Welcome to My World

Chapter 17 Callum's POV {What Don't I Know?}

I'm outside enjoying the moonlight with Genelyn. She's actually cool. She's sweet, funny, understanding, and pretty much everything you could possibly want in a girl.

Then I don't know why, but suddenly I leaned in and kissed her. She kissed me back, and when we pulled away I heard a little gasp and a kind of muffled sob. I turned to look, but all I saw where shadows dancing across the lawn. I saw a flash of white, bouncing like someone's ponytail, but only Rayla has white hair. Besides, she didn't come.

Then on Monday, all of a sudden I'm Mr. Popular. The guy all the girls fawn over. The guy everyone admires. The guy everyone wants to hang out with. Except for one person.

Rayla's been avoiding me like the plague, she doesn't even answer when I talk to her. She always makes an effort to avoid me, and I wonder why. I mean, not like she's ditching me for her other friends, 'cause she's got only Alesa, and Alesa always hangs out with Shawn unless it's music.

So why is Rayla avoiding me?

Maybe it's because she has a crush on me? My brain thinks hopefully. Yeah, but I'm over her now. Genellum is the newest, most popular ship in the school! Nobody's telling Rayla, Alesa, Ellis, or Ez.

As I walk through the halls, all the girls wave and the boys high five me. Everyone thinks I'm cool. I'm the most popular person now. So why doesn't Rayla want to hang out with me? I thought we made up after the fight.

Well, meanwhile, today's the soccer game between MacGuffins High and Ivywood High. The Bumblebees vs. The Star Strikers. And personally, I'm excited. This is Rayla's first game. And surprisingly, Ellis.

Both girls are dressed in the soccer uniforms of Ivywood, glossy green with blue stars. Everyone cheers for Ellis. Nobody cheers Rayla except me. She ignores me, her head held high.

Then Genelyn appears, in her cheerleading uniform, the rest of the squad behind her. They're waving matching pom poms. I notice Rayla giving Genelyn a hateful glare, and Genelyn blows her a kiss.

That's when I see it. Rayla's holding her arms closer to her, and they're covered in bruises. I can tell it's not from P.E. She hasn't been allowed to participate, so what happened to her?

"Rayla!" I call loudly. "Rayla!"

She whirls around to face me. "What?" She snarls.

"What is wrong with you? I thought we were friends!" I reply.

"We were. Past tense." She says. Alesa appears at her side, a look of disgust on her face.

"I can't believe you didn't pick her." Alesa whispers to me, her voice laced with disappointment as she leads Rayla away.

For a minute, I stare after them, confused. What the heck does she mean? Well, I'm not really surprised. Alesa Aaronson has always been out there. At least, that's what Ravi says.

I shrug. She's probably just nervous about the soccer game. I mean, I would be.

She's just salty because of soccer. And all the other sports she signed up for. Basketball, soccer, fencing. She would have joined football but based on the shouts Runaan may have overreacted a bit. They argued until 10:38 PM, and the whole neighborhood heard them.