Page 54 of Fame & Chaos

Last night, he told me he wanted a relationship, and there he was flirting with not one, but two of the sluttiest girls in school. They were talking and laughing, though I couldn’t hear what they were saying from this far away. One of the girls eventually wandered off while the other stared at Caleb like she wanted to devour him whole.

My stomach churned painfully.

He loved me… at least that’s what he said. And even though I’d turned him down, it didn’t mean I didn’t love him back, because I did. God, I loved him so much it terrified me. That was the whole reason I said we couldn’t be together. He’d seen what love had done to my mum and dad, how it destroyed them both, and I couldn’t let that happen to us.

But I had planned to tell him I loved him too.

I just needed time to convince myself I was making the right decision by staying away from a relationship with him.

Then I watched as Maddie shoved Caleb back against the wall.

A gasp caught in my throat when he smiled at her, and she leaned in to kiss him. My heart dropped straight through my chest, the whole world tilting beneath my feet.

The guy I loved was kissing another girl.

His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer, and tears instantly filled my eyes from the overwhelming betrayal tearing through me. How could he do this to me? He said he loved me, and now he was making out with Maddie Saint Claire? What a lying asshole.

I stood there like a deer caught in headlights as Maddie reached for the zipper on Caleb’s jeans.

My hand flew to my mouth as a sob escaped me. I tried to stop myself from screaming, because I couldn’t watch another second. Turning on my heel, I ran all the way back to Caleb’s house.

No one was home when I arrived, which was perfect because I needed to leave before he came back and made this even harder. I raced to my room and shoved everything I owned into two bags, squeezing in as much as I could while sobbing the entire time. My world was collapsing around me, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t erase the image of Maddie kneeling in front of Caleb from my mind.

I slammed the front door behind me and turned to stare back at the house that had been my home for the last nine months. I was eighteen, so I was legally an adult, but out of courtesy, I figured I’d let Hux know where I was once I worked out where the hell I was even going.

For now, I needed to get away.

I had enough money saved to rent a small flat eventually, but until then, I’d have to sleep in my car.

Hux and Macy had been so good to me, and leaving without saying goodbye broke my heart even more. But Caleb had already shattered it, so I guessed hurting over them only made everything worse.

I hurried to my car, threw my luggage in the back, then climbed inside and drove without any destination in mind. I needed to find a quiet place to look for somewhere to stay.

I had no friends.

Caleb had been my only friend, and he ruined us by giving himself to Maddie. Who knew how long that had been going on behind my back?

I shook my head as I drove, wiping my cheeks with my sleeve. Graduation was coming up, and after all my hard work, I was going to miss it because of him.

I texted him to move on, that I was heading up north, and that he needed to forget about me. He called over and over, but I let it ring out every time. Seeing his face light up my phone hurt in a way I’d never experienced before. Every call felt like another tear ripping through my chest.

I could never forgive him.

I ended up living out of my car for two weeks before I found another job and a flat to rent. I forced myself to move on without Caleb, even though part of me never really did.

I couldn’t believe he’d done that to me. To us.

And for as long as I lived, Caleb McCormack-Slade would stay firmly in my bad books.

Pain devours me as the memory crashes over me all over again. Caleb hurt me more than anyone ever has, yet here I am kissing him like none of it ever happened.

That’s the problem with Caleb…

No matter how badly he burns me, he still pulls me in like a moth to a flame.

I yank away from him abruptly and glare at him while he smiles so brightly it nearly makes my knees weak all over again.

Caleb