Take it All (Blinded by Love) (24 page)

“I can see that. I was sent to check on you. Caleb had to deal with somethin’, but he’ll be back, so I’m supposed to keep an eye on you.”

“Well you can do that after I use the bathroom, if it ever becomes free,” her voice saying the last part louder.

Emerson nodded his head and leaned against the wall with her, “I didn’t know you smoked.”

“I don’t, it was my first time– and no, it wasn’t because of Caleb in anyway. I just wanted to know what it was like. I was curious Em,” she said as she tilted her head up and looked at him standing next to her, a look of disappointment on his face. “I don’t see why people do it; it’s gross and makes you feel... not in control. I don’t like it; I’ll live a happy life if I never have to smoke it again.”

“Know the feelin’ sweetheart. Tried it once myself and hated it; got so sick I cursed it for days and decided beer was good enough,” he said, bringing his arm up and taking a pull from a bottle she hadn’t seen before.

Lennox watched the muscles in his throat move while he drank, and without thinking she asked, “Why does Caleb?”

His lips pulled away from his bottle as his head turned to her abruptly, as a shocked looked covered his face, “That,” he began, pausing thinking it over, “I wish I could tell ya, but it’s not my place to do so, it’s Kingston’s,” he said apologetically.

Lennox shook her head a few times, and said, “You’re right. I’m sorry I asked you, that wasn’t right.”

“No worries.” He didn’t look at her but stared straight ahead like his head was somewhere else. “Bathroom’s free,” a girl with pixie blonde hair said as she walked out, smiled at Emerson then kept walking back to the living room.

“Who was that?”

“I have no fuckin’ clue,” he said, distracted.

“I’ll find you when I’m done now go forth and talk to her,” she motioned with her arms to go.

He looked at her unsure, “You sure you’ll be okay?” he trailed off.

“Yes, I’ll be like two minutes, now go before she disappears or something,” she laughed, then unsteadily pushed away from the wall and walked into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her.

After washing her hands, Lennox splashed some cool water on her face then patted it dry with a towel. She was feeling a bit better, not as out of it as before but her head did feel a little light and dizzy. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her cell phone to see what time it was when she noticed a missed text from Raine asking if she had asked Caleb about Saturday night with him and Courtney. She quickly typed back telling him she would ask him now and get back to him in five minutes then shoved her cell phone back into her pocket and left the bathroom.

Walking into the living room, she saw Emerson in the far corner with the girl from the bathroom, with his back to her. She noticed a few new people had shown up while some who were there earlier were now gone. She walked into the kitchen and only saw Amber and Alex sitting at the table, playing cards between the two of them. Lennox looked around to see if Caleb had returned and if Ty and Kassie were with him but as she walked into the kitchen towards the table, she didn’t see any of them.

“Hey guys, do you know where Caleb is?” she asked, looking between the two of them. They shot each other a look that she found unsettling but pushed it aside. “Do you?”

“He’s–”

“Amb,” Alex cut her off with a sharp tone and stony eyes.

Amber looked from Lennox to Alex, then gave him a remorseful look before turning her attention back to Lennox, saying, “A few of his and Ty’s buddies showed up, so they’re all in Caleb’s room. I’m sorry Lennox.”

She looked back at her then Alex who was avoiding eye contact all the while shaking his head unimpressed, “Sorry for what?” she asked, confused having no idea what was going on.

“Caleb’s a great guy, and you seem like a great girl who makes him happy but he’s...” Amber trailed off, unable to say the words.

Lennox backed away from the table looking at the two, her face twisted; having a feeling she knew what they were trying to tell her. She turned on her heels and headed for Caleb’s room. She thought she had it figured out, all the weird moments with him over the last couple weeks; the short calls, the way he would act so distant one day then so close the next, the gifts, all of it was out of guilt. Guilt from cheating on her, it was the only thing that made sense; what else could there be.

As she walked down the hall and past the bathroom, she came to Caleb’s bedroom door that was closed. She knew it was never closed, unless they were in there during one of their hot and heavy make out sessions. Standing in front of the door, her heart began to pound in her chest and it was all she could hear rushing through her ears. Her whole body began to shake as images of him with another girl flashed through her mind. She didn’t know what she was going to do after catching him but she was unable to think that far ahead when her hand gripped the handle and turned; slowly pushing open the door.

