----------------------------------------

Spring - Lingering Cold - 4 (From now on)

----------------------------------------

Josie wasn't there, although the second bell had just rung.

She should have arrived way before him, he was sure about that. Her usual seat was empty, and Caleb stared at it, lost in contemplation about the girl. His thoughts turned to yesterday's events in the park and the ride home with Caleb’s father. After Caleb had prodded Danny about the subject, his friend had explained some of what had happened.

As Caleb already knew, the Faulkners, Danny’s family, faced financial challenges since Mr. Faulkner had lost his job. Although he had found employment again, rebuilding savings for the large family remained a priority, so luxury and leisure just weren't in their plans right now. It was an avoided conversation topic between Caleb and Danny because of the latter's sensitivity about it.

The wilful boy was competitive and ambitioned, and his pride had, for reasons unknown, strong ties to these matters. Despite Danny's maternal grandmother's being able and willing to assist, Mr. Faulkner, just as proud as his son, declined any monetary aid. Danny discomfort was about the whole situation obvious, most of all in light of Caleb's own affluent background. Caleb had realized that he himself had - without intending to, of course - highlighted this touchy subject for his friend on occasion. Due to his father's well-paid position and his mother's wealthy heritage, they had no care in this regard at all. Caleb didn't mind things like that at all; he valued Danny for who he was as a person. They knew each other since - well, forever, and had been best friends since kindergarten. Much like their mothers had been, who had also grown up together.

Yesterday had been Danny’s birthday, and Mrs. Faulkner had prepared his preferred lunch for him. The sandwich, filled with the costlier smoked ham he enjoyed so much, was intended to serve as a substitute for a cake and gifts on his special day. Danny had requested this small token, well aware that more expensive wishes were unrealistic, at least right now. It had been given with a promise that he would receive more at a later date. Caleb was sad that his friend’s birthday hadn’t been celebrated more than with the small gathering at the park yesterday. The boys had met up there after their last lesson, but Caleb had forgotten something in his locker. After he had left to retrieve it, the cat had stolen Danny’s food, and the boy had just snapped. Knowing his friend to be generous, if able, he understood why Danny had got angry. Things hadn’t been easy for Danny in a while.

Caleb's father was commuting to the city, and he rode to school with him almost every day. Most of the time, they also took Danny with them because he lived nearby. Not so today, Danny's mother had called and told them not to wait for him. Right after Caleb had exited his father's car at the usual spot, he had noticed Josie in the park and was surprised to see her there again after the altercation yesterday. Why had she even been there so early?

Thinking back, he had to admit that taking Danny’s backpack to distract the boys from the cat had been quite clever. Even though they were best friends, Caleb sometimes wished for Danny to be a bit calmer and not as quick-tempered. Danny was easily rattled at times. It was a trait he'd had even before the Faulkner's financial struggles, and his outbursts had got them in quite a few unfortunate situations over the years. Sometimes he was difficult to deal with in general - and Caleb was never able to get Danny to do anything he didn’t want to do, most of all when they were in the company of others. Maybe he could learn something from Josie.

This morning, Caleb had been content to watch what Josie was doing, curiosity lighting up his angular features. Standing still with his arms crossed, he had waited while Josie went about her business; the girl lost in her thoughts and oblivious to the fact of being observed. An amused smirk playing along the muscles of his pronounced jaw, Caleb had moved along the curb to get a better view of Josie as she moved further away but had otherwise refrained from drawing attention. After watching her, he had been sure that the girl had left food for the cat. But why would she care about the stray?

Caleb's interest had been sparked, and he found himself wanting to know more. He had tried talking to her, careful to make a better impression than yesterday - but Caleb didn’t have much experience talking to girls. Even more so, Josie. For some cursed reason, he didn't seem able to find the right conversation starters with her. Come to think of it, he wasn’t sure if they had ever talked to each other before yesterday. Caleb just knew that he wanted to talk to her now - and maybe even from now on.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Her voice had been deeper than he remembered, with a slight raspy quality that he hadn't noticed before. She had tried to walk past him, but Caleb, having longer legs than Josie and being taller by at least half a head, had matched her pace with ease. She had also tried to ignore him, so to get her attention, he had walked in front of her and continued backwards. The boy wasn’t sure what had compelled him to act that way.

Caleb had studied Josie’s features, noticed the intent look of her charcoal eyes under the black lashes and the upturned tip of her broad nose. Some wisps of shiny ebony hair had been dancing about her head in the morning breeze. She was gorgeous in her own way, he mused.

Well, not that he found any girl pretty, personally.

All of his attempts to start a conversation had been met with silence. She hadn't even slowed down a fraction. How could someone so tiny walk that fast? And why hadn’t she even looked at him? Had he done something to her?

When the idea about Danny had sprung to his mind and he had said it out loud, Josie had got furious. To his utter confusion, she had shouted at him, and Caleb had let her pass. A moment later, she had exploded into an extraordinary run and left a puzzled Caleb behind. Wow, she was fast. He had already noticed that yesterday. None of their group had been able to catch up to Josie.

But why hadn’t she answered him, and what had he done wrong? He had looked after Josie, wondering about her actions and her anger. Why was talking to her so hard? Never before had a girl talked to him - or not talked to him like this before.

Also, why had he never noticed her before? That non-conversation had made him even more curious.

He had turned on his heel and headed back to the park in a rush. Caleb had hurried over the lawn, careful to be as silent as he could manage. He had approached the bench from the back of the tree, stopped a short distance away and strained his ears. Crunching sounds had been coming from the root cave, similar noises as his uncle's dog made while munching his treats, but not as loud. His assumptions confirmed, Caleb had smiled.

Lost in his thoughts, Caleb didn't register the sound of the speakers coming to life. Only when Danny, sitting beside him, nudged Caleb with his elbow did the words get through to him.

“Daniel Faulkner and Caleb Legrand to the principal's office.” he heard the repeated announcement and looked at his friend.

“Well?” Mr. Spinner, their teacher, barked at them and gestured to the door.

With frowns on their faces, the two boys gathered their stuff, stood up, and left the classroom.

Outside, Caleb asked Danny: “Do you know what this is about?”

“I guess so… I think I messed up, Caleb…” Danny admitted and told him about the group chat.

He must have sent his message while they were still in the car of Caleb's dad. Caleb hadn't read the last messages in the group chat yet, most of the time it was his classmates spamming useless stuff and pictures anyway. But with this new information, Josie's reaction made much more sense. He wanted to facepalm in light of his own stupidity.

“Danny, that was really messed up.”

“I know, I know. Maybe the principal doesn't want us for that. Could be something else. And yeah, it was wrong. It's just - yesterday was so - …” he left the sentence open.

“She wasn't in class. What else could this be about?” Caleb answered.

“I don't know. We'll find out, though, I guess…”

They had reached the doors of the antechamber, where the principal's secretary sat in front of the main office at her desk.

“If this is about yesterday, we need to tell the truth, okay? Sure, we don't know her, but Josie could get into bad trouble,“ Caleb told his friend with an adamant tone.

A sullen look of defeat on his face, Danny nodded.

“Let's go then,” Caleb said and knocked.

----------------------------------------

----------------------------------------