Chapter b174 /b

“Thank you.” I whisper back, grateful for his foresight.

As we walk towards the hallway, I can feel the weight of the stares and murmurs following us like a shadow. To the side, I spot Mia, Laura, and Cindy. Their expressions are thunderous, stormy enough to make me shiver. Caleb doesn’t seem to notice–or if he does, he doesn’t care. His focus is entirely on me, his hand warm and firm on my waist. Caroline and Jade follow us, their presence like an addedyer of protection, but it’s still overwhelming.

I nce up at Caleb, attempting a weak smile. “You know,” I say, trying to inject some humor into the moment, “I feel like Be from Twilight when Edward brought her to school.” Caleb looks down at me, and for a second, he’s quiet. Then, he bursts outughing, the sound bright and contagious.

“Really? Of all theparisons, you pick that one?” he teases, his grin wide. “What? It fits,” bI /bsay, unable to help the smallugh that escapes me. “I meanb, /beveryone’s staring like I’ve grown a second head.”

“Well, at least there’s not Edward here to take you away from me,” he counters, his tone yful but his words sincere. “Or that would’ve been a very unfair battle and we wouldn’t want to ruin our friendship.”

I couldn’t believe my ears when Caleb dropped that bombshell. “Wait, hold on,” bI /bsaid, my voice shaky as I processed his words.

“You’re telling me that werewolves and vampires aren’t mortal enemies in real life? That’s… insane.” My gasp felt loud in the quiet hallway, echoing in the space between us.

Caleb smirked, the kind of smirk that made it hard to tell if he was mocking me or just amused. “That’s actually normal, Aurora,” he replied, his voice calm and a little too casual for my liking. “That whole mortal enemies thing is purely fiction. Good drama, I’ll give it that, but in reality? Nah.”

I blinked at him, still trying to wrap my head around it. “Okay, but… does that mean there are vampires around here?” I asked, my tone shifting to something closer to panic than curiosity. My mind was already racing with all the possibilities–pale, bloodthirsty creatures lurking in the shadows, waiting for an unsuspecting snack.

Calebughed, a rich, warm sound that somehow made me feel like I’d just said the most ridiculous thing imaginable. “Rx,” he said, shaking his head. “There aren’t any around here. And do you want to know why? Because the one thing Twilight actually got right is that they love cold, wet ces with minimal sunlight. Basically, the Pacific Northwest, not…sunny Maine.”

I exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, rolling my eyes at the way he brushed it off like it was nothing.

“Right. Of course. Vampires have a preferred climate. Because that’s totally a normal thing to know.”

“It is when you’ve grown up in a town where the supernatural isn’t just bedtime stories,” he said, his tone softening slightly. “Trust me, Aurora. If there were vampires here, you’d know. We’d all know.”

I didn’t have time to push the conversation further because, just like that, we were standing in front of the door to our first ss. My nerves spiked as 1 nced at him, wondering how he managed to look so calm when I felt like my heart was about to explode out of my chest.

“Well,” I muttered, gripping the strap of my bag like it was a lifeline, “this is it. No turning back now.”

Caleb gave me a reassuring smile, his easy confidence almost contagious. “You’ve got this, babe. Just breathe. It’s not as scary as it seems.”

I nodded, taking a deep breath, and then stepped inside, hoping he was right.

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