Never Fall

A huff of breath forced its way abruptly past Kayla’s lips, followed by a groan as a small body mass was thrown on her abdomen. She let out a loud whine as the young boy shuffled around purposefully, trying his best to remove her from where she lay on the couch. “Ethan,” she groaned again, pushing him off but he quickly crawled back to his spot on her stomach.

“Kay! Get off the couch!” he yelled while bouncing, more groans eliciting from his older sister. “Thomas is over and we wanna play video games and Mom said we can.” He grabbed the TV remote from her hand, immediately changing the input channel. “And turn off this stupid show.”

“I was watching it first, brat.” Kayla threw him onto the seat next to her, sitting up. “Rude.”

“I have a guest over,” he mocked her in a tone that she knew all too well as their mother’s. “Mom said you’ve hogged the TV enough being a loner.” That last bit though, she knew was his own little input.

She rolled her hazel eyes, hand reaching up and ruffling his dark hair. “I’ve got plenty of friends, pest.”

He pushed her away just as another boy walked into the room, followed by the siblings’ mother. “Then where are they? I don’t see them. At least you can see mine.” He stuck his tongue out at her and she couldn’t help but laugh. She looked at her mother, shooting her a look of wonder.

“Yeah, Kay? Where are they?” Their mother joined in on the teasing. “Have they turned invisible?” She walked behind the couch, reaching over and pushing her daughter’s auburn hair back. She bent down and gave her a light kiss on the head. It felt like weeks since Kayla had left the house other than for school.

“Har-har.” Kayla laughed sarcastically with another roll of her eyes. “Very funny. It’s Pick-On-Kayla day,” she declared before she got up on her feet, grabbing Ethan’s head between her hands. “Y’all just want me out of the house and for me not to embarrass you.” She pressed a loud, wet kiss on his cheek before bidding a goodbye to her mother and the two younger kids.

Kayla grabbed the jacket that hung on the back of the couch - the green jacket that Caleb had forgotten to take home with him a few weeks ago - and slipped it on as she walked out the front door. She walked down the walkway and straight into the street, walking down the middle of the road since she knew that no cars would come. She didn’t know where her feet were taking her, but she didn’t care, as long as she was out of the house and keeping her mother happy.

Her feet moved slowly beneath her, her hazel eyes trained on every step she took and how her white shoes contrasted against the endlessly moving grey asphalt. She stuffed her hands deep in the pockets of jacket and shrugged her shoulders to hide her neck as chill breeze blew through, lifting her hair up away from her face. For the moment, she actually felt warm and comfortable, the smell of Caleb’s faint cologne filling her nostrils. She smiled contently, moving to the side of the street as she heard a car come up behind her.

It was true what her mother and brother had said - or rather, teased her about. It’s been a while since she’s seen her friends (outside of school, at least), and to be exact, a few weeks. She could handle not seeing her friends though; the problem was Caleb. It’s been weeks since she actually saw her best friend, and that wasn’t half as bad as the fact that in that time, they’ve barely spoken.

It was sudden and quite honestly, a bit hard for her to deal with. She didn’t know what brought it on - had she upset him? Had something happen to his family and he had decided not to tell her? Did he even want to see her? She knew of the possibilities that sometimes friends just need time apart, and she had tried to hold it off, but such a situation is unknown to the Caleb and Kayla relationship. And it bothered her.

Kayla misses Caleb, more than she will ever tell anyone.

When she finally looked up to take in her surroundings, she recognized where her feet had taken her. The house came up to view and she knew she had to walk up that driveway. Her steps were quiet, cautious, as she made her way up the paved pathway that was so familiar, yet seemed so distant to her.

It felt like forever since she had last stood before the mahogany door - an obvious exaggeration but with how close they are, a simple week apart already feels like an eternity. One long, bland eternity. A few weeks is too much.

When Kayla had first seen the house from down the block, she was filled with excitement. The thought of seeing him again had made her excited and she was eager. But now that she was standing in front of the door without so much as a warning after weeks apart, suddenly the idea of a surprise visit didn’t seem too good to her.

She knocked on the door, loudly before standing back and waiting. She heard yelling come from the other side before a higher-pitched voice yelled back - the Turman brothers. The door yanked open a moment later to reveal an exasperated and annoyed Casey. Kayla rolled her eyes with a crooked smile. “Does he ever answer the door for himself?”

“You know not when he has company,” Casey muttered, referring to something that she should know well for herself.

But Kayla caught on to what it meant and she felt her eyebrows raise slightly in surprise, the corner of her lips lowering only a fraction. “He has company?” It wasn’t that she didn’t allow him to have other friends. It’s just that she is his best friend and she hans’t seen him in weeks. To know that he has been making the effort to see and be with other people, without much of a word to her relation their friendship? Well, it stings a little.

“As per usual.” Casey rolled his brown eyes, fairly similar to those of his brother. He stepped aside to let her in but by now, she was afraid- not wanting to intrude, a bit hurt. But she can’t just turn around and leave now.

