"Does your mom know you're out here?"

Caleb shakes his head.

"What about Alex?"

"I didn't tell anyone."

I frown at him. "What if your family get worried?"

"They know that I'm insomniac."

"You are?" I say incredulously.

Who knew a cheerful person like Caleb has a nocturnal schedule? Who would have thought that he could not sleep at night? This has taken me by surprise.

"There were times when I would just lie in bed and stare at the ceiling," he admits.

"What about sleeping pills?"

"I didn't want to depend on those," he says wryly.

"But they will help you sleep," I reason. "Besides, those are drugs prescribed by doctors."

He glances at me sideways, and I can't help but stare. Am I too preoccupied with many things that I failed to notice the dark circle under his eyes? Now that I look at him up close, I notice that his orbs aren't the usual green color. His eyes are green, with a blue ring in the middle of the pupil.

"Is there something on my face?" Caleb asks, cocking his head to the side.

"None," I say quickly, shaking my head.

He pinches my cheek and says, "Then stop staring."

"I wasn't," I deny, slapping his hand away.

"Yeah, right," he says, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

Why does he have beautiful eyes? I suddenly feel plain with my blue gray eyes. And to even think that they are my best features. Being with Caleb, I can't help but see our many differences. And it's annoying; I want to scream in frustration.

I take a deep breath and calm myself. I don't need to be affected.

We've been walking around for a while now. I'm not sure if he has a destination in mind. My mind is fully awake now, unlike earlier when I felt like walking in a dreamless heap.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

Caleb suddenly stops walking. I bump into him, my nose hurting in the process.

"What?" I ask as he turns around to face me.

"What do you want in a guy?"

"Huh?" I ask brilliantly.

"Your preference, standard, criteria?" he elaborates.

That's easy. I've been dreaming about a perfect guy, so I already have answers.

"I want a guy who will never run out of surprises for me. I want him to be chivalrous; also, he has to agree with my suggestions. I want someone who will not mind when I get lost with my thoughts. I need a guy who I can spend time with, without getting bored, and someone who will leave me no choice but to love him more." I pause and say, "Do you want me to continue?" I'm running out of breath.

"You've been reading too many books," Caleb says. He has an unreadable expression on his face.

Books are my companion. I depend on them. Because of reading, my standards got high. I didn't even notice that I described Daniel. I know that—

"You're asking for a fictional character," he says, interrupting my thoughts.

"Am I?" Then I remember all the things I said. "Sorry," I say, my cheeks heating up.

I can't believe I spilled everything. Well, mostly. I probably forgot that I'm with Caleb, not Daniel. When did I start talking without thinking? This is embarrassing- wearing my heart on my sleeve.

"Hey!"

I jump in surprise.

"You're doing it again," Caleb says, putting his pointer finger on my forehead.

"What?" I ask, scowling at him.

His mouth twitches upward. "You're not only a daydreamer," he states, "but also a night dreamer."

I cross my arms over my chest, and ignore him. Why is he making fun of me? He's making it a habit.

"Am I that boring that you find yourself floating away when you're with me?" He looks away when he finished speaking, but not before I see something flashed in his eyes.

Suddenly, I feel guilty for making him sad. It's not a good thing to think too much when I'm with him.

"I'm sorry," I say earnestly. "One of my weaknesses is that I'm easily distracted. Sometimes I can't help it. Most of the time, I don't notice it."

He looks at me again and puts his hands on my shoulders. "You have the attention span of a one year old," he says.

"What do you mean by that?" I ask, trying to calm myself before I snap at him again.

He grins, his eyes lighting in delight. "I was just kidding!" To my surprise, he shakes me.

My vision gets blurry so I tell him to stop. The idiot, he's even laughing as if he did something good. I push him away, and I almost topple over my feet.

"I got dizzy," I complain, putting my hands on my head.

He clears his throat and stares at me.

"What?" I ask, feeling uncomfortable with his unwavering gaze.

"You need to stop daydreaming," he says firmly.

My eyes widen in shock. "Why?" When he doesn't respond, I say, "You can't tell me to do something without explaining why I had to do it."

"Because."

"Because?" I ask impatiently.

"I'll kiss you when I catch you daydreaming again."

"What?" I choke the word out. Is he insane? What is he talking about?

Caleb will kiss me? No way. That's beyond impossible.

"I'm not kidding," he says, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. "You need to learn how to focus."

"And kissing you will make me focus?" I ask dryly.

He chuckles. "If you don't like it, then stop daydreaming."

I frown. This is not funny anymore.

Caleb smooth down my eyebrows with his hands and says, "Try smiling, alright?"

I stick my tongue out and turn my back on him.

He grabs my arm and leads me to the side street. We round a corner and pause in front of a vacant lot.

"The park?" I say when I see the sign.

He grins. "Kid's at heart."

The street lights are illuminating the trees around the area, as well as the playground. There's a small fountain at the center, and benches every few yards.

We walk towards the swing set, and sit side by side. At first we are quiet, but I don't mind because I like this kind of silence. And I'm not much of a talker.

