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Skyler laughs and says, “I didn’t do THAT much.” “Really?” Are you kidding me?” I ask with my mouth open. “You made everyone in that class think I attacked you and wouldn’t stop screaming!” Then, in the middle of the lecture, you threw twenty pens at me and everyone looked at me again. They probably think I’m crazy! I yelled. When I was done with my little rant, I turned to Ezra and asked, “How do you deal with him?”
Ezra smiled more as he turned to look at Skyler. “You get used to it,” he said, and then he kissed Skyler on the forehead. Skyler hugged Ezra and said, “You love me.”
“Yes, I do.”
We talked for two hours at Café. We laughed, and I learned more about Skyler and his funny side. He said he was a bit of a prankster and had played some pretty mean pranks on them (his words, not mine). When I took out my phone, I saw that I had two missed calls from my mom and five texts. “Crap,” I said.
“What’s wrong?” Jaxon asks right away.
“Oh, my mom has been trying to get in touch with me. “One second,” I said as I got up and went to the corner so I wouldn’t bother them. Skyler was still laughing about one of his pranks, where he dyed Ezra’s hair pink while he was sleeping.
I called my mom back, and she picked up right away. “Calla?”
“Hey, Mom. Sorry I didn’t get back to you; I’m at the café with
“Calla, where are you? I called you, but your class ended hours ago! You should have come back!”
“Mom, I told you I’m at the café with some friends I made.”
My mom sighs on the phone. “Okay, you didn’t tell me and I was worried.” You need to watch Maisie because I have to leave for work in an hour. Could you please come home now?”
“Shit, I forgot you had to work today.” Sure, I’ll go over there now. Sorry.
“It’s all right, sweetie. I’m happy that you’re making new friends. Please let me know when so we can keep track of who is watching Maisie.”
“Sounds good,” I say, even though I know she can’t see me. “Love you.”
“Love you too, sweetie.”
I hang up and slowly walk over to our table. Jaxon is staring at me again. It seems like all he’s done since I’ve been here is look at me. Not that I mind, because I’ve been doing the same thing to him, but at least there’s a reason for my staring. He is literally the most attractive person on the planet. Every girl in the coffee house and some of the guys have been looking at him. He commands attention. I’m just a shy girl with average looks. I’m nothing special.
“Hey. “Thanks again for inviting me, Skyler,” I say as I pick up my backpack from the floor and put it on my shoulder. “I have to go home now.” I had a great time. “Nice to meet you, Ezra and Jaxon,” I say as I nod to both of them. I wave to Jaxon shyly and start to leave when I feel him grab my hand. “How are you getting home?” he asks, still holding my hand.
I tell him, “Oh, I live kind of close, so I’m just going to walk.” He stands up and picks up his coffee cup, which he hasn’t thrown away yet, and says, “Nonsense, I’ll drive you.”
“You really don’t have to.” It’s not too far to walk. And how will Ezra and Skyler get home?”
“I’m driving you; that’s the end of it.” He says, “I’ll pick them up on the way back,” as if it’s an order.
“But what if they don’t want to wait?”
“Calla,” Jaxon says, looking me straight in the eyes. He touches my cheek with his hand and traces it with his thumb, which makes me feel even more tingly.
“Okay,” I say. It sounds a lot more breathy than I meant it to, but I don’t really have control around Jaxon. He smiles so widely when I agree, and then he puts his hand on my lower back.
“See you later,” Jaxon says to Ezra and Skyler. I wave shyly at both of them.
“Goodbye, Calla!” I get to spend all my time with Ezra now!” Skyler says as he jumps onto Ezra’s lap, making him say, “Oomph.” I laugh as I’m led out of the café, Jaxon’s hand warming my back from the cold. With Jaxon right next to me, I barely notice how cold it is. As we walk to the parking lot, I silently hope Jaxon doesn’t have a motorcycle. Those things are so dangerous, and even though it would thrill me to ride one, I don’t think I want to right now.
Jaxon takes a set of keys out of his pocket and clicks a button on them to unlock a matte black Tesla. Wow, that car looks expensive. Thank god it’s a car.
Jaxon lets out a low rumble, which I quickly realize is him trying not to laugh. “What’s so funny?” I ask, “Did I do something embarrassing? Is there something on my face?”
“You’re cute.” What else would I be driving?”
Oh no. I said that out loud. Quick! Say something! “Oh! I was just saying that I’m glad it’s not a bike. You look like the kind of person who would ride a motorcycle. I don’t mean to say you have a type or anything. “You’re just really tall, muscular, and good-looking, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you rode one,” I said all in one breath. Wow, I’m talking too much. When I’m nervous, I say dumb things that I should have kept to myself. But now he knows I think he’s attractive! Well, of course he must know that. He has a mirror!
Jaxon throws his head back and laughs. “You’re so cute,” he says next, which takes my breath away. Now he thinks I’m a freak. And motorcycles are dangerous; I would never let you ride one of those.
