Always Red Page 7

  Rising, I spotted a note from Red beside the alarm clock and smiled goofily as I read it. Folding it neatly, I tucked it in my wallet for safekeeping and followed Kara to the kitchen.

  She was just placing a box of Lucky Charms and a box of Cheerios beside the milk carton on the table when I walked in. “Here you go. She said healthy breakfast. Cereal is healthy. It has fiber.”

  Did she really believe that? But then I saw her smirk.

  “I love Lucky Charms,” I said. “Thanks.”

  “Take a seat. I hate cooking, so this is as good as it gets. Want a croissant?”

  “Hell no,” I growled.

  “Whoa. Chill, buster.”

  “Sorry.” I shook cereal into the bowl and then poured milk. “I really don’t like croissants.”

  “Yeah, I think I got that. Make sure to tell her I fed you.”

  “You bet.” Then, as nonchalantly as possible, I asked, “So what’s the deal with Damon?”

  She took the seat across from me and smirked. “What do you mean?”

  She knew what I meant. She just loved to torture people. “Kar,” I warned.

  “Oh, calm down.” I hadn’t taken a bite of my healthy breakfast yet, and she pulled the bowl in front of her and started eating. “They’re just friends.”

  I frowned. “Has he made a move on my girl?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Your girl? So I take it you guys are okay now?”

  I nodded, grinning. “As if she hasn’t told you. I know you girls talk.”

  She rolled her eyes. “We girls haven’t talked yet. I’m going to get the dirty deets later.”

  “You do that.” It didn’t bother me for one second. I loved it when Red talked about me. I tried to turn on the charm. “So…I know you tell each other everything…”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I thought this was my breakfast?” I grabbed the bowl back. “As I was saying—”

  “You want me to spill the dirt on her?”

  I guess I was that transparent. “You look really pretty today, Kar. That top looks phenomenal on you.” In my experience, compliments would get you anywhere with girls.

  Usually.

  “I know, right? In fact, I could use another one. In fuchsia, I think.”

  I didn’t even bother smirking. “If you tell me more, I’ll buy you two.”

  “Deal! What do you want to know?”

  “How many times did she go to my apartment after I left?”

  When Kara called it quits, I had most of the information I wanted and had promised to get her a Stella McCartney gift card on top of the two blouses she wanted.

  “One last thing,” I added. “Does Damon know that she’s mine?”

  Kara rolled her eyes. “What do you think?” She grabbed the bowl back. “Did you have to eat all the marshmallows?”

  “Tell him I’ll kill him if he so much as touches her again. If he plans on making another move on her—”

  “Hold up. He never did. Damon’s not like that.”

  “Just tell him.”

  “Why are you so hung up about Damon?”

  “Red doesn’t hang out with any guys.” Except for me. “But she hangs out with him.”

  Kara bit the side of her lip.

  I scowled. “What?”

  “I guess you didn’t know about Theo.”

  I straightened in my seat. “Theo?” I asked quietly.

  She waved her hand dismissively. “Just a friend. He belongs to Beth anyway, so stop being all alpha male. She told you about Beatchy-Rose sneaking in your apartment and stealing your key chain?”

  I wanted to ask more about this Theo, but the key chain distracted me. “So that’s what Red got me? A key chain? I want it back.”

  “Well, Beatch’s got it now. Whatcha gonna do about it?”

  I felt a muscle tick in my jaw. “Red doesn’t want me to do anything about it.”

  “You gonna do everything she tells you?”

  I half snorted and half laughed.

  “She told you about Justin too?”

  I grabbed the bowl back and shook more cereal into it. “Just that he was with Beatrice-Rose at the café.”

  Her face turned grim.

  “What is it, Kar?”

  “That prick was going to hit her, Caleb.”

  I put the spoon down slowly. “What did you say?”

  “Justin was going to fucking punch her.”

  * * *

  I really hated it when I let my anger control me. In my experience, nothing good ever came from letting it take over. But someone threatening to hurt Red, especially when I wasn’t there to protect her—and someone I considered a friend? Unforgivable.

  By the time I arrived at school, I was ready to beat Justin’s face to a pulp.

  “Hey, man!” Amos came up beside me. “Slow down, will you? I’ve got something important to tell you, bro.”

  Not now, I wanted to tell him. But I refused to speak. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I would start yelling like a madman.

  “Caleb, listen. It’s about your girlfriend.”

  That stopped me short. I glared at him. “What about my girlfriend?”

  He handed me a crumpled piece of paper. “I found this in the locker room after practice last night.”

  It was a picture of her dancing at the club that night I first saw her. Her hair down her back, her red dress hugging every inch of her body. Below the picture was a list of…sexual services with prices beside them. Then a message that said Find me in E Building, signed Veronica Strafford.

  My ears rang as I felt blood rush to my head. “What. The. Fuck. Is this the only copy?”

  Amos shrugged. “I don’t know, Caleb. I doubt it.”

  I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. It didn’t work. “Where the fuck is Justin?”

  “Justin? Whoa, dude, hold on. I don’t know if Justin did this.”