Kayla stepped inside and ventured a bit further in the house. When she saw no sign of Caleb, she instantly headed up the stairs towards his room. His bedroom door was opened a crack, and she could hear a muffled conversation from within - one of them a female voice, followed by a giggle. Kayla held back her frown and knocked lightly on the door, only entering when she heard him acknowledge the fact that someone was outside his door.

“Hey Cale--” she stopped short, a little caught by surprise as her eyes landed on the familiar brunette laying in his arms. In a flash, she saw Caleb jump slightly right after she spoke, and quickly removed his arms. But not quick enough. “A-Audrey.” Kayla tried to keep the forced smile on her lips, her eyebrows furrowed in obvious confusion. “I didn’t expect to see you- what are you doing here?” She let out a short laugh, shifting her weight onto one leg uncomfortably. Of all places to see her classmate: in Caleb’s bed.

Audrey pushed herself to sit up, leaning against the headboard. Caleb had sat up with his back facing the brunette, his long legs placed over the edge of his bed. “Oh you know, just hanging out,” Audrey spoke with a smile. She could feel the tension build in the room, just by the way that Caleb was acting.

Caleb brushed his fingers through his red hair, messing it up slightly before he got up on his feet. He approached Kayla with a smile and pulled her to his chest, his arms wound tightly around her shoulders. “Hi, pretty.” He grinned, swaying her from side to side. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming over?” He had asked nicely to hide his frustration. He knew she didn’t really need permission but just this once, he wished she would’ve given him a little warning. It wouldn’t have looked so bad on his part.

Kayla looked up at him. “Since when did I have to?” More than half of the time, her visits were unannounced and never once had he voiced a complaint about it. But perhaps it’s possible for a little change to come in the short period of time that they had barely spoken in. “I miss you and you were being a stranger and I thought I’d stop by to hangout like old times.” She didn’t have to, but she felt the need to explain herself. For a moment, she caught something that flashed in his brown eyes but she wasn’t sure what. Guilt? Sadness? She tried not to let her nonchalant facade falter.

Caleb brushed her auburn hair back. “I’m- sorry.” A bit forced, a bit half-assed; he gave no other excuse or assurance to her that he had, well... basically forgotten about her.

She tried to hide her disappointment, she tried to hide the bit of pain that had somehow seem to grow because of one simple response. This isn’t Caleb - not her Caleb, anyway. He was reserved, guarded, awkward - around her? Unheard of.

Kayla pushed it to the back of her mind for now, dismissing it and changing the subject back to what had initially struck as startling to her. “So, what’s going on here? I didn’t know you guys were friends.” She pulled away from him, motioning a finger between him and the brunette.

“We got in touch.” Audrey shrugged. “Decided to hangout.”

Kayla raised an eyebrow at her. “Anything else I should know?” She tried to sound happy, fun, like the way should would normally tease Caleb, but she couldn’t help the feeling that tugged at her.

Caleb caught on and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He knew he wouldn’t be able to hide it from her. He knew that in a matter of time, she would have her way of extracting the information from him when they’re alone, and he figured that it was better to tell her now rather than later. “We- uhm, actually, I just asked her to be my girlfriend.” Blunt, honest, and partially the truth. It would make him an even worse best friend had he decided to make another lie.

But Kayla, Kayla isn’t some naive girl who believes everything anyone tells her. She wasn’t doubting that they are dating - that much is obvious by his initial attempt to cover up the fact that he had been cuddling with his newfound girlfriend; she was doubting part of his words. A voice nagged to her that he was lying, her guts telling her that the relationship wasn’t fairly as new as he had made it out to be.

She couldn’t ignore the thoughts that the past few weeks had been spent with his girlfriend and ignoring his best friend. She couldn’t ignore the pain of her childhood best friend thinking that he could easily throw her aside and hide from her - hide that he preferred being with her friend over her. To simply put, it felt like their friendship holds significantly less value to him now.

Kayla’s lips formed themselves into an ‘o’ shape as she lifted her head. “Oh, I see.” She nodded, trying to keep at least a small smile visible. It was a bit more awkward knowing exactly what she had intruded on. “Well, I guess I’ll leave now and leave you two to your busines-- oh.” She started making her way towards the door but stopped, shrugging off the green jacket. “I should return this to you.” She handed it back over to Caleb, who tossed it carelessly on the bed.

Caleb tried to keep the frown off his face, beginning to feel somewhat guilty. He hadn’t realized that that much time had passed. “Hey- no. You came over to hangout, so stay for a bit.” He smiled. Sure, it would shorten his private time with Audrey, but at this point, he couldn’t ignore the bit of sadness on his best friend’s pretty face no matter how much she tried to smile it off.

Kayla shook her head, wanting nothing more than to leave. But Caleb nodded his head, insisting. The shakes and nods battle continued but it didn’t last long, as she gave in shortly after with a fake sigh - at least, she hoped it sounded fake. There was nothing better than sitting there and trying to contribute to conversations, trying not to feel like a third wheel, trying not to be a pest.

There was nothing better than having her best friend try to make it up to her for lost time while his new girlfriend is there.