When I was fifteen, my father died in the line of duty saving a boy’s life. That boy was Caleb Davis. After the funeral, I moved into the Davis estate. With Caleb’s silent permission, I became his shadow. I followed him everywhere. Until the start of Senior Year, when I accidentally knocked over the acai bowl he’d bought for the beautiful new transfer student. For the first time ever, Caleb lost his temper with me. "Maya, your dad saved me, but my family has housed you for three years. We’re even. I don’t owe you anything." He grabbed the girl's hand and stormed off, leaving me to clean up the purple mess on the floor. I didn't say a word. I wiped up the stains. Then I went to the guidance counselor's office, took back my college application list, and silently crossed out Stanford. From that moment on, we were strangers. 1. After changing my college list, I hugged my AP Physics workbook and walked slowly back to homeroom. The bell hadn't rung yet, and most students were catching up on sleep, heads on their desks. In the back corner, Caleb was leaning in close, tutoring Bella, the transfer student. Morning sunlight streamed through the blinds, illuminating their profiles. They looked perfect together. Quiet. Beautiful. My gaze drifted from Bella’s perfectly styled hair to the stain on her designer shirt. I had bumped into her earlier, spilling her breakfast. Caleb had immediately rushed her to the bathroom to clean it up. Thinking of his retreating back, the burn on my hand from the hot coffee I’d also spilled started to throb again. Crash. Someone stuck a foot out as I walked down the aisle. My stack of workbooks scattered across the linoleum floor. The noise startled the couple in the corner. Caleb looked up from the textbook, met my eyes for a second, and then looked back down. His best friend, sitting nearby, jeered. "Hey Caleb, looks like your shadow wants some physics help too." It was Senior Year. I was top of the class in everything—except Physics. It was my Achilles' heel. Before Bella transferred here, Caleb used to tutor me every morning before the bell. The quiet classroom filled with snickers. I pretended I didn't hear them. I crouched down and started gathering the books. Maybe I looked pathetic, because Caleb frowned and started to stand up, as if to help. But just then, Bella, who was chewing on her pen cap, looped her arm through his. She seemed to notice me for the first time, flashing a bright, winning smile. "Hi Maya! Sorry, I’m hopeless at physics. Mr. Harrison put us in a study group together." "Finders keepers," she winked playfully. "I can't let you steal him." She stuck her tongue out, a faint blush on her cheeks. She was bubbly and gorgeous—the polar opposite of me, the quiet, brooding charity case. "Caleb," she whispered, "I think I get this formula now. Can you explain the rest?" "Sure." Caleb sat back down. He turned his head away, effectively dismissing me. The sunlight wrapped around them again, separating their world from mine in the shadows. He explained a complex concept. Bella looked confused. She rested her chin on her hand, tilting her head to stare at him. "Caleb, has anyone ever told you that you have really long eyelashes?" "Focus," Caleb said, his voice cool. But he didn't pull away. "Okay, okay, bossy." She giggled, scooting her chair closer. I watched the scene for a second longer, clutching my workbook, then turned and walked away. Finders keepers... Funny. I remember Caleb whispering in my ear just last year: "Maya, from now on, can you only look at me?" 2. During lunch, the classroom was empty. I ate a sandwich while trying to solve a physics problem. Next to me sat an unopened takeout box. Sushi. It was getting warm. I had waited in line for forty minutes to buy it. But Bella said the cafeteria food was "gross," so Caleb had taken her out to a bistro downtown. My sandwich tasted like cardboard. I couldn't focus on the equations. "Stop crying. You look pathetic." A hand with long, piano-player fingers tapped on my desk. A pack of tissues and a slice of strawberry shortcake slid into view. I looked up to see him pulling a gold medal out of his gym bag and tossing it onto my notebook. National Physics Olympiad. First Place. "Ethan? You're back?" I grabbed a tissue and hastily wiped my face, shocked. Ethan was my lab partner in Sophomore year. He had transferred to the Gifted & Talented program for Physics and spent the last semester at a training camp at MIT. He was wearing a black hoodie, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing forearms that had definitely filled out since I last saw him. He looked older. sharper. "If I didn't come back, Caleb would probably bully you to death," he said, pulling out the chair next to me. "Starting today, I'm your tutor." He snatched the workbook from under my hand, uncapped a red pen, and started aggressively grading my attempts. At the mention of Caleb's name, my nose started to sting again. "No... you don't have to." Watching the red X's multiply on the page, I felt a wave of shame. But Ethan was efficient. He finished grading and immediately grabbed a piece of scratch paper. "You're using the wrong formula for kinetic energy here..." His voice was deep, clear, and steady. Unlike Caleb’s rigid, textbook style, Ethan’s logic jumped around creatively. In minutes, the paper was covered in his elegant handwriting. I couldn't even argue. I had to focus just to keep up with his brain. By the time I finished correcting my mistakes, I looked up to see Ethan happily devouring the sushi I had bought for Caleb. I tried to remember our past. We weren't that close, were we? I wasn't sure. Maybe he was just being a good guy. 3. After evening study hall, I stood in the parking lot, waiting for Caleb. I didn't want a ride home. I just needed my house key. I’d left it in his car that morning. From a distance, I saw him walking under the streetlights. He had one hand in his pocket, walking slowly. Bella was skipping beside him. She looked up at him, eyes sparkling. "I got a B on the quiz today! You owe me ice cream, Caleb." Caleb looked cold, but he nodded. He never could say no to a girl who knew how to flirt. Last year, during the junior class hiking trip, I passed out from exhaustion halfway up the trail. Caleb had crouched in front of me. "Maya, just ask nicely. Beg a little, and I'll carry you." I stood there, stubborn and silent. Since my dad died, I didn't know how to be soft. I didn't know how to beg. He had sighed, laughing helplessly, and pulled me onto his back anyway. "You're impossible," he’d said. It was foggy and cold on the mountain that day. But his back was warm. It made me feel safe. "Yay! Caleb, you're the best!" Bella’s cheer snapped me back to reality. I stepped out of the shadows. Caleb saw me and stopped. He fished the key out of his pocket. "Walk home. Don't tell my mom about this." Bella saw me and hid behind Caleb’s shoulder, feigning shyness, but flashed a smug grin when he wasn't looking. "Okay." I took the key, adjusted my backpack, and walked away. 4. When I got back to the Davis house, Mrs. Davis had hot cocoa waiting. She took my bag, looking behind me. She noticed the redness around my eyes. "Maya? Have you been crying? Why are you alone?" "Where's Caleb? Did he leave you behind? Tell me, and I'll ground him until he's thirty!" Mrs. Davis was a gentle soul. She treated me like a daughter. "It's nothing, Mrs. Davis. My grades just slipped a little." I sat at the island, sipping the cocoa. It was warm and sweet, melting the ice in my chest. I looked at her kind face and made a decision. "Mrs. Davis... I want to apply for a room in the campus dorms." Our private prep school offered boarding for students who needed to focus. "Exams are coming up. I need to cut down on commute time." Mrs. Davis paused. She checked the calendar on her phone. She looked reluctant, but she nodded. She touched my hair. "Your scores are fine, honey. You and Caleb are going to Stanford together. Don't stress so much." Stanford. Caleb talked about it constantly. We're going to Stanford. I swallowed a mouthful of cocoa, tasting the lie. "Mrs. Davis... can you not tell Caleb I'm moving out?" I looked serious. She assumed it was a teenage spat. After all, for three years, everyone knew Caleb was my world. "Alright, alright. If he finds out you're leaving, he'll throw a fit." She took my empty mug to the sink. Then I heard her phone dialing Caleb, telling him to get his butt home.
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