The Safety's Sideline Obsession

Classmates

Caylee

Aunt Ava gives me a quick little wave as I walk into creative writing class the first day. The class is packed. First days are always crazy until people finish dropping and changing classes by the end of the week. I find a spot at the back to the room. There are only a few empty seats. As I’m taking my notebook and pens out, the seat in front of me is taken and a backpack strap slaps against my cheek.

“Oh gosh I’m so sorry!” I glance up at a tall girl with dirty blonde hair. “It’s ok.” I say with a quick smile. She sits down after smiling at me as Aunt Ava begins talking. She gives her welcome to class speech followed by our first assignment.

“I know some of you will be dropping this class as you shift your schedules around. This is a short assignment but I will give you an entire week in case you are dropping this. You will write a two page short story about a character you are going to create and use for the semester. This is their introduction to me. They can be anything you want; a dragon, a talking cloud, a friendly ghost, you get the idea. This character will be in at least three of your later assignments so make sure you enjoy writing about them.”

Intriguing I think. I’m going to enjoy this class. Aunt Ava is an out of the box thinker and I figured she would put a spin on this.

“Now I want to also say that you will have to complete one assignment with a group of two to three classmates but we’ll discuss more about that next week.” Ugh nothing I hate more than a group project. Hopefully my partners pull their own weight.

Leaving every class today is a protracted affair as packed as each one is. Joey is texting me wanting to grab lunch but all I want is to find a quiet corner of peace for ten minutes. I text him back to say I don’t have time.

“Alright tomorrow then.”

I miss Violet. We would go eat lunch most days sitting outside under some of the big oak trees. A peaceful break each day to catch up with my friend since we had different classes.

I head for one of them and sit eating my sandwich.

By the end of the day I have a ton of homework. Books to read, my short story to write, questions to answer for a biology lab that I’ve put off for two years; my schedule might be too packed. I was hoping to graduate a semester early and loaded up this time.

I beg off dinner with Joey tonight wanting to start on some of my homework and maybe a movie on my couch.

The next day is better. Classes are not as packed and I make it through. Joey is coming to eat with me tonight. He announced it while we were having lunch. The guy cannot cook to save his life. I get in pretty early and pop one of the frozen chicken pot pies in the oven that way I can finish more of my homework. Joey usually wants to watch tv here. His two best friends are his roommates and he always prefers to be here.

Thirty minutes later, he’s knocking on my door. I frown. He’s not supposed to be here for another hour. I check the peephole surprised by who I see. Opening the door, he lifts his head. “Hey Noah.” I manage to say.

“Hey Caylee. I found this in one of my boxes and figured it fell in.” He holds up a sparkling aqua bag.

“Ah I thought I left it at home. You mean you don’t have the exact same one?” I tease as I take it from him.

He chuckles. “Mine is purple. More my color.”

“Don’t tell me you rode over on your bike with this. Your reputation might suffer.” I miss this Noah. The lighthearted one who always joked around even though he wasn’t chatty cathy.

“Maybe. Could make for some interesting conversation icebreakers.” His eyes sparkle with laughter.

“You want to come in? I’m warming up one of Mama’s chicken pot pies.” I turn pointing toward the kitchen.

Before he can answer, Joey steps in behind him basically pushing past him while saying. “Excuse me Sterns. Hey baby cakes. Dinner smells so good. I caught it down the hall. I’m so glad my woman can cook.” He loops an arm around my waist and I watch Noah eye him quietly.

“I should get going. If I find any more of your sparkly luggage, I’ll return it.” He shoves his hands in his pockets before turning to leave.

“Bye Noah. Thanks.” I call out. He lifts his hand in acknowledgment never looking back.

Joey is frowning as I close the door. “Why was he here?”

“He found this mixed in one of the boxes my brothers hauled up here for him.”

“So nice of him. You ready to watch tv and snuggle on the couch? I missed you today. I wish we had a class or two together.”

I laugh. “You just saw me at lunch like four hours ago.”

“Exactly! FOUR hours, it’s a long time kitten.”

I ignore the name. He can slide once or twice…I won’t let him make it a habit though.

“You can start watching. I have about thirty more minutes of classic lit homework to finish.”

