Chapter 7: Stop Talking
941 Words
CALLA
Miles doesn’t let go of me immediately. Even after the nurse wraps my ankle and says it’s just a minor strain, even after I insist I can walk, his hand stays at my waist like I might fall apart without him. It’s familiar and comforting. But dangerous.
“You scared me back there,” he says quietly.
My heart stumbles. “I’m fine. You heard the nurse.”
“I know,” he murmurs, but his grip tightens just slightly, like he needs to feel that I am.
I glance up at him, and that’s my mistake. He is looking at me the way he used to. Soft, like I matter more than anything else in that moment. It pulls me in instantly, as always.
“You shouldn’t be around him,” Miles adds, his tone shifting just enough to break the spell. “I told you, Cal. He is not right.”
My chest tightens. “It wasn’t—” I stop myself because if I finish that sentence, I have to tell the truth that I leaned in first. That for one second, I wanted it. “I don’t have a choice, Miles. You know that.”
“I don’t like it.” Miles presses gently, tilting his head. “He cornered you. If I hadn’t shown up when I did... I don’t even want to think about it.”
The words settle heavy between us. It’s clear he doesn’t trust Ryder. I don’t either but I almost... I don’t know why I was about to kiss him. I swallow nervously. “It just… happened fast.”
“That’s what I mean.” His jaw tightens. “Guys like him don’t think. They act and people get hurt.”
My ankle throbs like it’s agreeing with him. I nod slowly, even though something inside me resists. “Yeah.”
Miles exhales. His hand slides from my waist to my wrist, his thumb brushing lightly over my skin. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.” Then he smiles. “You are my best friend, Cal. I will always want the best for you.”
“I know,” I say. “I will be careful. ”
And just like that, I’m back where I have always been. Close enough to feel him, not close enough to have him.
~~~~~
By the next morning, the rumors about the ice rink have mutated. Students are giving me concerned looks. My stomach twists.
It wasn’t like that, not how everyone thinks. But I don’t say anything.
I just keep moving. Coward.
“Calla!” Brina appears like she has been waiting for me, her expression already perfectly arranged into concern.
“Oh my God, are you okay?” she asks, reaching for my arm. “I heard what happened yesterday and I was literally so worried.”
“I’m fine,” I say automatically.
Her eyes flick down to my ankle. “Are you sure? That must have been so scary.”
I force a small laugh. “It was just a minor fall.”
“Because of him,” she corrects softly, her voice dropping. “I told you he is unstable.”
I start walking again because it’s easier. Agreeing keeps everything normal. Correcting her would mean explaining something I don’t even understand myself.
Brina squeezes my arm. “You need to be careful, Calla. Avoid secluded spaces with him at all costs.”
I glance past her without meaning to, and there he is standing at the far end of the hallway, watching. My chest tightens. I look away first and head to class.
He ends up sitting behind me in class. I feel it in that quiet awareness pressing at my back. I keep my eyes forward and my pen moving, pretending I don’t notice.
“Pierce.”
His voice is low and too close. I don’t turn around.
“How is your ankle?”
I blink, thrown off by the question.
“It’s fine,” I say flatly.
“You sure?”
“I said it’s fine.” The edge in my voice is sharper than necessary.
I hear him shift behind me, like he’s leaning forward. “You are not even going to look at me?”
My grip tightens around my pen. “We are in class.”
“So?”
“So stop talking.”
He goes silent. For a second, I think that’s it. Then... Ping. My phone lights up on my desk. It’s a message from an unknown number. My stomach dips as I open it.
“You know what the funniest part about that rumor is?”
I frown. Another message comes in before I can think.
“They missed the part that actually mattered... where you were about to kiss me...”
My breath catches. Heat floods my face so fast that it’s almost painful and
I nearly drop my phone clumsily.
“Miss Pierce.”
I jerk upright. The teacher is staring at me from the front of the class, unimpressed. “Phone away or I take it.”
“Yes, sorry,” I mumble, fumbling as I shove it into my bag.
My pulse is racing, my face still burning. I don’t need to turn around to know it’s him. Slowly, against my better judgment, I do anyway. Ryder is already looking at me. And when our eyes meet, he smiles. Then he winks.
My stomach flips violently. I snap my head forward, only to meet Miles’ gaze across the room. Suddenly, I feel like I have stepped into something I can’t get out of.
- Writer
