Chapter 30: Hope (Callum's POV)

We were now walking out of the library and she's still looking at me weirdly. She's analyzing me, I can tell. 

I don't know what's wrong with me today. Am I flirting with her? Yes. Do I like her? Also yes. But I'm doing it almost involuntarily. I know that I like her and I know that I want to do something about it. Whatever I have to deal with after that, I will. 

"Clara, do you like anybody?" I asked bluntly. 

"What do you mean?" she asked, walking with me. 

"I mean, do you like someone? Have a crush on someone?" 

"I've barely been here a week," she laughed. "I don't have a crush. The only guys I know are you, Wyatt, Atticus, and his friends, so..." she trailed off, shooting me a pointed look. 

"So?" I shrugged. "What happened to Scott from English?" I smirked. 

"Scott from English is... too nice. And too shy," she sighed. "Wyatt and Daisy make a good pair so he's out of question, Atticus is... hmm," she shrugged. "And I haven't had a civil conversation with any of his friends." 

"Atticus is?" I questioned. 

"He's okay. But I get the impression that you two don't exactly like each other," she joked. 

"I wonder why you think that," I scoffed. 

"But I get it," she nodded. "I trust you so I trust your opinion. And according to you, he's bad news and I should stay away from him. So it can't be him either. I don't know anyone else." 

"You know me." 

She glanced at me. "I do know you. But we're friends, aren't we?" 

"So? Friends can't like each other?" 

"Why? Do you like me?" she asked, stopping in her tracks and folding her arms across her chest. 

I stopped in front of her, turning to face her. "Maybe I do," I said, my eyes locked in place with hers.

 "And what would happen if you did? What would you do?" She stepped forward boldly, almost daring me to do something. To confess or to... touch her. 

Does she want me to touch her? 

"Is there anything you would want me to do?" I lifted a brow at her, also taking a step forward. 

"Hmm," she nodded. "But it wouldn't be fun if I just told you what that was, now would it?" she grinned cheekily. 

"What would you say if I told you that I liked you, Clara?" 

She sighed, thinking about it. "I would tell you how I feel." 

"And how's that?" 

"Why? Are you saying you like me?" 

"Maybe," I replied. 

"Then I would say I like you too." I stared at her. "Maybe," she smirked, walking past me, her arm brushing against mine. 

I reached behind me, finding her hand, and pulled her back to the same spot. "Maybe?" I asked, pulling her closer. 

"Well, I don't know. If you like me, then maybe." 

"This is just hypothetical. What would you say?" 

"What would you ask?" she smiled. 

"Do you like me?" 

"Since this is hypothetical, yeah. Or no. It's a maybe," she chuckled, enjoying this way too much. 

"And how can I change that maybe into a yes?" I lifted a brow at her. 

She gasped dramatically, "Why?" Then she smiled, rolling her eyes. "Do you want to?" 

"Hmm," I nodded lightly. 

She chuckled, going on her toes and putting her lips to my ear. "Then sweep me off my feet." She pecked my cheek before walking past me again.

I stood there, dumbfounded, and processed everything that just happened. 

She said she likes me, kind of. We both said it was hypothetical but we knew it wasn't. She just kissed my cheek. And she just asked me to sweep her off her feet. She's asking me to flirt with her, right? She did, right? Or am I just losing my mind? I felt her hand in mine before she spun me around. "Come on," she laughed, pulling me with her. 

"Where are we going?" I asked. 

"For lunch," she answered, both of us rounding the corner and reaching the stairs. "Callum?" 

"Hmm?" 

"You like me. Don't you?" I turned to look at her as we rounded the corner, finishing the first flight of stairs. I opened my mouth to answer but unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to. 

"Ah, sh—" She stumbled, crashing straight into... Atticus. 

I grabbed her arm, pulling her closer to my side. 

He looked between us and rolled his eyes, scoffing. "You know, I thought you would know better," he said to her. "Everyone thinks what they do of him for a reason." 

