I'm back! Honestly I did plan on getting this up about a week ago but I didn't realize I would be so busy with school! Apologies for the long wait, and I won't keep you waiting any longer.

READ! (:

11-Confusion and Clearance

When Caleb pulled away from Cornelia, he smiled, "But for that, I couldn't wait another second." At first he had second thoughts. Maybe he shouldn't have done that. But slowly, Cornelia returned his smile. "I was sort of hoping you were going to do that." She giggled.

Caleb leaned in for another quick kiss and Cornelia returned it. She pulled herself back and spun on her heel, "Call me tonight, okay?"

Caleb didn't know what else to do other than nod his head. All he could think about was how he wanted to kiss Cornelia again and again, and how just a few weeks ago, he never would have had her on his mind.

... ...

Cornelia didn't expect someone to be standing at her car after practice. This time however, it wasn't Irma. The familiar blonde haired man leaned on her car with his arms crossed.

"What do you want, Cedric?" Cornelia didn't even look at him when she passed. She pulled open her door and sat herself down in her car. Cedric opened the passenger door and sat down in the seat, and turned to Cornelia.

Cornelia started up her car and faced Cedric, ready to kick him out of her car.

"I miss you, Corny." Cedric blurted, and Cornelia bit her tongue. "And I tell you, seeing you kiss that other guy, it-"

This caught Cornelia's attention. "You were spying on us?"

"I…" Cedric started, but stopped. "Just…can we go to your place and talk?"

Cornelia narrowed her eyes at him. She had no interest in talking with Cedric. Not after what he did to Will, and yet, she decided maybe it would be a good idea if they did. Just for her to make things clear that it was over between them. "Fine." She muttered, and shifted the car into drive.

The ride to her house had to be the most awkward situation she had been in for a while. Neither of them said anything, and the air between them was tense. So when Cornelia pulled into her driveway she breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe being in a house would lessen the tension.

The moment Cedric stepped out of his shoes and headed towards the living room, Cornelia asked a question she had been pondering all weekend. "So what's the deal with you saying in front of everyone that I used to give you a little something?" She air quoted. "We both know I didn't."

Cedric welcomed himself into her home like it was his own. He sat down on her couch and replied, "By that I didn't mean you gave me sex. I just meant that we had some pretty good make-outs. I thought you knew that."

Cornelia glared at him and his joking expression disappeared. "Not a time for jokes?" he asked.

"Not at all." Cornelia shook her head.

Cornelia did just as she planned. She told Cedric that it was finished. Everything between them was finished just as she had told him the end of junior year. He took her words surprisingly well and even offered they just be friends. Cornelia, however, declined that offer saying that what he did to Will was beyond horrible and she didn't want anything left to do with him. He took that news worse, but still, not terribly. Cornelia walked him to her front door.

"Well, it was good talking to you again." Cedric said.

"I can't say the same for you." Cornelia replied bluntly, yet honestly.

Cedric chuckled and opened the front door. "Can I have one last goodbye hug?"

Cornelia was hoping he wouldn't ask that. She rolled her eyes and loosely wrapped her arms around him, waiting for him to let go.

"Bye, Cornelia." Cedric said one last time before walking across the street to the opposite sidewalk.

It was then that Cornelia noticed a car across from her driveway, and there was someone standing outside of it. Her heart sank when she realized who it was.

Caleb climbed her driveway and held out his closed hand. Cornelia reached out and Caleb dropped her phone into her hand.

"You dropped it on your way out of the school and I thought I'd drop it off." He peered over her shoulder. "You got any other guys hiding in there, or was it just him?"

Cornelia frowned. "What you saw with Cedric was nothing. He just wanted to get back together but I told him-"

"Back together?" Caleb interrupted her. "You two dated!"

Cornelia wanted to bite back her words. "I thought Will would have told you."

"Will knew!"

Cornelia felt herself saying all of the wrong things today. She decided it would be easier if she just shut her mouth with tape. "Yeah…I…"

"You know what. Never mind." Caleb said, and he spun around heading back towards his car. "I'm done with you Cornelia. You're exactly the person Irma and the rest of them warned me about."

