Crossroads

11 | Spongebob Squarepants

E L E V E N

~I have been many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go~

a d e l i n

We're shoulder to shoulder, overlooking the vast and manicured grounds.

I wordlessly watch the students below us, some laying on the grass with their eyes closed while others sat in groups laughing along their friends, giving him the time and space he needs.

Caleb finally breaks the silence.

"I'm sorry." Are the first words out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry that I judged you, that I assumed the worst based on the whispers I'd heard. That isn't an excuse. I know what it's like to be talked about behind backs and yet I still did the very thing I despise most." His tone is angry and all that fierce anger is directed at himself.

"I was wrong, pardonne-moi (forgive me)." He has more to say, I can tell by the conflict that passes his face but he decides against speaking and turns to look at me with hopeful brown eyes.

I meet those brilliant eyes, noting the abstract strokes of gold on them.

"Say something." Caleb murmurs which makes my gaze go down, to his pink kissable lips.

I really need to stop describing those lips as kissable.

"I appreciate this Caleb and I can't really blame you, can I? Being born into the Alderige family comes with an attached clause of attention. The whispers never end."

"I hate it."

Caleb watches me with soft eyes "Beautiful things don't ask for attention." the whispered words warm something very cold inside me, even as I give him a deprecating smile "But they still thrive off it."

"And is that so bad, Miss Alderige? To have the attention of countless people, all of them looking up to you?" He asks, inquisitive for an answer he leans towards me a little, arms still proped on the railing.

I don't look away from his scrutinising gaze "It is when that attention is rooted from hate instead of love, when they only look down on you. Never up."

He inhales, lips twitching but there's sadness in the smile he gives me, that is when I realise just how full of contradictions this man is.

Beautifully masculine, sophisticatedly wild and melancholically happy, Caleb Carter might as well be a living breathing paradox.

And I find myself unexplainably drawn to him.

He swallows before speaking "I moved here because of my mother." he turns back to the grounds "she has brain tumour." I'm robbed of speech at the sudden confession, at the vulnerability he's letting me glimpse.

My mind buzzes with the information he's just given me. I don't think twice when I move my hand and cover his, giving it a comforting squeeze to which he responds by giving me a small smile.

"She wanted to come back here, to the town she'd grown up in to escape the cage my father had trapped her in." He clenches his jaw, the vein climbing up his neck popping at the action.

"She wanted to leave the always buzzing city to come back to this quiet town. She thinks she's dying, deeming returning here her last wish. I refuse to believe so and try to do everything for her happiness and naturally agreed."

Raw, unfiltered emotion seeps into his words "I want to help her Adelin, I really do, but I don't know how. I feel fucking powerless." My heart clenches.