| Amelia |
This is an extremely bad idea.
My feet tapped nervously on the ground of the (completely empty) parking lot of the school as I fiddled with my fingers, still not sure why I had decided to come.
But considering how deadly serious Calvin had seemed on the call yesterday night, I didn't have much of an option. Neither did he leave me a chance to speak further yesterday, cutting the call as abruptly as it had started.
Nevertheless, I couldn't help but feel unsure about the whole ordeal, especially when our last encounter in the nurse's room had ended up rather harshly.
Exhaling deeply, I retrieved my phone from my pocket to look at the time, frowning at how he was already late.
A few more minutes passed before I finally spotted his approaching figure from afar, making me straighten up and put my phone back in my pocket.
He was dressed in a blue t-shirt with light wash denims, but contrary to his outfit, his demeanour was anything but casual. As soon as he was right in front of me, his eyes glanced around cautiously within our surroundings, making sure there was no one to hear what he was going to say.
Before I could question his eerie antics, his gaze focused on my form and he pulled me by my arm, slowly guiding me to the back of the car I was previously leaning against.
"You didn't tell anyone that we were going to meet, did you?"
Shaking my head but still confused, I answered, "No."
"Good," he breathed a sigh of relief before his body relaxed slightly and a stoic expression made itself present on his face. "We need to talk."
Finally detaching my arm from his hold, I backed away. "Yeah you keep saying that..." I hesitated, not sure how to act with him right now, "What happened, Calvin?"
He glanced around once again before fixing his serious gaze on me.
"I have a proposal for you."
A proposal?
The furrowing in my brows increased. "What do you mean?"
"I've noticed ever since I came back that you've gotten pretty close to Noah Carter," he stopped in between and looked at me questioningly, as if he wanted me to reaffirm what he was saying. "Correct?"
I opened my mouth to answer him but closed it back almost instantly, realising I didn't have any answer to his question...not an adequate one, at least.
Noah and I had certainly...seen more of each other ever since school began, but it wasn't pleasant in the least. In fact, virtually all of our encounters had ended up lethally.
"That's...one way of saying it." I consequently spoke out after a few seconds of thought, not wanting to elaborate further.
His brows furrowed in confusion but he chose to leave the topic aside and nodded, seemingly trying to approach the upcoming conversation carefully.
A few moments passed in silence before he spoke.
"Have you heard the rumours?" He suddenly asked, his face tilted to the side as if trying to assess my reaction, get some inside look into what I was thinking.
I blinked twice. "The rumours...?"
"About him. About Noah Carter."
Of course, I'd heard the rumours about Noah.
Even before we began fighting with each other this year, the stories people weaved about him were rampant throughout school; the violence, the crimes, the gang... things that might have been completely false, but they didn't stop the students from fearing - and admiring - him.
And up until the day of the party, I had never chosen to believe them.
Shaking my head of those thoughts, I looked up at Calvin and nodded my head, letting him know I knew what he was talking about.
His response came almost immediately.
"They're true."
My eyes widened. Not at the reaffirmation that the stories about Noah were, in fact, true, but at the knowledge that Calvin seemed to know about them.
Was he aware about Noah and the gang? Was this how they were connected, and why Noah was so worked up about Calvin's arrival?
But Calvin mistook my shock as a reaction to his statement, thus encouraging him to continue. "They're all true. He's...he's ruthless, part of that godforsaken gang since years. Hell, he's practically the leader."
His expression was deadly serious as he watched me take the information in, rationally assuming I didn't already know it.
Assuming I wasn't going to speak for a while, he continued. "He's dangerous, Amelia, and he's done a lot of things...bad things. That's why I need your help."
My brows furrowed as I looked at him dumbfounded. "What do you need my help with?"
At that question, he seemed to hesitate, and I knew then that it couldn't be anything decidedly easy or pleasant. A few moments passed in silence before he ultimately rushed out,
"Spy on him for me."
"What?" I asked in shock as a reflex, taken aback by his words.
Spy on him? What did that even mean?
But Calvin instantly widened his eyes, alarmed at my loud voice and at the prospect that someone could've heard it.
His eyes hurriedly traveled back and forth to analyse our surroundings for sign of life, making sure no one had heard, before landing back on me. The look in his eyes clearly signalled for me to speak lowly.
"What?" I thus repeated, whispering this time.
He brushed his hair back with his hand, letting out an exasperated breath. "Look, I know it's a lot to ask-"
"You just told me all about how dangerous and ruthless he is and now you want me to spy on him?"
"I'm not telling you to invade his privacy or anything, just- just keep tabs on him, that's all."
"But why?" I asked, still in disbelief over what he was asking. "Why do you want me to do that? Why can't you just stay away from him?"
He sighed frustratedly. "Because I have something that he wants...desperately. He'll do anything to get it."
I opened my mouth, ready with a question, but he cut me off instead, already anticipating it. "I can't tell you what it is, but it's just important, okay?"
