When All is Null and Void

Chapter Thirty-One

"So what's that?" Danielle pointed at Caleb's ring as it caught the light.

"Oh," Caleb dropped his hand to his lap. "It's nothing."

"Secrets don't make friends," she teased. Her guarded expression fell away as she smiled.

"Well it's a good thing we're only acquaintances at this point, isn't it? Because friends make secrets."

"But seriously," she said, deadpanning. The hint of a smile still painted the edges of her lips. "Are you secretly engaged? I'll keep your secret if you are."

Caleb grimaced. "Well, guys don't normally get the ring in an engagement, so that's ruled out." The next words sort of fell out of Caleb's mouth in a haphazard mumble. "It's a—a purity ring."

Danielle nodded. "A what?" The bare smile turned mocking.

"A purity ring," Caleb repeated. His fake purity ring deserved more respect that Danielle's playful eyes provided. "Guys can have them."

A press of air from Danielle's nose soon turned into a real laugh, the kind that turned heads with its crackling energy. "Guys don't tend to have them, Caleb. Not unless you're the Jonas Brothers, and we knowthey didn't stay pure."

"Well I do," Caleb protested. He took a deliberative sip of his latte, only to remember it was empty. "Who are the Jonas Brothers?"

"What?" she nearly shrieked.

All thoughts of previous interrogation fell aside as, for the next hour, Danielle forced Caleb to listen to a myriad of Disney Channel artists he'd never heard of.

Caleb had spent almost every afternoon with Danielle over the last month. All thought of Rhea James aside, Danielle and Caleb just...clicked. They realized a shared love of cheesy RomComs and loved cringing at the rough plotlines. They'd already binged a few television series—namely crime dramas with husky voiced female cops or revenge stories. Caleb had seen none of these shows, even the most popular of them. Danielle found it irksome that Caleb could call the villain from the beginning. What Caleb didn't tell Danielle was Alexander had been feeding him spoilers.

At first Alexander had been leery of their friendship, and he often reminded Caleb to be careful. When Caleb finally explained to his mentor that Rhea had requested Caleb observe Danielle to make sure shewas okay, Alexander merely bit his lip and sighed.

Caleb shut off the water and, after shaking his hair of excess water, got out and dried off. Once dressed in a pair of running shorts and a t-shirt, he rubbed his eyes. Ever since the ring had decided to leech off him, eczema had sprouted on that tender skin. The rash would disappear for a time, only to return a day later. "I didn't know you were so vain," Alexander joked after Caleb's lamentation of looking like a crusty old man.

By 4:55, Caleb was padding down the stairs. The aromatic waft of garlic and onion simmering with a curry sauce earned a rumble from Caleb's gut. This was the smell of movie nights, a tradition Danielle and Caleb had instated after their first bowl of Alexander's recipe.

The heat plumed through the house as rain pounded on the roof above. The scent of dinner and the soft, jazzy timbre of a woman's voice sent an odd ache through Caleb's chest, a melancholy thick and heady mingling with an insurmountable peace. Sometimes Caleb wondered if this were all a dream, the good parts, and that Alexander was his dad. The thought was a secret, guilty one Caleb shoved to a dark space. His parents might have disappeared, but Caleb wouldn't betray them.

"Smells good!" Caleb said over the music Alexander was swaying to.

"Looking sharp," Alexander said over his shoulder. Caleb struck a model pose with a roguish grin. "Your head is far too big, though. I have a needle in the drawer to pop it." Alexander lifted the chef's knife in his hand, a question in his eyes.