Chapter Four –
Caleb was trying to taunt me.
He wasn’t doing it straightforwardly; he was still the cold asshole with bi-polar issues whenever we spoke more than two words to each other.
No, this was worse. For the past two weeks, I had memorised the mischievous glint in his eyes as they slightly narrowed and he raised an eyebrow with a smirk. It was from that look that I knew to snap my mouth shut before risking being exposed in front of everyone else.
He still hadn’t found out. That was the only plus side to things. I could tell it was affecting him more than it should have. I would find him glaring at me suspiciously when we’re both alone in the dorm room or after I’d finish a conversation with our circle of friends at the usual cafeteria table when it was breakfast or dinner time.
And that was my exact situation right now. It was our last class for the day; Caleb was sitting on my left while Linda occupied the seat to the right of me; and Jacob was slouched on the chair beside her.
“We can use my dorm room or the library if you don’t want to do it at yours…” Linda trailed off in a soft whisper, before casting a nervous look to the front of the room where our lecturer was in a deep moment with the rest of the class.
“The library sounds like the most practical place. There’d be no distractions and a lot more resources available.” I replied, briefly looking over to the front of the room.
Linda let out a relieved sigh. “Okay, that sounds great. Thank you so much. I really don’t want to trouble you-”
“Ladies. Am I interrupting something?”
Linda’s jaw hung open as she turned to face our lecturer, who had her hand on her hip and was tapping her foot with raised eyebrows. I watched as Linda’s face turned beetroot red before deciding to speak up. “My apologies Professor Stacey. I couldn’t quite grasp the psychology concept of this unit and did not want to interrupt your lecture, so I decided to ask Linda instead.”
“I’m finding it hard to believe that a law student of your success is finding-”
“She’s a fucking human being, not a robot. I’m pretty sure she’s allowed to find something difficult.” Caleb suddenly snapped from beside me.
The majority of the class turned and looked over at Caleb just then – including myself – and found him unaffected by the sudden attention. Instead, he was still glaring at the short lady in the front of the classroom before snapping out of his glare and packing up his laptop.
The buzzer signalling the end of class went off just then, and Caleb shot out of his seat almost immediately; as if he were expecting it. “Come straight back to our room once your done with loser Linda over there. We need to talk.”
I didn’t get a chance to even formulate a reply before Caleb had left the room, and my eyebrows knitted into a frown as I began packing my own things.
“So… uh… Do you want to grab a snack before we go up or are you fine as you are?” Linda asked awkwardly, scratching the side of her upper arm.
I blinked up at her blankly before her words registered in my mind. “Oh! Uh no thank you, I’m good. Do you want anything though? I don’t mind stopping by the cafeteria if you’re hungry.”
Linda shook her head. “I’m okay. Plus if we do get hungry, there’s a vending machine up in the library anyway.” She grinned.
“Hey… do you guys mind if I join you? I do not understand Victimology as well as I hoped I would be…” Jacob trailed off, suddenly appearing beside Linda.
I grimaced guiltily. “We’re kind of focusing on the practical unit of the course today…”
Jacob’s face fell. “Oh. Yeah, that’s okay. I can try and figure it out on my own.”
An idea suddenly came to me. “Caleb’s really good at Victimology! Why don’t you ask him? I’m sure he’d be willing to help a friend.” I smiled.
Jacob chuckled. “That’s something I’d like to see.”
I frowned slightly, before looking over to Linda, who began to explain. “Caleb doesn’t care about anyone but himself when it comes to anything college – actually anything in general. He doesn’t devote or focus his time on anything that doesn’t involve him. So ‘helping’ definitely doesn’t fit in the Caleb criteria.”
My frown increased. If that were the case, why was he so insistent on finding out what I was trying to hide?
“Oh… I wasn’t aware of that. I’m really sorry Jacob. Maybe another time?” I tried.
“Yeah, that would be great! Thank you Ella. I’ll see you guys around.”
Linda and I both waved a good bye before making our own way out of the lecture hall. “I feel bad about Caleb putting the professor on the spot like that… should I go back and apologise?” I asked Linda, biting my lip as the guilt began to settle into my stomach uncomfortably.
Linda shook her head. “No way, she’ll hate you. Plus, Caleb has outbursts all the time! They’re just…”
I waited for her to continue. “Just what?”
“They’re just never about standing up for a person.” Linda finally said, giving me a weird look.
“Hey, don’t look at me. I have no idea what possessed him to stand up for me today. He’s usually an asshole.” I defended, recognising the look immediately.
