E I G H T

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"Honey?"

Mum was never nice when it was just us alone at home. Her using the word honey meant guests were visiting the house. Distant voices were heard downstairs and I stood up, turning my lamp off and heading downstairs with my slippers.

I stopped mid-way at curled stairs. I could see a view of Mum talking to a lady with blonde hair. She was smiling and talking about something. She was very pretty and looked around her forties. She looked a little familiar.

Then she turned around and reached her hand out, grabbing a person's arm. Caleb came forward and greeted my mum. He was talking to my mum with his charming smirk. Caleb Derez, the guy that could have been responsible for the suicide of Kelly, was in my house.

I blinked. My heart raced. Was I hallucinating? Did I take my pills? Why was he even here?

God, why did he have to be so attractive though?

"There you are. Meet Luna and her son, Caleb," Mum beamed at me, turning around.

I felt cold and self-conscious so I wrapped my arms around myself. I was wearing my jogging bottoms and a large jumper with a messy bun on top of my head, looking like I just completed eight pages of work. I did.

Caleb stepped back and moved his head over to see me. He looked shocked but he eyed me up and down and grinned sheepishly.

"Afternoon," Caleb pronounced, smirking at me. "You look wonderful."

Mum pretended to fan herself. "My Luna, your son is such a charming gentleman," she said, laughing. I grimaced. That was so fake and forced. Caleb might have been a gentleman but who knew what he was hiding?

Luna laughed too. Her laugh was high and sounded fake, like a snobby rich lady noise. She was clutching her handbag with her long manicured fingernails. "You mentioned your daughter goes to Westfield too, right? Caleb, you know Stella?"

I opened my mouth to speak but he beat me to it. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"We're very familiar with each other, mother," he said, smiling warmly at his mum. My heart burned. That was so adorable, but-- no, I refused to see him that way.

He could be dangerous.

"You are? Honey, that's great."

Mum smiled and put her hands together. God, she was awfully nice when there were guests around. "Why don't you two head out by the deck? Luna and I could have a chat whilst dinner is preparing."

Oh no. Caleb Derez was having dinner at my house.

"Of course, Mrs Jennings," Caleb said, raising his eyebrow and turning to look at me slowly. He walked over to me and looked me in the eyes.

"No funny business," Caleb's mum, Luna said, giving both of us a smirk.

I guessed Caleb took after his mother. Mum and Luna started talking and laughing like mothers and disappeared into the lounge. It was deadly silent when they left and I dreaded the time Caleb and I was to spend together.

"So where's your deck?" he questioned, looking around.

I looked at him with a stone glare and then looked away, brushing past him and walking down a hallway, through the living room and down through the wine collection room. Caleb seemed to take interest in the wine bottle collection.

Dad used to collect wine before he turned forty-five. He claimed he would need another house if he continued.

"Have you ever tried any of these?" Caleb asked, looking at the bottles with immense fascination.

"No," I mumbled, folding my arms.

"Oh."

I left him alone in the room and bit my lip, not knowing what to do. I stood at the large sliding door, staring out at the still water of the pretty large pool. Since my mum and I moved in here and my dad left for his nine-month business trip, I had never set foot in the swimming pool.

With a thought, I walked over to a box that was attached to the wall inside and switched on the colourful lights for the pool. I watched, still fascinated by everything. I imagined having a party here and having a loudspeaker next to the deck chairs and teenagers making out in the pool.

For now, everything was silent.

That was until Caleb walked up. "Woah, that's sick," Caleb spoke with a hint of sarcasm.

I rolled my eyes and pushed the sliding door to the right, stepping out on the marble outside with my fluffy slippers. The coldness of the world seeped into my jumper and made my skin feel brumal.

I could hear the slow sounds of the wind moving the liquid in the pool and I coughed. The white condensation of my breathing was evident in the air to show how cold the night really was.

"Hey," Caleb said, coming up close behind me. I froze, swallowing a lump in my throat and curling my toes up tightly in my slippers. I turned around with all my courage and stared at him in the face. His eyelashes were so long and his eyes were glistening with the fancy pool lights. I was silent so he spoke again. "I know you think there's something up with me. Or the rest of them."

"I know there is. What do you want from me?" I asked him.

Caleb's eyebrows raised. My eyes flickered down to his tongue licking his lips.

"What do you mean?" His voice was raspy. He smirked at me. God, was this a joke to him?

"You know what I mean," I said, crossing my arms over my chest tightly. I breathed. "People in school talk about what happened to her. I've heard lots." Only from Reeve.

Caleb bit his lip with a raise of his eyebrow. "This is about Kelly? That was a long time ago."

"What did she see? What did you guys do to her?" I asked, shivering from the cold.

Caleb narrowed his eyes. "She had bad panic attacks, Stella. Who knows what happened to her." He frowned at me and for the first time, I felt genuinely sorry for all the accusations.

"Reeve said--"

"Reeve's been through a lot. He's confused and lost," Caleb said, looking me right in the eye. His face softened. He looked honest like he was telling the truth.

"No," I muttered. I cursed at myself for doing this but I took his hand in mine. He blinked, looking at me with curiosity in his eyes. His hands were soft and warm, despite the cold. I pushed up his sleeve to reveal the scar on his arm.

He didn't pull away.

"What is this?" I asked him, brushing my thumb over it. It felt like normal skin, but it didn't look it.

Caleb pulled his arm away then. He sighed loudly. "It's a birth--"

"Don't lie to me. Why do your girlfriend and her sister have it?" I questioned him, shaking from the coldness. Why were we even out here?

"I can't tell you," Caleb mumbled, bringing his hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. I stood still and numb, watching as his caramel eyes turned softer than his familiar cocky narrow eyes.

"I knew it. You all have something to hide," I said harshly. I pushed his hand away from my face. "Leave me out of it."

I gave him a last look and took off, finding my way back inside the house and into the dining room.

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