The Truth ✔

Chapter 4 ~

Kaleb's POV

I barely got a wink of sleep last night with Layla on my mind. I was too worried about if she ever made it home or if something had happened to her. Eve's words were bothering me too. She had said that she runs away crying. What is causing her to cry? What is causing her to run away? Where does she go? Does she go to somewhere that is safe? I hope she isn't just roaming the streets. She lives on the bad side of town.

Glancing at my alarm clock, I realize that it is already four-thirty in the morning. This is too early to be up especially when I haven't even slept, but if I want to try and give Layla a ride to school, I need to get my butt up.

I go into my bathroom that is connected to my room. I cringe when I see myself in the mirror. My blonde hair is a mess, my normally blue crystal eyes are dull, and I have dark bags under my eyes. Well I sure don't look like the so-called bad boy at the moment. I understand why girls wear makeup.

I take a quick shower not wanting to run late. It helps with my hair but does nothing for the bags under my eyes. Rummaging through my closet I throw on the first pair of black jeans and a T-shirt that I find before grabbing my leather jacket off my chair.

I spook my mom when I enter the kitchen. She places her hands over her chest in a dramatic way. "Kaleb Andrew Knightly." She scolds. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. Why are you up so early?"

I Roll my eyes at my mom's antics. "I'm up because I'm driving Whitney and a friend to school."

"No motorcycle today?" My mom eye's me suspiciously. "I never thought I would see the day that you drove your car to school instead."

I glare at my mother. "It's not that big of deal."

"It's not that big of deal?" She questions. "Kaleb, you even ride that stupid thing in the rain. So, forgive me if I seem shock but it is a very big deal that you aren't riding your bike."

"Mom." I groan. "How would I be able to pick two people up if I'm on my bike?"

"Whatever." She smirks. "Just be safe and tell Whitney hi for me."

"Will do." I say as I give her a quick kiss on the cheek and rush to the garage to get my car before I running late than I already am.

When I pull up to my cousin's house, she is outside tapping her foot impatiently. She opens the passenger door harshly. "You're late." She hisses. "You were supposed to be her by 5:30am and it's already 5:45am."

"Sorry." I say sheepishly. "Mom was making a big deal about me taking my car instead."

"Hmm. I bet all the kids at school will be making a big deal about it too." She jokes. She hops in the passenger seat and gasp when she gets a good look at me. "Whoa, Kaleb, you look like shit. Did you even sleep last night? The bags around your eyes look awful."

Sending her my best death glare, I growl. "Well, Thanks." I say sarcastically. "I was going to cover it up with some makeup, but you know, I'm not a girl."

"Nope, you're a pretty boy." She laughs. If I wasn't driving, I would be smacking her on the back of her head.

I speed towards Layla's house because we're running late. It's already ten past six and it is still dark outside. Chills run down my spine at the thought of her having to walk alone to school in the neighborhood while it's still dark. I slowly drive down her street until we spot someone walking in the direction of our school. It's dark and the person is wearing an oversize hoodie. It's hard to tell if it's Layla or not.

Whitney rolls down her window. "Layla?" The person stops for a brief second before walking a little faster and ignoring us. As the sun is slowly starting to brighten up the sky, I recognize Layla's backpack. Okay, maybe it's a little creepy that I recognize her backpack, but it's been the same one she's had since freshman year.

"That's her, Layla." I confirm to my cousin. "I recognize her back pack. Why is she ignoring us?"

Whitney shrugs. "Maybe she thinks we're kidnappers or something. I don't think I would stop if someone called out my name from a moving car. Catch back up to her and I'll call out to her again." I pull up to Layla again. "Hey Layla, it's Whitney and Kaleb from school." My cousin calls out to her.

Layla doesn't acknowledge us at all. She keeps her head down and continues walking. This isn't going to the way I had hope it would. Becoming increasingly aggravated at her ignoring us, I park my car and run out in front of her blocking her way. "Layla?" I say looking down at the girl who is about a foot shorter than me.

"Hmm." She mumbles never looking up at me.

Suddenly I'm feeling nervous. Thankfully my cousin has now joined me and is standing beside me blocking Layla from going around us. "Hey." My cousin says cheerfully "We were just passing through the neighborhood when we saw you walking. We wanted to know if you wanted a ride."

Layla eyes us suspiciously but I can't blame her. She's not stupid. What reason do we have to be passing through this neighborhood? After a few minutes of silence Layla shakes her head no and, in the process, it causes the hood of her hoodie to fall revealing a huge bruise going across her face.

"What happened?" Whitney gasp. "Are you okay?"

Layla quickly pulls her hood back up covering her face. "It's nothing." She whispers before trying to squeeze past us.

I grab her arm to stop her and I can't help but to notice her flinching at my touch. "L-let g-go of m-me." She stutters. We make eye contact for a brief second and I see so much fear in her eyes. Did she think I was going to hurt her? I let go of her arm quickly as I block her way again.

"Please, can we give you a ride to school?" I plead.

"W-Why?" I'm taken back by her question, but I determine to give her a ride.

"Because it's a long walk. Please?" I beg. While Whitney gives her puppy dog eyes. I can tell that Whitney is still concerned by the bruise on Layla's face and I don't blame her. Did someone hit her?

Realizing that we are going to give up. She reluctantly agrees. Layla climbs into the backseat of my car, but she tenses up when Whitney climbs in the back with her. Through my rearview mirror I can see how uncomfortable she is having someone so close to her. "Whitney, are you sure you don't want to sit up front?" I ask her hoping she gets the hint that she is making Layla very uncomfortable.

My cousin is either dense or is just blatantly ignoring the fact that Layla isn't comfortable. "I'm good back here with my new friend." Whitney smirks at me through the rearview mirror. "So, Layla do happen to know what you class schedule is yet?" Layla doesn't say a word. She shakes her head and looks down at her lap avoiding all eye contact. Whitney takes notices of Layla's silence. "Hopefully we'll have some classes together." Whitney offers up with a warm smile.

The rest of the drive to school was filled with an awkward silence. When I pull into my parking space at school. Layla release a sigh of relief, but quickly catches her breath when she sees everyone starring at us. Classmates seems shocked that I drove to school instead of riding my bike. It's even stranger for them to see Whitney getting out of my car. Besides a select few, most kids don't know we're cousins, so they probably think we slept together last night. I cringe at the thought. She's my cousin for heaven's sake. But I think the biggest surprise to everyone is when they see Layla getting out of my car. Whispers and gossip start immediately. We might not be the typical high schools that you read about in book, but gossip around here still spreads as fast as wild fires.

Layla is basically trembling with fear at all the attention that is on her. I watch her eyes dart back and forth looking for away to get as far as possible from us, but little does she know that this is just beginning.