And… I’m speechless. What do you say to that? Jaxon just smiles at me with his perfect pearly whites, and I swear I almost faint. He takes me to the passenger side of the car and opens the door for me. I thank him shyly, my confidence gone after he just complimented me. He must have been kidding.
We drive home in comfortable silence, with the only talking being me telling him how to get to my house. We got there in just a few minutes. “Thank you for the ride, Jaxon,” I say. I smile at him and open the car door to leave. He opens his door too and walks over to me. “Um… What are you up to?” I chuckle nervously.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’m not going to stay. All I want to do is walk you to the door.
He just called me love! I bet my cheeks are bright pink again. I try to hide my embarrassment by looking down, but Jaxon won’t let me. He cups my cheeks and lifts my face up to his. “Don’t hide from me. “You never have to be embarrassed with me,” he says. I can’t believe I’m letting him touch me like this. When Nico had his hand on my shoulder, I was very uncomfortable. But now that Jaxon is holding my hand and my head in his hands, I don’t feel uncomfortable at all. In fact, it feels right.
“Why do I feel this way when I’m with you?” I say it out loud without meaning to. As soon as I ask the question, I wish I hadn’t. I probably scared him. Stupid Calla, think before you speak!”
“So you feel it, too?”  “Yes,” he says, and my heart stops for a moment. Does he feel what I feel? This crazy attraction, this force that’s pulling us together? It’s crazy because I just met him two hours ago and already feel like I’ve known him forever.
Just as I’m about to ask him about it, the door opens and my mom is already in her flight attendant clothes. “There you are.” Oh! When my mom sees Jaxon, she says, “That’s when I realize where we are.” We’re very close, and Jaxon has his hands on my cheeks. It looks like he’s about to kiss me, so I jolt out of his hold and clear my throat while my cheeks burn.
“Hey, Mom.” “Uh, this is Jaxon,” I say to my mom. “Well, Jaxon, it’s very nice to meet you.” Do you go to school with Calla?” Questions from my mom.”
“No, ma’am. He says, “I graduated last year, but I’m friends with one of her classmates.” Did he graduate already? How old is he? Now that I look at him, I guess he does look older than me. But he can’t be more than 23. I hope.
“Oh. Well, that’s good. “Hey, what did you stu-” My sister screamed, “CALLAEE!” You made it home!” She says as she runs outside and jumps into my chest. If I hadn’t caught her, she would have knocked me over like a bowling pin, which has happened, I’m afraid.
“Hey, Maisie!” How are you doing? Did you have a good day?”
“I had the best day ever!” “Today at daycare, we made—” Maisie stops talking when she sees Jaxon standing next to me. I can tell when she sees him because her eyes get big and she hugs me tighter. She can be shy around new people, but once she gets to know you, she opens up. “Calla, who is that big man?” Maisie whispers, but since she’s only six, her voice sounds more like a raspy speaking voice than a whisper.
“Maisie, this is my new friend Jaxon,” I tell her. “He’s nice.” “Hi, Jaxon,” she says, a little shyly, but she does talk to him, which is a good sign. “Hi, Maisie.” Nice to meet you. “Thanks!” Maisie says, and Jaxon says, “I like your outfit.” Justice gave Mommy the sparkly skirt!”
“Well, you look cute in it,” he says. I know I shouldn’t care, but Jaxon called me cute a few times in the Café. Does he mean the same thing he does with Maisie? That I’m just a shy little girl he needs to be nice to?
While Jaxon talks to Maisie, I turn to look at my mom, who is still standing in the doorway and looking at the three of us. She mouths “he’s cute!” and I angrily mouth “MOM” with wide eyes, hoping she won’t embarrass me. But she’s not the one I should be worried about embarrassing me.
“Jaxon?” Maisie says with more confidence. He hums and waits for Maisie to say something.
“Are you seeing Calla?”
I almost choke when Maisie asks him that. I look at Jaxon and am about to tell him he doesn’t have to stay and answer Maisie’s questions when he says, “Hopefully one day.”
After Jaxon’s flirty comment and my extreme blushing, Jaxon left to go pick up Ezra and Skyler from the coffee shop. My mom asked me a lot of questions about Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome, and I told her everything that happened that day. I told her that Skyler invited me to Café to meet Ezra and Jaxon. She was really interested in Jaxon and wouldn’t stop grinning at me when I said his name. She scares me sometimes.
After she left for work, I took care of Maisie for the rest of the night. We played with dolls, ate dinner, colored, and then I put her to bed. She fell asleep by nine, and since I didn’t have any homework yet, I decided to read a book.
I was reading my book when Skyler texted me. I had just gotten to the part where the guy was confessing his undying love for the girl.
Skyler: CALLAE! HELP ME!
Me: Haha, hey. What’s going on?
Skyler: I need your help; he’s killing me.