Page 27 of Lose You to Find Me

Chapter Eleven

RAINE

The menu atBartise’s is unique, and the seafood section makes my stomach growl. “What are you thinking about getting?” I ask Skylar, the sophomore dating DJ. I’m grateful she agreed to have dinner with me because I wasn’t sure if she’d stay loyal to her boyfriend’s best friend or if she’d still want to be mine.

When Skylar started sharing some of the romance books she read over the summer, it was hard for me to have conversations about our favorite authors. We bonded over our love for smutty books and book boyfriends, but it was difficult getting into the romance mood when my love life was abysmal at best.

“I think I want the chicken,” she answers, eyes trained on the short list of poultry options and pointing to one. “The chicken parm sounds delicious, and it’s been a while since I’ve had any that isn’t in tender form.”

My lips twitch into the ghost of a smile as I remember the first time Caleb asked me out.

“We should get chicken,” Caleb says, pulling my focus away from the math homework I’m doing at the counter.

My eyebrows pop up as I remove the green apple lollipop that I bought from the hardware store’s display case from my mouth. “Did you say chicken?”

Caleb stops restocking the candy he’s been working quietly on for the past twenty minutes. He swipes his palms down his thighs. “Or other food. We could get pizza Friday night after the game. If you’re still planning on coming, I mean. You don’t have to, of course. Come to the game. Or, uh, get pizza.”

I sit back and stare at him for a second, pressing my lips together as they threaten to curl upward. Stifling a giggle, I say, “Are you asking me on a date, Caleb Anders?”

He blows out a long breath and rubs the back of his neck. “Sort of. Yeah.”

I watch him for a moment, forgetting all about the Pythagorean theorem in front of me that I’ve been struggling with since I started my shift this afternoon.

After a moment, I nod slowly and reply with a simple “I like chicken tenders.”

Snapping out of it when I hear Skylar ask what I’m thinking about ordering, I mumble a semicoherent “Mongolian shrimp,” even though my eyes lock on the chicken tender basket that takes me back in time.

Skylar doesn’t seem to notice the distance in my tone when she perkily says, “That sounds yummy too.”

Humming, I close the menu and push it off to the side. Grabbing my water, I study the blond, who’s still examining the food options.

I’m glad she and DJ have each other, especially after the horrible things that happened to her freshman year.

“Hey, Sky?” I play with my water glass as she raises her eyes. “Thanks for tonight. I know I didn’t reach out much this summer…”

She shakes her head, a soft smile on her face that eases the tension in my chest. “You don’t need to be sorry, Raine. I get it. I’m glad you asked to hang out. Olive has been busy with Alex while he’s in town, and I wasn’t sure if you’d want to hang out after everything.”

Her friend Olive is involved with a rookie on a national hockey team who graduated with us in the spring. I didn’t realize she and Alex were still seeing each other. I assumed once he left Lindon, they’d call it quits.

I guess it’s just me who makes those types of choices.

“Can I ask…” Wetting my lips, I squirm on my seat and clear my throat. “Can I ask if he’s okay? You probably see Caleb more than I do. I’d reach out, but…” Would he want me to? He never so much as replied back to me when he texted me last. Just when I thought we’d finally get a chance to talk about what happened at the store, he ghosted me completely.

Skylar’s smile doesn’t leave her face. “I think he’s trying to seem okay considering everything that’s going on. But I don’t know. I doubt anybody could actually be okay given what he’s going through with his dad.”

Nodding in agreement, I stare down at the table. I’m glad she’s being honest. Most people would probably tell me he’s fine and leave it at that or question why I want to know at all.

When the waitress comes back to our table to take our order, I pass her my menu and say, “I’ll have the chicken tenders, please.”

Skylar is staring at me.

But I don’t meet her eyes.

That night after Mom goes to bed, I send another text to Caleb.

Me:Can we talk?

The text goes unanswered, and before I go to bed, I see that he posted a picture online of a table set with two plates and a girl’s hand in the corner of the image.

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