Darkling

14| Crush

Chapter 14: Crush (Callum's POV)

We were walking in our hallway when we heard footsteps on the staircase. I grabbed her hand and pulled her to my room. It was the last one in the hallway, and chances were, we couldn't be seen there if I used my power to somewhat blend into the wall and make the last light dim. 

"What are you doing?" she whispered while I put her against the wall and glanced up at the light, moving my finger the way I did in the auditorium that day and dimmed it. "What the hell?" she mumbled. "Callum, why are we—" 

"Shh." I put my finger over my lips. 

She mimicked my actions and put her finger on her lips, looking at me with amusement swirling in her eyes. She bit back a laugh and settled for a smile. 

I rolled my eyes and stepped closer to her. 

She sunk further into the wall. 

"Do we know if anyone is missing from downstairs?" someone's voice echoed. 

I looked to the beginning of the hallway and made out the figure of two security guards. 

"Not yet," the other guard replied. "Hello?!" they called out. "If anyone's up here, you're meant to go back down to the gym!" 

They walked further into the hallway and I stepped closer to her, putting my hands on the wall from either side of her, and then looked at the wall over her shoulder, making sure that we were invisible and nothing but a shadow to anyone who sees. We would be a shadow, but still invisible because it's also dark in here now. With no light, there's no shadow, we're just invisible. 

I kept my eyes on the wall and avoided eye contact with her because not only would I see what she's feeling, she would see whatever it is that's in my eyes right now too. And as tempted as I am to read her mind, I'm holding off. 

"Hey! Anyone up here?!" 

I pressed a little more into her, my grip on the wall tightened, my arms straining a little. It makes my muscles ache sometimes. I'm not meant to be hiding someone else with me like this. 

"No one's up here, come on." 

When their footsteps faded, I relaxed my hand and let out a small breath. I took a step back and we stared at each other in silence for a minute. I cleared my throat, "Do you... want to come in?" 

She hesitated to answer. 

"If we're in separate rooms, they might catch us both. But if they knock on your door and no one's in there, they'll probably think we're both somewhere else on campus," I explained. 

"Yeah, that makes sense, okay," she nodded. 

I unlocked the door and we slipped inside quickly and then closed it as quietly as I could. I turned around, seeing her looking around the room, sort of taking it in. I walked to my closet and grabbed a fresh t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. "Do you mind if I go shower?" I asked. 

"Sure, no problem," she said, looking out of my window, her finger trailing along with my desk. 

"Okay, I'll be back." I went into the bathroom, lit up two candles for some kind of light and took a quick shower, and got dressed. I ruffled my hair with the towel and then stepped back into the room, but not after blowing the candles out. 

The curtains were open so the room was lit up with sunlight. "Wow," she chuckled. "You told me you read but I didn't think you meant this much." She stared at my bookcase which was kind of overflowing with books. 

They were stacked, squished into the shelf, and barely hanging on. 

She turned to me. "All these books and you never read a romance novel until the one I gave you? Sounds like a lie to me," she sang, scanning the shelf. "Ah-ha! Pride and Prejudice. Classic," she smirked, pointing to it.