The Words to Define These Feelings

Paige's POV

I sat down at my desk in the AP offices for the first time in over two weeks and took a deep breath. It felt good to be back in the office, away from the confusion Caleb had caused me over the past few weeks. Phoebe walked in, slightly more somber than usual, but I figured it was just being away from Kyle. She totally had it bad for that boy, and I would have to do my best to make sure he got a clue before the tour was over. That is, after I figured out who the hell Caleb Turman thought he was. You can't just be mean to me, decide to be nice to me, practically ignore me, kiss me passionately, then run away. Sorry, no, that is not the way life works, I need answers. Love me, hate me, ignore me, just pick one.

I shook my head and took a sip of my coffee, clearing my mind as well as the papers off my desk so there was room to work. I had a tape recorder with two weeks worth of interviews that needed to be picked through for quotes so I could begin to construct my article and figure out what other information I needed to get when we saw the boys again. Four hours and sixteen minutes of interviews to root through. Reality continues to ruin my life.

I managed to make it through the first hour of the interviews, trying to organize where Kyle and Marc's answers crossed lines. I had just begun to make charts to organize myself better when Phoebe showed up next to me.

“Paige, are you making color coded charts?” She asked as I glanced up guiltily, “You LOSER,” She stressed, “Come on, I can't sit still in this office anymore and you're color coding. It's time for lunch.”

I laughed as I pulled my hoodie off the back of my chair and followed her out of the office, yelling to Mike that we were taking lunch and we'd be back in an hour. We walked down the street to our favorite pizza place, got our food, and slid into a booth.

“Phoebe,” I said.

“Paige,” She answered, “I miss tour.”

“I, um, I don't even know what I miss. I'm a mess right now. Like, legitimately,” I paused to take a bite of my pizza, “I wish I could just have a few days off to go be far, far away.”

“Poor Paige,” Phoebe patted my head, and I shot her a glare, “Do you want me to have Kyle beat Caleb up for you?”

“No. I don't really want to get the other guys involved. Caleb is a big boy. He should be able to understand things like, I don't know, how to interact with other people such as myself,” I chewed thoughtfully, “I want him to make up his mind on his own.”

“Okay. But just let me know if you change your mind,” She smiled as she typed away on her phone.

“Because obviously you need another reason to talk to Kyle. We've been gone for two days, how much have you texted him?” I raised my eyebrow as she went to hide her phone from me.

“Oh, I don't know, just a little bit,” She said as I managed to snatch her phone out of her hands and check her inbox.

“Two hundred and six messages since yesterday?!” I exclaimed, “Geez, what do you say, oh hey, I just took another breath in case you were wondering?”

“No!” She ducked further down in her seat and giggled, “Just, you know, stuff. He says tour is lonely without me now,” She shrugged.

“You are so smitten,” I laughed, “Over Kyle. So totally smitten.”

“So? You can't even figure out if Caleb loves you or hates you,” She retorted.

“So we're both just screwed then?” I suggested, and Phoebe nodded along as her phone lit up and began to vibrate from its place on the table.

“Kyle calling to profess his luvre?” I exaggerated and she scowled at me.

“No,” She snapped, “It's Jonathan, actually,” She hit the answer button, “Hello?”

“Yes Jonathan, we are suffering terribly without your presence in every waking second of our lives,” She rolled her eyes as I sat and listened to the only half of the conversation I could hear. I had partially zoned out when Phoebe shoved the phone in my face.

“Jonathan wants to say hi,” She said, and I snapped out of my trance as I held the phone up to my head.

“Jonathan?” I asked.

“Paige! I miss you, come back right now,” He said, and I laughed.

“Two weeks and you'll see me again. What is tour falling apart without us?” I laughed.

“Yes, wait, I mean, no, but...” He stopped, obviously confused as to what to say, “We
miss you.”

“I know,” I smiled at Jonathan's ridiculousness, “Hey, um, how's Caleb?” I asked this question as casually as possible.

“He's um... he's Caleb. Why? Did he give you trouble during your interview or something?” Jonathan sounded worried. Afterall, he was the member of the band that got caught between Caleb and myself the most, “Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't give you any trouble when you guys come back.”

“No, no, Jonathan, don't worry about it. He was okay in the interview. I mean, he answered my questions. Just forget I asked, okay?” I glanced down at my watch, “Shoot, we have to get back to the office. Here, say goodbye to Phoebe and I'll see you in two weeks,” I quickly handed the phone back to Phoebe and sighed. Way to not sound suspicious at all Paige. Way to go.