Wrong (6 page)

“He texted me,” she sighed. And then she thought about the other day when he grabbed her wrist and how she’d tried to pull away, but Jayson had continued to grab her.

Elijah’s stare had intensified. “He
texted
you?”

“Please, don’t get mad.”

“I’m not mad. I’m just hungry.”

And then he was walking at a fast pace towards the building where Jayson and his friends had just entered.

Caelyn followed after him, trying to convince him not to go in there. He was moving so quickly that she could hardly keep up without running.

“Elijah, please.”

“I’m just going to grab a quick bite.”

“Don’t make a scene. You’re still on parole.”

“Me? Make a scene?” he laughed as if she was crazy for even suggesting such a thing.

They got inside the building and he hesitated, watching where the other students were going. They filtered downstairs into the cafeteria, and Elijah made his move, blending into the throng. Caelyn went with him, not knowing what else to do.

When they got to the cafeteria, Elijah scanned the room quickly.

Caelyn spotted Jayson almost at the same moment Elijah did, only Elijah was heading towards him so fast that she was again caught off guard.

Jayson was in line, waiting for food behind a few other students. One of his friends was next to him, and they were chatting to one another, oblivious to what was going on around them.

Elijah moved right behind them in line, while Caelyn hung back a few steps, her hands twisting nervously together as sweat broke out on her forehead.

Elijah tapped Jayson on the shoulder, and Jayson turned to see who it was. He was probably expecting to see his other friend, but when he realized it was Elijah, Jayson’s expression changed completely.

He was simultaneously shocked, but also angry. He had his friend with him, and maybe that made him bolder. “What do you want?” Jayson said.

“Just saying hi.”

“Shouldn’t you be in prison or something?”

Elijah grinned at him. “No. I’m off for good behavior. But that could change any second now.”

Jayson’s friend glanced at Elijah uneasily, then back at Jayson. “Who is this dude?” he said softly.

Jayson didn’t look away from Elijah as he answered. “He’s some loser ex-con that’s bothering Caelyn.”

Caelyn met Jayson’s gaze with her own, stepping forward. She wasn’t going to make Jayson think he could like about Elijah. “He’s not bothering me, Jayson. You are.”

“That’s right, Jayson,” Elijah said, folding his arms. “You’re bothering my girl.”

Jayson’s cheeks flamed red. “How about I call the cops and get you hauled off campus right now, you fucking loser?”

His friend fidgeted nervously. “Take it easy, Jay.”

“Yeah, take it easy Jay,” Elijah said, stepping forward and uncrossing his arms.

His shoulders seemed to expand. Even though he was smaller than Jayson, he somehow appeared bigger. It was like an optical illusion.

Jayson was studying Elijah as if he was a foreign species—an alien. Jayson couldn’t seem to understand who this guy was that dared stand up to him. “You have no idea who you’re fucking with, pal,” Jayson said softly. “You don’t know me.”

“Maybe not,” Elijah said. “But here’s the difference between you and me. I’ve already been to jail, and I don’t mind going back.”

“And you will go back,” Jayson said. “You’ll always be a loser, buddy, and I’ll always be a winner.”

Elijah took yet another step toward him, and now the tension in the air was so charged that Caelyn could literally feel it. Something was about to happen—something bad.

“You stay away from Caelyn,” Elijah said, his voice deep and low, like a threatening thunder rumble in the sky.

Jayson’s Adam’s apple bobbed and his lips twitched. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Now turn the fuck back around and pretend you never saw me, bitch.”

They continued staring, like two pit bulls ready to spring at one another. Jayson’s friend grabbed Jayson’s arm. “Come on, Jay, it isn’t worth it. This clown wants to get in trouble.”

Finally, Jayson’s gaze wavered and he looked down at the floor, his shoulders sagging. He glanced once at Caelyn, his expression baleful and wounded, before he turned away from them.

Some of the other students had been watching, and Caelyn was worried that things were going to continue to spiral if she didn’t get Elijah the heck out of there.

“Come on, we have to go,” she said, taking his hand and pulling him toward the stairs.

“I should have crushed him,” Elijah said, following her regretfully.

