Conveniently Inspired

Chapter Twenty Five

"So, have you been talking with your mom at all since the big fight?" Kaden asked. They were walking down the hall together. Skylar clasped both hands together into Kaden's one hand that was swung over her shoulder.

"Not really," she sighed. "She's gone back to pretending like nothing even happened. I don't understand. Literally everybody but her is so excited for me. I mean, she's my mother, isn't she supposed to be my number one supporter?"

Kaden kissed the side of her head. "It's okay, I can fill that role instead."

She glanced at him, eyes and heart full of admiration. How on earth did she get so lucky?

They stopped at his locker so he could drop off some books when the intercom overhead crackled to life. "Attention, Lincoln High Students. Can I please have Kaden Brooks to the guidance office, I repeat, Kaden Brooks to the guidance office. Thank you."

He turned to Skylar with a curious brow, but neither of them thought anything about it. "Must be a mix up with my course schedule next semester" he shrugged. She walked him to the guidance office, but they both stopped short when they saw who occupied the room. Two people were there, alongside the principal: a tall, burly cop in full uniform, and a woman wearing business casual attire.

"What the hell," Kaden muttered.

Skylar looked at him with worry. "Do you want me to wait for you?"

He shook his head. "No, you're gonna be late for class. It's okay, I'll catch up with you at the end of the day." With a quick peck on the lips, they parted ways. Skylar couldn't help but glance behind several times. Through the glass windows, she saw Kaden shaking hands with both the police officer and the lady. Their faces were authoritative and stoic. From their body language, it was clear that whatever was happening was a serious matter. Was he in trouble for something? Her stomach churned at that thought.

Throughout her last classes, Skylar couldn't concentrate. She snuck her phone beneath her desk, shooting 'Are you ok?' texts to Kaden every once in a while. He didn't answer, which was very much unlike him. Her concern grew by the hour. At lunch, he wasn't there, so she ate by herself. Usually, Kaden would at least phone her to let her know that he'd be running late, or he wouldn't be able to make it.

There was an intuitive feeling deep in her gut that said something bad was going to happen. She was sure of it.

* * *

After school, Skylar waited in the parking lot near Kaden's truck. 15 minutes passed by. It wasn't until half the school had left the lot that Kaden finally showed up. She watched his figure exit the building, gradually making his way towards her. When he was close enough to her, Skylar drew a breath at the distraught look on his face. Her stomach dropped.

"Kaden" she breathed out. "What happened? Are you okay?" She reached for his arm, but he yanked it away and side stepped her. Ignoring her, he unlocked the truck and shoved his bag in the back. Skylar froze, unsure of what was happening.

"Kaden? Talk to me. What's going on?"

He slammed the truck door with an unnecessary amount of force before alas turning to face her. His jaw was tight, his eyes scorching as he zeroed his gaze onto her. "They're doing an entire investigation at my house. My dad is trying to press charges against Paul and my mom's in hysterics. My father's trying to get full custody of me."

Skylar waited for more, but it didn't come. "Isn't this a good thing? Now you get to go somewhere safe, where you don't have to see him anymore."

He barked out a harsh laugh. "You don't get it. If things go the way my dad intends them to, then Paul would go to jail, but my mother will get charged for child abuse." Skylar's heart sped up. "I'm still seventeen, so I'd have to go live with my father full time. And he lives a good two hours away. I'd have to move." Her heart stopped for some good time.

"Oh my god. I- I didn't know. Kaden-"

"It was you, wasn't it?"

Skylar blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You're the only person I've told about this." He pointed to his eye. "Nobody else knows. Except you." He narrowed his eyes. Skylar took a step back. He'd never looked at her like this before.

"I- I'm sorry, but I couldn't just stay quiet about something like this!"

Kaden was shaking his head. He rubbed his nose with the side of his fist, glaring at a car driving past them. "I trusted you. You promised me you were gonna keep your mouth shut about this."

"He was going to hurt you again, Kaden, did you honestly expect me to keep this a secret? I did it for your safety!" She took a tiny step forward. "Please, Kaden, I didn't know this was going to happen. I had no idea your mother would get dragged into this, I wasn't thinking-"

"No, you weren't," he said firmly. "I can't- god, I can't even look at you right now." She flinched. She'd never seen him this angry before, least of all at her. She couldn't understand what she did wrong. There were some things you kept quiet about, but this definitely wasn't one of them.

"You don't mean that," Skylar muttered. "If things were reversed, you'd tell somebody for me too."

"But it's not like that. You have this perfect family, you don't-" He stopped himself, running hands angrily through his hair. "You don't understand."

"Kaden-"

"Don't" he snapped.

She sighed, done with trying. He was distressed and clearly needed time to process everything. No amount of begging in the current moment would fix anything. "Can we please just leave and talk this through later?"

Kaden dug through his back pocket. He grabbed her wrist and placed his car keys into her palm. She wrinkled her brows, not understanding. "You take the truck. Go drive yourself home."

She stared at the keys in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

But he was already walking away. "I can't be next to you right now, Skylar. I'm sorry."

"Kaden!" she yelled after him. "How are you gonna get home?"

"I'm staying with somebody else tonight" he hollered over his shoulder without glancing back at her. And that was it. He kept walking, leaving her alone with nothing but his keys and a shattered heart.