The Words to Define These Feelings

Phoebe’s POV

I skipped into the kitchen the following morning to find no more boys in my living room and a Paige with a bottle of water on my couch. “Good morning Paige” I said, flopping down on the couch next to her.

“Stop saying words” she mumbled, shoving me away from her. “Oh don’t be so cranky Paige; you were the one who chose to drink last night.” She shrugged and downed the rest of the water, then threw the empty bottle in the general direction of the trash can, missing spectacularly.

“So Caleb never came back to the party.”

Paige giggled and turned a dark shade of red. “Well um, I asked him to stay with me, and he did. He was really sweet; it was kind of odd for him.” I nodded and wandered into the kitchen, grabbing the Sunny Delight out of the fridge and pouring myself an enormous glass of the stuff.

“Your phone is ringing” Paige called from the couch, waving around my cell phone which was currently playing The Office theme song loudly. I grumbled and drank half the glass of Sunny D before sliding open my phone without bothering to check the caller I.D.

“Hello?”

“Hi Phoebe, it’s um, this is Caleb.” I nodded slowly and said “Okay…how can I help you Caleb?” “I just really need to talk to you. About Paige.”

I looked over at Paige, muttered “I’m gonna go talk to Caleb” and locked myself in my room. “So…what specifically did you want to talk about then?”

“Um…I really shouldn’t have stayed with her, after the party, last night. I should’ve just gone back to you guys.”

I closed my mouth when I realized it had been hanging open. “Wait, what? What on earth are you TALKING about!?”

“Well, um” he mumbled nervously. “She kept saying she liked me and raving on about it. And she was drunk. So she probably didn’t mean it.”

I stuck my head out the door and yelled “Paige, you like Caleb right?”

“YES! I mean wait, what? Why?!” I giggled and shut the door then said

“Caleb, you’re a nincompoop, she does like you. People are usually more honest when they’re drunk buddy.”

“Right but, she shouldn’t like me. And don’t call me a nincompoop.”

“Why the hell not?!”

“Because! I was a huge jerk to her, and so she should hate me, and um, stuff. Yeah. And it makes me feel like a baby.”

I rolled my eyes and let my grin slid into place. “Caleb, I think she’s willing to work past that. And you should be too. Just forget about it, it really isn’t that big of a deal anyways bud.”

“Oh.”

I flopped down on my bed and listened to the silence Caleb’s end. He was probably thinking over all of this carefully.

“So…you think I could actually, um” he cleared his throat after his voice cracked. “Be with Paige?”

“Yeah. Just stop being so stupid. Telling her not to like you isn’t exactly the best way to get her to like you.” He laughed nervously and mumbled incoherently, including words like ‘wow Caleb you’re really an asshole aren’t you’.

“Seriously though Caleb, I really do believe that she likes you more than she likes to let on. The big smile on her face, the way she blushes and gets all googly-eyed when I mention you is embarrassing. To her I mean. I’m sure you would probably find it endearing or something.”

“…really?” Caleb asked childishly, I could see him skipping around the wherever he happened to be and doing a little happy dance.

“No, I’m just kidding. Of course really.”

“OH BOY!”

I burst out laughing at Caleb’s sudden outburst of joy, to which he replied “I’m sorry, I’m just…I should be less stupid in the future.”

“Yeah, you think?”

“Thanks for your help Phoebe; you don’t even know how much it means to me.”

“Ah it’s no problem Caleb, I like helping people out. Especially when it involves helping my best friend get together with a guy. But just so you know, if it all works out and somehow you DO end up dating Paige, if she’s ever crying about you, then I’m going to kick your ass.”

“But I could take you.”

“But I would have Paige on my side.”

“But she’d be crying and upset.”

“But I would have Kyle” I cut myself off, my breath catching in my throat. “Um” I mumbled. “I’m gonna go now Caleb, have a nice day.”

“No, wait a second” Caleb said quickly. I sighed and swallowed the lump in my throat. “What.”

“Well…you helped me out; I could try to do something…for you, and Kyle.”

“Like what Caleb. Kyle hates me now because…well I don’t even know, he never really justified it, but he hates me. Is he even talking and being normal again?”

“Okay, don’t make me give you your own advice Phoebe. Kyle does not hate you, not even close. I made him talk to me on the bus this morning; he’s just pissed because he wants to be. You know, like when you’re sad and you really need to cry?”

“Like now?” I muttered, blinking furiously to keep my tears at bay.

“No, not right now, please don’t cry right now! I’ll feel bad.” I choked out a laugh and pulled Kyle’s sketchbook towards me.

“I won’t cry Caleb. But seriously, what do you plan to do?”

“I’m going to force him to stop acting like the world revolves around him. Instead of all of us trying to talk to him, we’ll never say a word to him. If he calls you, try not to answer. Kyle will go nuts without anyone to talk to. In a week or so, he will be on his knees begging to talk to you.”

“And how does that help me in the slightest?”

“Well, I’m guessing that you have his sketchbook, since he’s flipping out about losing it.”

“Yeah, I have it.”

“Then I’ll tell him that you have it. Then he can finally tell you about that sketch he did of you. Also, he stole your Stitch back. As stupid as he’s acting towards you, the fact that he stole something of yours just so he can cuddle it all the time is definitely a sign that he adores you and misses you.” I felt my cheeks burning bright red and I groaned loudly.

“So how many people know about the sketch.”

“Pretty much everyone on tour. And maybe a couple fans, I don’t know. He wasn’t exactly hiding it under his pillow or anything.”

I sighed and massaged my left temple for a second. “Are you sure this is going to work Caleb?”

“If it doesn’t, I’ll let you kick my ass.”

“Okay, I’ll hold you to that. Thanks Caleb, you’re awesome.”

“You’re welcome. And thank you. I think we’re both awesome.” I grinned and rolled my eyes, emerging from my room and waltzing over to stand by Paige, who was still on the couch.

“I’ll talk to you later then Caleb” I said before hitting the end call button.

“So what did Caleb want?” Paige asked, trying too hard to sound like she didn’t care.

“Oh nothing, just silly things like tour, and you know, how everyone’s doing, and you.”

“Tell me everything he said.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?!”

“I’m afraid Caleb will kick my ass.”