Calum swung again, but Johnny was just as quick. Rett scowled at the sight. Calum hadn’t gotten into any fights since he arrived. He had played by the rules so he could get out ofOak Creek. But there he was in a fistfight with another student. Rett dropped her bag to the floor and hurried forward. She had to stop him. Unfortunately, stepping between the two brawling boys earned her a punch to the jaw.
Calum froze, brown eyes widening as he stared at her. She could only stare back. The others stilled just as quickly as Calum did. Her chest tightened, jaw clenching on instinct. The pain spread across the side of her face, and she blinked back the tears.
“Rett—”
Her name was barely off his tongue when Rett cocked an arm and punched him square in the nose. He shouted and clutched at his face, but she stormed away. Sofia held out Rett’s bookbag, and she took it before pushing through the crowd.
She knew it would be all over town before the lunch hour even ended. She didn’t give one damn about it. Let them all talk.
A piece of paper slid across her desk during English. Rett wanted to ignore it—wanted to ignoreCalum. He’d gotten into a fight, and she was left with a bruise spreading across her jaw. He’d promised to behave, to do whatever he could to get out of town and back home, but he broke that promise.
I’m so sorry. Please forgive me?
She sighed, reaching for her pen.You got into a fight, Cal. You lied to me. Why??
I’ll explain it later.
Now.
He sighed from beside her. She focused on the lesson instead of the way his pencil scratched across the paper. He’d hurt her, no matter that it was an accident. Despite it all, she worried he would walk away again. The judgment and whispers would certainly be worse than when she slept with him. She wouldn’t forgive him if he walked away again.
According to his response, Johnny had been running his mouth. Calum didn’t explain what the other boy had said, onlythat it was awful and he couldn’t let Johnny keep saying it. He’d tried using his words, Calum promised, but Johnny threw the first punch.
I’m sorry. Are we okay?,he wrote.
I got you back. We’re fine.
Rett kissed him as soon as they were in the hallway after class. Calum’s shoulders slumped, and a slow grin spread across his face. His hand cupped her jaw, and he pulled her in for another kiss. Softer, lazier. Reminiscent of the ones they shared in the pool. Nothing like the one by the tree. They only separated when a teacher cleared their throat pointedly, and Rett giggled.
Calum kept to the vow he’d made: Two days after the fight, he and Rett explored the abandoned trailer. They stood just outside the mobile home, staring at it. Rett suggested climbing through the windows, but Calum shook his head.
“There’s glass everywhere.”
“I’d be careful.”
“Rett. It’s literally asking to get cut up. We’re not going through the windows.”
Rett pouted but grabbed up a heavy, thick branch. The rusted hinges screamed as they pried the door open, and Calum made her stand outside while he went in first. She should have been angry that he was acting as if she was helpless, but she rather enjoyed the “white knight” routine. As long as it was him, it would be all right.
“Everything okay?” she called after he’d been silent for too long.
He poked his head back through the door, grinning. “Yeah, come on. Be careful of the floor, though. Some spots have fallen through.”
His hand wrapped around hers, and he helped her up the creaking steps. Inside was a peek into the past: Matted carpet covered the floor that bowed down toward the ground. Posterscurled at the corners, peeling away from the walls. A dingy white couch sank through the floor, only the carpet keeping it from touching the ground below.
An old, boxy refrigerator stood in the kitchen, a mint-green thing from the 70s. The vinyl of the counters had warped through the years, and a few cupboards fell to the floor at some point. Curtains hung limply from their rod over the window, and Rett peered through the dust-covered glass.
“Wow, I…”
“It’s so ugly,” Calum laughed as he stared around at the pastel purple walls. “I’m so glad we did this.”
Rett wandered down the narrow hallway, covering her nose when she reached the bathroom. The door hung from one hinge. Grime covered everything, and the shower stall had shifted from its place. It now leaned precariously across the room. She could smell stagnant water and mildew.
She called back to Calum even as she moved on. “Could you imagine living here? When it was new, I mean.”
“I can, actually. It looks like it was solid. Hell, it could still be livable with some work.”
The room at the end of the hall was clearly the bedroom. A tie-dye blanket hung from the wall above the bed; the sag in the center told her it had been a water bed, though it leaked its contents long ago. The carpet squished under her feet. The sweet stench of decay filled her nose, and she grimaced when something squeaked.
