True Colors (5 page)

"Yeah.” Chase nodded, looking away. “Whatever. Cool. We can wait." I saw straight through his shrug. He was mondo pissed now and totally lying to me.

For some reason his inability to hide his true feelings really irked me. I snapped and retaliated with my standard sarcasm. “Well if you want it so bad, maybe you should go hook up with someone else."

His face lit with pleasant surprise. "You'd be okay with me doing that? Sleeping with other girls while we were still together?"

My eyes bulged before I could stop them. I stepped away from him, not knowing whether to cry or punch him in the face.

“Babe.” He grinned. “That was a joke.”

"No it wasn't."

He looked confused, surprised that I was able to see that. Guilt flashed over his features and then scuttled away to be replaced by confusion again. I could see his disbelieving smile. He was opening his mouth to convince me I was seeing things. I guess he was right. I was seeing things. Real things. Things I had never noticed before. All of Chase’s sweet comments...the tone of his voice...were all a farce. He wanted me for sex...and that was it. He had been willing to put in a few months of his time to get it, but if I wasn’t going to put out then he wasn’t going to wait around.

“You know what...” I passed the picnic blanket back to him. “You go sleep with whoever you want, because we're not together anymore."

He didn’t really look that disappointed as he took the blanket off me and let me walk away on my own.

Chapter 5

I crossed my arms tightly around my body and stumbled over the grass. As soon as I hit the pavement, I ran. I reached Stella’s house ten minutes later. I wasn’t usually out of breath after running for ten minutes, but I had been crying most of the way, so when Stella opened the door I was a huffing, puffing mess.

“What happened?” Her green eyes were wide as she grabbed my arm and pulled me inside.

“I just dumped Chase.” I finally hiccupped when she sat me down on her bed.

Flicking the door shut, she spun around to face me. “Why?”

“Because he only wanted me for sex.” I sniffed and wiped at my tears. This crying fit was so not helping my headache.

Stella perched on the bed next to me with a Kleenex in her hand. I snatched it off her and blew my nose, dabbing my puffy eyes. My best friend stayed silent as I pulled myself together. Finally I drew in a long, slow breath.

“I mean I know he’s been around a little. I know it was unrealistic for him to actually like me, but I really thought he did. We got on great, you know? I thought sex would have been an added bonus for us, not the be and end all.” I looked up, forcing a watery smile.

Stella sighed, her hand running slow circles over my back. I looked into her eyes and felt my stomach sink. Was she smiling?

I blinked and looked at her again.

No, she was sad for me, but...but the longer I looked, the more I saw the sadness slip away. It was like a layer of falsehood fell off her expression and I could see the quiet glee. I gasped and sat back from her.

“Caity, are you okay?” Her voice sounded concerned, but her irritated frown told me something completely different. She didn’t want to have to deal with her upset friend right now. She didn’t even care that Chase was being a jerk...she was happy about it.

“Stella...” I didn’t know what to say to her. I shook my head, bile surging in my stomach.

“Caitlyn?” Stella patted my back. “You look kind of pale. Please don’t puke on my carpet, okay?” She said it with a giggle, but her expression told me not to dare become sick near her.

What the hell was wrong with people today? Why was everyone so mad with me?

“I gotta go.” I jerked off the bed and nearly crashed into the door. Wrestling with the handle, I finally yanked it open and made a beeline for the door.

“Caity?” Stella rushed after me. I didn’t want to, but couldn’t help myself; I paused at the door and turned to look at her. Her brow was creased with worry, her lips slightly parted. There she was. The Stella I knew and loved, but once again, the longer I looked, the more I could see. As her worry slipped away, I saw it all - her irritation with my pathetic, crying self, and her complete lack of concern for me.

Bereft of words, I flung the door shut and raced down the stairs. This day was too weird. Why were the people closest to me acting like selfish jerks?

Finding a steady rhythm, I made it back to the beach quickly. Nature and exercise usually calmed me. It sort of worked, but by the time I hit the sand, my head was killing me. I slowed to a walk, stopping to whip off my shoes, so I could feel the grains between my toes. I scanned the beach, hoping not to see Chase. Thankfully I didn’t spot him amongst the scattered faces. Not wanting to catch anyone’s eye, I kept my head down and focused instead on the lumpy sand and the sound of the ocean.

I made it to the section of beach that was parallel to my house. We were about eight blocks inland and I was more than happy to walk that. I didn’t want to go home yet. I needed the fresh air kissing my skin and I certainly didn’t want to talk to anybody.

I headed up to the road, not taking notice of those around me. I did spot one surfer hustling up the beach out of the corner of my eye, but I ignored him, hunching my shoulders and keeping my eyes on the ground.

“Hey Caitlyn.”

I jolted at his friendly greeting and couldn’t help looking up.

Eric? Why was he talking to me? I stared at his friendly smile and waited...waited for it to slide away and be replaced with something else...like anger or frustration. But nothing. His smile stayed in place only transitioning slightly to a look of genuine concern.

“Hey, are you okay?" He pushed his surfboard into the sand and held it to his side.

"No." I have no idea what compelled me to be honest. I think it was utter confusion at the friendly expression on his face.

"What's up?" He tipped his head, his expression and voice matching perfectly.

I squinted up at him, my sore eyes and head making me unaware of his luscious form. Maybe I was imagining Chase and Stella’s reactions to me. Maybe I was just projecting.

