Welcome

Caleb was sitting by the window going through some work on his laptop when he heard a noise of a rustling engine outside their house. Usually the members of the family parked in the garage that was located at a different place. So a car in the vicinity caught his attention and thus he looked out of the window to find a bronze Mercedes-Benz parked right outside the gate. 

He looked closely to find none other than his close friend come out of the driver seat. He was a bit shocked to see her. Yes, he was expecting her here, but not so early. It's only been like half a day since his parents dropped the bombshell of the prospective mates situation. And even then he had hoped that Karolyn would perhaps refuse to this. 

He wondered whether or not to go and greet her. On one hand he was her friend so he was sort of happy to see her, but on the hand he didn't want to give off any 'interested' vibes to give his parents the wrong idea. He was still pretty adamant about not going through with it.

He stayed in his room knowing fully well that he would be called any moment now and he was proved right when Brenda (their maid) walked in and asked him, "Young master, the Alpha wants to see you".

"Alright" he responded and motioned her to go ahead. He came downstairs to greet her. She was indeed very cheerful and genuinely happy to see him. Her expression made him feel bad so he could not help but reciprocate the same enthusiasm. 

"Thank you for inviting me over here. It really means a lot to me". She smiled at Caleb then at his parents. 

"It's no big deal. You are always welcome here. If you will be in the city nearby, you might as well stay in a house instead of a hotel". Mrs. Wrisberg shrugged. 

"What brings you here though"? Caleb couldn't help but ask. From the looks of it, it seemed that she had no idea of his parents true intentions.

"Remember I told you about my presentation in the Bridgemont Uni"? She raised one of her eyebrows while Caleb nodded at her. "Well, that's it. I came here for that…" she shrugged "... and I will be staying here for a few days". 

"I see" Caleb nodded awkwardly. Now that he was sure that she had no idea of his parents true intentions he started to feel anxious about his parents behavior. He was sure they would start to force them to be together for a while before they dropped the bombshell on her.

He was proven right when his parents asked him to show her around the town. While she was enthusiastic Caleb told her that he had a rough couple of days and he was a bit tired. "Can we reschedule, I am really not feeling that well today". He glanced at his father who was shooting glares at him which changed into an awkward smile when Karolyn followed his gaze.

"I think it's best if we do. Even I travelled through a long distance today, and I think I can use some rest". She smiled at them. They nodded and asked the maids to show her the guest room for their stay.

At the dinner table she met his brother and they talked about various kinds of stuff. While this seemed pretty normal and not that uncomfortable, Caleb was aware of his parents ulterior motives and was worried that they would ruin the dinner. Fortunately they did not ask any invasive questions and only asked her about her life like any curious person would.

Questions like where she grew up, how we knew each other. What were her interests and pretty much the same. His parents did bring out the subject of sightseeing for the next day (which was basically a date in disguise) once more but this time it was Karolyn who said no. Day after tomorrow, that is on Monday, she was supposed to give her presentation. 

She had some modifications she needed to make and she needed to sleep early so that she could wake up early for her trip to the University. The ride was almost 2hour long so she did not want to take any risks. "That's too bad" Caleb gave her a sad smile while he rejoiced internally. He didn't have anything against her, he just wasn't comfortable with his parents forcing them together. 

~~~~

After two days their schedule went back to normal. The schools reopened and everyone there was surprisingly happy to be back until the teacher started teaching. Sure they missed school, but that just means they missed hanging out with their friends. 

In the school when Caleb ran into Matt, it was a bit awkward between them. Mere hi and hellos were what all was exchanged. In fact after sitting next to each other in 2nd period both of them actively avoided each other.

Even during lunch when their friend Melanie went to sit with them she was shocked to find both the friends sitting away from each other. She wondered whose table she should choose. She decided to sit separately altogether because she had no idea what was going on between them and she did not want to give a false impression of choosing sides. 

As if the lunch wasn't awkward enough, they had soccer practice today. After missing a whole week and with the upcoming tournament coming up they couldn't afford to take breaks. 

For Caleb it was way more awkward than before since the people he was trying to avoid doubled up instantly with the presence of Matt and Ashton there. It did not help the situation that Ashton kept staring at Caleb the whole time, even during Matt's big speech, despite Caleb standing pretty far away from Matt.

If it were any other situation Ashton would get scolded by Matt, but he ignored it this time not to make the situation tenser. Honestly, at this point even the team could tell that something was going on between the three. 

The game somehow wasn't ruined despite the situation and literally everyone was glad that it ended when it did. The match ended by 5pm so Caleb decided to show around Karolyn nearby places including the school. He texted her and was on his way to his car when he spotted none other than Ashton standing right next to the car while leaning on it. 

Caleb stopped in his tracks and wondered how he should handle the situation. Meanwhile the moment Ashton noticed Caleb he straightened himself up and both their eyes met. They stared at each other with unreadable expressions displayed on their face.