N O T I C E D

Chapter 27: Music practice and a sick Kaleb.

-WRITTEN-: 13th September 2022

-PUBLISHED-: 20th November 2022.

The guitar strummed slowly before coming to a stop as Darcy noticed Nevaeh watching him. His eyes seemed to dim as he plastered a smile on his face. "Hi," He said as his eyes flickered towards us.

"Um, hi?" Nevaeh opened her mouth before closing it. "Um, we've booked the room for today," I told him as he nodded. "I was just about to leave," Darcy started packing up as I hesitated to speak before deciding to let him stay. "Have you booked the room as well?" I asked him as he nodded. "Yeah, but it's fine," He said as I shook my head. "It's okay we can share and besides we probably won't be here long as we have to start practicing for our exams," I told him remembering that my parents had given us an hour and half before they would come pick us up at 5:00 on the dot.

We set up our instruments as Kaleb walked into the practice room, his hair was messy, and his shirt's top buttons were undone. We locked eyes as I saw him smirk at my motion to his look.

He looked hot.

"Glad you made it," Kenzie said as she laughed at my reaction. I averted my eyes to Darcy who seemed to be watching the scene with amused eyes. I looked away from him as I noticed Nevaeh standing in the corner of the room looking at Darcy and then at her phone. "So, what exams are you taking?" Nevaeh asked me as I chuckled. "You know which ones Nev,"

The two of us started to bicker as Kaleb banged his head against the table. "Ouch," He mumbled as everyone frowned at his behavior and sent me a look. I nodded before walking up to him.

"What's up?" I asked him as I sat down next to him. "Nothing, I've got a slight headache," He told me as I placed my hand against his forehead. "What are you doing here in this condition?" I asked him, realizing that his forehead was hot.

"I just- - - I walked in the rain," He said and sniffed. "Come on," I said as I helped him up. "We're gonna head out early," I said as I grabbed my phone and messaged my dad to come pick me up. I explained to him how Kaleb wasn't feeling well and how we could drop him off before heading home.

"My dad should be here soon," I told him as he leaned against me while we made our way to the carpark. "I'm sorry," He said as I told him it was okay. "I care for you Kaleb and nothings gonna change that,"

We waited in silence as my dad's car turned the corner and started making its way towards us.

================

There was a change of plans as we arrived at Kaleb's house. It turned out that no one else was home so my dad allowed us to stay over for a while and I had assigned the responsibility of taking care of Kaleb.

I had given him some blankets and ordered him to change into something warm and comfortable. I had also made some hot chocolate for the both of us and coffee for my dad. I had taken out some medicine for him to use.

I heard footsteps enter the living room. I turned around to see Kaleb as he wore a hoodie and sweatpants with fluffy socks. "Hey," I made some hot chocolate for us," I said as he nodded before grabbing both cups.

He handed me one and took one for himself. I shifted and made space for him. He grabbed the tv remote and passed it to me as I flicked through Netflix before clicking on 'The School for Good and Evil' movie.

It came out recently and I had seen a few spoilers on Instagram. "Is this, okay?" I asked him as he nodded. "My cousin read the books and watched the movie, he criticized the movie, but he also knew that the author wanted something fresh and different rather than an exact copy to his book series." I nodded before clicking play as the movie began.