They went up the stairs and back outside. “Elijah, you can’t handle things this way. You need to stop trying to solve every problem with violence.”

“I don’t solve every problem with violence.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“When my toilet breaks I don’t beat it up, I fix it.” He grinned at her, suddenly back to his old self. He seemed to have let go of the anger, at least momentarily.

“You’re crazy.”

“But you love it.”

I do
, she thought.
God help me, I do love it.

***

When they got to her suite, nobody was there. Caelyn let out a deep sigh of relief, because she had no interest in dealing with more drama after what had already happened in the cafeteria.

Quickly, she grabbed a bag and started filling it with all her clothes and necessities.

Elijah wandered around the common area, checking out the pictures, books, and various knickknacks that were placed around the dorm room.

Then he wandered into Caelyn’s room, leaning against the doorway with a relaxed smile, watching her pack.

“Don’t forget to pack your jammies,” he chuckled.

“I didn’t have them last night and you seemed okay with it,” she replied.

“Good point.”

Just as Caelyn was about to finish up and leave, the doorknob rattled and opened, and Alicia came into the suite. The moment she saw Elijah, her eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here?”

He nodded casually toward Caelyn. “I’m with her.”

Alicia looked over to Caelyn, her lips tightening into a disapproving line. “You shouldn’t have brought him to the dorms. He’s making me uncomfortable.” She brushed past Elijah and confronted Caelyn from a closer distance. “And what was with you just taking off last night?”

“I didn’t just take off. I texted you.”

Suddenly, Alicia’s gaze dropped to the bag on the bed that Caelyn was packing.

“What’s that for? Are you leaving school again?”

“I’m really not going to fight with you about my choices, Alicia.” Caelyn zipped the bag up, although she thought it was going to burst. Finally it closed.

“You can’t just come and go like this,” Alicia told her. “It’s not fair to us. I’m going to report you and ask for a roommate transfer.”

“Do whatever you need to do, Alicia.” She tried to heft the bag on her shoulder, but it was so heavy she nearly dropped it.

In a flash, Elijah had scooped the bag away from her and put the strap over his own shoulder. “Ready?” he said.

“Caelyn, don’t bother contacting me ever again,” Alicia said. Her voice was shrill with anger. “And you’re not welcome back in this room, either. I’ll be letting the school know.”

“If that’s what you need to do,” Caelyn shrugged. And then she and Elijah were leaving.

“He’s going to hurt you again!” Alicia cried out as they left. “He’s no good!

Everybody but you can see that, Caelyn!”

Alicia’s voice echoed through the dorm hallway as Elijah and Caelyn walked down the steps. They didn’t talk for a minute or two, as they left the dorms and walked through the quad.

“I’m so sick of everyone thinking they know how to run my life,” Caelyn said, finally. “Why does Alicia think she can treat me like that? Do I have a target on my back or something?”

“She’s just bitter,” Elijah said. “I’ve met plenty of girls like her. She hates her own life and doesn’t like people who might have something she doesn’t.”

“And what do I have?” Caelyn said.

“Me,” he said, and when she glanced at him, he wasn’t joking. He meant it.

She smiled. “Then it’s all worth it.”

He held onto the bag with one arm and threw his other arm across her shoulders, pulling her against him. “What we have is worth fighting for, Caelyn. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”

***

They got back to the apartment and Caelyn unpacked her things, then took a shower.

When she came out, Elijah was cooking in the kitchen.

He glanced at her and gave a low whistle. “You clean up good.”

She blushed a little. “I’m not dressed up or anything.” She was, in fact, wearing yoga pants and a t-shirt.

“I didn’t say you were dressed up. I don’t care if you’re wearing a t-shirt or some fancy dress, kid.”

“Okay, well…thanks.” She sniffed at the air. “Whatever it is you’re making smells really good.”

“Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy.”

He was moving around the stove with ease, all of his actions composed, not rushing anything. And the food really did smell delicious.

“I should help,” she told him.

“No,” he said, shaking his head as he stirred the potatoes. “You go sit and relax in front of the TV. I want to celebrate that you’re here, and I don’t want you to even lift a finger.”

Caelyn sighed, but inside she was more than happy. She watched him as he worked for another moment or two, then went and sat down on the couch. She turned on the television and started watching Friends reruns on cable.

