Rose strolled over to Callum's car, only to find him missing. Glancing around, Rose noticed he was nowhere in sight, but she could hear him shouting. Rose ran as quick as possible in his direction. Callum's voice increased in volume with every step until a growing crowd soon enveloped her. Rose pushed through the mob; squeezing between the putrid bodies and eventually made her way to the front.

There, she saw Callum and Carson, the school hottie, standing inches apart. Each glared at the other. Around them, the fervent crowd of students chanted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” Seeing this, Rose’s chest tightened, and her heartbeat accelerated. Callum, you better not injure yourself.

Without hesitation, Callum laid eyes on Rose as if already knowing where she stood.

“Ambrosia, go wait by the car. You won’t want to see this,” he ordered.

“No, Ambrosia. Stay,” Carson provoked with a smirk.

“Shut up!” Callum snapped. “Ambrosia, I mean it. Go wait by the car. Please, I don’t want you to see this,” Callum pleaded, the coldness in his eyes melting some. Rose nodded.

Rose waited by his car, still being able to hear bits and pieces of what was going on. I should’ve known they’d be arguing over a girl. From what she could gather, Callum didn’t want Carson to ask the mystery girl out, who desired to in hopelessness.

“I can do whatever I want. You’re not the boss of me,” Carson stated.

Bad move… Very bad move! You should never undermine Callum’s motives! Rose criticized in her thoughts.

Callum may seem like he’s controlling at times, but he was doing what he thought was best. Rose had to believe what Callum was doing was best for this girl.

“You can’t keep protecting her. She needs to experience the world, good or bad,” Carson sneered.

“You!” Callum snarled, sounding as though he couldn’t take anymore.

In a flash, cheers and sounds of fighting filled the air. Before Rose knew it, she was running with all her might.

As Rose reached them, Carson was pinned to the ground with Callum atop him.

“Don’t you ever talk about her like that again!” Callum warned.

“Callum! What happened?! Are you hurt? Please, stop. I think he’s learned his lesson!” Rose burst out in terror. Surprised, Callum glanced at her and stood up in reluctance.

Looking over his shoulder, Callum advised in a low growl, “If I ever catch you talking about her like that again, I’ll come for you.” Beginning to walk towards his car, Callum demanded, “Let’s go, Ambrosia.”

Rose glanced at a fearful, cowering Carson, and her heart ached for him. The urge to comfort him almost overwhelmed her, but Rose knew not to anger Callum further.

“Um, I wanted to know if I could stay. I made a new friend, and she asked to hang out at the park. Can I? Please?” Rose asked as kindly as she could.

“What friend? Is she giving you a ride home?” Callum questioned, glaring at Rose full of anger.

“Catalina. She said she’d give me a ride. I promise to be home no later than-- seven?”

“Okay. You can stay, but be careful; I don’t want you getting hurt,” Callum muttered, softening. He hugged Rose as if it were their last.

“Thank you!” Rose exclaimed, kissing him on the cheek. “And we’ll talk about what just happened later,” she stated as she ran off, leaving a worried Callum behind. Rose could tell by his dumbfounded expression he was not looking forward to their next talk.