LOVELORNED CHAPTER EIGHT
477 Words
Chapter 8: 3:15 AM
3:15 AM.
That was the time Lily died.
And the time I was holding a photo of her, him, and me in my hands.
Caleb had been watching.
For 3 months.
Before he ever said my name.
Before the rain.
Before Navy Pier.
Lily asked him to.
I read the back of the photo 10 times.
“I fell in love before I ever said hi. I’m still in love.”
My phone lit up.
No name. Just a number I didn’t have saved.
But I knew.
I answered.
“You’re awake,” he said. Voice rough.
“So are you.”
“I couldn’t sleep. Thinking about you. Thinking about her.”
Silence.
The kind that doesn’t hurt.
“Why didn’t you tell me the first day?” I whispered.
“Because you were grieving,” he said. “And I was a stranger with an umbrella. If I said ‘your sister sent me’ you would’ve run. And I was too selfish. I wanted 5 minutes with you that weren’t about loss.”
Fair.
“What do you want now, Caleb?”
“I want to take you to dinner,” he said. “Not a date. Dinner. I want to tell you stories about Lily that you don’t know. She used to steal my fries in English. Said I ate like a caveman.”
I laughed. Watery.
“She did that to me too.”
“I know,” he said. “She told me.”
My chest cracked open a little.
“Tomorrow,” I said. “7 PM. The diner on 5th. Public place.”
“Deal,” he said. Like I’d just given him the world.
“And Caleb?”
“Yeah?”
“Bring the journal. I want to read the parts you read.”
He went quiet.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll bring it.”
We hung up.
I couldn’t sleep.
So I did something stupid.
I googled him.
Caleb Reed. 22. Bestselling author. LOVELORNED.
Interviews. Fan edits.
And one article from 6 months ago:
“Reed dedicates new book to ‘the girl under the umbrella and the sister who brought us together’”
The comments were full of theories.
No one knew it was me.
Until the last comment.
Posted 1 hour ago.
Username: @AddisonV
“Cute. He’s at a diner with some random girl right now. Hope she knows about us 😉”
My stomach dropped.
She knew.
I texted Caleb: “We need to talk before 7.”
He replied instantly: “I know. I saw it too. I’m so sorry.”
The next morning, the entire campus had the screenshot.
“Famous author dating student.”
“Homewrecker.”
“Gold digger.”
And me, in the middle of it.
Again.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Chapter 9: The Diner
- Writer
