The Anatomy of a Broken Heart //Completed//

75. Caleb

Answers. That's what I needed. I needed her to tell me why. What drove her to take the necklace instead of asking me for help? If she needed money, had it not been obvious that I could have helped her with anything she needed? Was it for her father?

My head was spinning and the rain didn't let me see any more clearly than the tears which stung my eyes. I rubbed them away with my fist and took a stabling breath. I was driving right to her house, but when my head cleared a little, after about half an hour of driving, I realized she'd be expecting that. She wouldn't be at the quarry either, on account of the pouring rain, so where the hell could she be? Zealand's? Not likely. Marlow's? Maybe, but it was probably best if I stayed away the night and gave her space.

There were points during every single hour I spent away from her that I grabbed my phone to dial her number but never did for fear she'd ignore me, or answer and I would be at a loss for words. But I didn't call. I didn't text. I didn't even drive by her house to see if she was home.

Instead, I waited until Monday, when I'd be forced to be in the same space with her, where I'd be forced to look at her and ask her why she did it. When Monday came, I waited until fourth period to look up from my shoes, which had been the sole focus of my attention for the past few hours. Santana wasn't in class though. She wasn't in French either and when I bumped into Marlow, she told me she had no idea where Santana was. I didn't actually believe her, but I didn't bother to press the subject.

"Why don't you just text her?" Marlow asked.

"I'm pretty sure she wouldn't reply."

"She replies to you. You're probably the only one she replies to."

"Not anymore." I started walking away, but the little blonde walked so fast to block my path, I almost toppled her over.

"What's going on, Caleb?"

Not bothering to measure my words, all the frustration inside me shot out like a bullet. "Oh, nothing really. She just stole a five thousand dollar necklace from Farrah's mother and tried to pretend she hadn't when the maid caught her and everything blew up in my fucking face when we saw her literally holding the damn thing. No biggie."

Marlow's bewilderment was obvious. She looked like I'd told her the earth was flat, and it might be because I hadn't believed Santana to be capable of something like this and she was, so why couldn't other crazy things be true? Maybe I'd reach the end of the world and jump right off of it.

"That's impossible. Santana isn't a thief."

"Then you don't know her very well," I spat.

"No. You don't know her very well." She pointed a tiny finger at me, with all the rage of an angry kitten.

"If you don't believe me, you can ask fifteen other people who saw her with the necklace."
"I wouldn't believe those jerks if they told me my name was Marlow and I had blonde hair! Seriously, this can't be true."
"Fine. If you won't believe me, then ask her yourself. I'm sure she wouldn't lie to you."
"She wouldn't and she would never take anything that wasn't hers either."

"Well, she did, Mar. And what's worse is that she just left me, no explanation or anything."

At that Marlow faltered. She looked away from my face, biting her lips, thinking. "No," she said to herself. Then to me, "No, Caleb. Something else is going on and we're going to find out what it is. Come with me." She took my hand and dragged me outside to her car.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"My house." She threw her purse into the back seat and got behind the wheel. The door locks clicked open and I got into the passenger seat. "That's where she is. She didn't want to come to school because she doesn't see the point in it if she's moving next week anyway."