Nic's Story

14

It has been an hour since Barbara locked us up like two criminals. Technically we were criminals. Caleb has been restlessness the whole time. He had tried to break the lock, to bend the rod, to shake the gate, even to widen the tiny window in the back wall. But the structure was solid. Barbara made sure her horses had no chance of escaping or being stolen. Eventually the torch died and the Count of Monte Cristo in Caleb gave up too.

"Fuck!'' My inmate reminded a trapped lion wildly pacing from side to side of its prison.

"Why are YOU not angry?" Caleb asked and then answered for me "Ah, I forgot! You don't care about the prom night, you don't care about anything or anybody".

All this time I sat quietly in the corner and now I felt as if the aimlessly marching army just realised where my hiding place was and changed the direction towards it.

"That's not true" I protested.

Caleb came up to the pile of straw I was sitting on. The moonlight lit up the blue in his saddened eyes.

 "You put my life in danger, Nic".  

I wanted to say something but he did not let me.

"You know, if you did go through with it," he went on "that would be a murder, not a suicide, a murder. You would be a murderer...You did not care about my life or my family, how they would feel, my sister....you wanted a second of your selfish satisfaction that you told fuck you to everyone, outsmarted everyone."

His words were slicing me like million tiny blades.

"Caleb, I would never...." I tried to defend myself but he was too upset.

"So why did you tell me then?"

"I don't know".

"I know! You wanted to show me that I mean nothing, that...".

"No" I stood up in front of him face to face, bravely holding his stare. 

"I told you, because ...because you had so many reasons to hate me." I was looking into the blue ice, breathing heavily, "I told you because I wanted you to know my worst moment, so you would realise I was not worthy of your hate".

Caleb narrowed his beautiful ghost like eyes.

"What? You are not making any sense, Johnson" he said calmer.

"My mom told me everything" I confessed. "That made me sick. Your family fell apart because of what my mom did".

Caleb bit his lower lip. That topic was sensitive for him.

"My mom did not leave us because of ...that incident...I mean it upset her, but she left because my dad had a mistress in Texas". He finally said.

I sat back onto my straw throne. My legs were weak.

"I am sorry anyway" I said quieter. 

 Caleb sighed.

"That was not your fault. I just took it out on you, the next best thing. I guess we are even?" He grinned. His anger started to melt. I dumbly nodded.

The next hour we sat in silence, each fighting our own inner demons.

"I hoped to get drunk and get laid tonight." Caleb broke the silence first. 

"Why is prom so important?" I asked genuinely interested this time.

"I do not know. Maybe because it is a milestone. We grew up, parents aged...and because, as I said, I hoped to get drunk and get laid. Maybe it is a stupid wish but it is my wish"