Chapter 55 BANDAGED HANDS AND COLD EYES
~Elara~
"I'll see you tomorrow morning Mrs. Carmen!" I blurt out as fast as I can as I rush down the stairs
to my room. It was nearly midnight, Mrs. Carmen let me out a little early tonight, and I had to grab Calvin’s jacket he'd given me after the club incident. I'd left it in the corner of my room since then, too scared to give it back.
I had to end up talking to him at one point anyways to get the project done, and I knew if I didn't get at least part of it done tonight we'd never get it done before Monday.
I couldn't fail Mr. Silas' class because of Calvin, especially not at such a nice school.
I hesitate on giving him back the jacket when I remember him stealing my jelly, but i shake the intrusive thoughts away and hold the expensive fabric in my arms.
It still smelled of his cologne, and I feel something stir in my stomach when I remember how he'd covered me with it, how he'd saved me from those men yet I still acted rude to him.
A part of me felt bad but it's not like he was a saint, if anything it was the bare minimum to help someone getting touched without permission.
He shot that man, what's stopping him from shooting me too if I don't do something he doesn't like? The thought alone terrified me.
I had no hope he'd be back home by now, and honestly, I wouldn't mind at this point.
My nerves only got worse as I neared the door that got more terrifying the closer I got.
My hands tighten around the jacket as I raise my other hand, quietly knocking on the door. The hallway was empty, and dark which wasn't helping my nerves at all.
There's no response so I knock again, this time more loudly as I start to get scary thoughts in my head from the dark. As much as I was scared of Calvin, I'd rather be in the lit up room than the creepy hallway.
"Please open." I whisper to myself as I knock again, even louder this time. The force made me flinch as the pain reached my cut up hands.
The sound of feet shuffling makes its way to my ears from the other side of the door and I nearly feel my heart pound out of my chest.
The sound gets closer and I feel my fight or flight instinct hit me as I realize this in fact was not a good idea to come to Calvin’s room so late.
Sadly, I had no fight in me so there was only one option left as I quickly turned around, bracing myself to sprint away as the sound of the door opening loudly hits my ear.
" What are you doing?" His deep voice sounds in the quiet hallway and I freeze in my spot, too embarrassed to turn back around and face him.
Gosh, what have I put myself into?
"I..I'm just taking a walk." I say, my heart rate increasing as I push the jacket closer to my body as if it would protect me.
I could still run away, I was facing away from him anyways.
"And you decided to knock on my door?" He says, his voice annoyed. I sigh, shutting my eyes for a moment before opening them again and turning around to face him.
He looked even scarier in the dark, his hair slightly messy and the bright red cut on his face the only thing I could clearly see in the darkness on his face other than his eyes.
"II was just going to give you this back." I stumble out, holding the jacket towards his frame.
I expect Calvin to look down at the jacket but his eyes move over to my hands instead, and that's when I notice his eyes get darker.
A gasp leaves my mouth when his hand grabs my arm, pulling the bandaged hand up to his face as he looks at me.
" What the fuck did you do?" He scowls, and I flinch at the sudden action, trying to pull my hand out of his own. The jacket was on the floor now, and I was trying my best to leave his hold.
"L..let go of me." I whisper out, the force of his grab hurting my arm.
" Answer me and I'll let go." He scowls, loosening his grip as he waits for my answer. I swallow the lump in my throat as I try to find a good way to answer him.
I wanted to just tell him it's none of his business, but that wouldn't go well for me.
" L...Leslie...she just accidentally dropped the tray of glass cups on me and I h..hurt my hands when I was cleaning it up." I mutter, quickly moving farther away from him when he lets go of my arm.
" You picked up the glass with your hands? Are you fucking stupid?" He booms and I furrow my eyebrows together, not expecting the insult.
"S.sorry." I say, pursing my lips together when he looks at me in silence like I'm crazy.
Letting out a breath I pick up the jacket from the floor and hand it over to Calvin who grabs it from my hand, annoyed. He turns around about to leave but I can't control my impulsive thoughts as I grab the sleeve of his hoodie to stop him from moving.
Calvin stops, turning around as he looks down at my fingers around his sleeve. I instantly move my hand away as I look up at him, scared to ask the next question.
"II just...we need to... the project." I nervously stumble out, taking another step back away from him. His eyes carefully watch me as I move away, waiting for him to answer.
" No."
My lips part in shock as I watch him move back into his room and slam the door shut in my face. I stand there alone, sighing as I look at the door in front of me.
How would we ever get the project done at this rate? I check the time on my phone, it was already half past midnight and I had no progress in getting him to do the project.
Taking a deep breath I knock on his door again, and again, and one more time for good luck. It works, because a couple minutes later the door is open again and Calvin is looking at me with the same cold look he'd always had.
" W..we have to get it done." I mumble, playing with my bandaged up fingers nervously. Calvin’s eyes move down to my hands then back up to my face before landing on my eyes.
I couldn't lie, his eye contact could make anyone nervous, and I tried my best to avoid any second of making complete eye contact with him.
"That's not my problem." He utters, watching me carefully as if he wanted a reaction out of me.
Too bad I was too terrified to make any retorts, so all I can do is sigh and turn around as I start to walk away, already accepting the bad grade.
It's quiet for a moment, until his voice
sounds down the hall from his doorframe and I stop in my tracks.
" Fine."