Ch22

NOVA

I blink as Enzo leaves the class, leaving me and Caleb alone. Without wasting any time, I rush to Caleb, my eyes widening as I take in the way he looks.

He has a split lip and his face has a tear. There are a lot of bruises on his face. He groans when he tries to move and stays still. Noah really did hurt him a lot.

What do I do now? I can't report to the school that my brother did this, can I? Fuck this. I bend down and touch Caleb's face. He scowls, pushing my hand away from his face.

"Don't." He mutters.

"You're badly hurt." I say. "You need to see the school nurse or something..."

"Your brother did this to me. Stop acting like you didn't see it." Caleb inhales deeply and he sits up in an upright position.

"Yeah, after you said stuff that made him lose his temper." I say, still standing on it. "That was a shitty thing to say, especially to Noah."

Caleb scoffs. "I didn't lie about anything. I meant everything I said. Fuck!" He groans, shutting his eyes.

"Stay still and I'll call the nurse."

"No!" He says, reaching for my hand but I scoot backwards, out of his touch. He stares at me with a confused look. "I'm not going to hurt you." He tells me softly.

"I don't know that." I mutter. Yeah, I'm correct. Seeing the way he was aggressive with Noah, he's not just the new guy anymore. He's someone I shouldn't be too close to. Besides, I don't know the history between him and my brother. Why does my brother hate him that much.

"I would never hurt you, Nova. I'm not that kind of a guy. I don't put my hands on women." He repeats, leaning against the wall.

I stand up, folding my hands. "What you said about Noah and Enzo... it's not true." I say. "They've been friends for a long time and they're just friends."

Caleb nods. "Yeah. I'm sorry." He replies.

I frown. "So you knew it wasn't true? You were just trying to rage bait Noah? But why? Why was he that mad when he saw us together? What happened between you two?"

Caleb stares at my face and he chuckles, shaking his head. "You are such a curious little thing. Which question do you want an answer to first?"

I raise my head. "All of them?"

"One question at a time." Caleb presses a hand to his waist, breathing deeply for three seconds. I watch his movement, knowing that he's not okay. Is he just trying to kill time with conversation so I'd drop the nurse suggestion?

"Why don't you want to see the nurse?" I blurt out.

Caleb squints his eyes at me. "Do you want me to answer that or do you want me to answer your initial questions?"

My brows arch. I'm finally understanding that he's not going to tell me anything that easily. And he looks stubborn. I'm sure he's not going to see the school nurse as well.

"Okay. Fine. If you won't tell me anything, then you have to promise you'll go see a doctor or something. You look like you're in a lot of pain."

"How are you Noah's sister again?" Caleb tilts his head, studying me.

"Come on," I say, throwing all caution to the wind and walking close to him, with my outstretched hand. He stares at it looking amused, but he takes it and stands to his feet.

"Don't you think Noah will lose his shit if he sees us together again?" He asks as we walk to the door.

I roll my eyes. "I don't care." I say and I mean it. I really don't care about my brother and what he thinks of the people I hang around with. Caleb doesn't look like a bad person.

"So... you play hockey?" I ask once we're out of the classroom.

"Smart one." He answers, nodding. "How'd you figure that out?"

Pretty much because Enzo was mad and said a bunch of words. We're walking down the hallway and we get a few stares, some whispers and a lot of hushed talks.

"We're quite the talk of town, aye?" Caleb smiles, as we keep walking.

"They are not looking at you. They are looking at me." I admit, feeling a pang of guilt. I don't want to drag Caleb into my world. If he hangs around me too much, he might get the same type of treatment I'm getting, who knows?

"Cocky." Caleb smirks, looking around.

"I'm not cocky." I argue.

"Damn straight, you are." He insists.

"I'm not."

"Then why..."

"I did a bad thing." I let his hand go as we reach the double doors. Caleb holds it open like before and I walk out of it. He follows me right behind.

"What did you do?" He asks.

"The recording? You're a hockey player. You should know of the recording that got around."

Caleb looks confused at me. Doesn't he know about it? Didn't he hear the story? I'm sure everybody on the team knows about it.

"The recording?" I say, staring at him.

"Yeah, I didn't hear anything about it."

I scoff. "The one about Enzo and Noah."

"I did hear that something happened. I just didn't know it was a recording leak. So what? You told someone about it or..."

"Worse. I took the recording and my best friend leaked it to school." I say the words, looking away from him as guilt clouds me.

"Dude." He smiles.

"It was horrible." I add.

"I'd say that was badass, even for you."

The way he says it brings a blush to my cheeks and I feel even worse. I press my palms to my face. "Don't encourage me. They hate me because of it now."

"Well they don't know ball." Caleb winks. He checks his pocket and pulls out his phone, swiping it and looking at me. "One minute." He says, turning and walking away from me as he answers a call.

I'm left standing alone, waiting for him. He looks tense. He even looks more tense with the cuts and blood on his face.

"So... does this mean you're picking the first task?"

I jump at the voice, turning to see Bethany.

"Jesus. Bethany... you scared me." I place a hand on my chest.

"Sorry. Claudia told me about you and the new guy. So... does this mean you pick him?" She asks, with a raised brow and a mean girl face.

"What?"