The End Is Only the Beginning

22. The Right Direction

Now, at lunch, Noelle had suddenly decided that she needed to join the drama club for the first time during her entire high school life.

"Do you know why Noelle left?" I asked, my voice low as I spoke to Kasim.

Kasim shrugged, and Adam attempted to involve himself in our conversation. "Why would I?"

"She's not pissed about Friday night, is she? Did you tell her?"

"No." Kasim took a sip of his orange juice. "She's probably more mad that you left Eli, ya know, seen as it was supposed to be a date."

Shit, Eli. I completely forgotten about texting him after leaving on Friday night. I glanced around the cafeteria, looking for the familiar sight of straight black hair on the head of a tall guy. First, I spotted 'him', brown hair and a small grin which belonged to Aaron Knowles. I smiled back at him, fighting the butterflies which began to swarm.

And then I spotted Eli.

"I'll be back in a minute," I told Kas. He nodded.

I left my bag on a chair next to Kasim before heading over to Eli. He was sat at a table with a few of his friends, all of whom spotted me before he did.

"Hey, Eli," I tapped his shoulder to gain his attention, and he whipped his head around to meet me. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked. Eli just looked at me, as if he was urging me to continue while his friends stared on – had he come out to them? "Alone."

"Oh. Right, sure," Eli spluttered, standing up quickly.

"Thanks."

We only stood about a metre or two away from Eli's table of friends, but it was still far enough to be out of hearing distance.

"About Friday night," I began, hugging my own waist. "Sorry for leaving unannounced, and for not getting in touch with you sooner-," Eli looked like he wanted to say something, to cut me off, but I continued. "But something came up and a friend needed me. I know that's not really an excuse, and I'm sorry."

"Caleb," Eli finally stopped me. "It's fine. I figured it must've been something important."

"But I still should've told you."

Eli shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah," he admitted. His usual cheerful smile reappeared on his face as he added, "don't worry, I'm not gonna hold a grudge."

"Thanks," I said, grinning back.

"Anyway, I should get back to those guys," Eli spoke, nudging his head in the direction of his friends.

I nodded, unfolding my arms. "Hopefully we can hang out again soon."

"Definitely. See you around, Caleb."

Eli regrouped with his friends, and I head back over to my table – minus Noelle. Kasim watched me as I walked over, a slight, smug smirk lingering on his lips. He shook his head as I got closer, and I knew he'd have some questions to ask.

-

Lunch ended, and I had still yet to have a conversation with Noelle.

Before I'd have the chance to talk to Noelle, I had history class...with Aaron.

Despite him smiling at me from across the cafeteria, I'd half expected Aaron to ignore me. When I arrived to class, he had yet to arrive. I busied myself by emptying my bag of equipment I'd need for this class, doing anything to stop myself from thinking about Aaron.

"Hey," he greeted – I'd tried to distract myself so much that I hadn't even noticed him enter the classroom.

I lost my ability to form words, taken aback by the fact he'd actually acknowledged me. Sure, I'd managed to comfort him enough to the point where he'd confessed parts of his life to me, but I expected him to act like it hadn't happened.

"Hi," I finally managed.

Aaron was sat down now and pulling equipment from his own bag. "Everything alright?" he asked, turning to look at me. I nodded. "Good."

"Everything ok with you?" I tried.

"Yeah, everything's good. Thanks." Aaron dropped his exercise book on the desk and slid his backpack beneath the table. "Actually," he began again. I picked up on the way that Aaron's leg bounced in a nervous manner. "I was wondering if I could ask you a favour?"

"Shoot."

Aaron picked up his pen, occupying his hands by flipping it between his fingers while his leg still bounced. "I thought some more about what you said, when you mentioned therapy," Aaron began. "And I'm supposed to have a session tomorrow, straight after school," he confessed.

I smiled at Aaron, happy that he was still confiding in me while making positive changes to his life. "Good for you, Aaron."

"I know we've not been on the best of terms recently, but I trust you more than I trust anyone else." Aaron dropped his pen back onto the desk. "I was wondering if you'd come with me? Of course, you can say no. It's just, I don't think I want to go by myself – and you don't even have to go in with me, you can just sit in the reception so I know that someone's there."

I wanted to smile, to beam so brightly that my face would ache, but I held back because now didn't seem like the right time. "Of course I'll go with you, Aaron. If you're sure that you want me there, I'll go."

The fact that he even wanted me to attend something so serious with him surprised me; we'd barely been on speaking terms about a week ago. But it was nice to know that even after everything, he still trusted me enough to count on me for something like this.

"I'm sure, plus, I think I'll feel a little more comfortable that way."

"It's a plan then," I smiled.

Aaron smiled back at me, his eyes glistening as he did so. "Thank you, Caleb."

Anything for you, Aaron.

I didn't think about anything else for the rest of the class, even Noelle and the lack of contact that I'd had with her had been forgotten about. The guilt I had felt about abandoning Eli on Friday night subsided, and Kasim's curious questions had been pushed to the back of my mind.

Nothing else mattered.

---

Author's Note:

Listen to Tom Odell – 'If You Wanna Love Somebody'. I'm obsessed, although I'm not going to force you...obviously.

'Stressful' wasn't the word when it came to writing this chapter. I didn't know where to start, nor where to end – I mean, it can only go up from here; maybe more so with the bonding we've got to look forward to in the next chapter.

What's up with Noelle? Hmmm, I wonder...

-T xox