  I grabbed Amos’s collar. “Where. The. Fuck. Is. He?” I knew in my gut Justin had something to do with it. I just knew.

  “Caleb.” I heard Cameron’s voice behind me, his tone serious. I turned to look at him. His eyes were questioning, but he didn’t ask what was wrong.

  Amos put his hands up. “If you do this now, you might get suspended. We’re graduating, Caleb.”

  I glared back at him. “I don’t care. No one hurts her.” I crumpled the paper in my fist. “Tell me where the fuck Justin is.”

  “Justin’s in the multipurpose room,” Cameron said. “Let’s go.”

  I don’t even know how I got to the multipurpose room. When I spotted Justin, I headed straight for the fucker. Nothing could have stopped me.

  Justin’s eyes widened in fear when he saw me. He backed away slowly, as if he was being careful not to anger me further. But it was too late. I was way beyond angry.

  I was going to kill him.

  He looked behind him, searching for an escape, but there was only the wall. “Dude, she came on to me—”

  There was a satisfying crunch as my fist connected with his face. He stumbled back, tripping over his feet. I was on him before he could recover. I heard shouts around me, but I didn’t care.

  He had hurt my girl. He was going to pay.

  He was on the floor, his nose bleeding, his eye nearly closed. But I wasn’t finished. I pulled him up by his shirt collar and shoved him against the wall. My hand wrapped around his throat, squeezing. It would be so easy to crush his windpipe. So easy.

  “If I even hear you say her name, you’re dead, motherfucker.” I heard voices around me, but I ignored all of them. I shook him. “Do you fucking understand me?”

  I stiffened when I felt a hand on my back.

  “Caleb.”

  It was her. It was my Red.

  Sh
e was safe.

  My hold loosened a fraction, but not entirely. The asshole began wheezing and coughing.

  “Please. Let go of him.” This time, she stood beside me, placing her hand on my arm. “Caleb.”

  There was no one who could make me do things I didn’t want to do. Except her.

  I would do anything for her.

  I let go.

  * * *

  “You’re bleeding!” Red cried out in alarm.

  She was sitting beside me in my car. I should have felt calm and relieved, but I couldn’t get us the hell away from this place fast enough.

  Someone had alerted Coach while I was beating the crap out of Justin. Coach had sent us to the dean of our department, where I would have stayed longer if not for my mom phoning him.

  I tried to pull my hand away from Red’s. She held on. “Hold still.”

  I felt a soft cloth on my knuckles.

  “Caleb?”

  I took a deep breath, calmer now that she was within my reach. Where I could protect her.

  “I’m okay, Red.”

  “What happened?” she asked.

  I desperately wished there was a way to protect her from this, to stop her from knowing what happened, but hiding it from her would only make things worse.

  She was one of the toughest people I knew, but I was also aware of how vulnerable she was. And this was a huge violation of her privacy. It made me angry that I hadn’t stopped it from happening.

  “Red. Listen. I’ll do everything to protect you. I’ll make sure there are no traces of that poster. You have to trust me.”

  “I don’t understand. What poster?”

  I ground my teeth. “Someone saw Justin putting up a poster in the locker room. It was a picture of you at the club where we met.” My hands fisted. “It had some writing on it.”

  “Tell me.”

  I looked down and shook my head slightly, grinding my teeth to dust.

  “Tell me, Caleb.” I looked up at her tone. Her eyes were hard.

  “It had a list of…fucking ugly things that you’d do for a fee. Fuck.”

  When I saw the shock in her eyes, I wanted to yell like a madman. And when the shock turned into hurt, I wanted to beat Justin’s face to a pulp all over again. I reached to gather her in my arms, but she pushed me away.

  “Don’t.” She balled her hands into fists on her lap to stop them from shaking.

  “No.” I reached for her shoulders, turning her to me. “Don’t shut me out. Stay with me. Right here.” I held her face in my hands and kissed her lips. “I’m sorry this happened. I’m sorry, baby.”

  She nodded.

  “Listen,” I said. “There was only one poster in the locker room. As far as I know, only a few people on the team saw it.”

  She shook her head. “There were…there were guys following me, and one of them gave me his phone number. It makes sense now why they were asking me about…those things.”

  “Asking you what? Who are they?” It was a struggle for me to keep the anger at bay. “Did they hurt you?”

  “No. No,” she said. “They didn’t hurt me. Just said a few things. I don’t remember who they were, Caleb. It doesn’t matter. Justin can’t get away with this.” She took a deep breath, and when she moved away, there was fire in her eyes.

  That’s my girl.

  “What should I do?” she asked. “I need to file a complaint with the department—” Suddenly, her eyes widened. “Caleb! What did the dean say? Did you…get suspended?” I could hear the worry in her voice. She was more worried about me than what had happened to her.

  “No.” I probably would have if my mom hadn’t called the dean. She was a member of the school’s board. I hated using my name to get out of sticky situations, especially with my mom’s help. But I would fight dirty for Red.

