Set him up on a date

“Why don’t you… set me up on a date? I’ve always had a crush on your hot friend Becky. Get her to go on a date with me, and I’ll give your journal back.”

“Like she would ever go out with a creep like you.”

“Listen, how bad do you want this back?”

Anna fumed. She hated that he had the kind of power to manipulate her like this. And now she would have to have an awkward conversation with her friend trying to make her go out with her brother? No! Absolutely not? How could she? However… on the other hand, what other choice did she have?

“Fine,” she scowled, “put it back on my desk and I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

“Uh-uh. I keep the journal until the date is over. *Then* I give it back.”

“What?”

“If I gave it back to you now, I wouldn’t have any leverage. You wouldn’t have any incentive to follow through with what you promised to do. Then you could just burn the journal or something to destroy the evidence, so if I told anyone, it would seem like I’m the pervert for making things up about you.”

Aside from everything else, was he implying she was a pervert now? He did not know anything! It was beautiful, and natural, and… and… all the things Veronica said in class, like… how could she make anyone else understand? She guessed from the outside, she would seem like a pervert.

Deflated by his words, she scowled, “You blackmailing little shit!”

“Hey,” he smirked, “I don’t care what I am, as long as I get what I want.”

“Ugh! FINE! Keep the journal. But I want it back the minute you get home!”

Caleb flashed his teeth in a wicked smile.

“Then it’s a date.”

He walked out of the room, humming to himself, carrying the journal and papers in his hand. On his way out, he passive aggressively left the door open. Anna swore, then quickly scampered to the door and shut it. She found her nightshirt on the floor and put it on. She would not have anything like that happen again. She climbed back into bed, now genuinely exhausted, and fell into a troubled sleep.