22. MATTHEWS

MATTHEWS

2015

The music blasting over the speakers was some form of techno-country that hurt my head. I had lost Cael an hour ago and, even though he promised not to stray too far, I could hear the gaggle of senior girls by the pool laughing at whatever jokes he was telling.

It had become a surefire way of finding him.

Follow the groupies.

“Hey, Clementine!” Andrea Fernsby wandered over to the small kitchen island, her eyes rolling over my outfit with disdain before a horrible smile curled on her lips. “I didn’t think you’d be here, but I guess where Cael goes, you go .” Her eyes flickered to the crowd around him and back to me like it was an insult.

“Mm,” I nodded, just trying to stay out of her way. “He said it was okay if I came,” I said, barely audible over the music.

“Sorry, what was that?” Andrea leaned forward in her tiny tank top, her long dark hair spilling over onto the counter as she got closer. “I couldn’t hear you, little mouse,” she mocked.

“I said—” I opened my mouth and closed it again when I realized she was teasing me.

“It’s just so loud in here!” She shrugged, a sick smile still plastered on her face. “Hey, just girl to girl, can we talk?” She asked.

“Sure.” I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat. Even on a good day, Andrea would never be seen dead talking to me. It was suspicious enough that she was in proximity to me, but now she wanted to have a heart-to-heart? Something stank .

She looped her arm into mine and led me out to the deck, where the party was in full swing. Kids filled the lawn chairs and swam in the pool. It was a warm, June day and, with the school year practically over, everyone had entered summer vacation mode.

“What did you—” I slowed my pace as we approached a quiet corner.

“So, like…” Andrea smiled. “You’re really close to Cael, and I was just wondering if you could put in a good word for me?” Her eyes flickered across the pool deck to where Cael sat with two girls from our Math class.

I tried to stifle the laugh that bubbled from my throat.

Andrea gave me a dirty look upon hearing the sound.

“Oh, you were serious?” I said quietly and awkwardly, avoiding her gaze.

“Of course I was serious, Clementine.” She scowled at me. “Are you going to help me or not?”

“Why don’t you just talk to him?” I asked her.

“If just talking to him worked, I would do that, but he’s always surrounded,” she groaned and took a sip of the liquid in her plastic cup. “You would know that,” she turned her malice back to me, “always following him around but always on the outside of the circle. It’s pathetic.”

“Okay, well…” I buried down the feelings that rose at her words. “I could try. Cael doesn’t really like being told what to do…” I trailed off, but Andrea wasn’t even listening. She heard that I would try and perked up.

“Really? You’ll do that for me?” She cooed her demeanor back to sweet. “You’re such a good friend, Clemmy.” The nickname left a bad taste in my mouth but I nodded as Andrea started fixing her skirt and brushing her hair with her fingertips.

“Oh, like right now?” I laughed nervously, and she stared at me like I had six heads. “Yeah, sure…”

I inhaled deeply, steadying my racing heart, and started across the deck to where he was. He looked over from one of the girls, and a smile spread across his face. I hated watching him flirt with other girls, not because of the action itself, but because it wasn’t him. At least not the Cael I had grown up with. He projected someone louder and funnier around girls, like he needed to take up all the space or no one would pay attention to him .

But he couldn’t be more wrong.

He looked handsome in a white tank top and jeans. His necklace hung from his throat and swung lazily as he shifted on the lawn chair to extend his hand to me. One of the girls beside him scoffed and stared me down for a long, very awkward moment. Cael was completely oblivious to how much they all hated me.

“Can I talk to you?” I asked him over the music, and he nodded, pushing the second girl from his lap. He stood and followed me back against the long fence.

“What’s wrong? Are you not having fun?” He asked in a panic, his eyes searching around the party. He was already trying to problem-solve without an actual problem.

“No—I mean, yeah, I’m having fun,” I lied. “But that’s not why I came over here. You know Andrea Fernsby? She's in my English class.”

“Uh,” Cael pressed his lips together as he thought about it before shaking his head softly, “I don't think so?”

“Little, dark hair, well endowed…” My eyes widened, trying to get him to see her in his mind. “She always smells like cinnamon hearts?”

“Oh! Andrea!” Cael finally clued in.

“She seems really interested in chatting with you,” I said to him, leaving out the part that Andrea would surely make my life a living hell if I didn’t do this for her.

“Chatting?” Cael laughed. “What did she say to you?”

“The usual. She talked about how big your head was, how bad your jokes were, and then complained that if you were only a few inches taller—”

“Okay, okay!” Cael put both hands in the air, still laughing.

“She just wants a moment alone with you,” I said, forcing a smile to my face. “I guess she couldn’t break through the wall of cheerleaders to get her hands on you, so she sent reinforcements.”

“You are the cutest wingman a best friend could ask for.” He wrapped my face in both his hands and kissed my forehead. “Are you sure you’re having fun?”

I nodded. “She just wanted me to put in a good word for her, so I did.”

Cael’s eyes narrowed on me. “Why would you do that?”

Because she would literally never let it go if I didn’t.

“She’s pretty.” I shrugged. “She kind of looks like that actress you love.”

“Sophia Bush?” Cael asked, turning around in a circle slowly until his eyes landed on Andrea across the deck. A small smile formed on his face when he caught her gaze, and she wiggled her long fingers in his direction.

“You sure, you're sure you’re okay?” He asked me again, looking back before he walked away.

I nodded.

The reality of the situation was I wished he would search a crowd like that for me. I wanted Cael Cody to scan the faces until he found mine and watch his heart explode as a smile spread across his face. But I was always the one pointing out the girl he was searching for, never the one he found.