Linda hummed a reply, but I could tell she wasn’t satisfied with my answer. I chose to ignore it and brought up a different question. “Hey, you seem to know a lot about him… Why is he never eating dinner with us on Monday’s?”
“Oh… I thought he would’ve told you that. His dad makes him eat dinner with his step-mom and step-sister every Monday. He hates it, to say the least; but he prefers that over being shipped back to a private college in England.” Linda explained while pulling the library door open. A gust of warm wind fanned across my face and made me shiver from the sudden temperature chance.
“‘Back’?” I repeated.
“Hmm? Oh yeah, he’s been at a boarding school in England since he was like 13 or something. Not long after his mother passed away. That’s why he’s got the accent I guess. Is this seat good?” Linda suddenly asked, pointing at an individual table with two chairs.
“Perfect.” I murmured, distracted by the newly found information I had learnt about my roommate.
***
“Pay up.” Caleb ordered as soon as I locked the door of our room.
“Excuse me?”
He let out an irritated sigh. “I stood up for you in class. It’s your turn to repay me.”
I gave him an unsure look. “Uh okay… how much do I owe you?” I questioned hesitantly.
“I don’t want your stupid money. I want to know who you were talking about to your stupid friend.” Caleb snapped, his patience wearing out quickly.
I sighed. “I’m not telling you that. Don’t stand up for me next time if that’s what you want in return. I can handle myself.” I told him, before dropping my bag onto my bed and making my way over to the small closet room.
Caleb’s arm suddenly circled around my waist from behind and I let out a startled squeak as my back collided with his solid front torso. I tried to turn around to face him with a furious expression before he made the action happen himself. “What are you doing?” I cried, stiffening from the sudden closeness to him.
“We’re not done talking.” Caleb growled in a low voice.
“Yes, we are.” I responded, glaring up at his tall frame.
I watched as his jawline clenched in anger, before he spoke up again. “I have a right to know.”
I scoffed. “And why is that?”
“Because we share a room.”
I gave him a sceptical look. “In what way is that a valid reason? And plus, you never tell me anything.”
“I don’t need to.”
“Well then neither do I. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take a shower.” I murmured evenly, keeping my gaze firm.
He continued to stare down at me, making an awkward and unsettling silence linger in between us before he abruptly released me from his hold and turned away from me completely.
I stood, momentarily dumbfounded by the sudden lack of warmth surrounding my body before shaking myself out of the hazed state and making my way over to my wardrobe in the small room. Caleb’s intense curiosity towards the topic of my background story was getting harder and harder to ignore; and whether it was a paranoid feeling or not – I knew he was doing everything in his power to try and figure out what I was talking about to Dylan two weeks ago.
But that was the thing; no matter how much digging he did, he wasn’t going to find anything out of the ordinary that the rest of the public didn’t already know about. There were only two people – apart from myself – on this planet who knew the whole truth; as far as I was concerned, Caleb wasn’t able to get into contact with any of them unless he figured out my laptop, phone lock code and Skype password.
I stepped into the shower with the same thoughts running through my mind – somehow even managing to block out the warm water that was streaming down my body and fogging up the entire bathroom in the process. Dylan was the only one Caleb knew that knew what we were talking about the morning he found out, though I highly doubted Dylan would utter a word to my brooding roommate even if he attempted to get answers from my best friend.
I twisted the taps shut as I sighed to myself and reached for the towel hanging on the glass of the shower. I didn’t know why the situation was getting to me so much; Caleb was a harmless tick compared to the bigger issue that I was running away from. I shouldn’t have been overthinking it so much.
It was then that I realised that the clothing I had brought in with me had disappeared.
“What the hell…” I murmured, looking around the steam-filled bathroom in annoyance. I double checked the place I had originally placed my clothes again just before I felt the sudden rush of cold air enter the bathroom.
I turned around and found Caleb leaning on the doorframe – a casual smirk stretching onto his lips just as he dangled my royal blue coloured bra from his forefinger. I felt my facial expression begin to morph into one of rage as my cheeks began to flush pink in embarrassment. “Caleb!” I scowled, gripping the fluffy purple towel closer towards my naked body.
“Say cheese, Ella.” His tone was menacing, and I didn’t have any time to react just as a bright flash temporarily blackened my vision.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” I exclaimed angrily, already beginning to make my way towards him in an attempt to grab the rectangular electronic device from his grasp.
Unfortunately, due to Caleb’s height being much taller than my own; he was easily able to stretch his arm upwards where the phone became completely out of reach. “I’m taller than you.”
“I didn’t notice!” I snapped sarcastically, jumping up in an attempt to grab the phone again.