"What!" Cornelia called after him. "What are you talking about! You know me Caleb! I'm not who everyone thinks I am!"

"That's just it, you are!" Caleb continued towards his car. "And getting involved with someone like you was all a big mistake!" He stomped down the sidewalk and reached for his car door.

Cornelia caught up with him quickly and slammed the door shut when he pulled it open. "Someone like me?"

Caleb turned to face her. "Yeah. A spoiled brat who doesn't think before she does. I told myself to stay away from you but I went against my better judgement and that was something I wish I could redo."

Cornelia stepped in front of his door and looked up at him. "You actually think I was being unloyal to you and getting busy with Cedric just now? Well, that's not the kind of girl I am and I thought you knew that!"

Caleb looked past her and replied quietly. "You know what. That's my mistake right there. It's not like we're committed so I guess I should have expected this. And if you weren't doing anything, what is he doing at your house at nine o clock at night!"

"So you do think I was doing it with Cedric." Cornelia stated. She crossed her arms and waited until he brought his gaze back to her. She looked him in the eye and said, "If it really matters to you, I've only ever had sex once. With whatever scumbag raped me. So on top of that, thanks for making me feel like a selfish slut!" She shoved him away from her and stomped a few steps away. "So I'm guessing I get no 'I'm sorry Cornelia for thinking the worst of you.'"

Caleb glared at the ground, and reached for his car handle again. He quickly slid into his seat and started the engine.

"God Caleb!" Cornelia started walking after his car when it began its slow way down the street. She shouted through what were becoming choked tears. "You're wrong! I shouldn't have gotten involved with someone like you! All it ever meant was that I would get hurt and-"

Caleb rolled down his window and continued with the car at its slow pace. "Go home Cornelia. It's cold. You're gonna get sick." He said quietly, and rolled the window back up.

"Since when do you care!" Cornelia didn't care that she was shouting nonsense. All she wanted was to say something that would hurt Caleb. "You should stop because I don't even care about you anymore! Don't waste your time on me because I'm just a stupid slut!" She finally stopped her shouting and collapsed onto the ground. She brought her hands to her face and sobbed until the tears wouldn't come anymore.

... ...

Caleb hated that for the past two days he sat with his upbeat friends while he sulked. He did his best to hide how he was feeling, but typical Will easily noticed and questioned him on it. He put on a stubborn act but gave in when his table began a ruckus trying to get words out of him.

"Caleb…I'm sorry it turned out like that." Will said softly. "But do you really think she would have done that to you?"

Caleb shook his head, "I believe what she said about Cedric…but that still doesn't change who she is. It's like she's just waiting to hurt me or jeopardize everything. I'm not sticking around for that."

Hay Lin frowned. "I can't believe this."

"I never liked her." Matt shrugged, and they all knew he was lying. In the past few days, it was obvious he had been warming up to Cornelia.

Caleb let his head fall backwards and rest on the chair. "Whatever. It's not like I was actually serious about her." That too, was something everyone knew was a lie. Cornelia was the first girl he had ever talked about within their inner group. Upon bringing his head back up, Caleb noticed Irma with her arms crossed, glaring at him from across the table. It was then that he realized that she had been quiet the entire conversation. "What?" He asked, slightly annoyed.

Irma pursed her lips in that way she did when she was angry. Then, she began. "That girl may be a stuck up bitch half the time, but you can't deny that she's actually…a good person." It sounded as if she had choked the words back out. "I mean, she stayed with us for hours when Will was in the hospital. And she clearly had feelings for you because she was willing to invite a bunch of losers like us to a party just so you would come too." Irma took in a breath after going without one for the mass of her lecture to Caleb. "And I think we all know that you still care about her. And I'll have you know I bear witness to Cornelia Hale admitting she has feelings." Irma shoved her chair backwards. "For you. So get your too cool ass out of that chair and open up to that girl, because I hate to admit it…but she deserves someone as good as you." At that Irma stood with her bag under her arm and walked quickly out of the cafeteria, leaving Caleb and everyone else stunned at her sudden change in attitude; at her sudden argument for Cornelia.

... ...

