Living Violet by Jaime Reed Page B

bumped into Caleb, I tried to ditch him, but he caught me before I could escape. For a ladies’ man, he went out of his way to avoid his admirers, and shield me in case a riot broke out.
    We wandered through France, where singers preformed in the street with camisoles and berets. Caleb’s nose led him to the ice cream parlor by the portrait stand. This was his second stop within thirty minutes, and his appetite only seemed to get stronger.
    While waiting for Caleb, I smiled at the woman in a revealing peasant dress operating the tavern-style lemonade stand. Her long blond hair fell over her shoulder in two long braids. She leaned her elbow on the counter, sweaty and extremely bored by her conversation with a customer. The man carried a drink in each hand and stood in the process of ordering another to keep her interest.
    Once tired of the stall tactic, he took the plunge. “So, I was wondering what are you doing—”
    â€œNo,” she snapped.
    He tried again. “Well, how about—”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œCan I at least get your—”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œFine!” The man skulked away with his head low and his dignity crumbling in his hands.
    Laughing, I went to the booth. “What’s up, Poland?”
    Nadine’s emerald eyes lit up, and that was as close to a smile that she would ever reach. “Sam! Hello! What brings you to ninth ring of hell?”
    I summed up my crisis in one word. “Caleb.”
    Nadine leaned back, blown away by this news. “Oh! He’s finally using those tickets I gave him?”
    â€œThe tickets were collecting dust while he waited for you to take a day off. How can you work so much? Honestly, when do you sleep?” I asked.
    â€œI’ll sleep when I’m dead. For now, I have rent and student loans. I’m still young with energy to burn.”
    Trust Nadine to make me look like a slacker on my day off.
    â€œSo, you’re here with Caleb, hmm?” She leveled me with her eyes and twirled her braid. A bad idea since that one gesture brought three old dudes to her booth. Before they could speak, she yelled, “If you don’t buy anything, piss off!” which succeeded in scaring the men away. Leaning over the counter, she drew closer. “So, are you two on a date?”
    â€œNo.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “You answer awfully quick.”
    â€œIt was a quick question. I’m not interested in Caleb like that. I just wanna know what he’s about. You know he’s weird. Doesn’t it bother you that he has women falling all over him?”
    Nadine simply stared. “You’re talking to me here.”
    I gave Nadine a good look from head to toe. “Well, yeah, you got guys all over you, but at least you’re hot. Have you looked at Caleb? I mean, really looked? Dude has no swag and his hygiene is suspect.”
    Nadine shifted her lips from side to side in debate. “He’s cute in scruffy, indie kid way. He has good taste in books. I just finished first chapter of book he recommended, and I had to tear myself away.”
    â€œYou’re missing the point. He’s weird.”
    â€œYou just want him to be weird so you cannot like him. He has bad moments and can be stubborn, but he’s a good guy, Sam. I should know.”
    â€œOh yeah? Aren’t you two like ‘frenemies’ or something?” I asked coolly, but secretly anticipated her answer. Nadine and I talked about everything, but the subject of Caleb Baker came with a warning label and a combination lock.
    If the question shocked her, she hid that fact from me. “In a way,” she replied. “We are just friends who look out for one another, whenever he lets me.”
    â€œI think it’s the women who need the looking out,” I said dubiously.
    Disappointed, she fell back behind the booth. “Thou doth protesteth too much.”
    Getting into character, I replied, “I fear