Silent Moves

Julianna leaned back against her bedpost,eyes flicking to the unread messages on her phone . Caleb had called twice,then sent a series of texts.

Caleb : You left without me?

Caleb: Lian ?

Caleb: Are you ignoring me ?

She sighed,tossing her phone onto the bed. It vibrated again,but she didn't bother looking .Instead,she opened Instagram , snapped a quick mirror selfie in her school uniform, hair slightly tousled and typed a caption :

Tired.

She hit post. Within seconds,the notification rolled in likes, comments, DMs. You look so pretty Jules! Long day? Girl ,same!

@dahliaa.xx: Baby,why do you still look cute tho?

@noah.k: Julianna my favorite influencer. Stay strong

@cas_sian: Boring caption lady. You're slipping

Julianna smirked at Cassian comment and replied with a single eye roll emoji. It was amusing her quickly her posts gained traction. And it was even funnier knowing Caleb would see it too

And he did.

Across town Caleb sat in a booth at a small cafe with Sienna . He hadn't touched his coffee,fingers drumming impatiently on the table.

Sienna had been rambling about something meaningless ,but he wasn't listening .Not when Julianna was blatantly ignoring him. He refreshed his feed for what felt like the hundredth time and there it was her post .

She can post on Instagram but not reply to

me?

His jaw clenched. Without a second thought he called her. It rang and rang until it went straight to voicemail .

He exhaled sharply his grip around his phone tightened .

Sienna noticed the change in his mood immediately "...Babe... what's wrong,what happened..." she said reaching for his arm.

He didn't answer,tried calling again.

Ignored.

That was it.

He grabbed his jacket and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Sienna asked,alarmed.

"I'm leaving".

Wait...Caleb..stop . She grabbed his wrist but he shook her off his expression sharp.

"Sienna just stop, you don't get it,even if I explain you won't get it ,and honestly speaking, I don't have the energy to explain ."

The words cut .Her lips parted slightly ,but before she could say anything he was already walking away.

Leaving her there. All by herself.

Julianna maintained her distance . She still saw Caleb at school , passing glances, brief eye contacts. But it was never enough for him to catch her alone.

He wasn't the type to chase, not when it came to girls . But with her it was different . The more she ignored him the more he tried.

Caleb : Are you mad at me ?

Caleb : Lian, seriously talk to me.

Caleb : What did I do ?

"The second day of school wasn't as hectic as the first day", thought Julianna as she went up stairs to her room just arriving from school . She had spent the whole day trying to put off Caleb in her mind because she kept thinking of him.

"How dare she tell me what to do ,huh,who does she think she is?" , Spend less time with Caleb she said , as if it was that easy, Julianna thought to herself. Caleb was a part of her," he was her lifeline , you can't possibly do without your lifeline as a human can you ?", he occupied so much space in her life .She had agreed to Sienna's request at the time without much thought to it at the time,but now that she was actively avoiding him,she realized how much she missed him and wanted to talk to him badly. The texts, the playful jabs they made at each other,the way he always made her feels included in whatever was happening , it was all gone and she hated it. Still she wouldn't be the first one to break.

A knock on the door jolted her out of her mind, "miss, the chef prepared some snacks for you,would you like me to bring it up to the room for you ?" ."No, I'm not hungry, do whatever you'd like with it", Julianna replied to the maid who was at her door. "Well,alright miss, I'd get going now". Everywhere became silent once again.

The next day at school Dahlia and Noah had noticed Julianna's attitude towards Caleb.Dahlia was the first to speak up between the two"what's up baby , what's with the attitude towards Caleb?", "whatever he did to you I think he's feeling remorse for it ,cause he's been looking down since " seconded Noah.

Julianna smiled and said "I'm not giving him an attitude, I have no idea why he's like that".

In Caleb's class , Cassian and Savannah had also noticed the tension between Julianna and Caleb,"dude,what happened between you and Julianna, I noticed you guys haven't been talking for a while now", Caleb said ,"yeah, me too, did you guys have a fight or something " Savannah added.

"No we didn't have a fight, nothing happened" Caleb replied.

During lunch, Sienna couldn't bear the attitude towards her from Caleb, he had been straight up zoning out , constantly staring at his phone like he was waiting for a call or text from someone, or gazing outside like someone he was expecting would walk in . She had not expected that Julianna would go this far with what she had requested from her, this was draining her and driving her crazy.

"...Caleb....baby, actually I have something to tell you..about ...Julianna ", she said to Caleb.

He turned towards her looking confused, wondering what was going on between Sienna and Julianna ? .

"Are you the one that is behind why Julianna is avoiding me ?" he asked his eyebrows raised, "Answer my question, Sienna ". Are you? Caleb asked again his voice starting to rise.

"Actually, I only asked her to reduce the time she spent with you because you guys were to close and I just wanted to spend more time with you without her being there with us", Sienna replied , without making eye contact with Caleb as she felt his gaze on her.

"You decided my relationship with Julianna for me , how dare you , Sienna?",shouted Caleb.

"I didn't ask her to take it this far,I...only wanted you guys to reduce the time you spent together, she did this on purpose to make me look bad here", Sienna said anger surging within her towards Julianna.

"Don't you have any shame , Sienna. You're even blaming her for something that is your fault", Caleb replied getting more angrier at Sienna.

"You and me , Sienna . We are done." Caleb said storming of in search of Julianna.

"No, Caleb,wait ...please"Sienna shouted hurriedly gathering her things to run after him.

Caleb walked straight to Julianna's class but before getting there he saw her talking to some of her classmates outside the classroom. He reached there and held her hand, "we need to talk,lian" he said , storming off with her.

Julianna was with her classmates outside the classroom discussing about the assignments their teacher had giving them, when she saw Caleb coming towards her looking very angry, has he finally found out about Sienna's request?, but before she could ask he took her hand and dragged her to a quiet section of the hallway.

He ran a hand through his hair, pacing around her .

She said nothing, just gazing at him.

Before he started speaking.

"Tell me Julianna, why have you been avoiding me ?".

"I haven't been avoiding you Caleb ".

"Don't lie to me Julianna,is it because of Sienna , because of her absurd request ?".

"No, Caleb, Sienna did no such thing ".

"Don't try to cover for her, she told me everything already even accusing you that you, did this on purpose.".

"Cale.... actually she did ask me to stop being around you all the time and I think she is right , because after all I'm just your best friend, while she is your girlfriend".

"Don't even go there Julianna , you are my life , how could you think of abandoning me knowing how much it would hurt me".

"Caleb, I....".

"Don't say anything Julianna , don't ever let an outsider decide or define our relationship okay?, because no matter what no one can replace you Julianna, absolutely no one".

That was all she needed to hear.

Before either of them could think twice,she stepped forward , wrapping her arms around him. He hugged her back, tight and secure, as if reassuring himself that she was still there.

For a moment, it was just the two of them no Sienna, no expectations , just the weight of their bond .

Meanwhile, standing a short distance away, Sienna watched them,her heart sinking.She had already lost.