I'm not fond of stars, but when I glance up, I'm disappointed not to see even a single one.

Caleb has a faraway gaze on his face. I wonder what he's thinking. Then I remember the question he asked me earlier. What's the reason behind the interrogation? My personality of being naturally curious needs to be satisfied.

"Caleb," I start.

"Yeah?" he says, flicking his hair away from his eyes.

"What about you?" I ask, throwing his question back at him.

"What about me?"

Rolling my eyes, I say, "What are you looking for in a girl?"

"Someone like you."

A startle sound escapes from my lips. I can feel the blush creeping in, flooding my face.

To my surprise, Caleb laughs loudly. That's when I realized he's joking. Of course. He's making fun of me. Again.

"Your face was priceless," he says, chuckling.

I glare at him. "I'm glad you find my reactions amusing," I say sarcastically.

He clears his throat to stop his laughter. "Sorry," he says sheepishly. "But to answer your question, I don't have criteria, or whatever you call them. When I like someone, then I like her. She doesn't have to follow a set of standards."

"Yeah, right." My heart is still beating furiously in my chest. I hate the fact that he can make me feel this way.

"You think I'm lying?" he says, putting his hand on his heart, feigning he's hurt.

"Aren't all guys like—"

He raises his hand to stop me. "Don't stereotype."

"But I'm just—"

"Not all guys are like that," he says, cutting me off.

He makes it a habit of interrupting me. It's quite irritating. I'm contemplating if I'll leave him here after he played a joke on me when he says, "I'm sorry," again.

I look at him and see that he has a sincere expression on his face. "Though you really need to loosen up a bit," he adds quietly.

I can't let my guard down. I don't want to get hurt anymore. The mere thought of experiencing that pain is unbearable.

Caleb mutters something under his breath.

"What?" I ask, wondering why he's wearing an exasperated expression.

"It's raining." He points upward and I follow his finger. Something wet touches my cheek. I blink my eyes. There it is again.

"It's raining," I say slowly. Why didn't I feel it before?

"Come on," Caleb says, grabbing my hand.

"Where to?" I ask.

Looks like no matter how fast we'll run, we're not going to make it back. The touch of his hand in mine is unusual. I've never hold hands with a real guy before. This is a first time for me. I shake my head. I can't dwell on this.

We stop running in front of the slide.

He squeezes my hand and says, "Let's climb."

We just barely land on the last step when the lightning begins. Heavy drops of rain are falling now. I also understand why he chose to go here. The slide has a little roof that covers us so that we won't get wet. But this won't do. We need to stay here as long as it's raining.

I swallow hard when I realize that we're still holding hands. "Um," I say, staring pointedly at our hands.

Caleb clears his throat inconspicuously, and let go of my hand. "Sorry, I didn't look at the weather report," he says, scratching the back of his neck.

"It doesn't matter," I reply, "they aren't accurate most of the time."

"It's my fault you're drenched in the rain and stuck here with me."

Déjà vu.

This happened before; when Caleb and I got detention a few months ago.

I glance at him and see that he looks defeated. I pat his arm and say, "Its fine, I don't mind."

We both sit on the floor, both of us preoccupied with our own thoughts.

I wonder if Margarett is already sleeping. Is she worried? She knows that I'm not bringing an umbrella. But she doesn't know where we are. But we can contact her.

"Caleb," I say, as soon as the idea enters my mind. "Can I borrow your phone?"

"I didn't bring it," he says.

I sigh. "Let's just wait for the rain to stop then."

The wind blows through my hair and the drops of rain touches my arms. It's cold; I can't help but shiver.

At this moment in a novel, the male protagonist will take his jacket off and will give it to the girl. But Caleb is not wearing a jacket; not that I expect him to give it to me if he's wearing one. Besides, we're not fictional characters, and most importantly, Caleb is not my male protagonist.

Hold my hand and never let go. Let's run in the pouring rain. We have nothing to fear. Let's forget everything and enjoy the moment right now.

Weird. An idea just flashed in my mind. It's a good scene for Adam, Alyson, and Clay's story.

"Annalise."

I blink my eyes and see Caleb's face a few inches from me. My eyes widen, and I push him away quickly.

"What are you doing?" I demand, gasping for breaths.

My hand goes to my chest; I can feel my heart beats furiously. I need to calm down, but my stupid brain continues to rewind our close proximity seconds ago.

"Didn't I say I'll kiss you if I catch you daydreaming again?"

I scowl at him. "I'm not—"

"Here," Caleb says, cutting me off, and handing me his sweatshirt.

Sweatshirt?

I look at him and notice that he's now wearing a white shirt.

"But—"

"You're shivering," he says, rolling his eyes.

"What about you?"

"I'm good."

I take the sweatshirt from him and wear it. Even though it's raining, the sweater is warm. It's comfortable and smells exactly like—

No.

I catch myself before my thoughts lead me to my destruction.

*****

I hope you liked it! =)

The song is Somebody Out There by A Rocket to the Moon <3

Thank you for reading this! ^.^