Finding Solace

Chapter 5

Jillian

What the hell am I doing? I must be out of my mind! I let myself grow closer to Callum and now, we were walking down the hallway while holding hands. And the worst was that I was enjoying this. My heart wouldn't stop racing ridiculously. So far, I was doing a good job of pushing him away, but then he had on this crestfallen expression. All my defenses crumbled at this and I told him part of the reason why I was avoiding him. At least now I was sure that he had no intentions of harming me in any way. His expression when he said that was so genuine, there was no way he was lying. However, I had another much more important reason to stay away from him. I could never tell him about that though, it was a life or death situation. We walked on in awkward silence until we reached our destination.

"There it is." Callum said. "It's pretty late though, we might get in trouble if we enter now."

I shrugged my shoulders. "It should be fine. Mr. Peterson always overlooks my actions, he won't say anything. Just let me go in first." I gently extricated my hand from his to open the door.

To my surprise, there was a different person seated at the teacher's desk. Instead of Mr. Peterson, there sat a woman who appeared to be in her early twenties. Her short blonde hair hung in curly rivulets around her face making her look like a pixie. I guess most guys would find her cute though right now her features were sharpened by the angry frown she sported.

Placing her hands on her hips, she said. "Miss. Jillian Brown, is it? You sure have some guts, coming to my class this late." Her expression twisted with contempt when she added. "You think you can do whatever you want because of your daddy's status. But let me warn you, such tricks won't work with me!"

Her voice voice sounded familiar but I couldn't remember exactly where I heard it before. Still, why was everyone accusing me of things I never did? I opened my mouth to protest but Callum spoke before I could.

"I'm really sorry we're late. It was all my fault so please don't blame Jillian for it."

She narrowed her eyes at him, examining him for some time before saying. "You're trying to cover up for her?" Then she turned to look at me in disdain. "So now you're even using your status to get others to take the blame for you? Or maybe you're using your looks to seduce guys so you can use them however you want?" Her tone was laced with sarcasm and it had my fury spiking.

"I admit that the teachers have been giving me special favors but it's not like I asked for it. And I certainly never used my looks or status for my personal gain so can you please take back your words?" I said, not bothering to hide the irritation from my voice.

"You brat!" She shouted as she advanced towards me with a menacing expression on her face. "How dare you talk back to me!"

Callum was at my side in an instant and stood in front of me as if to shield me from her fury. I touched his arm to tell him it was okay and went around him to face our seething teacher. I didn't know what her problem was but I certainly didn't want to cause a scene.

"I apologize for coming late to your class. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again." I said, making an effort to sound genuine.

She regarded me for some time before saying. "You think this can be resolved with just an apology? Like I said before, I have no intention of giving you any special favors. For coming late to my class you'll have to clean this lab after school for one week."

That was too much just for being late once. I didn't comment on that, though. I will do her bidding this one time and hope this will get her off my hook.

"Fine." I said.

She smiled satisfactorily at my acquiescence. I'm only letting her win for now because I didn't like being the center of attention like I was right now. I'm not one to let others walk all over me, and especially not this stuck-up teacher. I'll find a way to deal with her somehow...

Callum did not seem to be satisfied, though. He was glaring at the teacher, his knuckles pulled in a tight fist. I found it touching that he was feeling anger for my sake. He seemed to be about to make a snide comment but someone else preceded him. It was one of his friends, Henry I think was his name.

"But isn't it unfair miss. Fowler? They both came late. So why punish only her?"

I raised an eyebrow at that. What sort friend was he to be asking for Callum to be punished?

Miss. Fowler also seemed to be at a loss for words but then composed herself and looked at us stating. "Fine! You'll both be cleaning the lab for a week as punishment! Now go to your seats! You've already disturbed my class enough!" She turned on her heels at those words.

We went towards the only free desk in the room and sat next to each other.

"Seriously, what's wrong with her? Hounding on me like that for no reason..." I murmured once we were seated.

Henry, who happened to be sitting right in front of us, turned around and winked at me with a smile. "She's just jealous, don't let her get to you."

"Jealous? Of me? Why the hell?" I asked incredulously.

"Because of your looks." He scoffed, as if it was obvious. "She sees you as competition and wants to gain some ground. You shouldn't let her get the upper hand, though. Otherwise she won't leave you alone."

"Yeah, I know." I said with a sigh. "Still, this sucks... everyone keeps scolding me today."

