Finding Lena | ✔️

Chapter Eleven

"Yes."

There is a moment where I cannot say anything. No words come to mind. But it's not necessarily the adopted part that has left me speechless, it's the fact that his adoptive father has been beating him.

Caleb is being abused.

"You need to tell somebody about this - if you take him to court you'll get a new family, a family that won't hurt you," I ramble, trying so desperately to come up with a solution.

He smiles sadly, and places his hand onto my shoulder. "I can't tell anybody about this. He warned me not to tell, and I won't. Besides, I'm nearly eighteen, which means I can leave in less than two years."

"That's two years of him hurting you, Caleb," I say, eyes pleading with his to rethink, to tell someone about what is really going on in the walls of this huge house.

He shakes his head dismissively. "Who would want to adopt a sixteen year old boy, anyway? I'm nearly seventeen, in less than a month." He sees my unfazed expression, and adds, "I'm going to be all right."

I stay quiet, while he asks in a low voice, crossing his arms and avoiding my heavy gaze. "You...you won't tell anyone, right?"

I want to. More than anything. I want to protect him in the same way he protects me. But I can't lose his trust.

I simply nod, looking away.

He places his hand onto my cheek, sending a jet of warmth up through the rest of my body. "Thank you."

After a long pause, I pull back, letting his hand drop to his side, and motion to the door. "I should go."

"I think that's best," he says, heading to the door with me.

Once he drops me off at home, I fall onto the sofa in a heap of sorrow.

How can I just sit here knowing what is really going on at his house? How can I possibly be expected to do that?

I sit with my head in my hands.

And I cry.

---

Later that night, Jace's jeep pulls up outside. Once he steps through the door, I run to him and squeeze him into a bone-crushing hug.

"Woah, who are you and what have you done with my sister?" he jokes, hugging me back gently.

I pull back, and stare into his eyes. When he sees my damp cheeks, his forehead crinkles in worry. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Thank you, Jace, thank you for protecting me and being so good to me."

He puts his hands up to slow me down. "What happened?"

After spending the rest of my ditch day moping around and contemplating what I'm going to do, I gave a careful consideration to Jace. And how lucky I am to have a parent as good as him. Although he isn't always around because of college, I don't deserve someone as caring as Jace.

Caleb does.

I take a few steps back, wiping my sleeve across my eyes. "I just didn't realise how lucky I am to have you as a brother. So, thank you."

He rubs his hand over my head, ruffling my hair while grinning from ear to ear. "No problem, kiddo."

I hug him once more, then head upstairs, where I crash onto my bed and fall asleep almost immediately.

---

The next day, I quickly climb off the bus, and into the school building, rubbing my hands together.

It's extremely cold today, the misty air biting my cheeks and fingertips.

Once I make it to the biology classroom after collecting my books from my locker, I breathe a sigh of relief.

I had spent the morning getting more paranoid by the second. What if Michael figured out that Caleb ditched yesterday, and beat him? What if, what if, what if...?

But seeing him sitting there is enough to send relieved waves through my body.

When he catches sight of me, he waves his hand, grinning.

I take my seat beside him, and see that he's wearing a thick hoodie again, a black one this time. And I suddenly realise why he's almost always wearing hoodies.

To cover up his scars.

The thought makes me shiver, but I quickly recollect myself when I see him smiling down at me.

"Are you alright?" I hesitantly whisper, dropping my bag onto the floor beneath our desk.

"You want to know if he did anything yesterday when you left, right?"

Sheepishly, I nod.

"No, once I dropped you off, I drove around town for a bit, and when it was time, I went home."

"You could've stayed at mine," I suggest, guilty I didn't ask.

He shrugs. "It's okay."

"It's not okay, Caleb." But before he can respond, Mr Belk walks in and shushes the class, beginning today's lecture.

At the end of the lesson, as the class begins to file out, I notice Caleb not following everyone out of the room.

He's talking to Mr Belk, and I begin to worry - what if he saw us yesterday at the diner, and wants to know why we ditched class? Then why is he only speaking to Caleb?

Mr Belk notices me still standing there, and gives me a stern look that tells me to get to class.

I hurry out the room.

When lunch hour rolls around the corner, I head into the cafeteria, alone.

Suddenly, Caleb is walking beside me, shoulder brushing against mine.

"Hey, Caleb, how's it going?" I ask.

"Great." So his conversation with Belk mustn't have been that bad, then.

Once we head into the food line, I buy my sandwich and drink while Caleb does the same beside me.

"I'm glad I caught you, I need to ask you a favour," he says, eyeing each of the drinks on show and selecting a lemon soda.

"What is it?" I question, raising an eyebrow cautiously, while we stroll to the usual table.

He sits in front of me and takes a bite of his sandwich, replying through a mouthful of chicken and bread. "So, Mr Belk says that to catch up with the curriculum, I need a tutor from the class. He told me to pick someone who is bound to pass the class, and your name just so happens to be on the list."

"You want me to tutor you?" I put together uneasily, considering it carefully.

"Is something wrong?"

If I tutor Caleb, it means that I can find out more about him. But even I know that that's not why I want to do it.

I want to spend more time with him.

I smile softly. "Are you free tomorrow?"