Chapter 12

Unlike usual- where I could usually care less about the events to come in a school day, I was in an unbelievably good mood while walking into the school the next morning. My sudden change in mood even creeped Clarice out, she was used to my signature "couldn't give a shit" vibe when it came to my reputation here at Whitewood. It felt oddly refreshing to have a little pep in my step, if I remembered correctly, the last time I walked around like this was years ago. The memories from those days became buried and it was oddly endearing to experience it once again, even if it would only last a couple of hours. Normally, I would be dragging myself into the building, refusing to even acknowledge the every day dealing with people I absolutely couldn't tolerate. Heaven knows that I could only tolerate someone for so long before I eventually snap and Yellowstone finally erupts. 

I will admit that spending that much needed quality time with Felix was a breath of fresh air, it like a ray of sunshine was left behind in my head. At first, I didn't believe that talking about my problems could relieve anything. Besides Laurence, Damien and his family, there hasn't been anyone I could truly trust to talk to about my troubles. Then again, it didn't feel right to burden them with my problems, after all, it was my responsibility to deal with them, no one else's. Somehow, Felix managed to crack the barrier surrounding my mind and got me to open up to him a little bit. Deep down, however, I still hoped to seal those cracks and prevent new ones from forming. 

Our conversation at the parlor even brought up Caleb's shenanigans in the art room the other day, as well as the day before. Behind the scenes, the guys and Sophie have been pushing him to apologize to me, and when he gets the chance, to my brother. According to Felix, it took a whole lot of persuasive convincing to get him to crack and he reluctantly- very reluctantly- agreed to go through with it. Although I couldn't deny the fact that he looked very apprehensive when doing so, it was written all over his face that he wasn't happy about owning up to his brash actions. I honestly couldn't understand how he thought it was okay to do something like that, even if it was a few days ago, I was still sour about it.

Verbally attacking my brother like that was just adding insult to injury, especially when he was already experiencing both physical and emotional pain. He should have just bitten his tongue and allowed me to handle the situation if it happened to escalate. Sure, I had to be careful of what I did, solely for the purpose that we were still on West Shore school property. Mrs. Arthurs would surely and undoubtedly give me an unwelcome earful about how I would be a bad influence if I were to fight Derek once again. I would be a bad influence on her students as well as my own brother, which in itself wasn't going to be something that I would tolerate, no matter how much trouble it landed me in. If I didn't need the principal's reprimanding, I surely wouldn't need Caleb scolding me for something he shouldn't have gotten involved with.  

That day just wasn't a good day for me, I wasn't exactly taking shit from anybody, no matter who they were or what position they held. I didn't care if it was Caleb, Mrs. Arthurs or Derek, none of them would understand my relationship with my brother, nor would they comprehend the lengths I would go to protect and take care of him. 

All of that was out of the way now, it was a new day. 

"What's got you in a good mood?" Clarice asked curiously, nudging my arm. 

"Nothing too serious, just got ice cream with Felix yesterday and talked," I shrugged. 

My friend then nodded with a solemn hum before proceeding to talk about her afternoon yesterday, all while a look of deep annoyance was present on her face. It did indeed sound much more appealing than hanging out with a group of girls from Clarice's STEM club. Clarice then threw shade at them, calling them smart but also idiots for asking if she had a thing with Travis. She was instantaneous in insulting their intelligence for asking a stupid question, although it did intrigue my own curiosity. The guy was very flirtatious, even more so with her than anyone else, maybe that was something she couldn't stand? I did wonder what their history together was like, it was very obvious that Clarice refused to tolerate Travis in general. I couldn't help but wonder why she maintained that mindset. 

"I thought we were friends Clary?" 

Turning around after hearing that voice, I immediately spotted Caleb and Travis, where the latter wore a look of hurt and disappointment after hearing what she said. The look on his face actually struck me, he did indeed look genuinely hurt as if a stake was driven through his heart. 

"You're delusional," she frowned deeply, rolling her eyes. "I'm not your friend."

Without any further words, Clarice spun on her heel and she made her way to what I assumed was our first-period class. Turning back to Travis, I noticed the way he rubbed the back of his neck while trying to grasp what just happened. 

"Why does she hate you so much?" I questioned. 

