“Do people always say things like that towards you?” Callie asked, standing in the doorway with her hand on her hip. I moved my arm off of Delcan and scooted back, feeling my cheeks heat up. Delcan’s eyes moved away from me to his sister.
Delcan shrugged. He didn’t even seem offended by the word. When the two of us were hiding, there was only a split amount of pain in his face. He didn’t even seem hurt by what my father had called him. Though to be honest, I was complete. And not just because of him, because it was from his mouth, and that was in my DNA. “It’s fine, Callie, really. You said that you can handle yourself, so I think that I can, too,” Delcan said.
Callie rolled her eyes, clearly not wanting to let this slide. “Two things, bro. One, you may be my older brother, but I’m gonna protect you for as long as I can. And two, hearing that a grown man is saying that about someone simply is wrong to me.”
“Cal, it’s seriously not that big of a deal,” Delcan said. He seemed full relaxed by what happened recently, though hearing my dad’s past mistakes really do make the hairs on my neck stand up. “And Callie, you know I love you. But unless your name is Google, stop pretending that you know everything. The word isn’t going to change just because one person wants it to. That’s not how it works at all. It’s just a stupid word. You take it, and turn it back on them with something better.”
Alright, Delcan could probably be the biggest ⟴ in the world sometimes, though his words were true. It was just a shame he hated being kinder in public.
Callie nodded, then looked down at the floor for a few seconds. At first, I thought she was going to cry, though she seemed to have pulled herself together before she looked up. “I have something to tell you because I can’t keep this a secret anymore,” Callie said. I looked at her, and instantly felt wrong being in the room.
“I could leave if I need to,” I said. Delcan didn’t try pulling me back down or anything. Instead, he just looked at me. Maybe I should stay, and maybe I shouldn’t. But even though Callie told me about it already, it felt...odd being here to hear her say it to Delcan. Some part inside of me knew how upset he’d be about this entire thing, and I didn’t want to see his eyes change to an icy blue.
But Callie shook her head. “Stay,” she said. I nodded, and sat back down next to Delcan, tying my hands together (because it helped stress. Plus the things that I usually do to help my stress are at home) and waited for her to begin.
“What’s up with you?” Delcan asked, his voice sounding mainly normal - a bit annoyed, but oddly worried at the same time. Callie bit down on her lip as Delcan looked over to me. It might have been wrong, but I seriously wanted to avoid eye contact at that moment.
“Okay,” Callie began, walking into Delcan’s room completely and sitting down at his desk. “I just want to say this before I continue. Don’t be mad at Ezra for any of this. Yes, he knew, but he doesn’t completely know. So, I don’t want you givin’ that ‘you betrayed my trust’ speech because I told him not to tell you.”
Well, he did have his reasons to be mad or possibly hate me for the rest of my existence. Though, I didn’t know the full story...I just kept what I knew a secret.
“Hang on,” Delcan said, holding up his hands. “Calliannah Heslop, if your pregnant or something-”853Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYVJOs2XRq
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I laughed, then interrupted him. “She isn’t pregnant,” I assured him. Plus, if Callie even was, I’m sure more than half of that argument would’ve been in Spanish, and I would have quickly lost translation.
“Yeah, true,” Delcan said. “I mean who would you even get-”853Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7nHBR6E5p1
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“Stop it,” Callie said, her face changing to extreme anger. Though, she was also blushing, too. “This has nothing to do with anything like that.”
“Then what is it about?”
“The night I got arrested.”
At that moment, Delcan stopped. I truly did want to leave right now, because this is none of my business, and I feel wrong hearing - and knowing - how this will go down. But then, Callie looked at me, and I saw that fear on her face that was saying I can’t do this.
But I nodded at her. Yes, you can.
Callie seemed to appreciate it before she took a deep breath. And then, she told Delcan everything. There were some parts about the story I didn’t even know about, though I was more than shocked by all of it in the first place. But my emotions aren't the ones I was as worried about. As I watched Delcan while Callie talked (not in a creepy way), he never said a word. At the beginning of it, his eyes were their normal green color, but then they just seemed to have been going downhill from there. And by the end, his eyes were ice blue - angry.
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this before, Calliannah?” Delcan asked, his voice already sounding cross. He wasn’t raising his voice, though you could hear how upset he sounded. “I could’ve helped you. And why did Ezra get to know over me? Last time I checked, you hated him. And you’re not related to him at all. We just talked about this.” As he continuing talking, I noticed how many times he glared at me. But I kept my mouth closed.
As Delcan continued to talk to Callie (somehow keeping his voice at level with all the anger inside of it), I put my head down. These were one of those moments that I regretted more than anything. I should’ve told him when I found out because now I knew I’d pay for it.
“I said this before I told you,” Callie cut in, trying to reason with him. “Don’t blame any of this on Ezra. I was scared, and I needed to tell someone.” I knew she was trying to help, but I also knew that none of what she said truly mattered at this point.
Delcan rolled his eyes, which were still ice blue. Possibly, the ice blue should’ve looked odd on his Cuban skin color, though it was still this beautiful sense to me, and something I couldn't exactly get over. No matter what, he was still so freaking beautiful. Even when he’s more than pissed at me. “Why couldn’t you have told me? We live in the same ⟴ house.” His voice was rising now, and his fists were clenched.
Great.
Regret will be inside of me the entire night.
“Because you were talking to Dad at the time. Ezra was on the phone and he wanted to talk to you, but I kind of hung up before he could get around to it,” Callie said. Delcan’s eyes moved to me, and I bit my lip I’m so hard, I thought it began bleeding. It probably did, though, because I tasted blood. “So, instead of telling him to wait, I told him a little bit. I’m sorry I never told you, Del. But you cannot blame it on Ezra. I told him not to tell you.” She took Delcan’s arm in a kind way, though Delcan quickly pulled away from him.
“I have all my reasons to blame the both of you for this,” Delcan said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Mom and Dad are learning about this at dinner, and you” - this time, when his eyes went to me, I knew I had to look back. And that anger inside of his eyes killed me - “I think you should leave.”
I shook my head. “Delcan-”853Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVli2B8rJWp
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He cut me off almost instantly. “Your dad’s looking for you. Go home, Ezra. And don’t call or text me. I have things to do tomorrow morning,” Delcan said. I watched as he walked out of the room, feeling my heart drop. I’d never seen him upset like that, though all at the same time, it was basically my fault. Callie looked at me just as I was about to leave.
“I’m really sorry, Ezra. If I ruined your relationship, I could never-”853Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqIfC3ds0B6
“It’s cool,” I said, playing it off like it actually was. On the inside, I felt like dying. “You did what you had to do, anyway. He’ll come around...right?”
Callie didn’t say anything for a second, and her mouth was turned into a thin line. She looked up from the ground and had to look up at me. “Of course he will,” she whispered.
I nodded and then left.
As I was driving home, all I could think about was the looks Delcan was giving me. All I could think about as I turned into the driveway was how mad he was. How angry he truly is at me for not telling him about any of it, and how upset he now is with his sister for telling me first. He was going to hold this against me forever, and I knew it. Then Callie lying to me just made the whole situation even worse.
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