Chapter 18

Caitlin's Point Of View ;)

I was just a little embarrassed when Ruthanne sent me that picture. It was hilarious though. Gotta love Ruthanne. The credits are rolling when I come out of the bathroom.
"Spend the night with me." Sidney says as I sit down.
"Come on you know I can't do that." I say, knowing he doesn't know and I don't know either. So why am I saying it?
"Why not?" He pleads with me, playing with my hair.
"I have 2 more days of school, then I'm allll yours for that cruise." I say, as he continues to play with my hair. It's a comforting feeling, his hand in my hair.
"Fine." He pouts.
"And after I'm settled in my apartment," I say, "I'll stay over as much as you want." I say. He smiles back. Even though the movie is over everyone's still sitting around in here and talking. Sidney stands up.
"It's like 8:30, when do you need to be home." He says, walking back to the bar to grab some more water.
"How long do you want me to stay?" I ask him. Sometimes I feel like he's in a rush to get rid of me. But that's my insecurity speaking.
"Alll night long." Kris says, walking behind the bar to help himself to a Coke. Everyone's at the bar by then and they're all laughing at Kris. Except Max. He's sitting on a stool at the end of the line and just playing with his bottle cap, looking lonely. I can't help but feel bad for him overhearing that conversation.
Ruthanne nudges me, yanking her head toward Max, her brown hair flopping against her face. I sigh and look down. She just looks at me, "it'll all work out. No worries." I glance up to see where Sidney is. He's poking his head in the fridge, looking for something, even though he handed me my water a few seconds ago.
"It might all work out but that won't stop me from feeling guilty." I say. She knows what I mean and nods. Wait, how does she know what I mean? I don't remember filling her in. Kris must know something. Oh well. I plan on having fun for the rest of the night instead of worrying like a usually do.
Bored after another couple minutes, Sidney's still preparing something on the counter behind the fridge, I go sit by Max, since Ruthanne left me for Kris. "Hey," I say cheerfully.
"What's up?" He says back, still looking pretty sad.
"Nothing really. Only 2 more days of high school! You?" I say, still trying to sound happy even though he's making me feel really depressed.
"Ahh, nothing." He says.
"Oh come on Max. What's wrong?" I punch him in the shoulder playfully, my eyes betraying my behavior. He knows it so he replies truthfully.
"I saw you and Sidney earlier and I can't help but think I'll never get a chance with you." He says so that only I can hear. I look down, not wanting to discuss this.
"Max," I say, barely above a whisper. "You know it's complicated."
"Yeah," he says sadly. "Here come's Sid." He looks up and smiles. I do the same. Sidney's bringing over a Coke and a sandwich for each of us.
"Peanut butter and jelly?" He asks, holding it out. I'm a little surprised that that's what he wants to give me, but, it's one of my favorites so I take one.
"Thanks." I say, taking my first bite.
"Welcome," he says, kissing me on the cheek, right in front of Max. I pull away just a little bit. I like Sidney, but I know how Max feels and I don't want to make it any worse.
Max stands up. "You know Sid, I think I'm gonna get heading," he says.
"Ok. Seeya Max."He says, looking over his shoulder. Max's hand brushes mine as he walks past and I look up to say goodbye.
"Seeya." I say. He nods to me and I look down again, before taking another bite of PB&J. "This is good Sidney." I say, holding up my sandwich. His is already half gone.
"Thanks," he says, his mouth still full. I laugh at him trying to talk with the peanut butter stuck to his teeth and whatnot. It might be disgusting, but Sidney's awkward moments are adorable.
"So. Are you going to introduce me to anyone?" I ask him.
"Sure. I'm still not sure who Eric's with but I can show you everyone else." He says standing up and walking toward Marc Andre Fleury, whose voice I've never gotten quite used to.
"Hey Sid! What's up?" He says, looking at me. I stand with my hand in Sidney's awkwardly, waiting to be introduced.
"This is Caitlin," he says, holding up my hand a little. I shake Marc's hand and he turns toward the girl next to him.
"This is Veronique," he says. She looks at me kindly and smiles. I smile back, knowing she'll be someone I can talk to while the guys are doing their thing. Sidney can only stop playing around with the guys for so long. And I can only be the shy new girlfriend for so long.
He leads me to the next person after a short conversation. Geno, this time. "Hey Geno," I say. "Hi Caitlin," He says back, his accent making my name sound funny. Sidney just stands back. "This is Laura," he says and I finally realize why I felt like I knew her. She graduated high school, but, we haven't talked since then.
"Hey!" I say, "long time no see!" Her eyes light up when she realizes who I am.
"Hey!" She says, standing up to hug me. Sidney and Geno just look at us like we're crazy. But, we're girls, even if we didn't really know each other know each other we'd do this.
"So. Seeya later," I say, "I'm getting the full introduction thing. Then maybe a tour of this crazy house." I suggest to Sidney. He shrugs. I'm sure he doesn't want to do it, so I just shrug too, walking away.
He leads me to Jordan who's got his arm wrapped around a pretty brunette. "Caitlin!" He says.
"Jordan!" I say awkwardly. It's not like we ever talked or he has any reason to be excited to see me.
"This is Tess," he says, pointing at his girlfriend. She smiles.
"Hey," we both say, both laughing when we said it at the same time. Sidney's oddly quiet when I look up at him.
"You want that tour?" He asks.
"Nah, that's ok." I say. "Let's just hang."

