The Bet || l.h.

- 18 -

I awkwardly shuffle in my seat. Why did I ever agree to come here?

Noah flashes me a big smile as he jogs onto the field, pulling his helmet down over his face. I smile back, but it doesn't feel real.

I frown as my eyes scan the players lining up on the sidelines, trying to hide my disappointment. 

There's no number 7.

My gaze travels over the stands, some of the tension draining from my body when I spot Calum standing in the shadows near the top of the bleachers. I start to make my way towards him, pushing past other students.

He looks absolutely terrible. There are dark circles under his eyes, saying that he hasn't slept that well these past few days. His hair is complete wreck like he's been tugging on it constantly, his jaw is clenched tightly.

"Calum," I say gently as I come to a stop beside him. "You ok? Where's Luke, shouldn't he be playing?"

Calum blinks as if just now noticing my presence. "Oh, hey, Emmy," he says with a small smile, but I can tell he's not really into it. "I'm... It doesn't matter. And as for Luke..."

He trails off, rubbing a hand over his face. "Luke is..." 

He stops again and starts over. "Emmy, Luke's always had... issues. His family isn't the greatest and he wasn't quite sure what to do with all these bottled up emotions so he started getting into the drugs and if it was bad enough drinking too. He doesn't know what to do with himself."

"What do you mean?" I breathe.

Calum's eyes are on the game but he's not really watching it anymore as he speaks. "It got really bad two years ago. We didn't know how to help him, his family wasn't sure whether to acknowledge his behavior at all. He... We decided to put him in rehab because we were worried about him. He came back before school started and he seemed perfectly normal, but he never quite smoking. He saw all those girls in place of drinking and other drugs."

Calum sighs as he looks over at me, his dark eyes reading whatever expression is on my face. "He kinda snapped a few days ago and he's been recovering at home. We... We're not sure whether to send him back to rehab, or what even caused any of this."

I sit down heavily on the bleachers, my head spinning. I knew that there were darker parts of Luke that I hadn't seen yet, but I didn't know it was like this...

Calum takes a seat beside me, setting a comforting hand on my leg. "Hey, don't worry, we'll keep him safe. It would kill us if anything happened to him and I have a suspicion that you feel similarly."

I blush, trying to cover it up with a scowl. "Why would I? He's a fuckboy. I don't date guys I can't trust. In fact, I've never dated anyone before so this all very new to me and he treats it like it's some sort of game." The words pour out of me, harsh and angry. "He places all of the blame on me, but he's the one who was making out with Amber Davis in the hallway. But I got coffee with Noah once and he freaked out on me? It's so unfair!"

"If you want to kick his ass, just tell me and I'll hold him down for you," Calum teases, hitting my shoulder with his.

I giggle despite myself. "If he keeps acting like a dick, I might take you up on that."

We fall silent and the crowd cheers as our team scores a goal.

"Hey, do you want to... go see him?" Calum asks carefully, looking over at me.

"See Luke?" I say, shocked. "Why?"

Calum shrugs. "You're frustrated with him, but you're not a bad person. You'd be upset if something happened to him. It's one of Luke's superpowers, somehow making people care about him even if they're furious with him."