About a week had passed since that day. The day they broke up. Maybe more than that but Caleb still seemed to be down in the dumps, like it happened yesterday. But he was good at hiding it though. 

We laughed together a lot. Most were his jokes actually. I was never good at making jokes. I was not exactly sure if he was just trying to put up a front or if it was genuine. Whatever it was, the past few days went quite well for us. Our project was finally done and we just had to write some references and stuff. We were supposed to finish it tomorrow and submit it the day after as Caleb wouldn't be free after that. He told me that he would be having practice a lot more often and he would also be leaving soon. 

I was currently at the bar and the rush was crazy. I myself already had a couple of drinks but there weren't any good partners I could spot tonight. Just as I was thinking that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself tonight, ‘good hands’ made an appearance (I just couldn’t seem to remember what his name was).

‘Hey, remember me?’ he said, as he sat at the counter with a dazed expression.

‘Of course.’ I said, while leaning on the counter and smirking at him. ‘Would you like a drink or two before we..’ I trailed off.

‘Sure, can’t have you lose your job on my account now can we?’ 

I almost rolled my eyes. Almost. Cocky guys are another breed I just can’t seem to like. But he’ll do, for today.

This guy, I later realised, was a drinking machine. Once he started it was not easy to get him to stop. I feared that my last chance at a good night was going to drink himself to sleep or unconsciousness, whichever came first. 

Before he could gulp down his next shot for the day (I wasn’t even sure how many he’d already downed), I drank it and led him upstairs. 

‘Don’t take me home, I want to have fun,’ he started whining.

I sighed, ‘I’m not taking you home and we are going to have fun. Although we might not be able to if you end up falling asleep.’

Hearing that, he seemed to sober up a bit. Just a bit. 

I wondered if there were any free rooms left. At this time usually they were full. I noticed the last room on the corridor had its door slightly ajar so I told the guy to wait for a moment. I pushed the door a little wider and saw that there already were people inside, so I turned to leave, when something caught my eye. I looked back inside and that’s when she looked back at me. I was just about to leave when her partner seemed to notice another presence in the room and looked up and that’s when I noticed it was a girl. My eyes widened. 

‘Would you stop staring and leave already?’ said Vi, looking annoyed but also uncomfortable. I nodded and shut the door completely. Now that was not something I was expecting. 

When I turned to look for the guy, I found him slumped against the wall  and lying on the ground. He must have slid down from the wall where I had left him. He was sound asleep now. 

I guess I would be heading home then. Either way I don’t think I would have been able to do anything after what I had witnessed. It just felt like something she wanted to keep secret and now it's not and I was in a bit of a shock. She’s probably bi. But then again who am I to assume that? 

I left him where he was and made my way down. Just as I was about to leave the bar, Vi came down the stairs.

‘Can we talk?’ She asked. Her usually unbothered demeanour had a slight edge to it. 

‘Sure.’ 

She went over to the other side of the counter, grabbed a bottle and two glasses, set them on the counter and came back to the front. She sat and poured out the drinks. By this time the bar had emptied out and we were the only ones there. 

She took a long sip and said, ‘ You are more surprised than I was when I found out about you.’ She seemed a bit amused. 

‘You could have said something before. Even a subtle heads up would have been appreciated. ’ I said in my defence.

‘I’m not really the kind that tells people these things. You know that.  We’re kinda alike in that respect.’

‘I guess so. So…You bat for both teams?’

She looked at me with one raised eyebrow. ‘ That sounds like a weird way to say it. But no. I only go for girls.’

I blinked at her.’ What about Caleb then?’ I felt like I had to ask.

‘He’s all yours if you want him.’

‘Huh?’ I blushed and took a swig from my glass to cover it up.

‘I noticed. You don’t have to say anything. I know you don’t want to. Neither do I. So I’ll just spare you the details. The one I’m actually into is Stacey. And now we’re even.’

She finished her first glass and poured herself another and finished that too. 

‘With Caleb, I thought I might have a chance, but now…And she hates me anyway. There was never a chance. And now, whatever shred of hope I had managed to scrape together just evaporated. I’ve seen them together. She looks so different with Masen than she did with Caleb. ’

I was silent. It felt like one of those times when you’ve been given too much information and your brain needs more time to process it.  

‘Well at least you tried doing something about it. I doubt I ever will.’

‘I’ve seen you guys all buddy buddy in the library. ‘ She said with a dry laugh.

‘That was for school. Besides, it's almost over. I doubt we’ll see much of each other after the project’s done.’ 

‘Right.’ was all she said.

We drank in silence for a while, then I said in a low voice, ‘Anyways, I don't think I should stay close to him. We’re just too different. He seems way too bright. I don’t want him in my darkness.’

She sighed. ‘You know, things are not usually all black and white. They’re mostly grey. You’re not all darkness and he’s not all light.’

‘I think grief has made you wise.’ That earned me a wack and we both laughed. Caleb’s rubbing off on me I guess. Just being in his presence makes me feel lighter, happier. And maybe, just maybe, Vi’s right. She just might have ignited a little hope in me.

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‘Come…to the woods…set me free…hurry…,’ a voice whispered and I found myself in the middle of the woods. I wasn’t quite sure where though. I tried to move but I couldn’t move my feet. I couldn’t move anything. I was completely paralyzed. I looked around. The woods were swimming in my vision. It felt like I was looking at them through water. They were going in and out of focus. 

At some point at the far end, the woods turned into a black void and the voice seemed to be coming from there. Then suddenly black vines, seeming to have a life of their own, shot out from the darkness and I couldn’t get out of the way so I tried to scream but my voice also seemed to have disappeared. Just before the vines could reach me, the woods and everything twisted away and there was nothing but darkness everywhere I looked.

