“I think that’s where you and I differ,” I suggest, mentally kicking myself at shutting her down at every turn. Adam Hayes—king of self-sabotage.

“Good to know. Then that’s the last we shall speak of frivolous things,” she says loftily. “See? I did learn something about you. I learned that you don’t like people learning about you.”

She’s smirking, leaning her chair on its back legs as she folds her hands in her lap.

“Wow, you really always have to have the last word in an argument, don’t you?” I say, smirking back.

She shrugs smugly.

“Aren’t you glad to have me as a debate partner?” she asks in that way that’s not really a question, rocking back and forth on the chair legs. Her self-satisfied smile is taking up her whole face and it’s infectious, dissolving the cloud that so often hangs over my head. This kind of verbal sparring is my raison d’être and I’m about to counter when—

“Hey, Caitlin?”

Caitlin nearly loses her balance, her chair tipping dangerously far back before she catches it, slamming forward, her palms smacking the tabletop.

“Caleb!” She jumps up, her voice like a shout in the quiet library. Caleb has appeared out of nowhere, like he has the ability to just materialize silently in the library whenever he wants. I haven’t spoken to him since the Incident on Friday and I have absolutely no idea what I would say to him now. I do my best to dissolve into the bookshelves behind me.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to sneak up on you,” he backpedals awkwardly. His hand is clenching around his backpack strap and it feels like he’s looming over the table.

“Oh,” he says, his eyes landing on me. “Hey.”

I just nod, my voice stuck somewhere between my heart and my throat.

“What’s up?” Caitlin chirps, and I try not to notice the hearts in her eyes as she looks at Caleb. I especially try not to think about how my eyes probably look the exact same way. This whole thing is mortifying.

“I was just wondering if I could borrow your notes from English yesterday? About The Aeneid?” he asks sheepishly, glancing down at his feet. I take the opportunity to stare at him a bit, and his whole body is rigid. Except there’s also a squirrellyness to him, like he’s ready to bolt at any second. This could not be more different from our last library encounter. He must not be thrilled to have found me when looking for a private moment with his date.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Caitlin says, her posture relaxing somewhat. “I don’t have them with me but I can e-mail them to you when I get home?”

“That’d be great.” Caleb nods eagerly.