We were all ordered to go into the gymnasium, so we all went there once the emergency lights switched on. Everyone scattered around the room, sitting on the floor, leaning against the mats and walls, exhausted. I couldn't find Daisy anywhere, nor did I want to risk losing Callum in the crowd too, so I stuck with him and we both settled down, leaning against the wall, planting our asses on the floor.

"I'm very tired," I said, mostly to myself. "How long will this blackout be?" I looked at him.

"I don't know. It could be over the next second or it might last for a few hours," he sighed, leaning his head back on the wall.

"I really want to sleep," I whined, putting my head on his shoulder.

The emergency lights in the entire room flickered and then slowly brightened up again.

"Can these lights go out too?"

"Not usually, no," he cleared his throat.

"Can I ask you something? It's kind of personal, so you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Okay," he agreed.

"Why do you and Atticus hate each other so much?"

He thought for a minute. "My ex-girlfriend cheated on me. With him."

My eyes widened, "Why would she do that?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why would she cheat on you?" He turned to look at me and I lifted my head from his shoulder. "That sounds like a pretty stupid decision to me. What happened to her?"

"She left," he answered quickly.

"It sounds like she was playing you both."

"I don't know if she was playing him. But she was definitely playing me," he scoffed, rolling his eyes and softly shaking his head, staring straight ahead of him.

I put my head back down, ignoring the people that kept looking our way. "She sounds pretty stupid to me."

"And why is that?"

"Because you're telling me that she cheated on you. Of course, that makes her stupid. What else do you call someone who has something so great and blows it?"

"And what makes you think I'm so great?"

"I was talking about your relationship. Assuming that it was great," I said, trying not to smile. "But yeah, I think you're pretty great."

"Why?"

"All you've done since I got here was help me. You were a little dickish at first but..." I trailed off with a shrug.

"I was dickish? You were clumsy and very unobservant of your surroundings. You never watched where you were going."

I scoffed, pulling back to look at him. "You bumped into me too. And I saved your can of coke."

He turned to me, amusement swirling in his eyes. "Did you? Funny how I don't remember that." I gave his arm a push and he chuckled, not even budging.

"Clara."

I looked up, my smile faltering but I kept it up. "Hey," I smiled.

"Can I steal you for a minute?" Atticus asked.

"Of course you want to steal her," Callum mumbled.

I elbowed his ribs before standing up. "What's up?"

"Can we talk? Alone?"

I glanced at Callum who was just glaring at Atticus. "Okay," I shrugged.

We walked a few feet away from Callum and then he started talking. "I'm really sorry about what happened in the cafeteria that day. I had no idea Finn would behave like that with you and I'm so sorry I didn't do anything about it. I hope you don't... you know, hate me."

"I don't know you enough to hate you," I deadpanned.

He blinked.

"I'm kidding," I chuckled. "It's okay. I can't hold you responsible for something he did. I don't hate you," I shook my head.

"So, we're good?"

We literally don't even know each other.

I nodded anyway, "Yeah, we're good."

Then his friends called him over so he walked to them and I walked back to Callum, sitting where I previously was.

"What did he say to you?" he questioned.

"He was—" I cut myself short. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm curious," he admitted.

"He was apologizing for what Finn did. And because he didn't step in and stop him," I answered truthfully.

"Did he tell you why he didn't step in and stop him?" He turned to look at me.

"No," I said slowly. "But why does that matter?"

"Why doesn't it matter?"

"Because he didn't step in and stop him. That's the point," I shrugged.

"That does bother you, right?"

"No," I answered, tying my laces. "Because he didn't help, but you did." I glanced at him, straightening my legs out in front of me. "Oh hey, you have an eyelash on you," I pointed out, reaching up and pulling it off. "Make a wish."

He stared at me blankly. I don't know if he's confused or something else. But it's weird.

I grabbed his hand, putting the lash on the back of his palm. "Make a wish and blow," I nodded.

He stared at me for a little longer and then blew on the back of his hand. "There," he replied.

"What?" I laughed when he wouldn't look away from me.

"You are weird," he nodded.

"Why? Because I'm monotonous and eerily secretive like everyone else around here?" I snorted.

"Secretive?" he questioned.

"I feel like everyone here is hiding something. Or maybe I just feel out of place because I'm the new girl, I don't know." I put my head back on his shoulder.

He stiffened under me a little but a minute later he didn't seem so tense.

"Would you kill me if I fell asleep like this?" I mumbled, watching everyone.

It was starting to get hot now that the air conditioning was off and had been for a while. And after about an hour in the gym, everyone was desperate for some cool air. But we weren't allowed to leave the room. I started fanning myself and then moved my shirt around to let some air in.

"Two minutes," Callum mumbled before standing up and walking to the principal. They talked for a second, she shook her head and something, seeming a little stern. And then he sighed in defeat, rolling his eyes, and then started walking back over. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head, and only then did I realize that more than half the guys here had already done that. He threw it over his shoulder and then came and sat beside me. "There's no way we can leave," he groaned, standing in front of me.

Wyatt came over and they talked for a minute.

And I stared. I gawked. I observed.

Oh my God.

Callum's eyes cut to mine. I blinked and looked up at his eyes instead of his very beautifully sculpted body.

Can you imagine how much effort that takes?

He said something to Wyatt and then he walked away and Callum took his seat beside me. "What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"Nothing," I shook my head, trying not to look at him.

I can't deny that he's attractive. I can deny that I'm attracted to him though. But for how long?

"Clara?"

"Yes?" I turned to look at him.

He looked at me, seeming amused.

"What?" I blinked in confusion.

"Nothing," he chuckled.

I changed the subject, "Will they keep us here even after a few hours go by?"

"No, once it's been two hours, they'll let us go to our rooms. We'll get candles to keep some light going in our rooms," he answered.

"Isn't that like... a safety hazard? Every room being full of candles?"

He opened his mouth to say something but then stopped. "Don't worry about that, we have precautions."

"Can we sneak out?" I whispered.

"That's a bad idea."

"Bad ideas always make for good stories," I said pointedly.

He thought for a minute and then shrugged, "Fine." He stood up and held his hand out. I grabbed it and pulled myself up. I took a step forward but he jerked me back. "We stay close to the walls," he whispered.

"Why?" I frowned in confusion.

He leaned in by my ear and said, "Because it's the only way to get out unnoticed."

All right, whatever that means then.

We both stood against the wall for a minute first and then he started walking, taking me with him as the emergency lights dulled and flickered a little. And we stayed close to the walls and went by completely unnoticed.

Once we were out of there and we started walking in the dimly lit hallway, I looked behind us. "How did we manage to do that?" I chuckled. Seriously, it was like impossible.

"Everyone was busy and it was considerably dark," he let out a small laugh as we reached the staircase.

"Check if anyone has left!" someone's voice boomed through the empty corridors, echoing.

"Come on," he whispered, taking my hand again and we started running up the stairs, even in the dark. When we reached the corner, we took a break to make sure no one was around and then walked at a regular speed.

"Won't they look for us?" I asked as we reached our floor.

"It's not very likely that they'll notice we're gone," he smirked at me.

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