“Come on baby cakes. You can do that this weekend.” He pleads giving me puppy dog eyes.

“No I don’t want to get behind. Thirty minutes Joey. Puppy dog eyes don’t work on me. I have siblings.”

He pouts. “Fine.” He fairly stomps over to the couch. Toddler. I almost call after him but bite my tongue.

We eat and he tells me all about his classes this afternoon. Joey is honestly mostly hoping for a baseball draft pick. He’s majoring in accounting as his backup. That’s what his dad does and I’m sure that played a major role in selecting that. We watch a few old shows after dinner and I have to almost shove him out the door once I tell him I’m ready to sleep. He wants to stay over but I refuse. I’ve only let him sleep here a few times and I don’t like it. He’s a total bed hog and I end up on like two inches at the side. And he’s not a snuggler because he gets so hot. Sleeps with no covers and I freeze like every other girl in existence.

Friday I get to creative writing and go back to the seat I had Wednesday. The class is much less crowded. I look up when the girl who hit me with her backpack comes to sit next to me today. “Hi there.” She says with a sunny smile.

“Hi.”

“I really am sorry I hit you with my backpack the other day.”

I wave my hand. “Total accident. Only left a small scar.” I joke.

She laughs. “I’m Ali. I transferred in here last spring semester.”

“Caylee. I’ve been here for the two years prior. You didn’t miss anything earth shattering.”

“Good. I would hate to need to catch up. I don’t have a lot of friends here yet. Do you have any in this class?”

“Not really. I haven’t even seen everyone in this class yet considering how packed it was on Wednesday. My best friend graduated in the spring.”

“This seems like it might be an interesting writing class. Especially when she talked about the group project.”

I grimace a little. “I really dislike group projects unless you can choose your own group. I always get stuck with a slacker.”

“Maybe we get to select our partners then. Professor Sterns didn’t say did she?”

I shake my head almost laughing hearing Aunt Ava called that. She’s not a professor but I’m not going to reveal how well I know her.

“No but you almost never get to. We’ll see. It would be a nice change.” As I talk, I watch the door open and see that familiar dark brown hair. He walks in unhurriedly and I try not to stare. His head turns as he heads up the aisle to my left. His eyes meet mine for a minute and he smiles giving a little wave before he takes the last open seat three rows down. Aunt Ava looks up his way and her face softens in that familiar mom smile of pride.

Ali nudges me gently. “He’s hot. You know him?” Her eyes are wide.

“Yeah his name is Noah.” I don’t volunteer anything else. I swallow down my irritation at her calling him hot. Always drives me crazy when girls find out I knew him or my brothers and try to get information from me about them. I haven’t had a class with Noah in a while. It’s been helpful.

“Lucky you.” She says chuckling. “Must be nice to know someone that looks that good.”

Yeah lucky me.

As we leave class, I walk over slowly to Aunt Ava's desk. Noah is already there standing quietly. Once the room is mostly clear, I step forward to get a quick hug.

"Cayleebug." She says lowly. "I'm so excited to teach this class."

"I love your character creation already. I can't wait." I tell her excitedly.

Noah steps over and envelops her in a big bear hug.

She leans back. "I would take you two to lunch but your dad has a check up appointment this afternoon and I need to get home for that. But one day next week. We'll figure it out." We walk out with her. Noah says "Hey Caylee, I was going to ask..."

Before he can finish his sentence though, I hear my name being called down the hall. Just as I look up to see Ali leaning against the wall across from the classroom, I find Joey right on top of me.

“Hey babycakes. On my way to class. How lucky I got to see you real quick. You’re usually long gone by now though.”

“I was talking. See you later. You’d better get going.” He kisses my head before walking off.

Aunt Ava has already left. Noah turns and starts leaving too. “Hey Noah did you need to ask me something?”

He turns but keeps walking. “No it was nothing. See you later Caylee.” With a lift of two fingers, he strides away quickly.

I glance at Ali who seems to be waiting for me. “Ali did you need something?”

“I was hoping to ask you if maybe sometime you’d like to grab a coffee or something. I don’t know many people and you umm you seemed nice today.” She gives me a shy smile.

“I think that sounds like a great idea.” I say trying to distract myself.

I wonder what Noah was going to ask me…..