"I'm really sorry about before." Callum said in a panic. "I didn't mean a word of it so please just forget about it!"

Henry's eyes twinkled mischievously. "Callum scolded you? That's interesting! What did he say?" This also seemed to draw the attention of the guy sitting next to him, another one of Callum's friends, Blake if I remember correctly.

"I'm also curious about how the gentlemanly Callum chastised you." He said gruffly.

"You guys don't need to know!" Callum bit out.

"He said I was snobbish." I said wistfully choosing to share this just to spite him. "Is it true?"

"No it's not!" Callum emphasized. "Isn't that right?" He looked to his friends for confirmation.

They both shifted their gaze away uncomfortably, seeming unsure how to respond.

"So it is true!" I exclaimed, dropping my head dejectedly.

"Hey... it's okay!" Callum said in consternation. "Don't let this upset you. I'm sure you must have your reasons."

I looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Is this supposed to make me feel better? Coz it's having the opposite effect." I deadpanned.

He outright panicked at my words, mumbling incoherently. His two friends burst out laughing at that. I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to keep from following suit and turned my head away.

"Stop laughing at me!" Callum chastised his friends. "Wait a second... you're laughing at me too, Jillian?" His voice was disbelieving.

"No, I'm not." I said in a choked voice.

"Really? Then look at me so I can see for sure."

I shook my head, unwilling to prove him right. It's been awhile since I've felt like laughing this much. It felt nice to be able to relax for once. And to think that this was thanks to Callum of all people.

"What's going on over there at the back?" Miss Fowler called.

"Sorry about that." Henry replied quickly. "We were just briefing Callum and Jillian about what has been taught since the class began."

"Is that so?" She said, her tone disbelieving, but thankfully, she didn't press further. "Well, do it after class. You're disturbing the lesson." Not that there was much to disturb. She was slacking off at her desk while the room was already abuzz with whatever experiment the students were doing... or more like pretending to do.

Then she seemed to remember something and turned back to look at us. "By the way, I don't know if you've already heard, but everyone has to choose a partner for this class. Since everyone else already chose theirs, you guys will have to pair up together. It will remain that way for the whole year." Her tone breached no argument as she said this and before we could comment, she returned to her own devices.

It suddenly dawned on me that I've been acting overly friendly with the guy I was supposed to be avoiding the most. And now, we've just been saddled together for a whole year. How was I going to go through with this? And there was Dan as well... he definitely wouldn't like this. Once again, it will be Callum who will be enduring the consequences. I could ask for another partner but I have a feeling miss. Fowler will not be very cooperative on this. I looked down in consternation as I pondered my next move.

"Does it bother you?" I heard Callum murmur next to me.

I quickly looked up at his upset expression.

"No. It's not that." I said, shaking my head vehemently. "It's just... my brother won't like hearing about this and you'll probably have to face the consequences." The words left my mouth before I could help it and I internally chided myself. Seriously, why did I keep leading him on by explaining my behavior? Still, when faced with that crestfallen expression of his, I couldn't bring myself to push him away.

He smiled at me, giving me an intense look. "Are you worried about me?"

I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment and I quickly explained. "It's not that... it's just..." I jogged my head for a proper excuse, coming up short, but then my eyes lit up triumphantly. "Because I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me!" I say a bit too vehemently, trying to convince both him and myself.

He stared at me with a grin plastered on his face. "Is that so?" Then he brought his face closer to mine and murmured. "Thank you for your concern. But I will be just fine. I'm used to dealing with your brother anyway." Then he placed his hand over mine on the table. "I'm glad that we get to be partners. Let's get along well together."

I mumbled my approval almost inaudibly, keeping my focus on our connected hands and the way it sent jolts shooting straight to my heart. Callum was affecting me in the wrong ways and this did not bode well for either of us.

After that Henry turned to face us again and briefed us about what we missed out in the class. We carried out our experiment while conversing amicably with the occasional banter. I was enjoying myself. Being with Callum was fun. He was so nice to me, always taking my feelings into consideration. There was also an innocence about him that I found adorable. I still couldn't believe I allowed myself to get so close to someone in such a little time. Someone that I'm supposed to be avoiding, no less. However, once I started interacting with him, I realized he was totally unlike what I imagined and what my brother projected him to be. Before I could help it, I had grown familiar to him and could no longer push him away. Oh well, I guess there will be no harm done if we become friends. I'm just gonna need to tread with caution where Dan is concerned. For now, it will be better if I keep what happened today a secret.