A Twist Of Fate [3]

Chapter 5

He chuckled. 'Okay...do you want me to take a cab home with you to make sure you get there okay?'

'Oh, don't be silly!' Penny cried. 'I'll be fine.'

'Honestly, I can just jump right back in it to come home, I don't mind,' he told her. 'It's pretty dark out now.'

'Cal, thank you, but I'll be okay,' she giggled. 'There is security on campus and as an extra precaution, I have pepper spray.'

He was such a gentleman and I adored him for it.

'I'll come wait down on the street with you until you're in your cab,' he told her, and she caved and finally agreed to it.

After giving me a hug, Penny left and Cal followed her down, leaving me alone with my thoughts again. I picked up my phone and saw a text from Tiffany which had pictures of her and April out partying. I still stayed in touch with Tiff and April but my communication with Millie and Kady had died out. It was a shame. Those girls had been my best friends back when I had moved to my new school in The Falls.

Finally, Cal returned to the apartment and came into the room with a mischievous grin. This was how I knew he was pretty drunk. He was always so giddy.

Taking a seat on the bed, he rested a hand on my lap and squeezed it. 'So, I come with some exciting news.'

'Oh god, you're pregnant!' I joked, evoking a musical laugh from him that made me smile.

'Better than that,' he told me. 'I mean, at first I opposed to it but I realised how much you'd love it so then I decided I'd love it too.'

'Tell me,' I told him, feeling slightly anxious at what this could be. He seemed pretty excited and said it was something good but right now I dreaded receiving any sort of surprise news.

'Spring break is coming up right,' Cal began.

I nodded. 'Yeah, I was thinking we would just head back home to see our families or something.'

'I'd been thinking that too,' he replied. 'But we're not.'

'We're not?' I repeated, curiously. 'So what are we doing?'

'Tori has booked us all some huge house to stay in during spring break,' he told me, a smile on his face. 'It's like an oversized cabin with loads of bedrooms and bathrooms, a hot tub, a swimming pool, tennis courts and a huge lake with like big inflatables and trampolines on the water.'

He waited for my face to break into a smile but I couldn't even force it. My stomach was in knots. 'Wow...that's...' My voice eluded a lack of enthusiasm and it made me feel terrible but I couldn't hide it. 'What do you mean by "booked us all" though?'

'Well...all of us,' he replied, his smile fading as he picked up on my attitude. 'Me, you, Tori, Charlie, Sadie, Felix and Sarah. She also left some slots open for your friends so you can invite four people...if you want to, of course. I'm sorry...I thought you'd be psyched about this; I'm a little confused as to why your face looks like I just told you I'm moving away to fucking Mars or something...'

I closed my eyes softly and ignored my pounding heart as I tried to control myself. The immediate instinct inside of me was to push away the negative display and force on a smile before lying and pretending I was ecstatic for the trip. It had gone too far now. Two weeks away in an isolated cabin with Felix, Cal, Sarah and one big secret? I couldn't do it anymore.

'Bethan?' Cal questioned, and I could hear his annoyance in his tone. 'Why don't you sound happy about this? What's going on with you lately, you've been so withdrawn? Don't start doing this whole distance thing, please.'