“Jumping isn’t going to make you any taller; or me any shorter for that matter.” Caleb commented again, looking and sounding amused by the current situation.
“Why the hell do you want a photo of me in a towel in the first place?!” I asked hysterically, giving up on getting the phone.
He shrugged. “More blackmail. I’ll show it to everyone if you don’t tell me what you’re hiding.” The playful tone no longer lingered in his voice. It was replaced with the usual cold tone he used on everyone he spoke to.
I stopped moving completely and just stared up at him. There was no sign of a joke in his expression, and the same glare that I was privileged with experiencing previously had settled back onto his face; showing me just how serious he was about this.
“Fine. Go ahead. Enlarge the photo and make prom posters out of it for all I care. What happens in my life is none of your business unless I want to make it yours.” I kept my gaze steady as I snatched my bra out of his hand before pushing past him and collecting the rest of my clothing which I had found scattered all over my bed.
I turned back around just as Caleb stormed out of our dorm room, slamming the poor wooden door shut behind him.
Growling under my breath in annoyance, I made sure it was locked before going back to the bathroom and slipping into my clothing. I was half way into slipping my leg into my sweatpants when I heard my phone ring throughout the quiet room. I clumsily pulled my other sweat pant leg on just as I ran across the room to make the call. “Hello?” I answered, slightly out of breath.
“Ella? Why do you sound like you just ran a marathon?” Nora’s loud voice sounded through the speaker.
“Sorry, I was… putting my pants on.”
“Right… Anyway the group is going to meet up in an hour for a few drinks and a movie, are you going to come?” She asked.
I opened my mouth to reply but she spoke up again, unconsciously cutting me off. “Hold on, let me rephrase that. We’re all getting together and you have to come.” She insisted.
I smiled slightly at her request before biting my lip. “I don’t know Nora… I’m kind of behind in some of my classes and was planning on catching up on them tonight. Raincheck?” I grimaced, even though she couldn’t see me.
“Come on Ella! Don’t be so boring! It’s college! We may go to a private one, but it’s still a college at the end of the day! You need to drink and have a little fun and accidentally kiss someone while you’re drunk and giggle it off!” Nora stressed through the phone.
“I know, I’m sorry. I promise I’ll share the college experience with you another time. I’m just not up for it tonight…”
I heard her sigh. “You suck. Could you at least tell Caleb to come over? He’s not answering his phone and I don’t know whether it’s on purpose or whether he is actually preoccupied.”
The mention of Caleb got me angry again. “Caleb just stormed out of here about 10 minutes ago. Sorry.”
“You don’t sound too happy with him. What happened?” Nora asked curiously.
I sighed, rubbing my temple with my free hand. “He’s just being his usual difficult self. I’m really sorry about passing tonight. Have fun on my behalf though, okay? I’ll let you go now.”
“I’m sorry about him. It takes him a while to get used to people; especially ones he doesn’t know. I’ve known him since I was like fourteen and he’s still not 100% comfortable around me. Have fun being boring, and remember you suck!” She exclaimed, and I could practically hear the pout through the phone.
I laughed at her logic before we both disconnected the line, and I instantly grabbed a hold of my text books and scattered them across my mattress. Tonight was colder than usual; and while I was accustomed to studying on the floor, the weather made it almost impossible for me to sit without a thick duvet covering half my body while I drowned myself in endless legal jargon for the night.
I had plugged earphones into my ears and zoned out from the world around me as I became engrossed in studying for a few hours. Just when I felt like my brain was about to implode from the amount of words I had read, something small and hard hit me on the head, making me squeak in fright and look up as I rubbed my forehead in pain.
Caleb stood at the foot of my bed with his arms crossed, glaring down at me. “Why aren’t you with the others?”
“Why aren’t you?” I asked, taking the earphones out of my ears and unplugging them from my phone.
“Because I don’t want to fucking be. What’s your excuse?” He snapped.
“What does it look like?” I responded, holding up the text book in my lap before sending an eye roll in his direction.
“You could’ve done that any other night this week. Why did you choose tonight?”
“You know,” I began, re-stacking the text books on my bed, “I liked it better when you didn’t interact with me.”
“I liked it better when you weren’t in my dorm room. Do you see me pointing that out every 5 minutes?” He responded angrily.
“Not outright, no.” I muttered to myself, putting my textbooks away before letting out a tired yawn.
If Caleb heard me, he didn’t bother to reply as he made his way over to his own bed and got comfortable on the surface of his duvet. I began to shiver from the lack of warmth that I had been obtaining from my bed previously and instantly rushed back under the covers once I was done packing my textbooks into their correct order.