She stood in the doorway in silence; no one in the room had heard or seen her come in. They were all sitting on Caleb’s bed. Ty and Kassie, a guy with a snake tattoo on his neck, and two bigger guys, one with a brush cut and the other bald. Ty was leaning over saying something to Kassie which had her laughing; the two big guys had their eyes on Caleb and the guy with the snake tattoo was watching, his gaze intense and his face jagged and hard, in a completely creepy way.

Lennox couldn’t hear anything that was being said; shock overtook her with what she was witnessing as her eyes locked on Caleb. His hands were in front of him, moving something around. Zoning in on what he was doing, she watched as he moved a pile of white powder into two neat long lines then placed whatever was in his hands down beside him, picking up something next to Ty. Without hesitation, Caleb had it to his nose as he bent forward and in one inhale the first white line was gone, then the next. When Caleb finished, he let out a loud grunt bringing her back to reality.

She stepped back, trying not to make a sound as she needed to get out of the house and away from Caleb as soon as possible. She hurried back down the hall not knowing what to do; she was stuck there, without a ride, without anyone to help her. It took her until she reached the living room and saw someone rushing to her, to realize she had tears running down her face. She tried blinking them away but no sooner after she blinked more appeared and fell uncontrollably, her hands hurriedly swiping at them hoping it would somehow help but it didn’t.

“Lennox, what’s wrong, what happened?” Emerson’s voice hit her and she could finally hear past the blood rushing and pounding in her ears.

She didn’t know where to start; she wasn’t sure if what she just saw was real or if she had walked onto a set of a movie or television show because that’s the only place people did that stuff, not in her boyfriend’s bedroom and not with him being the one doing it. She had been wrong; he wasn’t cheating on her with another girl, but she couldn’t help but wish that had been what she witnessed. Instead she walked in on him as he snorted not one, but two lines of coke up his nose and in her eyes that was worse, much worse. The room started to feel too small, like the walls were closing in on her and she couldn’t breathe. “Air,” she gasped pleadingly, grabbing onto Emerson’s arm to hold her herself up.

His arm curved around her waist as he quickly rushed her to the door and outside, grabbing her coat off the chair before slamming the door behind them. They made it down the steps and when the cold air hit her she sucked in a breath, let it go and continued the process until her breathing was back to normal. Emerson draped her coat over her shoulders as they made it to the end of the walkway. “He lied to me,” she murmured, dazed, looking straight ahead but seeing nothing but darkness.

“What’d you see, Lennox?”

She sniffled as she wiped the tears that were still falling away, “Caleb,” she began, a small hiccup escaping her lips, “he was in his room, with Ty and Kassie and three others,” she looked up at him, his profile no longer blurry, “cocaine, Em.”

Emerson’s eyes closed as his head fell forward a bit. Lennox saw his jaw tighten and clench as he shook his head, his eyes reopened and found hers. As she looked back at him she didn’t see shock, or hurt, like his world had just been ripped out from under him. He didn’t look anything but repentant. That’s when it struck her; he didn’t look surprised at all because he already knew all about it. She reeled back, her brows knitting together and lips slightly parting, before she said, “You knew.”

“Lennox, I’m... I’m so fuckin’ sorry you had to find out that way,” he began, his eyes filling with dread, “I told him to tell you, from the moment he told me it was something serious. I told him you needed to know about this side of him.”

“Side of him?” she said in surprise, “You make it sound like I just found out he’s a secret ninja or in the CIA, Emerson.”

“You know what I mean; I wanted him to tell you, Lennox.”

“Well he didn’t,” she began, pausing to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, “he didn’t tell me. I had to walk in and see... see him do it, Em. I thought I was going to walk in on my boyfriend cheating on me with some girl, but it turns out he’s been cheating on me with...” she trailed off as a sob rocked her body.

Emerson reached out and grabbed her, pulling her into his chest and holding her close. His hand laid flat against the small of her back and his other, against the back of her head as she sobbed into his chest. “It’ll be okay, Lennox, Caleb cares about you.”

Lennox ignored what he said and pulled back suddenly, her face full of terror as she said, “I need to get outta here, I need to... I need to think and just not be here right now.”

