Borrowed Courage

Chapter Seven

Just great. Just fucking great. Brooke's thoughts were a mess as she trudged along the sidewalk, kicking up loose pieces of cobblestone as she went. Courtesy of staying back at school for almost twenty minutes staring at the board, she'd missed the main bus and was stuck walking an extra three miles to get home. At this point, it was becoming all too obvious that the world was conspiring against her.

And that was only the least of her problems.

Brooke stiffened, finding it harder and harder to ignore the presence of a certain someone trudging along behind her. Finally, with an exasperated sigh she whirled around to face none other than Kaleb Finch, who'd missed the bus for the same reason as she had. "Would you quit following me?"

At her words he scowled and raised his hands in mock surrender. "Geeze, it's not like I was doing it on purpose. We do live in the same apartment, you know."

His condescending tone made Brooke seethe. "I know that. But would it kill you to walk further away? I don't need to hear you breathing down my neck every afternoon."

"Like I said last night, I'm not contagious." Kaleb sniped back. "And just so you know, this isn't easy for me, either, but if we're going to do this project together, then we have to at least try to get along."

"Hard pass." She grit her teeth. "My life was just fine before you came into it."

"Oh really, because the last time I checked, you lost all your friends after your dad's trial. I don't know about you, but the way I see it, you're just as much of an outcast as me."

That hit a nerve. "You know, I wouldn't have lost all my friends if you hadn't rallied the whole freaking class against me."

Kaleb's expression hardened but he said nothing, instead speeding up to walk alongside her. They continued on in silence for a moment, until he cleared his throat. "So, what's the plan then? When are we gonna work on the project?"

"Don't know, don't care." Brooke muttered icily.

"Oh, come on." Kaleb groaned, matching her peeved expression. "This isn't something that's just gonna go away if you ignore it."

"I realise that."

"Well then if we're on the same page, then can we at least work out a time and place to meet up and make a start on it?" He prompted.

Brooke heaved a sigh. There really was no getting out of this one; at least not as far as Kaleb was concerned. Tenacious little shit. "Fine." She said. "But my place is off the table."

"I figured as much." He rolled his eyes, having expected that answer. "We'll do this at mine, then. It's not like my family hasn't had human guests before." His expression darkened. "That is, if you can tolerate being in the presence of us lowly pests."

"Oh, knock it off. You just can't help but pick a fight with me, can you?"

"Sorry." Kaleb snickered. "You make it so easy."

Brooke bit her tongue before she could retaliate, knowing he was baiting her. Instead, she exhaled through her teeth and focussed on the path in front of them. Brooke wasn't familiar with this area of town, but she'd noticed something strange about it compared to her old neighbourhood: it was ridiculously borrower-friendly. You could tell by the little green plaques on each door, engraved with the capital letter 'B'.

After their kind were discovered, it became mandatory for borrowers living in human homes to make their presence known, so that a mutual agreement could be formed about their continued residency. As the law went, humans had the right to forcibly evict borrowers from their homes and could hang a red plaque to deter others from trying to move in. The alternative was a green plaque, which permitted them entrance and lodging in a human's house.