"I don't have that reason," she replied, arching a brow at him. "Let's go," she said, pulling me with her. 

"You will!" Atticus called out after us. 

"We'll see!" she said without stopping, both of us continuously jogging down the staircase. We finally reached the ground floor and I tightened my grip on her hand, pulling her to a screeching halt. "Not now," she huffed, seeming a little angry while freeing her hand from mine and walking ahead. Then I grabbed a fistful of her shirt and yanked her back. She stumbled but caught herself. She huffed, leaning against me, her back pressed to my chest. "What?" she asked without turning to look at me. She turned to look at me over her shoulder. 

"I have a better idea. For lunch," I smirked. 

"Hmm?" She spun around, facing me. 

"Why don't we grab our food and head to the balcony?" 

"Won't we get caught? It seemed risky last time," she said pointedly. She's right. 

On top of that, using my powers with her right after recovering doesn't sound like a very good idea. But spending my lunch with her and brightening her mood a little bit sounds like a very good idea. 

"We won't. You trust me, right?" 

She nodded. 

"Then let's go." 

So, we entered the cafeteria, waited in line, grabbed our food, and then headed right back up to the library. "Won't Daisy look for you?" I asked. 

"Won't Wyatt look for you?" she retorted. I chuckled, glancing at her. "You know, I really hate climbing stairs. Why don't they have an elevator since there are so many floors," she groaned. 

"There is an elevator. But it's old, towards the back of the building, and it's only meant for teachers. Some teachers are old. Students can only use it if they're injured and can't climb the stairs. But even then, it's a long walk to the elevators." 

"If no one uses them, I'm sure it's easy to sneak in and use them, right?" she grinned. 

I nodded, "Right." 

"Then let's use it next time, please. My legs hurt," she huffed as we reached the floor and then started heading to the library. 

We headed to the higher floor and then stopped. "We should eat here. The librarian will get suspicious if we're here with trays and then nowhere to be seen." 

She agreed so we sat in our usual spot and ate first. She took my tray and stacked it under hers. Then she looked around while standing up. "Hey, Scott!" I watched her while standing up as he walked over. "Could you please do me a favor?" she asked, smiling brightly at him. 

"Yeah," he nodded. 

"You're on your way down, aren't you?" 

He nodded again. 

"Could you please take these for us? We have this huge history assignment due that we're trying to finish. Please? Pretty please?" 

He hesitated and then took the trays from her. "Sure, no problem," he shrugged. 

"Thank you," she sang, waving him bye as he left. She spun around to face me, dusting her hands and sighing. "Shall we?" 

I smiled, walking over to the shelf, making sure the area was empty, and then opened the door, both of us slipping inside. I hesitated to close the door because I would hate for me to use my powers and then get sick or for her to figure out what I did. They might not be fast enough for me to do them while going unnoticed. But leaving the door open could mean anyone who walks by could see it. I guess I'll just have to count on my powers. 

I shut the door, both of us heading out to the balcony. "I hope I can do it," I mumbled to myself, thinking about how we're getting out. 

"Hope you can do what?" she asked, glancing at me. 

"I hope I can uh... go see my parents next weekend," I lied. "Since I couldn't because I was sick." 

"Oh," she nodded in understanding. "So, I know you're a mummy's boy," she teased. "But are you close to your dad as well?" 

"Yeah. I'm just closer to my mom," I answered. 

"Hey, Callum?" 

"Hmm?" I asked, both of us resting our arms on the railing. 

"Can we ever go see that bridge?" 

"Do you want to?" 

"Yeah. I hope I can. I want to go with you." 

I turned to look at her and found her already watching me. "You... hope to go with me?" 

"Mm-hmm," she nodded. 

"We'll go. We'll plan it out and then we can go on a weekend." 

"Great," she smiled, turning to the view while the sun beamed on us. If she hopes for it, I have to make it happen.

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Chapter 30

Happy Holi to everybody who celebrated!!!

next chapter: vibe