"There are new rumors about me every day."
"Can I ask you a question?"
Cain glanced up from the textbook spread open on the table, his eyebrows drawing in confusion.
"I thought I was the one that need to ask them all." He laughed, "Sure."
"Do you know Callum Baxter?" I asked. He frowned, his eyes darting away from my questioning look.
"I've seen him around I guess. Why?" he almost seemed. . . uncomfortable.
"No reason. I. . . I was just wondering if you knew why he always wears a hoodie." I mumbled, starting to shrug the subject off. It obviously bothered Cain, and the last thing I wanted to do was lose the only friend I had right now.
"No." was the quiet answer I got in response, it didn't sound truthful. I smiled, shrugging nonchalantly and burying my face back in my textbook.
*
"You going for a run?" Cain asked a couple hours later, watching me shove my books into my backpack from the dining room table, tapping his foot against the tile beneath him.
"Why would you think that?" I responded, half joking.
"You told Callum where and when you ran." he observed, "Do you really think that's a good idea, Kasey?"
"I think it's fine. Why are you so worried? I thought you didn't know him." I straightened out, aware of the slight tension in the room.
"I don't." He muttered, "Neither do you."
"Cain-"
"Look, Kase. If you want company when running, I can come with you. I-"
"You run like a deer." I pointed out, throwing a smile his way in hopes of lightening the tension a little. He still looked like he was at a loss for words, his lips opening and closing as he tried to find some way to talk me out of running with Callum.
"Kasey," he finally said, "I just don't feel comfortable with you running with him, alright?"
I dropped my bag on to the couch and turned to him with a pointed look.
"Is it really your concern, Cain?" I snapped.
"If you're my girlfriend it is." He retorted. There it was, the answer I had been waiting for since I'd mentioned Callum earlier this evening.
"I never agreed to be your girlfriend, Cain." I whispered, shouldering my backpack and heading for his front door.
"Kase, don't be pissed." Cain caught my wrist by the door, "I'm sorry. I just don't feel comfortable with you around any guy after what happened, okay? Especially him." The last bit of words left his mouth with a bitterness. It was then, as I tilted my head back to look at him, that I realized I'd been right. He was keeping something from me, he did know more about Callum then he let on.
"He has a reputation." he eventually huffed out, "Not a great one."
"Like you don't." I said right back, crossing my arms over my chest, "And I still hang around you."
"It's different. His reputation is. . . strange, okay?"
"You mean that you believe all the bullshit rumors that were spread about him Freshman year are true?" I clarified, shaking my head as I reached for the knob.
"I don't know. Maybe? Come on, they can't all be bullshit, Kasey. Even you know that deep down." I turned my back to him, hesitating to open the door.
I hadn't payed all that much attention to Callum Freshman year. He had been the quiet outcast off in the distance, the loner who would rather be by himself than approach anyone in the halls.
The guy that had been accused of raping an eighth grader at a party and leaving her out in the cold pool; she had been found barely breathing the next morning.
Nobody knew what really happen. Most speculated that Callum had raped her and beat her until she couldn't move, then left her out in the cold to freeze to death. Some thought one of the jocks, possibly Jordan, had done it and let the blame fall on Callum, the last guy to see her.
I didn't and still don't believe it, and part of the reason was because I had observed the characteristic of them; rapists.
Aiden had showed absolutely no remorse the day after. He still held himself with the same cocky smirk and attitude, the carefree, and happy-go-lucky voice. But there had always been a look in his eyes, distant and empty. It was look I'd seen in Jordan's eyes, in Eric's.
Callum was an ass, had no filter, and was on the peculiar side, and despite the coldness in his eyes, there was no distant or empty look in them. He just looked like a broken record player that had been pushed to his limit far too many times.
"He's not-"
"How do you know? How do you think that poor girl he-" Cain started, the words dying on his tongue when he saw my expression.
"He didn't rape her, Cain." I said quietly, avoiding his eyes, "If you believe he did, then you're a lot more oblivious to the world around us than I thought." I pushed myself on to my tippy-toes and kissed his cheek, gripping my backpack strap.
"I'll see you tomorrow." I pulled his front door open and stepped out on to his porch, all bitterness and hostility releasing out of me with the breath I took of fresh air.
"Kase, be careful, okay?" he sounded so young, so much like the Cain I'd heard fighting with his sister year after year over ridiculous things, that I almost turned around and hugged him, afraid he might break being by himself.
"I will be, Cain. Don't worry."
*
I knew, without a doubt, that Cain was nearby when I reached the park. I could feel it, somewhere in the pit of my stomach, that there were eyes on me, that someone was watching me. Not to mention that I could hear the familiar purr of his Jaguar in the distance.
Most girls would have freaked, thought he was stalking them, and in a way, I felt like he was. But there was another part of me, the one that wasn't sure of Callum's true intentions, that was glad he was here to keep an eye on me.
"Didn't think you'd really show up." a quiet voice broke through my thoughts. I lifted my head to find Callum perched on the park bench, a crooked smile lit by the dim streetlight above us.
"Well, I did." I gestured toward myself.
"I see." He rose to his feet, "How does creepo over there feel about that?" He threw his thumb over his shoulder, smirking. I blushed, shrugging as I glanced over my shoulder in hopes I'd find Cain's headlights. They were no where to be seen.
"You want to get going?" I started jogging in place, offering him a weak smile of my own. He lowered the hoodie, released his mane of curls, then nodded.
"Yeah." he started to run ahead, spinning around with a grin, still running backwards, "Think you can keep up, Blackwell?"
***AN***
Hope you guys enjoyed.
Let me know what you thought!
~ChasingMadness24