Caleb's P.O.V.

As the minutes of the lesson passed, the ceaseless buzzing of the classroom and the unlimited amount of energy the students contained increased, which would be a rare sight if the class was under their teacher’s supervision. The bell rung, and everyone jumped out off their seats. Except me, of course.

Mr. Paige sat his desk, writing out the grades for today's assignment. I just so happened to be in front of his desk when he graded Jess's paper. He marked an 89%. 

"Mr.Paige, can I ask you a question." The teacher shifted his weight in the chair, allowing his red pen to drop on the graded papers.

"Yes, Caleb, what seems to be the problem?"With my hands clasped tightly in front of my stomach, I constantly fiddled with my knuckles, weaving my fingers in and out of each other. "Am I wrong for not accepting my feelings about someone?"

Mr.Paige made a face, walking around his desk to minimize the space between us. He looked at me with his eyes, never averting them in another direction. Damn. What can I say, he looked good.

"It depends on your relationship wit that person. Is this person your friend?"

"No," I stated, kicking invisible dirt.

"Family friend?"

"Not even close."

"Best friend, work pal, a neighborhood friend, a childhood friend, new friends, ex-friend, old friend, a friend with benefits..?" Why did he have to be a friend? I honestly wouldn't mind the last one, but that was not the point of this conversation, now was it? "He's not any of those. He isn't even my friend. I met him in person just a few days ago. I wouldn't call it a relationship if I was being honest with you."

Mr. Paige chuckled to himself a little. "'He'. He must be the guy that you go on about in class every other day.  That ST3LLAR guy. Caleb, I think you should have a healthy relationship with someone who shows respect, honestly, and worth fighting for. Is he worth fighting for? It's all about human interaction."

"Yes. N-no. I don't know. He does not want to be worth fighting for. He's an ass, but his music is just...life." Mr. Paige scoffed ad leaned on his desk. "You teens and your raging hormones."

The announcement speaker on the ceiling dung. "Caleb Jones, please come to the office. Caleb Jones."

"I think you should hurry, or else Ms. Patterson is going to have a little talk with me, but before you go, remember this, are you in love with this person or the music that the person creates the music. 'Luke' or 'ST3LLAR'?" 

                                                                                 ♪♪♪

The office was painted a light shade of green, and it had only one floor-to-ceiling window, which faced the main road. On the brown desk sat a desktop computer, a notebook lying open, and a stack of papers sitting under a turtle-shaped paperweight. In a corner, the air conditioner was blasting at medium, and there was a swivel chair in the middle of the office. A bookshelf, bursting with books was in a corner, with yet another stack of papers under a paperweight that was shaped to look like a tuft of grass. A few pens were lying on the papers, but some had fallen onto the top of the bookshelf.

"Caleb Jones, there is someone here to take you on a voluntary leave." She pointed to a small group of people smiling back at me. There was Alex, Chris, and Maddy. Ms.Patterson made an unflattering noise with her dry lips. "One hour." She shooed us out of her office, and we were on our way. 

"What are you guys doing?" Chris put his hands in his pockets and began to explain the situation. "Maddy wanted to talk to you once he got out of the hospital. Maddy had to go through Alex and then Alex had to go through to me." He seemed chill about the situation. 

"This couldn't wait until after school? I mean, Maddy you're an amazing person, but I do not want unwanted attention. This could have gone a million other ways."

Maddy frowned, putting his hand around my shoulder. "I'm famous, so I can do whatever I want."

"You sound like Luke," I squirmed. 

"Exactly." Alex escorted us to a limo, pushing us all in. Maddy took his place beside me, while Alex sat next to his best friend. 

"What's going on? I don't see any reason for me to be here."

"I'm leaving ST3LLAR after the album gets dropped. I can't do this anymore. I do not want to end up like a washed-out piece of crap. I tried to work with Luke, but he's a control-freak. I don't think Jackson wants to be in the group either."Every word stung only fueling the fire that burned inside of me. Every violent phrase was like gasoline to it, my fists began to clench and my jaw rooted."You can't do that to ST3LLAR, to Luke, to me. You've been dealing with him for a while. You can work it out!"

"I don't want to work it out! I want to leave. I'm better than this. Caleb, I didn't tell you this because I wanted you to be frustrated with me. I told you in person because I wanted you to know before you found out by someone else. Chris told me about your obsession with ST3LLAR. It's weird...in a good way."

His sigh was of a softly deflating; it was as if a tension had lifted yet left her with a melancholy instead of relief. "You should let us go...let ST3LLAR go." 

"Fine, fine. Alright! I'm tired of hearing that bullshit. ST3LLAR is dead." I leaned back, resting my head on the seat. "But, I still have one question."

"What is it?" Maddy questioned.

"This couldn't wait until after school?"