Let It Out

Part 3

Caleb went through the remaining weeks without so much as a peep from himself or from Damian. Maybe he had left Caleb alone after all? When he didn't see Damian the next week, then the week after that, he assumed it was safe to be singing again when he was alone while cleaning.

It was a Wednesday when it happened.

Coming back to his classroom from lunch break, Caleb found a letter sticking right out of his notebook. That was very weird. He never received any personal/private messages, or letters for that matter, from anybody. Mostly, classmates and other students just spoke to him directly, then he'd awkwardly mumble a response accordingly. Then that was it. No other interaction between them. Caleb liked to keep his conversations with school mates strictly ‘professional' if he could help it.

It was always 'Hey, what's the test about?' or 'Do you have notes on this?' or even, 'What were we supposed to do for the project again?'. Anything other than that, then Caleb would try to defuse that conversation quickly, or else he might say or do something to embarrass himself.

He pulled out the folded piece of paper from his notebook and read:

"I know it was you singing that first time I asked you. Don't try to deny it. I've been secretly listening and watching to see if you really were that talented singer we were talking about."

Caleb stopped reading, his hands shaking from fear. How could I be so CARELESS? I made sure no one was around last week and the week before too. Regardless, it seemed that Damian now knew about Caleb's singing and was probably gonna spread the word about it to everyone. The thought of this made Caleb shake even more. Despite his shivering, he continued:

"Let's meet tomorrow. Your cleaning group mates will probably ditch you again anyway. Until then, I will keep your little, not so little, talent a secret. - Damian"

Caleb set the paper face down on his desk as more of his classmates piled into the room. He couldn't move from his seat. He didn't know what to do. Should he skip school tomorrow? Maybe hide out somewhere while his parents thought he was on his way to school?

Caleb's thoughts swirled around his head like a storm. While he was processing the message, he was unconsciously ripping up the paper message from Damian. A few classmates asked him if he was alright. Caleb just faked his smiles and said he was fine. Then when they left, he'd just go back to looking devastated and pale.

Throughout the rest of that Wednesday, Caleb's mind was constantly badgered by the coming encounter with the very persistent ninth grader. He really couldn't think of a way out of it. He decided instead he would just try to deny it again, even more strongly this time, and hope Damian would go find another more talented kid.

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THE NEXT DAY
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The final bell rang to signal the dismissal for the day. Caleb's classmates started packing up their things and heading out the doors of their room. Caleb just sat there, his hands going cold for the millionth time that day. It was finally time. Damian was gonna confront Caleb about his lie and his talent. To other people it may not be a big deal, but to Caleb.... He wanted to just fly to the other side of the world and hide for the rest of his life.

As expected, his group mates left all too early. Caleb had hoped at least one of them would stay with him to keep Damian away. Defeated, Caleb just went on with his cleaning tasks alone, without even a single note escaping his lips. He left the doors open so he wouldn't be surprised by Damian like before.

Caleb worked diligently and quickly. Maybe if he finished early, he could escape before Damian's class was even over. Ninth graders had an extra thirty minutes of school compared to eighth graders.

He finished most of the tasks and was down to just closing up the windows and sweeping the floor. Caleb quickly shut each window and locked it, making sure he didn't slam them too hard for fear he might break the glass. When he finished that, Caleb walked briskly towards the broom closet and grabbed the broom and dust pan.

Setting the pan on the side, Caleb practically ran while sweeping the floor. His heart was pounding and the adrenaline rush pushed him to finish sweeping precisely and properly. He scooped up the gathered dirt and threw it into the bin. As he was placing the sweeping materials back, he heard a knock in the door.

Oh no

Caleb slowly turned around to find Damian standing there in the same dark green hoodie with his backpack slung on one of his shoulders. "Oh I see you've just finished all the cleaning. That was fast." Caleb closed the cabinet and slowly went for his things.

Before Caleb even got halfway to his armchair desk, Damian spoke, "Wait" Caleb looked at him then Damian continued quickly, "You got my letter, I'm guessing. Please, I just wanna talk about the talent show."

Caleb replied tersely, "I don't want to be in your stupid talent show." Damian didn't back down however, "Why not? With such an amazing voice, why hide it?"

Caleb said, "I told you before, that voice wasn't mine. It was someone else's." He hoped and prayed Damian would take his pathetic lie. Unexpectedly, Damian pulled out his phone and showed him a video.

Caleb's blood ran cold and he stiffened like stone. The video showed him singing while cleaning in the very same classroom they were in right now. The one taking the video was positioned behind the door, while the door was opened with the slightest crack.

The video ended without him finishing the song. Caleb's face began burning red hot. "Delete that...." was all he could say. When Damian didn't respond, Caleb said again while walking towards him, "Delete that!" Caleb tried grabbing the phone from Damian, but he was too tall.

Damian yelled over Caleb's own screams for him to delete the video. "Why did you lie to me in the first place!?" Caleb stopped himself, realizing what he was doing and what he probably looked like to Damian: crazy and weird and all the other awful things Caleb was thinking about himself.

He stopped trying to grab the phone and turned away from Damian, crossing his arms. Caleb could feel a few tears starting to form in his eyes. "Well? You didn't have to lie about it. What's the bid deal anyway?"

Damian walked forward a bit to confront Caleb again, but stopped abruptly as he heard a small whimper escape from Caleb. "Oh" Damian noticed what was wrong and immediately felt bad. "P-please... delete the video...." Caleb said again, trying to keep his angry facade to mask his growing sadness and embarrassment.

Damian, guilt filling his whole body for making him cry, said softly, "Okay, alright. I'm deleting it now." He held out the phone and slowly deleted the video, making sure Caleb saw it. Caleb said, "Thank you..." Then he sat down on his armchair. Burying his eyes into his hands, he heaved a big sigh, shuddering a bit to conceal his sniffles.

Damian, still guilty, sat down beside him and said, "I'm sorry... Wanna talk about it?"

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A/N:

Hi readers! Thanks for reading this part of my short story “Let It Out". Whew, writing this kinda made me emotional myself...

Feel free to comment, vote, or follow me if you like my works. Thanks again, and I wish you all a happy and efficient day!!