Caleb leaned against the counter of the smoothie parlour in the mall. The one thing worse than dealing with a rush of customers was dealing with no customers. It was boring and made the day only seem longer. When a trio of customers approached the counter, skateboards in arm, he was actually thankful they were there to pass at least two minutes of his time…that is until he realized who they were.

"Yeah, we'll get three of those orange banana things." Cedric said. Behind him stood his two goons of friends.

Caleb studied each of them before moving. Without a word he prepared the three smoothies and handed them over. Cedric passed him fifteen dollars and with a smug look said, "Keep the change. Maybe you can pay my ex for some action."

"Get out of here." Caleb quickly retorted. Cedric and the other two chuckled as they wandered away from the counter.

When Aldarn walked in from the back door Caleb breathed out a sigh of relief. At least his last two hours on the job would go a bit faster with a co-worker to talk to. And maybe speaking with Aldarn would calm him down a little after the encounter with Cedric.

"Hey." Aldarn nodded in Caleb's direction while he pulled a mandatory apron over his head.

"What's up?" Caleb said as a response.

Aldarn joined Caleb leaning on the counter, crossing his arms. "Business is slow today, huh?"

"Yeah." Caleb had never found Aldarn particularly entertaining but it was still better than talking to no one.

A wave of silence spread over them and they both watched as groups or people passed the store, not even taking a glimpse. Did nobody like smoothies anymore?

"So," Aldarn said, breaking the silence. "I heard that you're seeing Cornelia Hale."

Caleb was at first shocked that Aldarn knew her, but then he remembered that Aldarn attended Sheffield High and was a senior as well. "Yeah." He replied, "I don't know about that anymore."

Aldarn nodded slowly, then shrugged his shoulders, "That's too bad. She's a hot one."

It aggravated Caleb to hear anyone talking about Cornelia like that. "Yep." Caleb said in a bitter tone, as he wasn't sure what else he was supposed to say to that comment.

"And as an added bonus," Aldarn continued, unable to take a hint. "I heard from the man himself that she's good in the bedroom."

An instant flood of questions hit Caleb. Who was the man Aldarn just mentioned? And didn't Cornelia say she'd only ever been with one guy-and that she had absolutely no choice in that matter? For a moment he thought of course people were going to make up rumours like they had been with Cornelia Hale; after all, she was Cornelia Hale. Any guy who was with her would instantly be known as a legend. But there was one thing that set Caleb off apart from all these points. Aldarn had said he heard this news firsthand.

Once Caleb processed this information - it didn't take long, he spun around and took Aldarn by the shoulders, shoving him into the wall. "Where did you here that?"

"Huh…I-" Aldarn stuttered, then closed his mouth.

"Where did you hear that?"

"Just a guy at school-" Aldarn was nervous. Avoiding eye contact and badly stuttering. He was avoiding answering the question because he knew something, and Caleb realized that.

Caleb tightened his grip on Aldarn and pressed him harder against the wall, "Where did you hear that?" Just his tone of voice signalled this was the last time he would ask the question without becoming violent.

"Cedric." Aldarn breathed. "I heard it from Cedric."

Caleb released his tight grip and nearly pushed Aldarn over. He swung open the back door and tore off his apron. Behind him, he head Aldarn calling out. "Hey! Where are you going!"

"I'm leaving early!" Caleb yelled back, but he was already too far away for Aldarn to hear him.

Caleb stomped into the parking lot and swung open the door to his car. He was angry. He was frustrated. But most of all, he felt accomplished. He felt accomplished because suddenly it was as if he had been hit with an epiphany. Because now, he suddenly knew who attacked Cornelia.

Hope this satisfied the wait. Well, if it did, great, but now you have to wait for the next update for this cliffhanger to be resolved. I love cliffhangers. I'm thinking the wait for the next chapter should be about three weeks so just hold on until then. Here's the teeny look at it:

... ...

"He was really pissed." She answered slowly. "Really, really pissed. But why do you need to know so badly?"

She didn't get an answer because Caleb was already halfway to his car. Elyon's words were all he needed as a conclusion.

... ...

And...reviews much appreciated!