It's a Love-Hate relationship

CHAPTER 27: You give so many damns they are visible from space

An air of despondency envelops me, engulfing me in its hopeless nature. My foolish endeavor at ignoring the voice backfires on me when it gets nearer than it possibly could.

"What?!" I bark, turning around to see him, fully drenched and breathing heavily. His chest rises and falls back down in seconds, his loud breaths being the only sound around us. The stormy grey eyes bite on my shield, slowly tearing it down and I know I can't fight him. I feel weak for even thinking about giving in to Caleb. He's a stranger, I remind myself.

A stranger that evokes equally strange feelings in you.

My heart shoots back.

"Why are you running?" His question cuts through the suffocating silence of the night and my eyes frantically move around, taking single glimpses at the dark trees.

"I asked you a question, Summer." He calmly states before taking a step toward me. My mind is suddenly alert at the slow steps he takes and it reacts by equitably taking steps, just backward. Realizing that I wasn't going to answer his damn question, he takes two simple steps and he's right in front of me. The freshwater scent combined with his minty breath invades my consciousness and my mind becomes fuzzy for a while.

"I'm not running." I look down and say, knowing he's not stupid enough to believe that considering my fabricated tone.

"You're running from Veronica, aren't you?" He ignores my answer and speaks, compelling me to look at him which is a very, very humongous mistake I make because I just met his enthralling eyes. Now I know there is no escaping him because those eyes almost bring me to my knees. I seem to be a puppet to the grey in his eyes for a reason unbeknown to me.

Irritation of being portrayed as weak in front of Caleb infiltrates me and I push his chest, shoving him a few feet away. His face holds astonishment, but just for a few seconds before being replaced with a look of disconcert.

"Why are you being so obstinate about this, Caleb?! I told you the other day that we cannot be friends. You just don't get that fact, do you?" I ask whilst shaking my arms around me furiously so that I could get my point across.

"Stop making it a fact! It's not one. This is not about me and you being friends. Forget that for now, okay? But why do you need to overreact just because Veronica is here?" His furrowed brows prove me right and I realize he doesn't know why I'm really scared of Veronica exposing my truth. A truth that is just supposed to stay with my family. A truth, too sensitive, to be chipped away at by some guy I barely know.

Nonetheless, a guy who affects me way too much.

"I'm not over-reacting. Hell, I'm not reacting at all because...because I can't! Just leave me alone, Caleb." I storm out of his way and go around the tree, continuing my tiring fast pace again. It doesn't take him two seconds to follow me again but this time, I'm pulled back, no doubt, by his hand and I crash into his chest.

"Why do you care so much about what she thinks? She can't do anything to you." He tries to reason with me softly but with still an ounce of authority evident in his deep voice.

"You don't know anything. Stay. Out of it." I grit my teeth in anger. He's simply playing all this off as something minor. He has no idea about Veronica's sharp tongue and how she can use it against me to torture me with the unbearable truth.

"Then tell me." Caleb presses on even more while holding my arm in a strong grip. There is a slight tinge of pain but it's endurable. Nothing compared to the pain Veronica can cause me by simply mentioning anything to do with my broken family. Anything to do with her. The woman people call mother.