Claimed
352 Words
Elyse
The moment I stepped into school, dozens of eyes locked on me. Some were curious, others envious, and a few downright hostile. My phone buzzed nonstop with notifications: screenshots of me pressing napkins to Caleb’s chest, captions like “Campus heartthrob finally taken?” and “Meet his mystery girlfriend!”
Mia was practically bouncing beside me. “You’re famous! This is huge, Ely. The hottest guy in school, and you—”
“Stop!” I groaned, burying my face in my hands. “It was an accident. How do I even explain this?”
“You don’t,” Mia said simply. “You ride the wave. People would kill to be in your shoes.”
I wanted to argue, but before I could, a hush swept through the hallway. And then he appeared.
Caleb Del Vega.
He was leaning casually against his locker, arms crossed, expression as cold and unreadable as ever. Students gave him space like he was surrounded by an invisible force field. His eyes flicked toward me, and my stomach dropped.
This was it.
He was going to clear everything up. He was going to say it was all just a misunderstanding, and then everyone would go back to ignoring me.
At least, that’s what I thought.
Instead, he walked right up to me.
“Elyseana.” His voice was low, calm, almost bored. But the way the entire hallway collectively sucked in a breath made it feel like he’d just dropped a bomb.
“I…” My throat went dry. “Um, about yesterday—”
“Don’t deny it.”
I blinked. “What?”
He leaned closer, his gaze pinning me in place.
“Just go along with it.”
And before I could even process those words, he did the unthinkable.
He reached out, gently brushed a strand of hair from my face, and said loud enough for everyone to hear:
“See you after class, babe.”
Gasps. Screams. Whispers.
And just like that, Caleb Del Vega—the coldest, most untouchable guy in school—had declared me his girlfriend.
- Writer