I woke up the next morning with a killer headache. In a sleepy hungover state I was looking for my phone to tell me the time. When I finally got a hold of it, I saw that there were only twenty minutes to eight and I wouldn't reach school in time even if I tried. So I decided to go back to sleep.

-------

'Ashh…Ashhh…Ashhh’

I woke up to someone calling my name. My eyes shot open as one of the younger kids at the orphanage called out to me. 

'Hey Greg, what's up? ' I said, sitting up in bed. 

Greg was a small kind of a kid, who liked wearing loose clothes and a cap even inside. He had a bored expression on his face at the moment. 

'There's someone asking for you. '

'For me?  Are you sure? ' I asked, uncertainly. 

'Why don't you ask him yourself? ' he replied. 

He ran away after that. Probably went back to what he was doing before he came to call me. 

I noticed that the pounding in my head had disappeared. At least I was feeling better. I quickly pulled on a clean shirt, splashed water on my face and ran down the stairs. I was really curious about who this person was. My heart pounded in my chest. Great. Just great. My head first and now my heart. Anyways, nobody was supposed to know my address. Even my friends didn't know about it. The surprises of last night flashed into my mind and thinking about it made my head hurt again and I gritted my teeth as I reached the landing. It was all Vi’s fault I had to miss school. I’ll bite her ear off when I get the chance. 

When I looked at the person who came to meet me, my heart skipped a beat and my stomach did a double flip. What the fuck was wrong with me today? 

'Hey K, what....what are you doing here?' I asked, a little panicked. What was he going to think about me now? My mind went into overdrive and I was so freaking anxious. 

' I just stopped by to get those references from you... ' He seemed to be surprised to see me. 

We just stood there staring at each other. He looked as though he didn't know what to say. Well, he probably didn't. It was like he was trying to absorb the new info that I was actually living here. Maybe I could lie? What would I tell him though? And would he even believe me if I lied? 

'Let's go outside. I'll just go grab my things.' I said quickly and dashed up the stairs. When I looked towards the landing he was still there and hadn't moved an inch. Wow, he must be in shock. Anybody would be. Nobody would expect me to be an orphan. Sigh. I really didn't want him, of all people, to find that out. But the good thing was that he wasn't one to spread gossip so he wouldn't tell anyone. 

I quickly grabbed my backpack, jacket and notes and dashed back down. He was nowhere in sight. I guess he went out. So I pushed open the door and went to meet him. 

The orphanage wasn't busy at this time or anytime really. It just got really noisy when Mr. and Mrs. Lopez were home. Or their twins. At the moment they were touring someplace that wasn't worth touring and they were doing it just to use the money for something better than feeding us orphans. Ms. Abby was here and she was the nicest. She tried to do all the work here so that we wouldn't have to and the lil' ones just loved her. Gavin included. But the twins always found ways to rat her out. Though they usually didn't succeed in getting any proof. 'Cause when that was needed it was all of us against them. And Mr. and Mrs. Lopez (I didn't really know their names as they always say something like 'honey' or 'darling' when referring to each other) always believed what Gavin said as he was the baby of the family. 

Anyway, once I was out the door, I looked around and found K in his car. So I walked across the road to where it was parked and got in. 

'So, here are the references.' I said. 

He nodded. 

We just sat in the car without saying anything. I didn't know what to say. He finally decided to speak. 

'So you’re…?' He asked. 

I settled for a simple 'Yep.' He looked over at me as if seeing me for the first time. I didn’t really know where to look so I just looked down at my hands.

He took a deep breath and asked, 'Does anyone else know? Or is it just me?'

' Who told you where I live? ' I asked, while looking straight forward and averting his gaze, trying to avoid the question. 

'Just answer my question would you.' He said as calmly as he could. 

What the hell was wrong with him suddenly? 

'Fine. No one but you knows. And maybe Violet might. I haven’t told her though ' I said the last bit in almost a whisper and still didn't look at him. His eyes were on the steering, but when I said that he turned his gaze towards me and I had to look at him. 

'Why?' He looked confused. 

'Since I answered your question, you should answer mine.' I said. My expression was blank.  

'I asked in the school office. I did find it strange that none of your friends knew where you lived and Vi wasn’t in school today.' He replied, holding a serious expression. 

'It’s not like they asked and I prefer to keep it secret. I don't want people looking at me any different.' I said in response to his previous question. 

'How do you get money for all those clothes?' He asked, eyeing my jacket, one of the few expensive things I owned in order to keep my cover; not that I really needed one.

'I work, ' was all I said. He didn’t say anything for a while. 

'You don't have any close friends do you? ' He asked softly. 

'The closest thing to one would be Vi, I guess. Anyways, I have trust issues, so you get the idea right? '

He still had that dumbfounded look on his face. I guess he needed more time to process.   

I sighed and said, 'let's just finish this project ok. I don't want to talk about it anymore.'

He looked at me, 'why were you absent today? '

'I had a hangover. ' I stated. 

‘Did you go to that bar again yesterday?’

'Well I have to. I work there.' I said. 

'You serious? I thought those were just rumours going around school. '

'Nope, they're not. '

There was silence again. He started up the car and we began our drive to the library. The silence lasted till the end of the drive. I thought it would last longer but he broke it. 

'You know, I should apologise. I shouldn't have told you to tell anyone about where you live when I myself keep secrets from my friends. '

'Yeah?' I asked, a little surprised. He didn't seem like a person with secrets. He always had a smile and seemed like quite the open book.

After a pause I said, 'then why don't you tell me? You already know mine. We can just keep each other's secrets.'

He looked at me with uncertainty and then sighed deeply. I guess trusting someone like me would be kinda difficult for him. 

'Ok. But this remains between me and you.' He said, coming to a decision. 

'Sure. That's what a secret is, isn't it? '

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