Ruthanne's Point of View <3

Kris and I just hang out with the bar with all the other couples. I've actually gotten introduced to a couple of people and we're having a good time just hanging out. My friend Laura who graduated last year is here with Geno, so we've been talking. We stayed in touch after she graduated, but, you know how life is. So, we're having fun catching up.
Kris buries his face in my hair. "Let's go somewhere." He says into my ear.
Feeling spontaneous I say, "OK!" And stand up, saying goodbye to Laura. It takes another few minutes to escape, but we finally make it out of there. "Where we going?" I ask, skipping along beside him.
"I don't know," he says, "I thought I'd take you where Max takes all his girls." We laugh then he continues. "But seriously. The view's awesome from up there. Especially at night."
"Ok." I say, not caring where we go as long as I'm with Kris.
We drive for a while just chattering about random things on our mind, which is mostly Caitlin's relationship status.
"You know what?" I say.
"What?" He says.
"We talk about them way too much."
"We do. Why?" He says, laughing.
"I have no clue, but she'd better get things figured out. I talked to her today about it and she's still confused, I can tell." Kris smiles, his face going tight.
"Max is messed up over it. I've never seen him get this upset over someone."
"Yeah?" I say, concerned.
"Yeah. I just hope everything works out well. No drama, in other words."
I kinda laugh at him but reply with a quiet "Yeah," not sure if it can work out without drama.
He pulls in to a nice park with a big hill to the right. "Are we climbing that?" I point at it.
"Yeah?" He says as if it's a no brainer. The hill is huge, intimidating. What if I can't make it up it? Kris would carry me, right? Oh well, I have to try.
We walk up and he covers my eyes with his hands so I can't see. When we get to the top he takes his hands off. "Look," he says.
I gasp in delight. "it's so pretty!" I say, looking at the stars above the smog above the city that's lighted up for the night."
"I know," he says, pulling me into him for a kiss.
"Thanks Kris." I say before kissing him. We sit down on the dewy grass, getting my butt wet. I lean on Kris, not caring about my pants.
We look at the city and the scene for a while before he says, "I better take you home."
"Awww," I say, not wanting to go home.
"You could always come home with me." I reluctantly say no, knowing better. I don't think Kris would try to take advantage of me or anything. Not at all, but, my parents would be pissed and I've got school. "I wish I could." I say, stumbling down the hill while he basically holds me up the whole way down.
"I do too." He says. We get in the car for him to drive me home as much as we both don't want to.