My lips closed up again, trying to process everything and make some sense of this mess.
Spying on Noah? That seemed...dangerous. Dangerous and stupid. He already didn't like me at all; I couldn't imagine what he would do if he found out I was secretly keeping tabs on him all this time - that too, for Calvin, his sworn enemy.
But that wasn't the thing that held me back the most.
The truth was, I had made a promise. No matter how much he managed to stagger my breath during our terrifying encounters, I had promised him that I would keep his secret...that I wouldn't cross him. And doing this would mean directly violating that.
Hence, I made the choice. "No."
My eyes lifted to meet Calvin's pleading ones, and even though he had caused me so much pain in the past, I couldn't help but feel sad about my refusal. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that, Calvin."
I gave him a weak, almost apologetic smile before finally turning around and preparing to leave.
I had never thought I'd have some sort of allegiance towards Noah Carter of all people, but that's what it was. And I definitely did not know how I felt about that.
"Aren't you even a little bit curious?"
Calvin's voice, now suddenly determined, came from the back, calling onto me.
I turned around.
"Don't you want to know what he's hiding?" He asked almost slyly as he walked closer toward me till we were once again standing before each other, "His secrets?"
My breath hitched, knowing that he was referring to precisely everything I wanted to know from the start: the plan, the mysterious person Noah kept referring to, the past.
But that twisted loyalty I had seemed to garner for him unwillingly bit back at my brain, refusing his proposal once again.
"No," I answered firmly, backing away from him for once and for all, "I don't, Calvin. And I'm not going to discuss this topic any further."
—
"Hey," I asked Zoey as we approached our lockers, "Which class do we have right now?"
"Chemistry," she answered, putting her code in. "Did you finish the assignment Ms. Anderson gave us last week?" She then asked me as we retrieved our stuff from our lockers, our class almost about to start.
I nodded. "Yeah, it's due today."
"It is?"
Her eyes widened as she frantically skimmed through her calendar, a frustrated sigh leaving her lips as she realised the date was right there, yet she had somehow missed it.
"It's literally written here...I, I don't know how I missed it-"
"Hey, it's fine," I placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. "I'll help you with it, there's still time."
"No, I know, but-" her speech faltered as she placed her forehead on the metal locker tiredly, "I just- I don't know what's up with me."
A sad smile made its way onto my face, knowing she hadn't exactly been at her best today because of what had been revealed last night. Even I hadn't yet taken the information in, there was no way she could have.
"Why don't you take a day for yourself today?" I hence suggested, "You deserve it, Zoey."
A few moments passed in silence.
"His friends teased me today, you know." She suddenly said in a low tone, raising her eyes to look at me. "They said...they said all these things, things which were so untrue, Amelia, I-"
Her breath hitched in between, forcing her to stop speaking.
I immediately engulfed her in a hug as the bell rang around us, signalling the start of class. Whispering reassuring words in her ear, I tightened my grip around her.
She sniffled into my shoulder, holding onto me as of not wanting to face the crowd surfacing in the hallway. "People are talking all around me. They're saying these gruesome, horrible things."
As much as I hated it, I knew exactly what she was referring to. Ever since the bet, certain people in our school had decided to take advantage of Zoey's plight, spreading rumours about how she had 'slept with Chase on the first date' and how she had 'thrown herself at him.'
Absolutely ridiculous things which anyone could tell were false, yet some people chose to believe them.
"Shh." I rubbed her back, internally hurting at the anguish she was feeling and trying to pacify her as much as I could. "Don't listen to them. You know that stuff isn't true."
She nodded slowly as we continued to hug, ignoring the low murmurs surrounding us.
Just then, my eyes caught sight of someone approaching us hurriedly - none other than Chase Foxx.
His eyes held a confused yet concerned look as he walked in the direction of our lockers, his gaze fixed on Zoey's disoriented figure.
Her back was facing him. Before he could reach us, I signalled for him to leave immediately, trying to put on the best scary face I could. There was no way he could talk to Zoey right now, or ever - considering what he had done. At least not while she was like this...it would only make things worse.
He stopped in his tracks but continued to eye Zoey worriedly, fidgeting in his spot, as if not able to restrain himself from reaching her.
"Leave." I mouthed firmly as he stood a few feet away from Zoey's back, once again attempting my best warning expression.
His eyes hardened at the edges. "Let me talk to her." He mouthed back, seemingly determined to worsen Zoey's already bad day.
"No." I answered back firmly before breaking away from the hug and turning Zoey around, guiding both of us away from the hallway.
-
Hey there,
Thank you so much for reading the chapter, it means the world to me. This book is already at 700 reads, and that is much more than I could've imagined. So, thank you!
Do let me know what you think of the story so far. Do you feel bad for Zoey? More importantly, does Chase deserve a chance to explain? Do you think Amelia should've taken Calvin up on his proposal?
I would love to know your thoughts.
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Until next time,
Kiara❤️