SATURDAYS WERE AMAZING at Caldwell. It was so quiet even though it was almost half past ten in the morning. Most students eligible have already left the school premise, trying to get as far away as possible and pretending to be normal if only for a day.
Because of my on going detention, I'm not allowed to leave the school grounds at all.
I only have trainings on school days but I woke up early this morning, because the universe hates me like that, so I decided to go swimming anyway. I had spent last weekend here which was different but nice. Vera and Penelope stayed too and we spent most of our days together as the three musketeers.
Adjusting my bag on my shoulder, I climb the last step just as Luke walks out of his dorm room further down the hall. He smiles at me softly and with the morning light streaking through the large window behind him, he looked like an angel.
"Good morning." He beams brightly as I return the smile and take my keys out for my door.
"Hey." I greet as I unlock my dorm key and push open the door. Chase wasn't in there thankfully and I place my bag onto my chair. I turn around and leave instantly, locking the door behind me as I turn to face Luke who was now waiting outside.
We had made plans yesterday to get breakfast together this morning. We make small talk on our way to the dining hall which was only slightly crowded when we pushed through the double doors. We score a table by a window, overlooking the lake outside.
The dining hall always made me happy. It was basically my home away from home. As a treat for those who stay at school for the weekend, they serve pancakes, bacon and eggs for breakfast and I ordered a serving for two.
Of course they were both for me. Luke order boring oatmeal.
"I like a girl who can eat." Luke remarks as I glance up at him, from cheeks full of pancakes and my lips most definitely covered in bacon grease.
I smile awkwardly with my mouth still full, "Ha."
I then glance down and quickly swallow, my cheeks a burning red. Once I finally managed to swallow the unnecessarily large bit of pancake I had hostage in my mouth, I take a sip of my orange juice and wipe my mouth.
"I want to do this again." Luke hums as he places his spoon in his now empty bowl and leans back in his chair.
I nod with a bright smile, "They're serving french toast and nutella tomorrow which I'm super excited for-"
"Not here." Luke chuckles at my ignorance, "I mean, I want to take you out, Hayden."
I pause and gawk at him. Then, "Like on a date?"
"Of course on a date." Luke chuckles at me, "Seriously, how cute can you possibly be?"
Cue the blush again.
"I-uh-um..." I trail off as I wring my hands together, "Sure."
"Really?" Luke beams adorably, surprised that I actually agreed.
I nod more confidently, "Yeah."
I was smiling as I headed over to Vera's after I finished breakfast with Luke. As in brightly smiling like a damn giggly middle-schooler who just realized her crush liked her back. Not that Luke is my crush.
I mean, he's really cute and looks amazing in speedos. He always brings me hot chocolates after early morning training and sends me texts at nights to remind me to turn on my alarm because I'm fucking forgetful. I enjoy hanging out with him a lot and he makes me laugh and blush.
Okay, so maybe I do have a little crush on him.
I say hi to a few girls I know from my Calculus class as I scale the stair. I walk all the way down the hall to Vera's dorm. Her dorm is right ton the corner of Arlington and her parents apparently paid for the largest room in the hall.
People with money are actually terrifying.
I knock twice before opening the door and stroll into large room. Vera's roommate Olivia was a sweet but extremely shy girl and I've only met her once because Vera says I scare her. I don't know why; I'm fucking delightful.
Penn was already in there, sitting at Vera's desk and I collapse at the foot of Vera's bed. Both of them glance at me weirdly before glancing at each other.
"What happened?" Penn questions suspiciously as she leans on the foot board of the bed and rests her chin on her folded arms.
Vera leans closer in too, "Did Chase get seriously injured or something?"
"I wish." I scoff and fold my arms across my chest, "But nothing happened. Why are you guys being so weird?"
"Why are you smiling so much?" Vera questions, still in her satin pajamas as she hugs a pillow close to her chest, "Smiles do not exist before midday."
"Luke kinda just asked me out." I say slowly, glancing back and forth between my two friends like a damn tennis match.
