Page 70 of Falling With a Spin

When I showed up here, I thought I wouldn’t feel the same. The music flowing through my body, the freeing feeling from moving across the floor, and especially the feeling of the weight that was on my shoulders leaving me. But one thing I didn’t expect was to find out that the room Aubrey said I would be using was my actual room. Hunter fucking Beckett paid for me to have my own room to dance in. I was shocked.

I wave goodbye to Ms. Castro as I head out the door to my car, throwing my bag into the back and driving home.

When I get home, Taylor isn’t anywhere to be seen. She is most likely at work or with Garrett. I don’t even know what’s going on with that. She was telling me the other day that they got into a fight. She didn’t want to go into detail about it, but when she left their house, Hunter had stopped her and was asking about me. All she did was stare at him and walk right on by, ignoring him when he called after her.

It’s been quiet between the two of us since I told him that I needed space. Each morning, I have an urge to click on our messages and tell him I’m sorry. That I’ve been dancing. But each morning, I close my eyes and toss my phone to the side when I remember he didn’t listen to me.

I have about an hour till I need to leave; I jump into the shower and quickly wash off the sweat that clings to my body. I could have taken a shower at the studio, but I didn’t bring any extra clothes with me. Stepping out of the shower, I wrap myself in my robe and go to my closet, picking out a pair of ripped jeans and a black hoodie. I throw them on and grab my Doc Martens from the shoe rack, quickly putting those on.

I walk back into the bathroom to put some light makeup on, just enough to cover up the exhaustion and brush my hair before braiding it down my back. Taking one final look in the mirror, I walk out of the bathroom and grab my bag, heading out the door.

Pulling into the diner, I text Caleb, letting him know I’m here. I look up after pressing send a twinge of sadness hits me when memories of the last time I was here filter through me. I let out a deep sigh and step out of my car.

“Unbelievable,” I mutter.

By now, you would think after nineteen years of friendship with Caleb, I would be used to him being late. But I’m not. I checked my phone again for the tenth time in the last thirty minutes to see if he changed his mind but there was nothing. Rolling my eyes, I face it back down and look towards the window.

“Hey darling, is there anything I can get for you?” I turn towards the waitress.

“No. not yet, I'm waiting for a friend.” I give her a small smile before she skates off to another customer.

My phone buzzes, and I quickly pick it up, hoping it’s Caleb letting me know he is on his way, but it’s not him.

It’s Hunter.

My heart skips a beat as I open the message.

It brings a smile to my face and causes my heart to race. After lunch, I’m going to see him. We can talk about what happened because I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss him.

I read the message over and over again, my face glued to the phone screen that I didn’t even notice that Caleb sat down in the booth until he spoke.

“Hey, Emma.” My head snaps up, clutching my phone to my chest and Caleb gives me a questioning look.

“Hey.” I shove my phone into my bag and straighten my back.

“Have you ordered yet? I'm starving.” He grabs the menu that lays in front of us.

Is he even going to apologize for being late? Rolling my eyes, I pick up the menu taking a look at it. I already know what I'm getting, chicken tenders and an Oreo milkshake. “No, I haven’t ordered yet since I was waiting on you, Mr. Thirty minutes late.” I lean back into the booth, crossing my arms over my chest.

Caleb looks down, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m sorry about that. Something came up at the last minute, and I had to take care of it. It took me longer than I thought it would have.”

We have been going back and forth for what feels like for so long that I don’t have the energy to be mad at him anymore. I just want my best friend back. I drop my defense, letting my arms go limp at my side, and I give him a small smile.

“Don’t worry about it. I'm just glad you got here.”

“Yeah, me too.”

We sit in silence for a few minutes before the server comes to take our order. Caleb gets a cheeseburger with fries and a strawberry milkshake while I order my usual.

“There’s a reason why I called besides wanting to see you,” Caleb says, breaking the silence.

I give him a questioning look. “Okay?”

He takes a deep breath, “Before you say anything, let me just talk.” My body goes stiff as a rush of anxiety travels through me. I’ve never been good with those words before. Is anyone, though? “I have missed you so much. I miss my best friend and our movie nights. I miss talking to you every day and walking to classes together. We grew up together and have not talked to each other for more than a day, but it’s been two months, Emma. I don’t know what I did. I’ve done so much thinking about it. Going back and to our conversations to try to figure out what I did wrong, but, I can’t figure it out.” Caleb's voice cracks towards the end. “Please just tell me. I hate that we are like this.”

I fiddle with the napkin that lies on the table. Raging a war with myself on whether I tell him what happened or just move on. When I look up, Caleb is giving me a pleading look and I cave.

“You didn’t do anything. Well, you kind of did but didn’t know it.” I start. “A lot has happened so far this year, and I have been dealing with it on my own. Trying not to burden others with it.”

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