Chapter eight:

I sit in front of the mirror. My skin is paler than ever and there are dark circles under my eyes. I haven't touched food or talked to anyone from the past week.

It has been a week since mum left me alone with this miserable world. I haven't been sober much lately either. I don't know how everyone else is. I don't even want to know. Wes, Charles, Selena and Ellie come by to check up on me. I don't leave the room so every day Ellie serves me a plate, keeps it near the door and comes back to take the rotten food since I don't eat anything.

There's another knock on the door. When I don't say anything, the door opens and I see Wes' reflection on the mirror.

"What do you want?" I ask furiously and turn around. He walks towards my bed and sits on it.

"You can't stay in here forever, Cal."

I clench my jaw. "I can."

"Why don't you head out for some fresh air?" He suggests. Why can't everyone just shut the hell up and mind their business?

"I'm fine. Leave me alone."

"No. You are going out. I'm ordering you to. Find something that will distract you for a while."

I fall silent. Then someone's face flashes in front of me and my blood begins to boil. I'm fuming with anger. I can't stop it. Not anymore.

●●●

I stamp towards the café. When my eyes fall on the person I was looking for, I barge into the café. His eyes meet mine and a sudden terror falls across his face.

Good. That's what I want.

I pull him by his collar and punch through his face. I hear a few gasps from behind. He looks at me, horrified. I don't care. I punch him again and he falls on the ground. His nose starts to bleed and I could feel fluid on my knuckles. Blood. His blood.

Danny gets up and lunges for me but I dodge. "YOU FUCKING BASTARD! IT'S YOUR FAULT!" I yell while punching him repeatedly.

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone, " he says in a low, cowardly voice while I punch him again.

"SHUT UP! YOU HURT THE PERSON I LOVE AND YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY FROM THIS!"

People are watching, recording and gasping. I raise my fist to punch him again when someone pulls me back. Danny is pulled back by some man as well. I suck a breath. My eyes don't leave his.

"Leave me alone!" I yell.

"Stop it, Caleb. Beating anyone does no good." The voice falls on my ear and I pause. All my anger is washed off and replaced with something else. Some strange feeling. Unknown.

I look at her. Her eyes are filled with concern.

"I don't know what he did but you shouldn't beat him. Don't do this," she whispers. Her one hand is wrapped around my arm, pulling me back. She extends her other hand and cups my face.

I'm breathing heavily. I don't say anything. I slowly begin to calm down. Her forehead touches mine and we just stay there for a moment, forgetting about the world around us. Just like the old times.

"Caleb..." she breaths and I realize what I've been doing. I push myself away from her. Fury finds it's way back to me.

"You," I say. Venom is filled in my voice. She looks hurt by the tone of my voice.

"Stay away from me."

Her pupils dilate and her lips begin to quiver. "I..was...I was just trying...t..to..." Sloane stammers.

"What? Help me?! You don't have to. You don't even know me. So, stay away, Nora Andrews. You don't have to enter my life just to leave me again," I spit and walk out of the café. I don't look back. She knows I don't love her anymore and now, the world knows, too. I hope this makes the headline. I hope this destroys Nora Andrews' life.

•••

"You're on the news," Ellie remarks as she switches the news channel.

"Who is this Nora Andrews? I don't think I've seen her. Plus, the camera angle doesn't show her face."

She doesn't know. No one knows that it's Sloane.

"You know her," I say blankly.

"Yeah? I don't think I've heard the name."

There's a slight change in her voice. She sounds a little happier. Probably because I'm talking which I haven't done in a week. I look at the television she is watching. The scene of me beating the crap out Danny is displayed all over it. Then comes the part where Sloane pulls me back and cups my face. I look away.

"That's Amber Night with a new name," I mutter.

Her eyes widen as she snaps her face towards me. "WHAT THE HELL?" She whisper-yells.

"Yeah. She changed her name."

"You knew it all this time?" She is slightly annoyed.

"Since I met her on the flight."

"Oh, my God, Caleb West. You nasty bugger. Why the hell did you treat her so poorly? She didn't deserve to be yelled like that. She was trying to help you!"

I scoff. "Treat her poorly? What about the time she left? What about when she broke up with me just after we kissed? She broke up with me just when I was about to say that I loved her. She was playing, Ellie. She probably still is. Why don't you understand?" I yell back.

"Don't you ever have second thoughts about it?" Her voice is gentle. "I know she loved you, too. There must've been a mistake. She wouldn't play to lose us. She lost us. It wasn't a game, Caleb. It could be something else but not a game."

I don't bother to answer back but her words echo in my mind. Again, and again.