"What do you mean kinda?" Vera pressed further, "Did he asks you out on a date or did he ask you to go fishing?"
I glance at her curiously, "There's a difference?"
"Of course there's a difference! Who the hell goes fucking fishing on a date?" Vera scoffs as Penn tilts her head and glances at me.
She hums, "You guys would have really cute babies."
"You're so right, Penn. Little blonde Hayden's running around looking goddamn adorable and expensive because god forbid they wear anything but Gucci while I'm around." Vera rambles, getting excited of the thought of spoiling my children.
"And our children can all be best friends and hopefully some of them will marry each other and we can throw the best weddings ever!" Penelope carries on in the same enthusiastic tone as Vera.
I roll my eyes and groan, "I'm just going on a date with Luke not having his damn babies."
Vera pouts, "Not even just one."
"No!" I laugh at her, picking up one of her throw pillows and hauling one at her face. It hits her and falls into her lap as a shocked gasp escapes her lips. She realities with throwing a pillow back at me, but it misses and instead hits Penn in the head.
And that's how our twenty minute pillow fight started. Side note, never get into a pillow fight with Penn. She's fucking lethal.
Yet again, my peaceful slumber is interrupted by an unbearable noise. However, instead of my alarm blaring at godawful hours of the morning, it's Chase opening the door to our dorm room.
I roll over, glancing at him through one half opened eye as the light from the hallway floods in behind him. I groan as I slap my hand across my eyes and he silently closes the door behind him with a soft click.
I hear him walk across the room, but it's messy and I can tell he's stumbling. A thud echoes throughout the room followed by a hiss from Chase. Is he seriously fucking drunk right now?
"What happened?" I ask groggily as I hear his mattress bend under his wait.
"Nothing. I'm-" He hisses painfully, "Ah fuck. I'm fine."
I roll over, throwing my legs over the side of my bed and sit up as I flick on the lamp situated on my small bedside table. The room fills with the soft warm glow as I stare across the room at Chase. The light of my lamp was bouncing off a part of his face and I narrow my face to focus more.
Is...is that blood?
He was having trouble sitting on his bed and he was trying to face away from me. I throw my covers off me, feeling the cold air hit my bare legs and I basically leap across the room. I loom over him and reach for his face, frowning with curiosity.
Chase tries to turn away from me again, but I stop him by gently holding his jaw and tilting his
I gasp at the sight, "You don't look fine."
His lip was split, dried blood covering his chin and two large gashes where the skin has split, obviously from a fucking hard punch, on his right cheek bone and just above his left eyebrow. There was so much blood.
"Then stop looking." Chase countered sharply, his eyes cold and hard as they gaze directly into mine. He then reaches up and takes my hands off his face, "I said I'm fine."
I cross my arms, angered by his nonchalance, "Don't give me that bullshit, Everett. You're obviously not fine and your cuts need to be treated before they get infected."
I turn around and head to my wardrobe where an emergency first aid kit my mother made damn sure well I had. I dig for it in the blindly search for it in the faint darkness and my hands wrap around the familiar bag. I pull it into my arms and stand from my knelt position, turning around in the process. Chase was standing now and he frowns at me.
"Seriously, Jones, I don't-"
"Sit down, Everett." I demand and he sighs, but nevertheless he complies.
I pull out a bottle of water from the mini fridge and retrieve my face towel from my toilet bag laid out on the surface of my desk. I take a seat next to Chase and open the first aid kit on the bed beside me. I wet the small towel with the water, clearing the blood from his face. He sat in silence, allowing me to help which I was thankful for.
Then, I grab out the small bottle of rubbing alcohol which I apply to a cotton swab.
"Shit." Chase hisses as I dab the cotton swab on the gash stretched across his very prominent cheekbone.
I scoff and his eyes lock with mine momentarily, "Pussy."
"I thought nurses were suppose to be nice." Chase murmurs amusingly as he hisses again slightly as I continue to clean his wound.
I ignore him and mumble to myself, "What the hell did you do, Everett?"
