The Raven and The Dove

Chapter 5

As the last bell sounds for the day, Caleb is quickly out the door. Sure, he still had detention, but he wanted to at least try to catch Melia before she left. He hadn’t gotten to see her at all, since morning, and he wasn’t sure if she was avoiding him, or if he had been too nervous, to actually try running into her.

Now, however, he’d made up his mind and was moving towards her locker. He just needed a brief moment of her time, and hopefully she wouldn’t completely dismiss him.

Melia was slowly walking down the hallway, her attention directed at the book in her hand. She just wanted to make sure, that she’d read what she had to for homework, so she didn’t have to do it at home. Fortunately, she had a very good memory, so she just had to read it once, to remember it, but it was a bit harder than usual. Her thoughts were a bit preoccupied.

Snapping back to reality, she suddenly finds herself in someone’s arms, having been too far off in her own world to realize that she’d almost stepped down the stairs without noticing. That could’ve ended in a pretty bad fall. She regains her balance, moving a step away from her rescuer and thanking him when he picks up the book she dropped.

She stuffs the book in her bag, before finally looking up, her eyes widening when they meet the pair of brilliant blue staring back at her with a mixture of shock and worry. 

“Not even a hi?” she asks teasingly, poking Caleb’s chest lightly with her index finger.

He hadn’t said a word yet, just staring at her as if he was scared she’d actually fall and break her neck. Melia steps away from him - and the stairs - trying to ignore the little voice in her head, that really wanted to get closer to him.

“Are you okay?”

Her movement seemed to have awoken Caleb from his frozen state, his posture slightly less tense, though he still had a worried expression on his face. 

“I’m fine.” she responds, nodding her head lightly towards the lockers as she starts walking.

Caleb picks up on her meaning, following her to her locker, and leans against the locker next to hers as he watches her.

“You could have gotten hurt..” he mumbles, dissatisfaction in his voice.

“Aww, you really care!” Melia exclaims dramatically, putting her hand over her heart as she looks at him with a fake emotional face.

“I had no idea, I meant this much to you!”

Silence spreads between them for a few seconds, before Caleb starts laughing. The tension quickly fades away as he relaxes, still chuckling a bit as he looks back at her.

“You could almost be an actress.” he says, looking her over briefly without really realizing.

“For a second, I thought you were actually serious.”

Not that he would have minded. No, he would love it, if she was actually pleased with his concern, but there was something about her that made him unsure of what she thought about it. About him.

“I know, I’m skilled.” she says, using her best diva impression, before a laugh escapes her. She really couldn’t keep acting like that. It was really not her forte. 

“So, I guess I owe you.” 

“Oh? Feeling grateful?” he teases, winking at her when she slams her locker shut and looks at him, earning a smile and a small chuckle.

“Maybe a bit.” she answers, leaning against her locker as she pulls on the strap of her bag, making sure it won’t slide down. 

“But if you don’t want my thanks, I won’t complain.” she adds teasingly.

Caleb lets out another chuckle, before straightening himself. Oh, he could think of a few things.

“Well..” he starts, moving in front of her and putting his hands next to her head, effectively boxing her in. 

“You could let me take you out tonight.” he mumbles, leaning a bit closer, though keeping enough distance that she can move away. Should she want that. 

Surprise shows on her face at his words. Did he just ask her out? She was doing her very best to focus, trying to ignore the fact that he was standing oh so close. 

“What time?” she simply asks, not even feeling like teasing him about it.

Clearly not expecting her to agree that easily, Caleb looks at her almost suspiciously for a few seconds, then slowly letting a smile spread on his lips when he realizes she was serious.

“Seven?” 

A slight nod as confirmation, is all the response she gives, before an unwilling giggle leaves her. She manages to collect herself enough to give him her number, and she can’t really help the teasing wink she sends him as she escapes and makes her way towards the exit, another small laugh escaping her when she hears a teacher yelling for Caleb to get his ass to detention.

The teacher’s yelling startles Caleb, who until then had been staring at Melia’s leaving figure - more specifically her ass - and he turns around with a scowl on his face, mumbling curse words under his breath. Why did he have to get himself tangled up in more detention? He really needed to do something about that, or it would be hard to spend any time with Melia.

He mentally shakes his head at his own thoughts, realizing they were way too far ahead already. He had gotten a date, as a thank you for making sure she didn’t fall down the stairs, but that didn’t mean she had any interest, in actually spending any time with him after that. 

As he makes his way to detention, he can’t help but let his thoughts wander. At least he had tonight, and maybe he was lucky enough, that he could convince her to go on another date. He was set on not getting his hopes up, though, instead starting to make plans for the evening.