Rooming with the Bad Boy

Fifteen.

She suddenly burst into a fresh set of tears. “I- I-”

“She walked in on Jacob sleeping with someone else.” Portia spoke up from behind her, stepping forward and wrapping and arm around Nora for comfort. Nora’s hiccupping noises turned louder and her shoulders began to shake more violently.

“What?” I whispered, eyes widening.

“Son of a bitch.” Caleb swore, letting go of me and storming out of the cafeteria.

“I’ll go after him.” Jackson spoke up, fleeing instantly to try and catch up to a disappearing Caleb.

“I’m so sorry Nora.” I put a hand on her shoulder for comfort.

“You know what the worst part is? It was Mindy Allen from graphic design.” She sobbed into the palm of her hands.

I grimaced in sympathy before reaching into my bag and pulling out a packet of tissues. “Here, take these.” I handed the packet over and she blew into three tissues at a time while I looked up at Portia and mouthed ‘who’s Mindy Allen?’

Portia just shrugged before going back to rubbing the sides of Nora’s arms. “It’s okay. She’s a bitch and you’re way better than she is. He downgraded big time.” She assured her.

“But why would he do that? We’ve been dating forever. If he wanted to break up why couldn’t he just talk to me?” She sniffed.

“Because boys are stupid.” I declared firmly.

“Hey!” Harry exclaimed, glaring at me.

I gave him a look that I hoped he comprehended as ‘cut it out’ before turning back to Nora. “Let’s skip classes today. We can stay in and watch movies and eat ice-cream all day long.”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Portia agreed. We both turned to Nora, who had stopped crying for the moment. She was looking between Portia and me with big eyes before nodding and clearing her throat slightly. “Okay.”

I opened my mouth to respond but was cut short when a squealing commotion erupted from the entrance of the cafeteria. A silence fell over the entire place as we all turned around to find Caleb dragging a bloody looking Jacob with him and Jackson trailing awkwardly behind the pair.

Once he reached our table, he shoved Jacob to the floor and scowled. “Do it.”

A faint whimper came from Jacob before he turned around to face a now horrified looking Nora. “I’m so sorry Nora. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for anything to happen and I love-”

“Don’t fucking say it. Or what I just did to you will look like a piece of cake.” Caleb warned.

Jacob’s eyes widened temporarily before he swallowed. “I’m sorry Nora. I didn’t mean to hurt you in any way.”

Nora did nothing but stare down at a pathetic looking Jacob before tears started to well up in her eyes again. She looked away from him and started to blink back the tears that were threatening to spill any second. I was barely able to recognise her voice when she spoke the next words. “Just leave me alone from now on.”

Jacob opened his mouth to respond but Caleb had already grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him up. “You heard the woman. One move out of line – one – and I swear to god you I’ll make you wish that those fucking two minutes you had with that slut never happened.”  He shoved him away and glared as Jacob scurried out of the cafeteria in shame.

“I forgot how tough Caleb could be when he’s angry.” Portia murmured to me under her breath. I nodded slowly in response, suddenly finding this part of Caleb both intriguing and hot.