  “But the bastard got suspended and kicked off the team,” I added. Personally, I thought he should be kicked off the planet. But I knew how important it was to Justin to be on the basketball team. It elevated his status, made him feel superior. He still had a year before he graduated, and being suspended and spending the year off the team would not be easy for him. “This wasn’t the first time he did something like this.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He emailed everyone a naked picture of his ex-girlfriend after she broke up with him.”

  “Are you serious? How can he get away with doing that?”

  “He denied it. They couldn’t trace the email, but everyone knew it was from him. This time, though, one of the freshmen from the basketball team saw him put up that poster in the locker room.”

  She was silent.

  “Don’t worry, Red. This won’t happen again. I promise.”

  She shook her head. “It’s not that. I don’t want you to feel like you have to protect me all the time.”

  “It’s my job to protect you.”

  “Caleb—”

  I parked in front of Kara’s and turned to face her. “I want you to sleep at my place tonight.” When she opened her mouth—probably to argue—I cut her off. “Please. I need to feel that you’re safe. Just tonight. Please, Red.”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  “I’ll be back in two hours. I told Matthew to text the team to meet at his place. I need to make sure there are no more posters around.”

  “It’s over now. Do you have to do this tonight?”

  I held her face in my hands, rubbing her soft cheek with my thumb. “Yes. He won’t hurt you again. I’ll make sure of it.”

  * * *

  Veronica

  “The truth is…” I hesitated, closing my eyes. “It scared me to see Caleb…like that.”

  Kara frowned, sitting next to me on the couch where she’d placed a bowl of popcorn mixed with M&M’s on my lap. She grabbed the remote and absentmindedly channel surfed.

  I glanced at the clock again. Caleb had left hours ago. What was taking him so long?

  “Like what?”

  “I didn’t recognize him. It was like he was a different person. He was so angry. It just…reminded me.”

  “Reminded you?” Kara huffed. “Why don’t you explain all this to me so I don’t sound like a damn parrot?”

  “My dad,” I answered after a moment.

  “Oh.” Kara reached for my hand, her eyes apologetic. I squeezed her hand, let go, and wrapped my arms around my middle. I suddenly felt cold.

  “But I realized that he was protecting me. Caleb would never hurt me.”

  “Ver.” She turned off the TV. “Lockhart would cut off his hands before he hurt you.”

  I nodded. “It’s just—”

  Kara’s phone rang. When she glanced at the screen, her eyes widened in incredulity. “Who is it?” I asked.

  “It’s Cameron.”

  I raised my brows when she just stared at the screen. “Are you going to answer it?”

  “No.” But she pressed the answer button and lifted the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

  A voice spoke on the other end of the line, but I couldn’t make out the words. Kara listened with a stoic expression. A moment later, her face paled.

  Alerted, I straightened in my seat.

  Kara got up from the couch, whispering into the phone. I stayed where I was to give her privacy. She would tell me if she wanted me to know.

  A few minutes later, she came back. Her hazel eyes were wide and full of worry.

  “Ver,” she said cautiously.

  “Kar. You’re scaring me. What is it?”

  She took a deep breath. “Caleb’s in jail.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Veronica

  Four hours earlier…

  “I’ll be back in two hours,” Caleb said. His gaze was apologetic, as if he didn’t want to leave but had to.
“I told Matthew to text the team and meet at his place. I need to make sure there are no more posters around.”

  I tamped down the trepidation I was feeling. I didn’t feel good about this. “It’s over now. Do you have to do this tonight?”

  “Yes. He won’t hurt you again. I’ll make sure of it,” Caleb promised, his eyes dark and intense as he held my face in his hands.

  I closed my eyes. I was torn between flinching away from his touch and wanting more of it. The memory of Caleb mad with anger, almost blinded with it, wouldn’t leave my mind.

  I nodded and slipped out of the car. I paused when I reached the front door of Kara’s apartment, then turned around. Caleb was still parked, waiting for me to get inside before leaving. His car windows were tinted so I couldn’t see inside, but I knew he was watching me.

  I waved goodbye and entered the apartment. As soon as I got inside, exhaustion overtook me. I hadn’t slept in more than twenty-four hours. Maybe I’d just take a nap.

  The apartment was empty. I glanced at the clock and noted that Kara’s class would be done in an hour and that I needed to make us dinner. I’d just close my eyes for half an hour…

  * * *

  I always hated the dark.

  The dark brought bad things. It carried the promise of pain. Especially if you were a bad, bad girl.

  I tried to be good, to follow the rules, because if I didn’t, the monster would come back. The monster who looked so much like my daddy.

  But the monster had been gone a long time. That meant that I could play in the forest again. Maybe I could even have friends now. One of Daddy’s rules was never to talk to prying adults or damned social workers or tell any-fucking-body what happens in our house. Be a good girl or else. That was his warning.

  But the monster was gone. So today I went to the forest and met a boy with green eyes. He even gave me a peanut butter sandwich. Eating it made me scared and excited at the same time, because I knew the monster hated peanut butter. But the monster was gone, and I could eat whatever I wanted.

  We made mud by mixing dirt and water, and we painted our faces with it. I looked like Batgirl and he looked like Batman, and we played all day. When it got dark, I had to say goodbye. He said he would come back tomorrow and we could play again.