Chapter 4 #3
I give him a tight smile, then shoot a dirty look at Talia. “He’s really not, so can we drop it. Please?”
She must hear the desperation in my voice because she sighs and nods. “All right. Consider it dropped. But we will be finishing this conversation in our room later.”
I accept her answer, though I have no plans of doing so, and we continue shuffling through the line. I finish my tray off by grabbing a chocolate pudding pack for later, a bottle of water, and an apple juice before we make our way to the checkout.
“Thanks,” I say with a smile as the cashier hands me back my student ID. I wait for Talia as she runs her card, then I turn to her. “Where do you want to sit?”
“How about over by the windows?”
It sounds like an innocuous suggestion, but it’s far from it.
“That’s where Callum is.”
“Oh, is it now? I hadn’t noticed,” she says, but she’s already moving toward the empty table. The one right next to his.
I grit my teeth, knowing arguing with her will just cause a scene, which is the last thing I want, so I don’t.
I do what I told Callum I was good at—I follow, and I feel eyes on me the entire way.
They don’t leave me as I set my tray down on the table and slide into a chair, hanging my jacket off the back.
The feeling doesn’t go away, not even as I crack open my water bottle and take a long drink, and it keeps going as the conversation at the table behind us gets louder.
“She just wouldn’t stop, man,” says Lewis Carlo, one of Callum’s teammates, and from his tone and the slick grin on his face, I get a sense I won’t like where this conversation is headed.
“I tried to tell her if she didn’t pull off, I would blow my load right down her throat, but no, she was insistent.
She just kept sucking me, and fuck, it was incredible.
Didn’t even last ten more seconds. Hottest fucking nut of my life, dude. ”
A few of the guys laugh, some of them giving him a few pats on the back like he was the one who did all the work. I barely resist rolling my eyes.
“What about you, Kells? Did you get any pussy this weekend? I bet you’re fucking swimming in it, Mr. Overtime Winner.”
I glance over at Talia, who is already looking my way.
She gives me a wobbly smile, and I can tell she feels bad for dragging me over here.
We’ve never outright discussed my little crush on Callum, but since Talia and I have been best friends since middle school, it’s safe to say we practically have ESP.
I don’t have to say how I feel out loud—she knows.
Stop listening, Chloe, I say to myself. Just tune it out.
“Um, no,” he finally says after a few moments of silence.
I exhale heavily, not even realizing I was holding my breath.
“What?!” Lewis exclaims. “Even after that goal you had on Saturday? I thought for sure the puck bunnies would be all over you after that.”
“They probably would have if he had actually come out with us,” a new voice says, and if I remember correctly, this one belongs to Frank Hamm, another teammate. “The fucker bailed again, remember? Or you would if you hadn’t been completely wasted that night.”
Lewis snaps his fingers. “That’s right. It’s all coming back to me. What was your reasoning for ditching us this time?”
“It was my little brother’s birthday, and I promised him a virtual Shrek marathon.”
Nobody says anything, almost like they’re waiting for the punchline, and when it doesn’t come, someone finally speaks.
“What are you doing in my swamp?!”
All the guys laugh, and I have no idea who has just poorly imitated the ogre, but it doesn’t matter.
I can’t stop thinking about Callum’s answer.
He skipped going out with friends to have a movie date with his little brother?
That sounds nothing like the cocky jock I know from class. It’s actually…sweet.
They start quoting more of the movie, and while I find it hilarious—how can you not laugh at Shrek?
—I’m still reeling from learning about this new side of the jock I love to hate.
Admittedly, I don’t know much about him other than what I’ve seen in class, around campus, and on the ice.
We’ve never truly hung out, but I always got the feeling we would have nothing in common.
I’m rethinking that now.
I’m halfway through my lunch when Talia abruptly shoots to her feet. I look up at her, puzzled as she begins stuffing her untouched Oreos and peanut butter into her pocket.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m finishing this in our room.”
“Wait, what? Why?” I say through a bite of yogurt. “I’m not done.”
“I am.” She darts her eyes behind me, and I turn to find none other than the guy who broke her heart strutting up to the table…with a new girl on his arm.
I twist my lips into a sneer. Fucking Shawn.
“Come on, Tally,” I say, “don’t let him ruin your lunch. He’s not worth it.”
She shakes her head, unshed tears shining in her pretty blue eyes. “I know. I just want to go back to the room, though. Please, Chlo?”
Just as I begged her for a reprieve earlier, she’s now asking me for the same. I give it to her.
“All right,” I tell her, pushing to my feet, “let’s go. We can skip our next class if you want.”
Sure, my parents would kill me if they knew I even suggested it, but I try to push the guilt away.
“Holy fuck! That chick is on her rag!”
I pause as the loud voice booms through the mess hall, and one look at Talia tells me everything I need to know—he’s talking about me.
I have no doubt the color of my face matches the stain on the back of my jeans, and even if I tried, I couldn’t move.
I’m rooted to the spot, mortification coursing through every inch of me.
I close my eyes, hoping if I do, I’ll wake up and this will have been just a bad dream, but when I open them again, I’m still standing in the middle of the lunchroom with everyone staring and laughing.
Suddenly, two tattooed arms circle my waist.