"We go way back, and it's been an extremely bumpy road. All you need to know right now is that I need Clarice's forgiveness." 

"If you need her forgiveness so badly, stop leaving a bad impression. Flirting with her as you do with other girls is not the way to go," I sighed, deciding not to pry any further. "If anything, flirting with her just makes your relationship worse." 

Travis reluctantly nodded his head and briefly thanked me for the advice before leaving for his own class. He seemed to take it to heart, yet I knew it would be difficult for him to fully grasp how to express his feelings and words genuinely. 

The sound of the bell echoed through the noisy hallways, telling students that it was time for classes to begin. Unfortunately, Caleb and I were going in the same direction and we had no choice but to go to class together. Of course, this didn't mean that we were obligated to talk to each other and I happily disregarded any option of saying anything to him. From the looks of things, it didn't seem that he didn't have anything to say to me either, all he was going to do was stare at my back as I walked in front of him. I guess I couldn't expect anything different from him. 

Before I could even step foot in the door's threshold, a large hand suddenly wrapped around my wrist and roughly yanked me away from the doorway. I barely managed to straighten out my fumbled steps as I was forced into the sprint of my life by Caleb. He was literally dragging me through the semi-empty hallways, catching the attention of the stragglers wandering around in procrastination. Looking towards him in disbelief, I caught a look of severe annoyance on his face. It wasn't until I heard the voice of hell chasing after us where I began to run with him out of relief. 

"What the hell is your plan, genius?" I scowled while trying to keep up with him. "Why did you even grab me?!" 

"Just shut up and run," he hissed, tightening his iron grip around my arm. 

Running from the Bitch of Whitewood proved to be more of a workout than Coach Grundy's CrossFit sessions during practice, and those sessions were not a pleasant workout to go through. No matter how many hallways we ran down or how many turns we took, she would be hot on our heels, calling out for Caleb to stop. It wasn't until today where I realized hos stubborn Jessica was, especially when it came to chasing after the boy who refused to reciprocate her toxic feelings and needs. Watching how desperate Caleb became to get away from her managed to shift my opinion of him, although it was a slight shift. Perhaps he was sensible in terms of knowing what he wanted and needed in a relationship and in a girl. It was obvious that the bitch definitely was nowhere near what he desired. Then again, how would I know? I couldn't stand the guy long enough to learn about his interests. 

Caleb momentarily turned his intense stare back to me and then to Jessica who was still after us. I didn't have enough time to wonder what was going on through his head as he yanked me around another corner. I thought he was going to keep running with me trailing behind him, instead, he pulled me into an open janitor's closet and quickly shut the door behind us. I immediately felt claustrophobic as there was no amount of discernable space between us. With how large his figure was, he was practically squishing me against the wall. I thought he'd realize how close we were and make the effort to press himself into the wall behind him, that definitely wasn't the case. 

"Caleb-"

"Quiet," he slapped his large hand over my mouth, shutting me up as the sound of heels echoed outside the door. 

Both Caleb and I tensed up as we heard the bitch's heels stop right outside the door. I was terrified of the thought of her opening the door and catching Caleb and I in this position. I was even scared to breathe, thinking that she had some psychotic hearing ability. Caleb gave me a warning look, daring me to even think of saying his name again because surely Jessica would hear me. 

"Ms. Summers, get to class," a voice, which I recognized as Mr. Lang, reprimanded. 

"I will not! I need to give this to my boyfriend!" she refused.

I practically facepalmed at her stupidity, everyone knows better than to argue with the school's staff, especially the principal who always had a stick up his ass. 

"Do not make me repeat myself, get to class or I will call your father." 

With the annoying click of her heels, I could've sworn I heard her cursing under her breath. Just when I thought we were in the clear, the door to the closet suddenly swung open, causing me to literally jump into Caleb. Both of us were shocked, I could tell by the way he was unsure of what to do with his arms. 

"You two, class. Now," Mr. Lang warned, giving us a warning look. 

I could only assume that he saw us hide from Jessica when we came down this way. 

"Y-Yes sir," I murmured, avoiding eye contact with him and I jerked away from Caleb and practically sprinted down the hall back to class. 

At this point, I didn't care if I left Caleb behind, I was far too embarrassed to be seen with him for a second longer.