating uncontrollably.
"W-what are you doing let go," I said still looking into his eyes.
"I..." His eyes became kind. "I--" suddenly my phone rang causing the atmosphere to change immediately. I pulled my hand from his and moved away taking out my phone from my pocket. I answered without checking who was calling.
"Hello?"
"Emma, thank goodness." the unusual voice caused me to check the name of my caller.
"Oh, hey Caleb, what's up?"
"Well, I sent you messages and you weren't replying so I thought I should call."
"Oh, I am sorry, I was finishing up at school. I'll read them."
"No, need. I was asking you if we could meet up for another game, I really enjoyed playing with you."
"Sure, why not! Meet you in fifteen minutes."
"Okay." I hang up and turned to Roy who was back to his phone as if nothing happened.
"Who are you meeting?" He asked still focused on his phone.
"A friend."
"Caleb?" He looked up at me.
"Yes. Do you know him?" I asked curiously. For some reason the way he said 'Caleb' sounded hostile.
"No." He kept his phone in his pocket and grabbed his bag. "I am coming with you."
"What? Why?" I asked, not like I was against it, it was just sudden.
"Mom."
"Huh?" I was more surprised that he called my mother 'Mom'
"She said we should take care of each other." He said as he walked out the door.
I followed him with my bag. I hope Caleb won't mind me bringing another person.
We arrived at the arcade. At first glance, I immediately spotted where Caleb was. He was talking to another boy. I led Roy to him.
"Hey, Caleb!" I greeted him. He turned to me and smiled
"Emma, you made it! Who--" His smile disappeared upon seeing Roy. "Is this your friend?"
"Oh, actually, Roy is my--"
"Classmate." Roy cut me off. "She invited me to check out the arcade. You must be Caleb. She's talked about you lot."
What? I didn't even say a thing about Caleb!
"Really? I am sure you must be a precious friend to Emma for her to tell you about me." Caleb said as he smiles. He then offered a handshake to Roy who for the first time gladly took.
Something was not right. I felt that the atmosphere became tense the minute the two shook hands. It was like they were rivals.
"Um...Do you guys know each other?"
"No. It's my first time seeing him." Roy said.
"Yes, I would have remembered seeing his face if we'd known each other."
"Okay...I guess." I was unsure, despite what they said the atmosphere around them was not mistaken.
"I wanted to show you a new game that came out," Caleb said leading us to a new machine. It was a shooting game.
"You know how to play?" Roy was surprised to see me play.
"Well, Caleb taught me," I said as I shot the people in the game.
"Well, It was nice meeting you, Roy. Let's meet again soon." Caleb said with a smile as he waved us off.
ns 15.158.61.46da2
