Chapter 9 - Part 1

Pov: Victoria

“What on earth am I doing here?” I asked myself.

I was standing at the entrance of the school just as Caleb had instructed. Sam stood with me as I waited because she didn’t trust me not to bail on the plans that we had. I would never admit it but she was actually right in suspecting that I would do so. Even as she stood there next to me, holding onto my arm, I was contemplating running for it. This was the exact opposite of what Brianna had ‘advised’ me to do.

“Why do I have to do this?” I whined. 

“Because you need to make more friends,” Sam answered as she tightened her grip on my arm.

“I don’t need more friends. I have you,” I argued.

“I know but still...”

She was relentless.

I knew then that there was no way of getting out of hanging out with Nathan. And to think that all this over a bag of chips. I looked at the time and realized that we had been standing there for almost ten minutes.

“It has been ten minutes Sam, he is probably not coming. Maybe he forgot about the chips?”

She did not answer me and continued looking straight ahead.

I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Oh well, we tried. Let’s go home now.”

I started to walk away when she yanked my arm and pulled me back to the place I was standing. 

He is not coming.”

Those words had barely left my mouth when I heard someone call my name.

“Victoria!”

I turned around in the direction that the sound was coming from and saw Caleb waving at me. He was surrounded by the rest of the basketball team and I was worried that he would bring them all over. My social anxiety could not handle that. Luckily, he separated himself from the group and walked towards Sam and me. It was almost like he read my mind. He strolled over to where I was standing.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked.

“She is,” Sam answered before I could interject. I narrowed my eyes.

“I shan’t forget this treachery,” I whispered in her ear.

“I’ll live,” she quipped back.

Caleb headed to his car and I followed behind him. He went over to the passenger’s side and opened the door.

“My lady, your chariot awaits,” He said as he bowed deeply.

I couldn’t help but smile. He was actually kind of cute. I stopped myself right there. I could not allow myself to start thinking that Caleb was cute. It would not end well for me.

I got into the car then he closed the door for me and ran over to the driver’s seat. He got in, buckled up, and drove out of the parking lot. A few people saw us together and I inwardly groaned. I knew that this information would have made its way into Brianna’s ears by the end of the day. Gossip at McKinley High spread like wildfire.

We drove for a while in silence. I felt so awkward, I considered jumping outside the window just for a second.

“Do you want to listen to some music?” Caleb asked

I nodded enthusiastically. I needed something to fill the silence.  He turned on the radio and tuned it until he found a station that he liked. He settled on a station that was playing an upbeat catchy tune.

“I love this song!” He exclaimed and drummed on the steering wheel. I had never heard that song in my life but it was very catchy. Before I knew it, I was tapping my feet to the beat.

“Who sang this song?” I asked. 

He turned his head towards me.

“Please tell me you’re joking! The Eclectic Moon! They are my favorite alternative Rock band. Have you seriously never heard of them?” he asked.

I shook my head. I think that I would remember a band called the Eclectic Moon. Caleb looked really excited.

“I am about to change your life. What would you do without me, Tori?” he said as he cranked up the volume.

The sound filled his car and he started singing along to the song. He was so loud that the people in the cars next to us turned to look at us. I ducked and slid down my chair. Caleb was not fazed at all. He continued to sing his heart out. 

I looked up at him with envy.  Sometimes I wished that was freer. It seemed like such a nice way to live. I decided to embrace the moment and sat back up. I started to move to the beat. The song was really catchy.

He noticed the movement and said, “There we go! Get into it.”

I did. I let myself go and it felt good. The song ended and another one began but the jam session did not end. We got close to the street that had the shopping mart but Caleb drove past the turn. He was still new to town so I figured that he just lost his way. 

“You missed the turn.”

“I know. We’re not going to the store.”

I froze.  Where was he taking me?

“This is what you get for getting into a car with a person who is essentially a stranger,” I scolded myself.

This was it! He would kill me and bury my body. What if I was never found? I started to freak out.  

“Maybe I can jump out of the car and survive,” I thought. 

“Relax Victoria, I am not kidnapping you. I can basically see the thoughts forming in your head,” he said. I got chills whenever he called me by my full name. I was convinced that it was just because of his British accent.

“So where are you taking me? I was promised chips.”

“I’ll get you your crisps, I promise.” I waited for him to finish his statement but he just continued driving while he hummed along to the song that was playing on the radio.

“Are you going to at least tell me where we are going?” I asked.

He mulled over it for a bit before he decided to indulge my request.

“I thought I would take you to my place and before you jump to any conclusions, no, I do not mean that in a weird sleazy way, and yes, we have crisps,” he answered.

I did not say a word. A part of me wondered why he was taking me to his house but most of me was excited. I realized that apart from the gossip that circulated in school, I didn’t know much about Caleb. He continued to drive until he turned and went into a road that led to the part of town where only the rich lived. He was to a stop outside a tall black gate.

He unlocked it by punching a code into the pin pad that was mounted on one of the concrete columns that stood on either side of the gate.  I could barely see into the compound from the outside. The gate slid open slowly and we drove up the driveway. The house slowly came into view. It was stunning with it*. This wasn’t a house, it was a mansion.

“You’re rich?” I said. I meant it to be a statement but it sounded more like a question. “We’re comfortable,” he answered and shrugged nonchalantly.

“That's what rich people say.”

He ignored me and got out of the car. I did the same just to get a better look at the house. 

“Come on, let’s get you those chips.”

He walked toward the house and I followed him close behind. We entered the house through the front door and I was taken aback. The house was even more impressive from the inside. A huge crystal chandelier hung on the ceiling of the foyer; there were stairs winding up to the next floor. The décor was simple and minimalistic which made the house feel very sophisticated.

“Kitchen’s this way,” Caleb said as he disappeared into a door.

While gawking at the house, I had fallen behind. I half-ran to catch up with him. If I got lost in that house, who knew how long it would have taken for someone to find me?

I finally found him in the huge kitchen fetching a packet of chips from the pantry. He brought two packs back and tossed one to me. Of course, I missed it and it landed on the floor. I had absolutely no hand-eye coordination. I scrambled to pick it up as Caleb laughed at me.