Chapter Five

As if the heavens were granting me a wish, mom called out for dinner, causing me to sprint off away from wherever Caleb was behind me. However, when I reached the table, Katherine, Mike and my mom had already seated themselves, leaving only four seats and a high chance that Caleb could end up sitting next to me.

Taking the easy option, I sat by my mom and prayed that Kylie would sit next to me, followed by either Clara or Caleb. However, the angels only granted me one wish tonight. Clara sat by Katherine whilst Kylie sat next to Clara, leaving the only empty space beside me.

"Great," I mumbled to myself, hoping that nobody would hear, otherwise the impression I was going to be leaving on Mike and Katherine definitely wasn't going to be a good one.

We all grabbed a bowl of pasta and ate in silence, up until Katherine broke it.

"So Gabriella, your mom tells me that you have a boyfriend, is he handsome?" As soon as she said it, I felt incredibly awkward. However, after what Caleb said to me, I aimed to make him feel more uncomfortable than I did.

Therefore, I rambled on about James, talking about how good looking he was, how long we'd been together, holidays we'd been on together, then other parts which mom would so lovingly add. She was definitely a big fan of James. Mainly because he brought her flowers the first time he met her.

But since then, she's always been happy with me dating him.

Suddenly, a hand crept onto my thigh mid-sentence. I glared over to Caleb and pushed his hand from my leg, despite the goose bumps it left behind. He would continue to do it whilst I was talking, knowing that I was growing increasingly frustrated with what was happening underneath the table.

"So yeah, he... um, is very-" I struggled to get the words out until his hand crept closer and closer to a place I would never let him go in. "NICE!" I shouted at Katherine before I slapped my hand over my mouth, for the second time tonight.

Way to leave a good impression Gabby.

"I'm so sorry for shouting, I-I just um, thought I saw a spider," I used the worst excuse in the history of excuses and turned slowly to Caleb. I chucked his hand from my leg and continued to eat, watching him from the corner of my eye.

The table fell silent soon after my outburst, except the quiet talk between Kylie and Clara, and the general chat between my mom, Mike and Katherine.

Turns out, Katherine had known my mom since first grade, they were best friends but they lost contact when she moved schools. I smiled as mom grinned at Katherine. We all finished our pasta in quick silence, thankfully.

"I'll bring the plates out," I said quickly before anyone else offered, hoping to get away from the presence of Caleb so I could finally breath. "I'll help," I heard his icy voice from right beside me as we both began picking plates off the table.

Why did he have to offer too?

I walked out the room with several plates hanging off my arms, like a waitress. I guess working at Applebee's for three weeks that one time did some good.

I took the weight off my arms by placing all of it down onto the counter. However, when I turned to collect more, I was trapped within the prison that was Caleb's arms at either side of the kitchen island.

"Still jealous," sighing again, I tried to remove myself from his body structure, but it was impossible with his strong arms and his hold that he currently had over me with his eyes.

What am I doing?

After only several seconds I pushed away from him, using more strength than I thought I would have to. He was much stronger than he looked.

Walking back into the dining room, I grabbed a few more plates and avoided Caleb as I felt his eyes constantly burning into the back of my head.

After talking a little more at the table, Katherine and Mike decided to call it a night, seeing as it was already nearing ten o'clock. "It was so nice to see you again Katherine," My mom said as she hugged her tightly.

I hadn't really spoken to Kylie, but it seemed like her and Clara were getting a long seeing as they were now exchanging numbers with each other. I can guarantee that Caleb will not be seeing a smile from me, let alone my number.

Caleb stood beside me and before I could protest, he leaned down to my height and whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. "Jealousy is a bad disease," a scowl naturally fell onto my face as I turned to give him a piece of my mind.

Mom glared at me out of the corner of her eye as she had watched the ordeal between us, and how angry I was getting. However, I took a deep breath and looked away from Caleb.

"Get well soon," he finally said as he began to follow his parents out of the house. However, before he could get far, I had already outstretched my foot and had tripped him. He stumbled, but regained his balance and glared back at me.

Luckily, everyone seemed to think he was just a klutz and tripped on his own.

'Whoops' I mouthed and smiled happily.

As soon as they left, my mood automatically perked up. I thanked my lucky stars that I didn't have to smell Caleb's aftershave that would engulf my nose every time he came near me.

Mom waved us away, not before giving us a tight hug and thanking us for being good for the guests.

Kylie and I both walked up the stairs together, equally smiling at two different types of accomplishments. "I know you tripped Caleb," Kylie whispered from beside me.

"He deserved it," I simply replied and walked back into my room.

I hadn't realised how tired I actually was until I got ready for bed. My eyes were slowly drooping as I brushed my teeth. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

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