Page 2 of Catch Me If You Can

“What’s your name?” he called out.

“Nathan,” I replied. “Yours?”

“Caleb.” He gave me a nod. “I’ll see you tomorrow at lunch?”

I nodded back.

He flipped his black hair so it swept perfectly over his eyes, then disappeared through the doors.

After three years of surviving this preppy, stuck-up school…I made my first friend.

6 months until prom night

2

Nathan

Just like I had assumed, Caleb was in factnotan outcast. Probably the furthest thing to an outcast than a person could be. No, it was safe to say Caleb was cool. Way cooler than me.

The past couple of months had been… a whirlwind. It felt like the moment he stepped into my life, my entire world flipped upside down. Wherever he went, excitement followed.

And for some reason, he really enjoyed spending time with me. Since the day we met in the cafeteria, it was like he’d been attached to my hip. I was pleasantly surprised to see that our random meeting wasn’t a one off situation. Caleb started waiting for me after school and insisted on hanging out at his place.

One hangout turned into another, and soon, we were together every single day. It was clear that we liked being around each other since we never ran out of things to talk about. Which is hilarious since apart from our shared love of the arts (he was a huge fan of music, especially punk emo rock), we didn’t havemuch in common. But somehow, we just…worked. It made our chats all the more interesting.

It wasn’t long before every school day felt like a countdown to when I’d get to see him again. Nights were spent at his house, staying up all night sharing music, laughing over silly jokes or coming up with wild ideas like moving away to the city together and owning our own taco shop.

For my first real best friend, I washooked.

But, I wasn’t the only one who was completely enamored with Caleb Brown.

In the short time since he’d transferred to my school, the student body was enchanted by him. He had friends in every class, got invited to every party by the popular crowd, and was already putting together a band to play at prom.

Caleb was fun.Reallyfun.

Being around him was… addictive and for the first time in my life, I didn’t want something to end. He was charismatic and funny, so it made sense why people gravitated toward him. I wasn’t jealous… I was just…amazed. Which was exactly why it made no sense that he was so invested in me.

I mean… I was justme. And he was so—

The front door suddenly swung open, revealing the enchanting man himself.

“What the hell are you doing standing out here, Nathaniel? Get your ass inside before you freeze,” Caleb laughed, rubbing his hands together to emphasize how chilly it was.

I had no clue why he insisted on calling me Nathaniel. That wasn’t even my name. But once he got started on something, there was no stopping him.

He wore his staple oversized band t-shirt, this time rocking Nirvana, over a white long-sleeve shirt rolled up to his elbows. He shook his long hair out of his eyes as he took in what I was wearing.

“You look like a Yeti,” he laughed.

It had been a long walk from my house across town, so I had bundled up from head to toe.

“It’s the middle of January,” I huffed.

“Ah, I can tell by your red cheeks. Look at you—” He laughed, resting his palms on my cheeks. I sucked in a breath as he stood there giggling, warming up my face with his hands.

I swallowed hard, feeling the blood rush to my cheeks even more. God, I hated being a blusher.

Thankfully, Caleb was quickly distracted by what I had clutched in my hands. A huge smile lit up his face. “Are these carrot cake?” he asked, reaching for the plate. Caleb Brown had to be the only eighteen-year-old who’d choose carrot cake muffins over a traditional birthday cake. But it was his favorite, so he got what he asked for.

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