Emma’s POV
By Monday, the fight between Logan and Caleb was all anyone could talk about. Everywhere I went, I heard snippets of the story, each version more exaggerated than the last.
“Did you see Logan’s face?” one girl whispered in the hallway. “Caleb totally wrecked him.”
“Are you kidding? Logan landed the first punch. He had Caleb on the ropes,” another said.
The attention only seemed to fuel the tension between them. Logan kept to himself, his bruised jaw a silent reminder of the chaos Vanessa had caused. Caleb, meanwhile, leaned into the spotlight, his devil-may-care attitude intact as he brushed off questions about the fight.
Vanessa, of course, thrived on the drama. She flitted between groups, dropping sly comments and feigning concern while clearly enjoying the chaos she’d created.
“I just feel so bad for Emma,” I overheard her saying to a group of girls near the lockers. “It must be awful to have two guys fighting over you like that.”
She also continued to flaunt her relationship with Caleb, her arm hooked through his whenever they walked the halls. She’d shoot me smug looks every chance she got, like she’d won some twisted game.
But I noticed the cracks forming. Caleb seemed distracted, his usual cocky attitude dimming whenever Vanessa was around. I overheard them arguing in the parking lot one afternoon, her voice sharp and accusatory while he muttered responses I couldn’t make out.
***
As I sat at my usual table with Sarah, I saw Vanessa make her move. She strutted up to Caleb, who was sitting with his friends near the center of the cafeteria. Her confidence was back in full force, her hips swaying as she leaned over the table to talk to him.
“Caleb,” she said, her voice loud enough to cut through the noise of the room. “We need to talk.”
Caleb barely glanced at her. “We don’t.”
Her smile didn’t waver, but her tone turned sharper. “Oh, come on. Don’t be like that. We both know you didn’t mean what you said last night.”
At this, Caleb looked up, his expression cold. “I meant every word.”
The cafeteria started to quiet as people turned to watch. Vanessa, clearly unprepared for his bluntness, faltered for a moment before plastering on a fake smile. “You’re just upset. I get it. But you and I—”
“There is no ‘you and I,’” Caleb interrupted, his voice louder now. “There never was. And you need to get that through your head.”