Between the mouth-watering aromas drifting out of the kitchen and the warmth and contentment she felt at knowing that she was back with Elijah again, Caelyn thought she’d never been happier in her entire life.

Soon, Elijah called out that the food was ready, as he began serving her at the kitchen table.

He sat across from her and they both started eating.

“How is it?” he asked, watching her take the first bites.

“I’ve never had chicken fried steak before,” she said. “It’s amazing.”

“And good for you too,” he winked.

Of course, it wasn’t good for her, she knew that. The gravy alone was probably a thousand calories. But it was comfort food, and it seemed right, because that’s exactly what Elijah was making her feel right then. Comfort.

They ate and Caelyn told Elijah about her philosophy professor, Mister Tull, who’d given her such a hard time about making up work in his class. Elijah told her about a time in junior high when he’d had to do an entire semester’s homework in a week so that he wasn’t held back.

It was nice, Caelyn decided, to just eat and talk like normal people. She liked being normal with Elijah. It wasn’t boring either. Every second spent in his presence was amazing, somehow.

As she was almost finishing her food, there came a buzz from the intercom.

Elijah’s expression darkened, as he slid his chair back and stood, throwing his napkin down on his plate and moving toward the door.

“Who is it?” she heard him call into the intercom.

There was a muffled sound and then a voice cutting through static: “It’s Dad, Elijah.”

“Shit,” she heard Elijah mutter, and then the distinct sound of Elijah pressing the buzzer to let him in.

Dad? Caelyn thought, her heart immediately speeding up, and she instinctively began straightening her clothes, running a hand over her hair, hoping she didn’t look too disheveled.

Elijah hadn’t talked about his father, not ever. It was as though he didn’t even have parents, she thought. And yet, here his father was, coming up the stairs and into the apartment like it was nothing.

Clearly, Elijah wasn’t happy that his father was coming, but he didn’t seem all that surprised either. Caelyn joined him by the front door.

“Is there anything I should know?” she asked him.

He glanced at her briefly, his face stony and unreadable. “Like what?”

“I don’t know,” she said, jittery and anxious now. “Like, does he even know I exist?”

“He will now.”

“Oh. Great.”

Elijah looked at her. “Don’t be like that. My Dad’s not really that kind of Dad.

You’ll see.”

And a few seconds later, she did see, because there was a knock at the door and then Elijah was opening it. In stepped a man about the same height as Elijah, but the resemblance stopped there.

Elijah’s father was bald, wore glasses, and had a graying goatee. He wore a beaten up leather jacket, and underneath that, a lime green button down shirt. His stomach bulged out and hung slightly over the top of his jeans. He had on cowboy boots, which Caelyn found somehow humorous.

He shook Elijah’s hand in what struck her as an official sort of gesture, and then he turned to Caelyn. “Hello, I’m Gabe.”

“Hi, I’m Caelyn.”

He stepped forward and shook her hand too. His eyes behind his glasses were green, and very sharp. He seemed to be analyzing her like a scientist putting a bug under a microscope, although she knew that it was impossible to tell what his attitude was upon just meeting him.

“So, why are you here, Dad?” Elijah asked, folding his arms. His mischievous smile was nowhere to be found.

“Quite the greeting. No ‘how are you, how’s things?’”

Elijah shrugged almost imperceptibly. “How’s things?”

“Not bad,” his father said, glancing around the apartment. “Business is good.

Or—it was…until recently. Things got a little bit complicated.” He turned back to Elijah and the two of them stared at one another.

Elijah’s posture stiffened. “That’s what I figured you were here for. I’m not interested in discussing any of that.”

“Maybe if we had some privacy.” Gabe looked at Caelyn.

“Oh, I can go in the other room, or leave for awhile—“ she started.

“No,” Elijah said sharply, raising his hand to halt her. “You don’t have to leave.”

He looked at his father with a cold expression. “She knows everything.”

“Everything?”

“She knows enough.”

“Enough.” Gabe looked at Caelyn and smiled, but it wasn’t a pleasant smile.

“You know what that means, right?”

Caelyn shook her head, confused about what was even going on. “No, I don’t.”