No, wait a sec. That doesn’t work. If today was normal then Eric Shore would not be looking at me as if he were interested in what I had to say.

"You're not an asshole." I shook my head, rubbing at my aching temples.

"Um...” He frowned, but not a mean one, more like a confused, comical one. “Okay, uh thank you? I think.” His brows dipped together and he grinned. “How am I supposed to respond to that?"

"You're not.” I waved my hand, feeling out of it. “It's just...why are you being nice to me?"

His hazel eyes softened. “Because I've never seen you look so pale. Plus I'm a nice guy.” He shrugged, putting on a nonchalant air, but I saw straight through it. Was he blushing?

"No, you're not a nice guy.” What did I just say? Where was this honesty coming from? “You're always ignoring me."

He pursed his lips and looked out to the ocean, wrinkling his nose. “That’s only because you're always with your friends...and your friends seem to make a past time of drooling over me. I'm not a huge fan of being mentally undressed every time I step out my front door.”

I loved his answer and if I hadn’t been feeling so sick I would have smiled and no doubt giggled like his little sister always does. Instead I went for sarcasm and rolled my eyes. “It must suck being so good looking."

"Well, you should know." He grinned.

I don’t know how I remained standing. Was he flirting with me right now? My eyes must have been totally bugging out, because he kind of snickered and looked to the ground, trying to hide the fact he’d just blown his cover, but I saw it. He thought I was cute.

Eric Shore thought I was cute!

"This day could not get any weirder,” I mumbled.

His steady gazed pierced me, his concern obvious. I didn’t think he’d be that interested in me explaining it all and to be honest, I didn’t even know if I could. I had no idea what was going on. I was freaked out, tired, aching and confused. I just wanted to crawl into bed and forget this day had even started.

I turned to leave, not even bothering with a goodbye, which was so unlike me. My parents were all about the manners.

"Hey, Caitlyn.” Eric’s soft voice was consistent with his tender touch on my arm. “Seriously, if you do ever need someone to talk to, I'm here, okay?"

I could barely comprehend what he was saying, so I just nodded like an idiot. His smile was sweet and true as he tucked his surfboard under his arm. With a short wave, he headed back towards the ocean. Normally I would have stayed and watched his divine body hit the water, and admire the way his arms moved as he paddled out past the break. But today was not a normal day, so instead, I crossed my arms and headed home.

Chapter 6

I crawled into bed and stayed there, refusing dinner. I kept my head under the covers when Mom came in to talk to me. She didn’t seem overly fazed. I’d had migraines before and she knew the best cure was sleep and lots of water. She brought me a big glass of ice and a pitcher of water then left me alone.

Thank goodness! I didn’t want to see her. I didn’t want to look at her face and see her soft expression slip away to reveal something I didn’t want to know.

I didn’t want to see people differently. I wanted things to go back to normal. Why was this happening to me?

My plan was to spend the rest of eternity locked in my room, but unfortunately a new day dawned and brought with it a fresh wave of Stella.

She called my cell relentlessly until I finally picked up. I should have just switched the damn thing off and was annoyed I only thought of that when I answered.

“Caitlyn.” Her voice was crisp. “I don’t know what the hell was up with you yesterday, but you need to get out and come with me to the beach. We can sit in the sand, watch the guys try to impress us with their sporting skills and you and Chase can sort it out.”

“I don’t want—"

“We’re all meeting at Will Rogers Beach. See you in thirty minutes.”

And she was gone.

I checked my watch. 11:30 a.m. Stella time meant I had until at least 12:15. I could probably pull that off. I sat up slowly, expecting my headache to kick in the second I moved, but it didn’t. Rubbing my forehead, I blinked a few times and had the fleeting thought that yesterday must have been a nightmare, one I had now woken from.

This made me feel better and helped me get my body moving. After a shower and a big glass of water, I bounced down the stairs. I was still a little nervous about bumping into Mom. What if she looked different?

Pausing at the landing, I drew in a slow breath, trailing my hand along the wall as I walked towards the kitchen. She was out on the deck, her feet perched on the table, a magazine in her hands. The wind was ruffling her hair as she sipped her steaming cup of herbal tea.

“Morning,” I mumbled, taking a seat beside her and pulling her leftover fruit towards me.

“Hey, sweetie. How are you feeling this morning?”

Popping a grape into my mouth, I squinted in the sunlight and nodded. “Okay.”

She ran her hand over my head, smoothing down my drying frizz. I tried to read her expression, but with shades on it was hard to tell what she was thinking. I liked that. I didn’t want to look into her eyes right now.

“You weren’t drinking on Friday, were you?” Her tone was light, but I could see the tightness of her smile.

“Mom, really? You have to ask me that?”

“Well, I don’t want to, but I feel like it’s my parental duty to check.”

I sighed and reached for some apple. “No, Mother. I was not drinking. I don’t know what brought the headache on, but it’s gone now. I’m heading to the beach with Stella soon.”

“The fresh air will do you good.” She smiled, lifting her glasses. At first I was afraid to look, but I had to check. Gazing into her eyes, I searched for any trace of falsehood, but what I saw was real. Mom’s expression didn’t waver as she grinned at me. I smiled back feeling relief flood through me. The headache must have just been messing with me. Everything that happened yesterday was just this warped reality.