cryptic ⋙ calum hood

23. Cassie

Andrea giggled from across the table, texting Calum as usual. During the past week, they had been texting so much and I wanted to punch them both. Maybe Calum really had decided he was over me, or, he had decided he couldn't wait for me anymore because Parker wouldn't leave me alone. When the brunette girl across from me let out another laugh, showing Samantha her phone, I was ready to bang my head into the table.

I had sent Calum a few more hints on his blog, but he remained clueless. I couldn't decide if I wanted him to discover me or not, but my hints said I did.

'we've got a class together.'

'i've got dark eyes.'

'i've got a picture with flowers in my hair.'

The last one was literally so obvious, because he had taken the photo from me. I knew he wouldn't remember though, and for all I knew, he had thrown it out. He had probably spent the night stalking everyone's facebooks, counting all the girls who matched the description that had pictures with flowers. I needed to get away from Andrea and her squealing. Parker had his arm wrapped tightly around me, and I turned to him slowly.

"I need to use the bathroom," I muttered in his ear. He gave me a small nod before releasing his grip and kissing me quickly.

I wandered down the hallway where Calum and I had first met, when he had gotten his lunch all over me. I wanted to cry because absolutely nothing in my life was going right. I wiped at my face furiously, trying to keep myself calm. My maths teacher was walking down the hallway, right towards me. I gave her a small smile and averted my eyes, hoping to avoid conversation, which was unsuccessful.

"Cassandra, how are you today?" She smiled while narrowing her eyes at me a bit.

"I'm alright, thank you," I gave her a nod.

"Really? I've noticed you've been quite... off lately."

"Really, Ms. G, I'm fine."

"I've noticed you've lost a lot of weight, Cassie. You also had some pretty bad bruises." I looked down at my body. Had I really lost that much weight? I knew I hadn't been eating regularly, because I had entirely lost my appetite, but I didn't think it had become noticeable. "Are things at home okay?" She asked when I stayed silent. I nodded furiously although they hadn't been. My dad hadn't come home for five days and mom stayed locked in her room when she was present, which wasn't often. I had been hurting myself more than once a day, everyday, because I didn't know what else to do. Mrs. Wilson had also stopped showing up this week, and I figured that with my parents falling apart, they gave her some time off. They wouldn't want her to witness the fact that our family actually has flaws. "Cassie?" I realised Ms. G had been talking to me while I was thinking.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you," I smiled sheepishly.

"I was saying that maybe you should go talk to your guidance counselor," she smiled sympathetically and I wanted to wipe it right off of her face.

"Right, I'll think about it. Thanks, Ms. G. I'll see you later," I finally escaped and released a soft sigh. Everyone seemed to be noticing that my sanity was wearing thin, and that's not how it was supposed to be.

The next day, I put extra effort into putting on makeup and making sure I smiled and laughed at everything. That's what everyone wanted, wasn't it? It would make things easier. Parker told me I looked beautiful, and to meet him at his car during lunch.

We had sex. I didn't say no this time. I didn't say anything at all actually, and there was no point. He wouldn't have listened. I felt so emotionless as he moaned my name repeatedly. Afterwards, he talked about how he knew I'd eventually get into it and I wanted to roll my eyes. I slipped my sweater on and Parker stared at me.