Stuck On You novel Chapter 3

“Caleb, can you come pick me up?” I sobbed as soon as he answered the phone. It sounded like he immediately snapped to attention.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. I swiped under my eyes as I tried to calm down.

“My dad… he isn’t my dad. We were arguing and things got out of hand. Mom got really upset and went to her room. Dad followed and eventually I went to go apologize, but they were arguing and I overheard my dad say that he wasn’t my dad. And I think something happened to my actual dad because my parents were saying something about an accident. I think I was that accident,” I rambled.

“Calm down Hayden. You’re going to give yourself a heart attack. I’m on my way to get you, okay? You can stay with me for a few weeks or until you’re ready to go back. We can figure this out back at my place,” he said. I let out a breath to try and calm down as I hung up.

I started packing. I wasn’t paying attention to what; I was just stuffing everything I could into my suitcase. I felt my phone buzz and made a mad dash to the back with my bag, phone and charger. I threw my bag into the backseat and slid into the passenger seat. I was still pretty shaken about the news but that was the great thing about Caleb: he knew when I needed quiet. I curled up on the seat and let out a breath.

“Thanks for picking me up, Caleb,” I said softly. He put a hand on my shoulder gently.

“Of course,” he said, just as we pulled into his driveway. “Come on, I need to go tell my mom that you’ll be staying for a bit,” he said. He grabbed my bag and we walked inside. It was late but his mom was still working on something in her office. After dropping my bag off by the stairs, Caleb dragged my over to his mom’s office.

“Hi, sweetie. Oh, Hayden, honey, what are you doing here so late? What’s wrong?” she asked, standing from her desk. It was then that I realized that my eyes must’ve been blood-shot and puffy. I stood with my arms crossed over my stomach, slightly hunched over.

“Mom, can she stay with us for a while?” Caleb asked. Caleb’s mom’s lips set into a hard line as she clasped her hands in front of her.