“I’ve got you, Clover,” Callum says into my ear. “I’ve got you.”
“I-I-I—” I sputter. “What are you doing?”
But I know what he’s doing. He’s tying a shirt—the very flannel he was just wearing—around my waist.
“Come on,” he says, softly nudging me forward. “Just walk. Ignore them.”
But putting one foot in front of the other is damn hard to do when all you can hear is laughter and all you can see are people pointing and judging you.
Somehow, I do it anyway, hurrying out of the mess hall as fast as I can, not even bothering to look back when Talia marches past me, and I hear the unmistakable sound of someone being slapped and an uttered, “You’re going to pay for that, bitch. ”
I don’t stop for any of it. I just keep going, Callum behind me every step of the way, his hand resting on the small of my back as my heart beats harder than it ever has before. I swear all the blood left in my body is whoosh, whoosh, whooshing in my head and ears.
“Almost there,” he says through the noise as we pick up our pace. “Just keep going.”
We burst through the double doors, and I gasp out a breath for the first time in what seems like forever.
Then I fall. I expect to hit the ground at any moment, but I never do.
Those same arms that tied the shirt around my waist are now wrapped around me as we slide against the wall to the floor, tears now streaming down my face.
When the hell did I start crying?
It doesn’t matter. I just stood up in front of the whole lunchroom with a giant blood stain on my pants, and everyone saw it. How could they not, with how loud Shawn yelled?
“Shh,” Callum whispers. “Try to breathe for me, all right? Breathe.”
His words have the desired effect, calming me enough that I can gulp in another breath. I do it again, over and over until I’m no longer struggling.
“That’s it,” he says. “Give me another one.”
I do, then another. Slowly, I come out of the haze, blinking hard against the bright white lights of the hallway, and the first thing I see is the most gorgeous shade of golden yellow.
“Callum.”
He grins, but it’s not his usual self-assured smile. It’s sweet. Soft, even. And perhaps a little worried.
“Hey, Clover.”
For the first time, I don’t completely hate the silly nickname he’s given me. I might even kind of love it.
Still, I find myself saying, “My name is Chloe.”
He chuckles lightly, and it sounds familiar, like he always does—arrogant.
“Sure it is.” He sweeps a strand of hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear. “Whatever you say, Clover.”
I want to be annoyed. I want to tell him to go away. But none of that happens. I just sit there, staring up at him like he’s not infuriating and I’m not still absolutely humiliated by what just happened.
He lets me. He doesn’t rush me or ask for his shirt back. He simply sits, holding my face in his hands, watching me closely, like he’s afraid I’m going to break.
I have no idea where Talia went. I assume back to our room after she saw me with Callum, but honestly, I’m in no hurry to find her right now. I’m still trying to get my bearings straight.
“Why did you do that?” I ask when I trust myself enough to speak.
He tips his head to the side. “Do what?”
“Come to my rescue. Give me your shirt.” I laugh quietly, the whooshing in my ears finally subsiding. “Ugh, I don’t know. Why are you sitting on the dirty floor with me? Why are you being nice? And why are you looking at me like that?”
As I speak, his smile grows wider, and all it does is piss me off. It shouldn’t, especially given the circumstances, but I can’t help feeling like this is all one big joke and at any moment, he’s going to realize he’s ruining his reputation by doing this.
But he doesn’t say anything. He just keeps grinning.
“What?” I snap.
He shakes his head, still smiling. “You’re cute when you’re annoyed, did you know that?”
“I am not. And I am not annoyed.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Fine. So I’m annoyed. But I just bled all over my pants and the whole damn school saw it.”
“It wasn’t the whole school.”
I glare at him, and he rolls his lips together to keep from laughing.
“Sorry, bad time to get picky with words.” He brushes another hair away, and goose bumps break out over my skin. “Look, who cares if those asshats saw? It’s not a big deal.”
“Yes, it is!” I argue. “How are you not grossed out right now? They were.”
“Because I’m not them, Clover.” He leans closer, and it’s too much, but I can’t seem to make myself move away. “Because I’m pretty sure there is nothing you could do that would gross me out.”
I wrinkle my brows, shaking my head. “What? What do you mean?”
He chuckles. “Come on. Do I really have to spell it out?”
“Yes, because I don’t understand what’s happening here.”
He watches me carefully, like he’s trying to discern if I’m messing with him or not. I’m not. I have no idea what he’s talking about.
Finally, he exhales slowly, then says, “What’s happening is I’m trying to tell you I like you. I have since the first day of school. I’ve tried telling you before, but you wouldn’t listen.”
My jaw drops. This is a dream. I must have fallen asleep at the lunch table. I had to have. That’s the only explanation I have for what I’m hearing.
“You…like me?”
He nods. “Yes.”
“Since the first day of school?”
Another bob of his head. “Yep.”
“But…” I think back to that day. I spent most of the time running around campus, trying to figure out where my classes were because I was so anxious that I forgot the entire route I had mapped out ahead of time.
I don’t recall seeing Callum at all, and I really think I’d remember him. “We didn’t even talk that day.”
“We didn’t have to, Chloe.”
Chloe.
Not Clover. Just Chloe.
I don’t know what it is about hearing him say my name, but it rattles something so deep inside me that I do the craziest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
I kiss Callum Keller.