Actually, now that Spencer was thinking about it, they both did. Rainie wasn’t as explosive about it, though. She liked to do it quietly, sweep it under the rug after a swift change of subjects.

“You caught that too, right?”

Spencer looked down at his mother’s frowning face. He nodded, licking his lips nervously.

“He’s obviously on bad terms with his parents…. I should know,” she continued, scratching at the palms of her hands. A tick of hers.

Spencer couldn’t disagree with her. Their relationship as it was now was an indefinite far cry from what it was five years ago. He remembered how he acted toward her, how she’d treated him. If it hadn’t been for Spencer’s father, they wouldn’t even have a relationship at all.

“We could get the authorities involved?” Jenny offered.

Spencer shook his head. “This close to graduation? With scholarships and scouts flooding his plate?”

Jenny’s frown deepened. “If they’re being abused—physically or mentally—it needs to be taken care of. Their health comes—”

Spencer gripped his mother’s shoulder to stop the conversation as Caleb came running from the boys’ locker room. He looked slightly more put together than when he’d left, but…that pit still lingered in Spencer’s stomach, pulling a bout of nausea with it.

Caleb…abused. Spencer wondered what bruises might lay beneath innocent cloth. What ghosts crowded the mind behind the faux smile and broken laughs.

Caleb was older than Spencer, tougher too. Even if asthma hadn’t crippled his ability to participate in sports, Spencer knew he’d never have the endurance or tightly knit muscles Caleb sported on his small frame. Even with all that, Caleb seemed so fragile. Despite fear-driven wrath, Caleb couldn’t hide the way his body trembled, the way his pupils dilated as they set off across the school grounds toward Jenny’s yellow Jeep. He never seemed able to control the nervous tapping of his fingers against any surface he could find—this time, the strap of his duffel slung over his shoulder.

Like drums, Caleb’s cleats beat against the asphalt, nearly in line with Spencer’s shivering heart. Tongue-tied in so many knots it almost choked him; Spencer’s words hung unspoken. He knew there was no talking without simply spitting nonsense, and the matter had to be handled with precision care, something he was currently incapable of. The pressure on his chest was worse than the asthma, somehow more terrifying. Suffocating in ways his asthma wasn’t.

So lost in thought, Spencer didn’t even realize that Jenny was on the phone with the Kowalczyks’ parents or that she’d piled all of Caleb’s gear up in the passenger. He knew what his mother was doing, and usually, Spencer didn’t mind it. But now…now he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t make things worse.

Spencer opened his mouth to speak just for Jenny to turn on him, her gaze daring him to say anything so she could further prove why you didn’t fight her on things that were already decided.

Throwing up his hands in a brief motion of surrender, Spencer trudged to the other side of the Jeep and slipped into the backseat with Caleb. If the soccer star noticed the odd behavior, he didn’t comment on it, too lost in whatever place caused such a pain-ridden, far-off look in his pretty caramel eyes. His head rested against the cold window so Spencer could barely make out the more accurate frown that had replaced the faux smile Caleb had worn only moments ago.

“We’re headed over right now, Lena,” Spencer heard his mother saying in the front seat. “Uh-huh. See you in a few minutes. Right, right. Alright, bye.” She looked into the rearview mirror, making eye contact with her son. A grimace laid bare over her facial features, and Spencer felt his stomach drop as she pulled out of the parking spot.

With Jenny focused on driving, Spencer took a deep breath and nudged Caleb’s shoulder. His eyes opened wide, and he turned to face me, all evidence of fear expunged from his expression. An attempt at a smile wriggled through tight lips.

“What’s up?” he asked cheerfully, but Spencer caught the slight break in Caleb’s voice.

Spencer felt his brows pinch. “That’s what I should be asking,” he murmured, watching Caleb’s reaction closely.

Anxious teeth gnawed on his lower lip, Caleb’s eyes flicking away while his fingers fidgeted in his lap. Not wanting to lose him, Spencer nudged him again.

“Come on, man. Talk to me. What’s on your mind?” Spencer tentatively prodded, careful to keep an eye out for any signs that Caleb might have been getting aggravated. Spencer didn’t think he could handle another outburst like the one from this morning, and they were incredibly easy to trigger.

But, thankfully, Caleb didn’t explode. Instead, he quietly shook his head, a heavy sigh pushing through his pressed lips. “I’m not…um, sure. That you’d…understand,” he murmured, pain tightly woven through his soft voice. He whispered something too quiet for me to hear and turned his attention back to the neighborhood passing by the window.

“What was that?” Spencer’s voice is nearly a whisper. He’s basically walking on glass with this conversation, but part of him is begging to know the truth behind Caleb’s agony. He needs something he can work with, something that gives him an idea of how to bring Caleb out of this crushing darkness he’s carrying on his little shoulders.

Caleb’s face scrunched up. For a second, Spencer worried it was a scowl ready to begin the onslaught of Caleb’s razor-sharp words, the explosive outburst. It never came, though. Instead, Caleb seemed to deflate. The tension released like a soft breeze, his brows relaxed, his eyes growing soft again.

“It’s nothing, Spencer. I promise,” Caleb said with a timid smile. “I just… don’t feel like going home to do homework. That’s all it is.”

The forced statements made the tightening coils in Spencer’s stomach amplify themselves. There was no way in hell he was risking pissing Caleb off, so he shook his head instead and leaned back into the seat. Spencer probably hadn’t meant to, but he ended up slightly further away from Caleb than head started out. Likely out of fear that he’d already overstepped.

Though he hated admitting it—more so if the abuse was actually going on—Spencer decided Caleb just needed distance and time to come clean about his home situation. Even if that was more of an excuse to save his hide, Spencer wouldn’t pry open a lid Caleb wanted shut.