“Okay, let’s go for a walk.”

“No, I mean I need to go home, I need far away from him, before he comes looking for me.”

“Lennox…”

“Emerson, please,” she looked up at him, pleading.

He sighed, nodding, giving her what she needed. “Do you have someone you can call to come get you?” She nodded quickly then pulled her cell phone from her back pocket. “‘Kay, I’ll try and hold him off as long as I can.”

“Thanks, Emerson,” she said, as she placed her cell phone to her ear.

Emerson nodded then turned, walking back into the house. Her heart pounded in her chest as the line rang and she waited anxiously and impatiently for it to be answered.

“Cupcake, that was a long ten minutes,” Raine said, his laugh coming through the line.

As soon as he answered and she heard his voice, tears filled her eyes, as she croaked out, “Raine.”

“Lennox, what’s wrong, what happened?” his voice instantly changing and filling with worry.

“Can you come get me, right now, please,” she pleaded as a sobbed rocked through her.

“I’m coming, what’s the address?”

“4267 Hillcrest Court,” she said, sniffling. “Please hurry Raine.”

“I’m only a few blocks from there, are you in trouble Lennox, did he do something to you?”

“No, nothing like that exactly.” She shook her head not thinking he couldn’t see her as she brushed the tears away.

“Be there in five.”

Lennox disconnected and shoved her cell phone into her back pocket, then slid her coat off her shoulders and hugged it to her chest closely. She wasn’t cold, she wasn’t hot; she was nothing but numb and full of complete shock. The images of Caleb doing those lines were forever burned into her head with no way of having them removed. She knew those types of drugs were out there but she had never seen anyone she knew do any of it except smoke weed. She had only seen it done in the movies or in a TV show. But then Caleb came along and unknown to him showed her it just wasn’t on TV but here in real life, in her life.

As she hugged herself tighter, bright headlights belonging to a car rounded the corner and made their way towards her. As she shielded her eyes from the brightness, praying for it to be Raine, the car approached and she heard Caleb’s loud voice from inside the house as he shouted, “Where is she, Em?”

She watched the car anxiously as it came to a stop in front of her with the window rolled down and Raine’s face came into view. “Hey Cupcake,” he said softy, “get in.”

She rushed to the passenger door without a second thought, and as she pulled the handle, Caleb’s front door flew open and he stepped out onto the front step and saw her a few feet away, “Lox?” he called, walking towards her, confused as to what was going on and having no idea why she was about to leave.

Lennox froze as she watched him walk in her direction. She didn’t want to see him or speak to him in fear she would break down and she wasn’t ready for that; she wasn’t ready to talk to him about what she saw, she needed space and time to think and clear her head. As he got closer her eyes filled with tears as she didn’t recognize the ones looking back.

“Lennox,” he breathed out, catching his breath and reaching out to her.

She jerked back, “Don’t... don’t touch me, Caleb,” she said, her eyes burned as she tried to hold back the tears that wanted to fall.

Before she would let him say anything else she got into Raine’s car and slammed the door. “Go,” she told him, avoiding his gaze. Unable to hold the sobs at bay any longer, she let them go and rocked her body as Raine took off down the street.

Lennox didn’t look back at Caleb. So she didn’t see Emerson approach him from behind and put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. She also didn’t see Caleb turn and ask him what happened. And lastly she didn’t see Caleb push his best friend away and rush back into his house, torn, after he was told what she had saw and how upset and hurt she was because of it.

Raine drove and listened to Lennox cry until they were well away from Caleb’s and only a few kilometres from the highway. Once her tears subsided, her head fell back against the head rest and she focused on the dark nothing out her window; not saying a word.

“Where am I taking you, one of the girls’ place or home?”

Lennox thought about his question realizing she had nowhere to go. She couldn’t go home because her parents would question her on why she was home and why she was crying. Then once she refused to talk, they’d spend the night worrying over her. Home was the last place, after Caleb’s, she wanted to be. She couldn’t go to Tatum’s; it was Friday night and God only knows what she was up to at the moment, and Londyn was out with Jeremy. But even if she could go to one of her friends, she wouldn’t, because they would want her to tell them everything then proceed to convince her to end things with him regardless of what she wanted or how she felt, and she didn’t know what she wanted to do about the situation.