“We’re going to have a field trip.”

Excited chatters fill the room after the statement of Mr. Tyree. When my classmates settle, they soon ask questions on where, and when we’re going to have our tour, and how many days, if it’s overnight—which is unlikely.

“Class, class,” Mr. Tyree warns, “You’re disturbing the other classes that are having their lessons.”

Still, my classmates aren’t lowering their voices. They continue to talk, ignoring Mr. Tyree who’s looking impatient and stressed at the same time.

“Aren’t you excited?” Caleb asks, leaning towards me.

“Not really,” I answer.

“Why?” he asks curiously, raising his eyebrows.

“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “Maybe because the old field trips we had been to were not really exciting. I don’t want to let my hopes up.”

“Where did you go before?”

“In a boring museum,” I say, remembering old times.

And then I tell him everything about all the previous trips we had, while Mr. Tyree sits in his chair, fuming with rage.

When we went to that old museum, I was alone. Kamille was absent that day because she was sick. My other acquaintances didn’t take the subject Geography that year. The students who took Geography were the only ones required on that trip.

So I was left to walk around inside the museum, staring at the old ceiling above me, and the paintings of the infamous artists on the wall.

I love art. I appreciate the paintings, but there was something about the building that was creepy. Especially, I was alone. The other students had their friends with them.

“One time,” I continue, “We went to a botanical garden. A student tried to catch a butterfly, but he didn’t know that in the end, he caught a bee. He was so afraid, running around, until one of the gardeners took the bee away.”

Caleb laughs at that. A smile makes its way in my face as I watch him catch his breath. Caleb always smiles and laughs. It comes easily to him.

A thump in front of the room makes him stop from laughing.

Mr. Tyree glares at the students who aren’t looking at him. “I know you’re all excited about the trip, but you shouldn’t act immature about it!”

Some looks down in embarrassment.

“Your tour is on October 1,” he continues. “It’s not really an educational trip because your trip is in an amusement park.”

“What?” Several voices ask at the same time.

“The details aren’t final yet,” he says. “I’ll tell you when it’s official.”

At his last word, the bell rings. Nice, the one hour of the subject is just for the discussion of the tour. Actually, it’s just like a chat time for us, students, because Mr. Tyree didn’t really discuss it.

Standing up from my chair, I say, “Goodbye,” to Caleb.

“Wait,” he says, following after me.

When we’re at the door, Maegan walks by.

“Caleb!” She says, glancing at me up and down.

I bite my tongue before I can say bad things to her. Who does she thinks she is to look at me like that?

“Bye,” I mouth to Caleb.

He looks at me worriedly while I walk away from him.

Kamille and I meet halfway in the cafeteria. She chats along the way, not bothering to check if I’m listening or not. After we order our food, we sit across from each other in our usual table.

I’m about to take a bite of my lasagna when I see Caleb making his way towards us, a tray of food in hand.

“What are you doing here?” I ask incredulously.

“What do you think?” he asks amusedly, sitting on the chair beside me.

“Caleb,” I start, ignoring Kamille who’s looking at me pointedly.

“Don’t you have any friends?” I look around to see if Alex’s here, but I can’t see him.

“You are my friend,” he states, “And I think Kamille can join the circle of my friends.”

Kamille smiles broadly. “I’m touched,” she murmurs, her cheeks coloring brightly. “I like having new friends.”

“Friends of Annalise are so nice,” he says matter-of-factly.

Nice? But Kamille is my only friend! Is Caleb out of his mind? What is he talking about? I have an idea.

“If I know, you just like me,” I tease.

He chokes on the iced tea he’s drinking. It splutters on the table in front of him, a few centimeters away from his cheeseburger.

I bite my lip to stop the bubbles in my stomach that will surely become laughter if I don’t control it. It’s not good to say a joke when someone’s drinking.

“Look at what you’ve done,” Caleb says bemusedly, wiping his mouth with his handkerchief.

“I’m sorry,” I say with a smile. “I was just kidding.”

He brushes his hair that falls on his eyes. “I know,” he mutters, looking away.

“Am I interrupting something?” Kamille asks amusedly. “Why do I feel left out? Are you two having a date?”

I turn to see her smiling mischievously. I have to admit, I forgot for a second that she’s with us.

“Sorry,” Caleb says sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

Kamille waves it off with a flick of her hand. “No need to say sorry. I just love watching you two teasing each other. So cute!”

I give her a sharp look, but she’s purposely not looking at me. My cheeks are surely as red as a red rose.

“You know,” Kamille says, oblivious to my gape expression, “I’ve never seen Annalise smiling a lot. I think it started when you transferred here.”

“Kamille!” I exclaim.

In the corner of my eye, I see Caleb smirking. Oh goodness! How can they team up against me?

“What was Annalise like, before?”

Kamille glances at me, smiling slyly. “You know, Annalise—“

“Okay, that’s it!” I grumble, cutting off her next words. I don’t like it when people talk about me like I’m not here. “Talk about me all you want, I’ll go.”

I’m about to stand up when Caleb grabs my hand. I tug it away, but he holds it firmly. Looking up, I see his eyes glitter in delight. I don’t know why he finds weird things amusing.

“Sorry,” he says. “I swear I won’t do it again.”

Heaving a sigh, I sit comfortably in my chair.

“Oh,” Kamille murmurs, “The promise of love.”

I scowl at her; my mouth is shape in a thin hard line.

“Sorry,” she says slowly, “Shutting up now.”

We talk about other things then. Mostly, they talk, I listen. They try to join me in their conversation but I drift away. . .

I’m not angry at them, I’m just confused. Why is it that someone like Caleb wants to be my friend?

About the teasing part, I feel. . . I don’t know what to feel about that. Caleb and me? Impossible! We just met a couple of days ago. And he seems the kind of guy who’s not looking for someone to love. So different from me. I’ve been waiting for my prince for how many years now?

I’m only disappointing myself, hoping that he’ll come. But if I’ll not hope, what will happen to me? Someday—

A light touch on my arm breaks me from my reverie.

“Annalise,” Caleb says, gazing at me with his green eyes.

They are so deep, it's like I'm drowning in them. Blinking my eyes, I shake my head to clear my thoughts.

“Don’t be offended,” Kamille says, “She always have a faraway look on her eyes. It’s like being on Cloud 9.”

“I’ve noticed,” Caleb says, cocking his head to the side, studying me.

*****

The song is Raindrops by Regina Spektor.

Thank you so much ♥