The Bad Boy & The Popular Girl

Chapter Three

**warning, this chapter talks about abuse and acts upon suicide, which may be upsetting to some readers **
(Adeline)

I couldn't find Sawyer anywhere. It was one in the morning and I've been looking for her for about an hour now and she wasn't answering her phone.

I did, however, find Karson outside with a few people I recognized from school. "Hey, have you seen Sawyer?" I asked, coming to a stop in front of her.

"Yeah, she went upstairs with River about awhile ago." She answered. Sawyer and River have been messing around with each other for about a month now.

"Oh alright, well I'm heading out now." I informed her. I didn't really want to go home, but the day was starting to catch up to me and I was getting tired.

"Okay I'll let her know when she comes down." Karson responded. "Okay thanks, K. See you on Monday." I replied back before making my way to my matte black Audi R8, a hush-hush gift from mother dearest, and getting in.

A few minuted down the road, I pulled up in my driveway with hopes that my mother was asleep. I let out a sigh before turning my car off and climbing out.

I locked my car doors before making my way to the front door. I twisted the doorknob and pushed my way in.

My hopes of her being asleep came crashing down when I got all the way inside. She was in the hallway, already glaring at me. I swallowed.

"It is 1:30 in the fucking morning. Where have you been?" Her voice came out, annoyed. "I was..." I tried but couldn't get anything else out because she was interrupting me.

"You were probably out with some boy, weren't you? That's just the slut you are." My eyes started filling up with tears at her statement.

"Mom.." I started. Her eyes shot daggers at me, cutting me off from talking. "Do not call me that! God, you're such a fucking waste of space." She yelled out.

"H-how can you say that to your daughter?" I whispered, not really intending for her to hear, but of course she did. That was all it seemed to take, before the palm of her hand met the side of my face.

"You are no daughter of mine! You are the reason your father left! Get the fuck out of my house. Now!" She screamed, pointing to the door. Tears streamed down my face as I let myself out.

I had no idea where I was going, I was letting the road take me wherever. That was until I pulled over to the side of the road when I approached a bridge.

After pulling over, I got out and made my way over to it. At first I was just looking out into the distance. But as I sat there, my moms words came back to me.

"You're such a waste of fucking space!"

"You're worthless!"

"You're the reason your father left!"

The next thing I knew, I was no longer standing on ground, but on the ledge of the bridge. The tears falling down my face seemed endless at the pain I felt and as I contemplated what I was about to do. 

I wanted it to end, the pain I felt. The suffering from my mother's abuse. This is the only way. The only way to make her life better. She wouldn't care if I was gone. She probably wouldn't even notice.

That was when I heard him. "Adeline. I don't know what's going through your head right now. But don't do it, it's not worth it." Kaleb tried to reason with me, but I wasn't having it.

Snapping my gaze over towards him, my voice was low and mumbled and not intended for him to actually hear, "You don't understand."

"Okay, so explain to me what it is I don't understand, but I need you to take a few steps towards me." He said, obviously hearing what I had said. I stayed still not really knowing what I felt or wanted to do in that moment.

With a moment of hesitation, I took the tiny few steps in his direction. Away from the edge of the bridge.

"Good, that's good. Can you tell me what it is I don't understand?" He asked. I shook my head no, before turning away from him again, just about to take a step again.

Before I could get anywhere, his arms wrapped around me securely, bringing me into his chest and pulling me off and away from the ledge.

He sat us down on the ground, his back resting against the ledge as I buried my head in his chest. Him, right here with me, holding me against him, only seemed to make the sobs grow harder.

"It's okay, you're okay. I have you, you're safe." He reassured me, holding me tighter as he ran a comforting hand up and down my back.

After a few minutes of silence he spoke up. "What's going on in that beautiful head of yours?" He asked me as he played with my hair.

Pulling away from him slightly, I sat where I was looking at his face. "I've never.. told anyone this before." I started telling him. He just saved my life, I think I owe him an explanation.

"You can tell me anything." He promised, looking directly at me.

"My mom, she's been..." I couldn't finish, my voice getting choked up.  He seemed to know exactly where I was going though, because his face lit up in understanding.

"Abusing you." He finished for me. I flinched slightly at the bluntness of his words but nodded my head.

"My dad. He um, he left us when I was eight. She says it's my fault for his leaving. Maybe it was, they were so happy before I came along." My voice was shaky as I finished.

"Hey, it is not your fault. I couldn't imagine anyone ever willingly leave you. People do things for their own selfishness, you're not to blame Adeline. If anyone is, it's your father himself." He told me, bringing his hands up to wipe the tears from my face.

"You amaze me. In so many ways." He spoke, honestly. My face drew up in confusion. "I had this idea of you, so to speak. You were just this stuck up, fake to everyone, spoiled girl. But that couldn't have been further from the truth." He said.

"You are genuinely so nice to everyone. Always smiling. Always doing something for others. Matter of fact, always putting others before yourself. You are truly one of a kind Adeline Taylor." His lips tilted up in a slight smile at his own words.

"I'm nice to everyone because I know how bad words can hurt. Her words alone had me up there. Preparing to take my own life." I told him, honestly.

"If you ever need anything. Anything at all, text me. Call me. You're not alone anymore Adeline." His words and voice were comforting and I finally found myself able to smile.

"What do you do? On nights like this?" Kaleb asked. "If it gets bad or she kicks me out, I either stay with Sawyer or Karson. But they have no idea this is going on." I answered.

"Can you stay with one of them tonight? I can take you if I need to?" He questioned. I shook my head, "Sawyer's with River tonight and I don't want to pull Karson away from the party."

"Okay, you can stay with my tonight." He stated. "What? No that's okay, I can just.. stay in my car or something." I said.

"No way am I leaving you by yourself or to stay in your car tonight. I have an extra room if that makes you feel better." He offered. "Okay." I agreed.

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A/N

Word Count: 1434

Alright that is all for Chapter 3 of 'The Badboy & The Popular Girl'. In this chapter, Kaleb learns more about Adeline and what she's really going through and he decides to take her in under his wing. I hope you enjoyed it. Also if you are going through anything, whether that be abuse or depression, or other things like that and you're having suicidal thoughts, please remember that you're not alone and you are loved. If you're going through something like this please talk to someone, whether that be a friend, a parent, or a total stranger. Someone is always here for you to talk to, I'm always here for you to talk to if you need it. You are loved! Until next time loves. <3

- CJ