Huston, I have So Many Problems
"So, if you multiply the reciprocal of the number by..." My math teacher droned on.
Vikki leaned over to whisper to me. "Ugh, sometimes I think he's trying to put people to sleep."
I laughed quietly, trying to go unnoticed by the teacher. He was practically deaf and never noticed when people talked. I still wouldn't take any chances.
The teacher went on and on about how to evaluate some fancy equation that just looked like a bunch of random letters. I mean come on, why is the alphabet in math.
He pointed to a picture on the screen but our attention immediately drew to the door, which swung open, stopping with a hard crash against the pale blue, brick wall. The door squeaked as it rocked back and forth, quieting down, which allowed us to redirect our gazes to the broad figure standing in the doorframe.
"Hey, isn't that the guy from this morning? What's his name?" Vikki questioned.
"I don't know, I don't think he told us," I replied, my eyes never leaving him.
"Ah, you must be our new kid. Why don't you introduce yourself to the class," Mr. Jenkins, our math teacher, instructed him.
"Caleb Hunterâ" he smirked, looking one of the girls up and downâ"and yes I'm available."
You have got to be kidding me. I mentally facepalmed. The whole class burst out into a round of laughter and the girls swooned, as in physically swooned, for him. I swear, if it was humanly possible, their eyes would have turned into hearts.
Sure, you couldn't hide the fact that he was handsome, if you're into that kind of thing, but aside from that, he had nothing going for him. Just from meeting him once, it was clear to see he thought he was better than everyone else. I was sure his personality was far from stellar. Sadly, knowing my school, all he needed was exceptional looks and everyone would love him.
"Settle down class." Mr. Jenkins's face flamed bright red and his eyes were the size of the moon. "You can take a seat next to Ms. Valentine," he mumbled.
My head snapped up at the mention of my last name. Please tell me I heard him wrong! Caleb and I locked eyes, my stomach repeating the same process as last time, each step he took increasing the nerve bubbling inside me. I quickly broke eye contact and stared down at the floor, feeling my cheeks heat up. "Are you blushing?" Victoria teased me.
I slapped her on the arm and tried to hide my face. I pulled my sleeves over my hands and squished my cheeks so they were no longer visible. "No," I lied.
Nobody is staring at you. Nobody is staring at you. Nobody is staring at you.
I repeated it over and over again.
Victoria burst out into a fit of laughter, causing her to fall off her chair. "You totally were!" She wheezed.
I peered down at her before glancing up around the room, only to see Caleb staring down at us with an amused smile on his face. He couldn't possibly know what we were talking about... right?
"Ms. Rose and Ms. Valentine settle down!" Mr. Jenkins scolded.
I looked sheepishly at the teacher, despising the added attention, before carefully helping Vikki back on her chair while Caleb took his seat on the other side of me.
Our desks were arranged into long rows of tables, each table seating two people. Caleb was my tablemate, meaning the gap between me and Caleb was non-existent. You have got to be kidding me. "Hey, Scarlett," Caleb greeted, staring directly at me.
I drew my eyebrows together, bringing my focus to Caleb. "My name's not Scarlett." Man, I hate this guy. "Everyone calls me Annabeth."
"I don't want to be like everyone else, so Scarlett it is."
I crinkled my nose in confusion. "Why Scarlett?"
"Because I want to."
What a great reason.
I couldn't have been more thankful when lunch finally came. Victoria and I sat down at our usual table. We were the only people at that table, honestly, it appeared kind of lonely.
I never minded it being just the two of us, but I think she did. In previous years, our other friends would sit with us but, unfortunately, none of them had lunch with us this year. So it would have to be just me and Vikki.
"So, you really have all of your morning classes with him?" Vikki stared at me in disbelief, her face showing her delight.
"Yep, unbelievable right, of all people it had to be Caleb. That guy is a pig. Do you know how many girls I've watched him shamelessly flirt with?"
Vikki stared at me with a mischievous look on her face. "Is someone jealous?" She asked, poking my cheek.
I swatted her hand away from me. "I don't even know him; he's cocky and arrogant, no way would I be jealous. I mean you should have seen him in his classes," I groaned. "It's infuriating. I swear every teacher was watching the two of us like a hawk. I didn't even do anything!"
"It's only lunch."
"That's the problem. I swear Vikki if I have one more class with him, or any of his stupid friends, I'm going to start ripping out my own hair."
We both glance behind us to see Caleb sitting with Jake, Ethan, Evan, and Chase. I couldn't fathom how he'd become this well-liked so soon. I knew the girls would fawn over him but how he became friends with the most sought-after guys in the building, I had no idea. Getting into that group was near to impossible. The last kid who tried ended up changing schools. His so-called new friends convinced him to bring a girl into the janitor's closet and, well, do I need to say more? Needless to say, he got caught and the whole student body heard about his pink unicorn underwear. He was so humiliated he moved schools.
