The Sophomore (College Years 2)

Caleb is also a lot more introspective than any of us give him credit for. When Tony was going through his issues with Hayden, it was Caleb who gave him solid advice, surprising all of us.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised then, when he sees me as I approach him in front of the on-campus Starbucks, that he says, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Settling in the chair across from his, I pull my sunglasses out of my backpack and slip them on, staring up at the sky. “Nothing. Didn’t sleep much.”

“Why? Banging some hottie?”

We have that in common—always in search of girls. We might’ve also gone out on the prowl together a time or two. I’m the last one standing beside him, he always says. It’s just the two of us who don’t have a girl attached at our side all the time, which Caleb thinks is absolute bullshit.

I never remind him of how he still hooks up with Baylee on occasion. Girl has crushed on him for what feels like forever, according to everyone else. She’s the girl he kept as a secret side piece the last two years they were in high school. She took all of his shit, and still came back for more. I don’t know if that means she sees the potential in Caleb, or she’s a complete idiot.

“Not really,” I hedge, not sure if I want to tell him about Ellie.

Everyone in our friend group knows that Ellie has crushed on me for a long time. At first, they assumed we would end up together. At one point, I wondered if it would happen as well. But I resisted. I kept on resisting. Eventually, everyone figured that it wasn’t going to happen. The guys felt sorry for Ellie because she was still hung up on me. The girls thought I was leading her on, and told me privately I was an asshole who needed to make it happen or cut ties.

That last bit was brought to me by the ever unfiltered, tell it like it is Ava Callahan.

I get why she said that. She’s Ellie’s best friend. She wants to protect her.

Which makes me think of that FaceTime call last night, and how Ellie never mentioned I was there. Not once. And I spied on that conversation openly until I eventually fell asleep. I’m fairly confident she never mentioned my name while I was sleeping either.

Interesting.

“Not really, you didn’t hook up with someone, or not really because you did, and you don’t want to talk about it?” Caleb asks, always curious.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I keep my head tilted back, still facing the sky, but I’m giving Caleb serious side-eye.

He grins. Literally rubs his hands together. “Come on. Spill. I need deets. Was it filthy hot and you want to keep her to yourself? Afraid she’d see me and dump your skinny ass?”

Caleb is bigger than me, and he never lets me forget it.

“Nah, that’s not it,” I tell him, keeping my expression neutral.

“You’re embarrassed because she’s your secret ho and you don’t want us to know who you’re fucking on the low?”

Shit. That is scarily accurate. Though Ellie isn’t a ho. Far from it. “We’re not fucking.”

Yet.

That sends a shiver down my spine.

“Jackson. Come on. Be a homie and tell me what happened last night.” He pauses for a second, that grin still on his face. “And with who?”

I turn to look at him, slowly shaking my head. “Nope. No way. No deets. You’ll tell people.”

“Who the hell would I tell? And who would care? Everyone we know is all lovey-dovey and getting fucked on the daily by their significant other.” He sounds so annoyed, his smile long gone. “Please don’t tell me you’re keeping this under wraps because you’re going to end up like the rest of them.”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

“Tied down at the tender age of nineteen and in a committed relationship.” He rolls his eyes. “Seriously, what the hell is going on with everyone? Why are they wanting to get so serious, so fast?”

I shrug. “Sometimes you just know when you’ve found your person, I guess.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with the girls,” he mutters, shaking his head. “You sound just like them.”

“I sound just like who?”

“Hayden. Ava. Ellie.” He waves a hand. “Ugh, Jocelyn. She’s the worst when it comes to believing in true love and all that shit.”