SECRETS - A CALEB MCLAUGHLIN AU STORY

CHAPTER 1 - JULY 4, 2023 PART 1

CHAPTER ONE

JULY 4, 2023 - PART ONE

 In your eyes

I see there's something burning inside you

Oh, inside you

In your eyes

I know it hurts to smile, but you try to

Oh, you try to

You always try to hide the pain

You always know just what to say

I always look the other wa-

The music stops as Jacob trips on a rock.

"FUCK!" he screams to himself as he feels himself going down on the ground. He lands straight on his face. One of his earbuds goes up into his ear, and it does NOT feel good.

"Ow..." he mutters to himself.

All of a sudden, he hears running.

"Shit, you ok?!" the voice says.

Damn it, someone's coming to try to help me.

He hears the person has stopped in front of them, but he doesn't even look at them. He waves his hand up at them.

"I'm fine, really, I'm ok..." Jacob mutters.

"You sure? That looked like a hard fall," the person says.

Jacob slowly gets up, "Yeah, I'm-"

Jacob finally sees the person.

It's a young black male, he has unique, wavy hair, a goatee, earrings, and is wearing a white button up shirt with various blue lines that almost look like vines all over it, unbuttoned with no shirt underneath showing his chest, and matching shorts.

Jacob stops upon seeing this person, who lets out a small smile.

"You sure you're ok?"

"Uh... well one of my earbuds sort of jammed into my ear when I fell on it," Jacob complains as he takes it out. There's blood on it.

The person's eyes and mouth widened.

"Oh shit, dude! Let me see your ear!"

Now, Jacob is annoyed.

"No, dude, I-"

"No, let me see, let me see."

Jacob sighs, and turns his head so his bleeding ear is facing the person. He gets his phone flashlight and looks into it.

"It looks like it ruptured the inside of your ear."

There's a big, large wooden house next to them, a condo, with its porch up in the air. The person motions towards it with his head,

"Here, come inside. I'll help you clean it."

The person starts to walk towards the house, but then Jacob starts touching the person, placing his palms on his shirt then legs. The person is VERY confused.

"Uh... what are you doing?" they ask.

"Making sure you weren't planning on stabbing or shooting me when I got inside... just a precaution. I mean, going into a stranger's house and all..." Jacob explains.

"Heh," the person chuckles. "Ok. Well..."

The person lets out his hand.

"I'm Caleb. Caleb McLaughlin."