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"Caitlin, be careful." Her eyes were shiny with unshed tears and I hugged her tightly.
"I promise I'll be careful," I whispered. "I love you, Sarah."
Sarah's voice broke when she replied softly. "I love you too."
The cold air was welcome when we stepped outside, cooling my overheated cheeks. We stopped by Simon's professor's office where he dropped off his paper to a teacher's aide. With that out of the way, we quickly walked to the student center.
"I'll be watching," Simon said before we parted. He kissed me fiercely before letting me go. "Be careful."
"I will," I promised for the second time.
I quickly made my way to the cafeteria. I saw Simon in my peripheral vision but I made an effort to not look in his direction. The last thing I needed was to stare at Simon while he was trying to go unnoticed.
I saw Neal loping towards me after a few minutes. His expression was one of concern as he got closer.
"Hey, are you okay?"
I started the waterworks, amazed that they came so easily. "I know I must seem so stupid. I'm just so upset over this fight with Sarah."
Neal automatically enveloped me in his arms and I jumped at his touch. I hadn't expected his embrace and I was sure Simon wasn't happy about it. I tried to pull back as smoothly as possible.
"Thanks so much for meeting with me. I hope I'm not making you miss class."
"Don't worry about it. I only have a lecture today and I was planning on skipping it anyway."
We went inside the cafeteria and I just opted for a coffee while Neal got a breakfast sandwich. The dining room was practically empty and we sat down at the first table we saw.
"What did you and Sarah fight about?"
I took a deep breath before speaking. I had already planned the story I would give him. I knew it had to be significant enough to warrant the level of my agitation, but I didn't want to say the words out loud even though I knew it was a lie.
"Sarah thinks I have a thing for Grant. She accused me of trying to steal him away from her."
Neal looked surprised at my confession, pausing with his sandwich midway to his mouth. I continued, trying to push my way through this horrible lie.
"She thinks I came on to him and she won't believe otherwise."
"Wow, that was the last thing I expected you to say. Why would she think that?" Neal lowered his sandwich, waiting for my explanation.
"That's the thing. I don't even know why she thinks that. She says she's seen the way I look at Grant and that it's obvious I want
him."
Neal frowned, looking confused. "Aren't you and Sarah best friends?"
"Like sisters. That's why this hurts so much."
Neal thought for a moment. "What does Grant say?"
"Grant keeps trying to talk sense into her, but she refuses to believe him. When he defended me, she accused him of reciprocating my feelings."
"She must be blind," Neal said. "I see the way you and Simon look at each other, like there's no one else in the world except the two of you." Neal smiled ruefully before continuing. "I have to admit that I hoped to have a chance with you when we first met, but I soon realized that you only had eyes for Simon."
I blushed at Neal's admission, embarrassed that I had indeed given him the wrong idea, but I pushed the feeling aside. I continued my sob story and Neal was the perfect listener, giving responses when necessary but mostly just letting me vent. I was amazed that an hour flew by before I realized it.
I tensed when Neal checked his watch. "Do you have somewhere you have to be?"
Neal shook his head. "No, I just wanted to sell some of my textbooks back to the bookstore and they're closing early today."