The same principle went for girls. Unless she was sleeping with one of them, no ladies were allowed in the group. And even if she was sleeping with them, she wasn't truly a part of the group. She could sit at the table and hang out for a bit but as soon as they were done with her, she got kicked to the curb.
"Ugh!" I flopped down on my bed tired after a long day of school.
I, thankfully, managed to avoid Caleb for the rest of the day.
I had just begun to rest when I was, unfortunately, interrupted. "Lanabeth, come here!" my mother yelled for me from downstairs.
At that point in my life, I had learned there was no point in arguing with her. Very ungracefully, I pulled myself off my bed and slowly made my way to the stairs. My mother squealed in excitement, or pain, I wasn't quite sure which one. I quickly raced down the stairs, two at a time. "What is it, Momma?"
She turned to grab me by the shoulders, her eyes sparkling with exhilarations. Well, at least I know she's not dead. "Look out the window!"
I gave her a suspicious look but complied. Slowly, I pulled back the dark blue curtain. What I saw amazed me: we had new neighbors. Our previous neighbors were an older couple. They moved out about a month ago to a retirement home.
The new family unloaded a moving truck and took all the boxes inside. Beside the truck stood a man, a woman, and two kids. One of them looked to be my age, he seemed oddly familiar but I couldn't quite put a finger on it. The other one looked to be no older than a first-grader. She was adorable, to say the least. A spread of freckles spanned across her face, adding to her cute appearance.
From what I could see the boy had curly hair and wore a black t-shirt. He ruffled up his hair before turning around. My eyes widened in horror. Caleb? Caleb! My new neighbor is Caleb Hunter. Kill me now.
"Isn't it amazing? We have neighbors!" She bounced on her toes like a child. "I'm going to invite them over! Maybe we can make it a weekly thing." She rambled off random thoughts.
I didn't listen to anything she said, being more focused on the fact that Caleb Hunter lived right next door to me. I remained stuck in a daze, begging and hoping that I was just having some horrid nightmare.
"Yeah, very fun," I feigned excitement, "I'm gonna head up to my room. I need to do some homework." I looked for any excuse to get away from there.
"Okay, sweetie, have fun!" She pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head.
I was happy that she was happy, don't get me wrong. I just wasn't the happiest with the fact that my new neighbor was Caleb Hunter.
I drew my phone out of my pocket and searched for Vikki's contact. I clicked the call button. The phone rang twice before her voice echoed through the speaker, "What up?"
"You are never going to believe what just happened," I practically shouted.
Her voice laced with curiosity, "Uh oh, what happened?"
"We have new neighbors." I could tell she picked up on the annoyance in my voice.
"That doesn't sound good. Who is it?"
I paused for dramatic effect. "Calebâ" I heard her gaspâ"Hunter."
"No way! Seriously, you're so lucky," she squealed.
I shook my head furiously, even though she couldn't see me. "Lucky is not the word I would use to describe it," I grumbled.
"I would, I mean you get to live next door to a hottie!"
It figured that Vikki found this exciting. She paused before sighing. "Look, it can't be that horrible, I bet you'll hardly ever see him."
"I hope so." I had a feeling that wasn't even remotely true.
I peered out my window, still talking to Vikki. My phone slipped out of my hand as I gaped at the scene in front of me. Realizing what I had done, I fumbled with my phone before putting it back up to my ear.
"What was that?" Vikki asked me.
It took me a moment to reply. "Um, you remember the window leading out to the roof of my neighbor's house?"
"Yeah, of course, most houses have that," she teased.
"Okay well, I'm stressed! Bear with me. Do you also remember how we always wished the old neighbors had a kid so they could sit on the roof with us?"
She laughed, "Yeah, we used to think it would be so cool to be able to crawl through each other's windows and climb onto the roof and talk." Her voice was nostalgic as she remembered everything.
"This is not what I meant!" I yelled, interrupting her bliss, as I watched Caleb sit peacefully on his roof.
She paused before replying, "What do you mean?"
"Caleb Hunter is sitting on the roof. That's my thing!"
Granted the whole neighborhood sat on their roof and I had to admit, I quite enjoyed it. I would do it all the time. That didn't mean Caleb should though. Now, I would have to see his obnoxious face. I just wanted to look at the moon but, instead, I'll have to see that monstrosity. How did everything get so horrible so quickly? Caleb freakin' Hunter, that's how.
"I'm so sorry, Annabeth." Vikki struggled to contain her laugh.
She most certainly was not sorry. "Ugh!" I threw myself on my bed and buried my face in the pillow. "Maybe I'll move rooms."
"Come on Annabeth, you'll get a show like every night. Not many people get to live next to the hottest boy in school."
I grimaced at her comment. "Um, yeah, no. He's good-looking, I'll give you that but he's a jerk."
She sighed, realizing my mind would remain unchanged. "Just go to bed and think about it in the morning."
Reluctantly, I hung up. Nothing would change in the morning. I lived next door to Caleb Hunter. Welcome to my worst nightmare.