“I-Is there h-h-heating in this p-place?” I stuttered, my teeth clattering violently against each other as more cool air made its way underneath my blankets.
Caleb shrugged. “I never needed it, so I don’t know.”
“Oh.” I murmured. “That’s just g-great.” I pulled my legs up and curled into a ball to try and have as much heat circling my body as possible, before unlocking my phone and checking the current temperature. It was 27◦F and my body was not reacting to the sudden plummet in temperature well.
My teeth began to clatter against each other again and I attempted to hold my jaw together tightly to stop it from doing so. “I-I-s there a w-w-window o-open or s-something?”
“No.” Caleb responded flatly. “And can you stop making that noise? You sound like a beaver trying to build a dam.”
“Well s-s-sorry that I’m c-cold and not Mr Toughie like y-y-you.” I chattered, burying myself even deeper into the covers.
Caleb stayed silent for a while, before I heard an irritated sigh come out of his mouth. He muttered something with a clenched jaw before he got up and turned off the dorm lights. “Do you want to sleep?” He asked in the darkness.
“Yes, but I can’t-”
“Yeah, I get it. You’re cold.” He snapped impatiently. Through the dim lighting of the room, I could see him walking over to his bed and pulling off a large piece of material that looked like his own duvet. He began to walk over to my bed before I felt a warm lightweight being placed over my blanket.
“Move over.” He ordered in the darkness.
“I… What are you-”
“Just move over before I change my mind Ella.” He growled in a low tone. I instantly began to shuffle towards the wall, growing even colder as the untouched part of the mattress came into contact with my clothing, before I felt the side of the mattress I had previously been occupying sink down dramatically from a new weight.
Was Caleb sleeping in the same bed as me?! “I… Um, you don’t have to-”
“I wasn’t going to be able to get any sleep with your teeth sounding like a construction site over here. Don’t think I’m doing it for any other reason.” Caleb cut me off harshly, before a bright light coming from his phone illuminated his handsome features.
I frowned at his tone but shook off my anger. “Whatever the reason… thank you…” I trailed off in an awkward murmur, unsure of how to react.
I watched as Caleb’s scowl softened – only slightly – before it turned into a smirk. “Do you like my new home screen?” He asked with a knowing smirk as he turned his phone towards me.
My eyebrows shot up slightly in surprise before I diverted my attention away from his face and to the bright phone before gasping. “Why the hell is that your home screen?!” I exclaimed, growing warmer in the face as I examined my distraught look in the photo as I tightly clutched onto the short towel that barely covered my body.
“I want it to be.” Caleb responded, before locking the phone completely and placing it on the bedside table.
“I’m naked!” I exclaimed.
“Stop over exaggerating.” Caleb scoffed, before turning to his side and getting comfortable.
“I – what? Over exaggerating?! You have me as your wallpaper! What if someone sees-”
“I thought you didn’t care if people saw the photo.” Caleb cut me off.
I glared in the dark, knowing that he wasn’t able to see it. “You didn’t let me finish. What if someone sees it and gets the wrong idea?” I hissed, suddenly growing tired from the conversation. The extra blanket – added onto the fact that Caleb’s body was providing extra warmth – was finally taking its toll on my body and letting exhaustion take over.
“No one touches my phone. They won’t see.” Caleb responded gruffly.
I let out a yawn. “Okay.” I murmured, too tired to argue.
“Are you still cold?” He asked. His voice was softer than it usually was, and as I began drifting off, I noticed his features becoming softer within the dark lighting of the room.
“Just a little.” I mumbled, trying to get comfortable with the limited space I had left in my bed. Caleb’s large frame had taken up the majority of the mattress, leaving me with a tiny section on the edge of the bed.
My eyes began to close on their own accord; but not before I felt him hesitate beside me. Suddenly, two solid arms wrapped themselves around my waist and pulled me into the source of heat that was currently occupying my bed. “Talk of this to anyone, or mention it to me ever again and I will make you regret the day you applied for this college.” His deep voice rumbled into my ear.
“Okay.” I whispered against his chest, before falling into complete unconsciousness.
---
Hello, how are you all?
Holy shit, excuse any mistakes or this chapter in general. I am sleep deprived and wrote half of this in the dark.
Gif on the side is Caleb once again, because I love him haha.
Dedicated to YasmineJ and RanaMaraby for the awesome massage you guys gave me today. Hahaha.
I seriously don’t even know what happens in this chapter, I’m really sorry guys LOL. What did you think of it though?
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