Truth (Calum Hood)

The Boyfriend

Rose turned to me and gestured to my newfound enemy. "Katherine, this is my boyfriend Luke." He turned all his attention to me and scanned me with his eyes. I felt like he was a hunter and i was his prey. "Luke, this is Katherine. She's new and she's super nice." Her smile was filled with innocence.

He didn't take his eyes off me as he said, "Hello Katherine."

I could barely manage to squeak out, "Hi Luke."

Rose tried to introduce me to the other people at the table but I couldn't get my eyes off Luke.

She began to notice our stare down. "Do you guys know each other or something?" Her hand trailed around his shoulders as she spoke.

"Katherine and I met this morning on the bus." Luke said every word like a challenge. Like he was testing me to see what I would say. He knew I was bluffing when I threatened him before.

"I'm Katherine Norway. If I were you I wouldn't mess with me again." The words I never should have said.

"Yeah," I replied. "Just briefly though." I tried to keep my face pleasant for Rose's sake.

Luke's glare became more intimidating as the seconds passed. I could feel a lump in my throat beginning to form. It always happened when I got scared.

"Well that's good!" Rose chimed. "You both have perfect music taste so I'm sure you'll get along great."

Just because he was wearing a green day shirt didn't mean that I would hate him any less. Calum didn't deserve what Luke does to him. And I'm sure that what I saw on the bus today wasn't the worst of it.

Soon Luke's eyes left mine and focused on something behind me. I turned around and saw Calum walking towards us.

"What the hell is he doing?" I muttered to myself. Soon Calum appeared by my side and leaned across the table glaring directly at Luke.

"Well if it isn't the freak," Luke's words sent a pang in my chest as I was once again reminded of what I called Calum just earlier today.

"Who are you calling a freak?" Calum responded surprisingly confident.

Luke chuckled and stood up. His tall stature greatly added to his intimidating figure. "What are you looking for, a fight?" His eyes gleamed with excitement.

Rose looked shocked and confused. Did she really not know what kind of person Luke was? It surprised me that such a kind and bright person would be with someone like him, but it always seemed to be that way. The best get paired with the worst.

Calum didn't waver. "Stay away from Katherine."

"Oh, so now it's your turn to man up and protect your savior?" Luke gestured to me.

"Luke, babe..." Rose tried to get her boyfriend's attention but he just swatted at her.

"I'm getting tired of your shit Luke, everyone is," Calum was speaking louder now. "It's time for you to find a new hobby. Stop picking on other people. You are too pathetic to deal with your own problems so you take out your anger on other people and it needs to stop. You're not the king of this school Luke so stop acting like some tyrant."

By this time the whole entire cafeteria was silent and listening in on the argument. Luke's face turned so red that I was sure he would burst.

Luke lunged over the table and shoved Calum. He stumbled back a few steps but quickly recovered and shoved Luke back. The entire student body roared and people started pulling out their phones to video tape the scene.

I panicked and didn't know what to do. I couldn't let Calum get hurt or in trouble for something as stupid as this. So I jumped in front of him.

"Move out of the way, brat," Luke spat. "This isn't the time to be 'Katherine the Great.'" He looked hungry for some action and didn't take his eyes off his opponent.

I turned to Calum. "Don't be stupid Cal, come on."

"Just let me do this, go so you don't get hurt." He tried to guide me out of the middle but I was stubborn and stayed in my place.

Luke got tired of my presence and before I knew it, it was too late. "I said move out of the way bitch."

The last thing I saw was the raging fire in Luke's eyes before he shoved me to the ground.

I heard gasps as I laid on the cold cafeteria floor, trying to process what had just happened.

Rose looked as shocked as I felt as she turned in anger to her boyfriend. "Luke!" She screamed at him.

The realization of what he had done began to sink in and Luke's eyes began to soften. "I-I didn't mean to hit her, I..."

As I lifted my head to look up at Calum, he looked as if he would kill Luke in a split second. But instead he knelt down to me and took my hands in his. "Are you okay?" He asked me. I was able to nod in response. I was actually fine, it was just the shock that got me.

Calum lifted me up and turned around to deliver one message to Luke. "If you ever do anything like this again, I'll kill you."

Luke looked fazed for a moment but once again hardened his stare. "This isn't over Hood!" he called after us.

We walked away with our arms wrapped around each other and everyone's eyes glued upon us.

~~~~~~~

"Really, it's fine." I sat on a chair in the corner of the nurse's office while Calum held an ice pack against my leg. "It's just a couple of bruises."

He looked at me and ran his fingers over the spots of newly forming black and blue on my arms. "Luke did this to you," he whispered.

"Yes I know, he sucks," I sighed. I still couldn't believe that Rose was dating a person like him. I don't even know if I could be friends with her while she was with him. I'm sure she's too nice to just dump him, even if she knows what he's capable of.

"This has gone too far, he just pushed you over in front of the whole school. He can't get away with this." Calum looked determined.

"I'm not majorly hurt." I hoped he wouldn't make a big deal out of this. "You should just let it slide." Calum looked at me like I had seven heads. "Since when have you cared about me anyway?" I added.

He stared me straight in the face. "You stood up to Luke this morning on the bus for me, because I was too weak to do it myself. But not anymore. This ends right now. I'm not letting him get to you, he'll pay for what he did."

I was silent as I remembered what I had said to Calum before we got on the bus. The word that was worse than anything else now that I knew what it meant around here. Freak.

"I'm so sorry Calum." I let a tear slip down my face. I hate hurting people and there I was, insulting someone over a stupid argument. "You're not a freak, I didn't mean it this morning."

He entwined my hand in his and rubbed his thumb against mine. "It's okay," he mumbled. "It's true."

"Calum-" I started but was interrupted by the door opening. In came Michael, looking concerned.

"Hi Katherine," he said. He nodded at Calum but noticed our hands entwined and swallowed deeply. He tried to recover by continuing, "I'm here to take you to the rest of your classes...if that's okay." He waited awkwardly by the door.

Calum gave my hand a gentle squeeze before I got up and followed Michael out the door. "Have a good day Ms. Norway," the nurse smiled from her desk. Its a bit too late to have a good day now.

"Are you okay? I saw what happened," Michael asked once we got out of the room and into the hallways.

"I'm alright, really." I forced a smile that I knew he would see right through. But he didn't ask anything more.

The whole scene in nurse's office with Calum and Michael was super uncomfortable. I didn't miss Michael's nervous glance at me and Calum and honestly, I don't have the strength to think about that right now. Boys are the least of my worries.

I sat silently through the rest of Michael's classes and tried to avoid thinking about what would happen when I had to face Sam.