"Running with fucking unicorns." Chase rolls his eyes as he glances across the room and way from my curious gaze.
"I'll find out eventually. Don't underestimate my ability to find shit out." I explain passionately as Chase side glances at me and chuckles under his breath. I then move up onto my knees so I had better access to the gash above his eyebrow. "I hate to see what the other person looks like."
Chase shrugs, "He's dead."
"What!?" I reel back as I gawk at him in shock.
"I'm kidding." Chase chuckles at my reaction as I grumble and roll my eyes.
"Asshole." I scoff as I playfully push him. He winces at the shove and I instantly pull my hands back, cringing slightly, "Sorry."
It goes silent as I continue to wash his wounds and the blood of his face as well as the trickles that had seeped down his neck. When I was finished, I slowly pull my head back as I stare at him silently.
Even being this close to Chase I could see how beautiful he was. His skin was so soft and perfect even though I don't see him put even an ounce of cleanser or moisturizer on. Every feature of his face had been sculpted to perfection and it angered yet fascinated me at the same time.
Chase was staring back at me and I quickly realized he was frowning, "What?"
Oh shit, there you go making yet another idiot out of yourself, Hayden. Well done. I was staring at him in complete silence and my mouth slightly open, which is something normal people certainly do not do.
I clear my throat as I drop my hands and begin packing up the first aid kid hastily. I zip the small green bag up and hurry across the room to my wardrobe.
"I saw you flirting with Peters." Chase states, seemingly amused at the thought a I turn around after closing my wardrobe door and frown at him.
"Luke?" I question and Chase nods, confirming my question, "I wasn't flirting with him. I was just talking. It's not my fault everything I say is smoother than cream cheese on a bagel."
Chase chuckles as he glances down at his lap and I fold my arms while standing between our beds.
"I don't understand why you hate him so much?" I question, hoping to get at least a tiny bit of information from him because at the moment he's an enigma that his growing by the second.
Chase shakes his head but he doesn't look up at me, "You should just stay away from him."
"Whatever." I scoff as I turn around and throw my covers back, "I don't even know why I asked you in the first pl-"
I hear a loud hiss from behind me and turn so quickly I almost suffered from whiplash. Chase sat on his bed, his shirt halfway over his head and his arms hanging in the air. I would've laughed at the sight if he wasn't in pain.
I sigh as I walk towards him and sit down next to him, grabbing a hold of his shirt, "Let me help, you big idiot."
Slowly and gently, I help remove the shirt from his body. Not in a million years would I think I'd be undressing Chase at almost three in the morning but here I am, living the nightmare.
I pull his shirt over his head and his arms drop to a sigh as a heavy huff escapes his lips. I glance down.His chest was blue, purple and yellow. It was as if a child got access to water color paints and went to fucking town on Chase's torso. No wonder he's so damn sore.
I reach out laboriously, the tips of my fingers brushing across the bruised skin softly. My fingers dance languidly across the expanse of his chest before Chase reaches up and covers my hand with his, stopping any movement.
My breath gets caught in my throat as I glance up, my gaze locking with his. There was so much emotion swirling around his large hazel eyes, a sight that will forever render me speechless. Is he...is he going to kiss me?
Oh hell no.
I slip my hand out of his and jump off his bed as if it had combusted into a burning ball of flames.
"Maybe lay off your weekly punch-ups with whoever the hell you manage to piss off." I advise as I turn around, the tension in the room quickly and most certainly tunring awkward, "You'll need time to heal."
"Thank you, Doctor Jones." Chase breathes heavily as he heaves his legs onto his bed slowly and I make my way back to my own bed.
"I'm going back to sleep and if anything else hurts, wake me. Okay?" I tell him as I sit down on the edge. Chase nods and I give him a blank look, "Okay?"
Chase smirks as he give time a two finger salute, "Yes sir."
I roll my eyes, too tired to retort and I lie back into my bed. I turn my lamp off, the only light source left was Chase's lamp. I roll onto my side and pull my covers over me as my back faces Chase.
And thankfully, a few seconds later his light goes out.