Midterms.
The bane of Anna's existence. The mere thought of midterms made her feel mentally drained. One good thing about them, oddly enough, was that they didn't cause her to stress as much as finals did.
Today was a day to celebrate, though. She kept looking from her watch to the school clock. She had synchronized them and let out a squeal of joy as the bell rang, signalizing the end of the day.
Anna hauled her backpack over her shoulder as she sped past her classmates and made her way into the hallway. Midterms were officially over. She was free again; no longer needing to make the library her second home each weekday afternoon. She was just commencing her inner celebration when she heard her name being called out from afar. She turned to look for the culprit that had placed her celebration on pause when a smile graced her lips. Her best friend, Kaleb Jameson, jogged over to her side.
"Dammit, Anna. For someone so short you walk pretty fucking fast." He grinned as his arm stealthily slid its way over to hug her by the shoulders. "What's the rush?"
"Midterms are over Kaleb, that's the cause for the rush. I refuse to stay in this building any longer than necessary. Freedom is calling my name," she squealed as they both exited the school and made their way over to a forest green Honda Accord. "And," she added with emphasis, "You have the pleasure of driving me to Celia's now."
He laughed and nodded as he slid into the driver's seat of the Honda before leaning over and unlocking the passenger door. "Alright, but I'm only taking you because I'm hungry too. It definitely isn't because of your bossiness." He scrunched up his nose as Anna slid into the car and buckled up her seat belt. "I'm pretty sure I bombed the Algebra II midterm. I'm sure my mom is going to kill me if I did…" he stated with a sour look upon his face, shifting his car into drive and heading out onto the road.
Anna placed a finger up to his mouth, causing Kaleb's eyes to go wide; his eyes remaining on the road ahead. "No more speak of it-that-shall-not-be-named. It's over and done with, I just want some food." Her voice was semi-scolding, but her eyes held a glint of laughter.
He grinned and faced her momentarily as he mock saluted her. "Anything else boss?"
— — — — — — — — — — — —
The drive to Celia's café was just as any other drive they had ever had; jokes, mindless chatter, and horrible sing-alongs to the overplayed songs on the radio. They both stepped out of the car once there and made their way into the café.
Celia's Café was a local hotspot with both teens and adults in their crowded town. Everyone loved the diverse menu which ranged from chili fries to milkshakes, even cheesecake. Anna and Kaleb always ordered the same thing each time: A toasted tuna sandwich with ham and cheese, a slice of chocolate marble cheesecake, and vanilla milkshakes as their drinks. It was a mystery as to how those two stayed slim.
Stepping into the café, Celia, the owner, caught sight of them both and smiled. "The usual for you two?" she said, a slight Spanish accent audible in her speech. Both nodded with smiles as they headed to a booth located far into the back of the café, placed right next to a window. They plopped down beside each other and awaited their food.
"Anything new with Sharon?" inquired Anna as she fiddled with the saltshaker before her. Sharon was a psychotic freshman who had been in love with Kaleb since school had commenced. Of course, this was a case of unrequited love. Kaleb had tried all possible methods of making her dislike him, but it all led to her becoming much more enamored with him.
"She followed me into Algebra II earlier today…" he said with a sigh, "and the teacher had to drag her out since she refused to leave the seat next to me.
Anna stifled a giggle and kept on her best poker face as she said "Well that's horrible, Kaleb. Poor you." A grin cracked over her face and she made to hide it but it was too late.
Kaleb could see through her façade easily, even before that small grin broke out over her face. He was just about to chastise her for mocking his ordeal when Celia arrived with their food.
"Here you go kiddies, enjoy." Celia said as she placed the dishes upon the table and scurried on back to her place behind the counter. All thoughts about Sharon had left the instant the delicious food was placed before them.
"Holy shit…" murmured Kaleb as he took a sip of the milkshake. "I don't think I'm ever going to quit coming here. I don't care if I gain thirty pounds, this is heaven."
"I'm with you on that." Anna agreed right before taking a bite out of her sandwich. She held her hand under her mouth to catch any crumbs before they landed on her lap.
Several bites later and a few slurps along the way Kaleb and Anna had devoured their sandwiches and cheesecake, the milkshake on the brink of non-existence.
"God, that was amazing…" declared Kaleb as he gave his non-existent stomach a few pats.
Anna just laughed and stared at Kaleb intently. She propped her elbow onto the table and rested her chin on her palm. She thought for a bit before the words flew right out of her mouth, "Kaleb… Aren't you tired of me?
He paused and raised a brow, unsure of what to make of the question. "What? Why would you ever think that?"
She shrugged and drew invisible shapes on the table with her index finger. "I don't know, to be truthful. I mean, it's always been you and me since first grade. Kaleb and Anna. 'Oh look there's Kaleb… with Anna.' I would think that you'd be tired of me by now; that maybe you'd want to find another best friend, someone of the male gender perhaps?"
"I'm sorry but that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say…" he expressed as he tossed his used napkin down onto the plate before him. "There's no one else in the world I'd rather have by my side twenty-four seven. I love you Anna, you know that."
The intensity in his eyes caused her thoughts to stop in their tracks. Something felt different in his statement. She couldn't quite put her finger on it so she thought nothing more of it and simply nodded. "Sorry, I know I'm being weird. Don't pay attention to me." She waved her hand in front of her in an off-hand manner.
"If you say so…" He furrowed his brows and stared at her for a few more seconds before nodding his head towards the door. "Want to get going?"
"Yeah, let's go. Wait!" She exclaimed, reaching her hand out to grab ahold of Kaleb's hand as he stood from the booth.
Kaleb raised a brow. "What is it?"
She gave him the brightest smile she could muster before giving his hand a light squeeze. "I love you too."
He couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he squeezed her hand in return. "You're a dork."
Anna shook her head with a giggle and stood up, both ready to leave and head to their respective homes. Kaleb reached over and placed a kiss upon Anna's cheek just before they headed out. A blush formed over her cheeks and she couldn't keep a smile off of her face.
Just as Anna was making her way outside of the café, a boy bumped into her. She turned to state her 'sorry' and was greeted with the same apology back. The boy was, to say the least, handsome and Anna caught him staring at her as she slid into Kaleb's car. She stared back at him as well, unable to tear her gaze away from the boy until he was finally out of sight and in the café.
"Are you listening to me?" Kaleb asked exasperatedly.
"What? Oh…" Anna blinked a few times and looked over at Kaleb. "Sorry, I zoned out for a bit."
"I can see…" He muttered as he turned left at a stop sign. "As I was saying, the team wants to go to eat at…"
She couldn't help it, she zoned out everything Kaleb was saying. Something had come over her and she didn't know what or why. It felt as if time and space had stopped as her thoughts lingered back to the boy she had just seen.
— — — — — — — — — — — —
A/N: Changing this baby up… for approximately the third time.
It hurt my eyes to even look at this as I read through it again.
I'm taking down all of the chapters and placing this as in-progress since I'll be editing this in the meantime.
Don't worry; this won't affect my next update of TPSSD. It'll be up on Sunday or before.
Chances are that TPSSD is going to be edited after I'm done with it. Who knows.
Baii guiseee!