Chapter 6: Falling Further

This time, without my interference, Natalie became even more reckless. It was like she was daring someone to stop her, but no one bothered anymore.

Soon, a set of photos of her spread wildly among the students. Every group chat pinged with them, the gossip spreading faster than wildfire.

The first showed Natalie in a business suit, holding a pointer. The setting was a cheap hotel room, the comforter patterned with faded sunflowers.

Under her ultra-short skirt, her legs in black tights looked long and slender. She’d always been proud of those legs—used to brag about being able to run the fastest mile on the soccer team.

Her figure was alluring and provocative. It didn’t look like a class project anymore; it looked like something that belonged on a site nobody would admit to visiting.

She didn’t look like a student at all anymore. The innocence was gone, replaced by a kind of haunted bravado.

The following photos were even more suggestive, bordering on indecent. The comments were relentless, the school group chat a mess of winking emojis and crude jokes.

Someone joked with me, “Caleb, your English tutor’s tutoring someone else now.” The words stung more than I’d expected.

“Natalie looks innocent on the surface, but she’s wild behind the scenes.” The rumor mill churned on, each story more elaborate than the last.

I buried my head in my English reading and said nothing. I let the words blur on the page, refusing to look up.

That night, Natalie knocked on my door. The sound was soft, hesitant, the way she used to knock when she’d forgotten her house key.

Her face was full of panic, eyes red and swollen as if she’d cried all night. Her makeup was smeared, a small cut on her lower lip.

Before I could ask, she hugged me tightly. The overwhelming scent of roses left me stunned. It was the same perfume she’d worn to homecoming, before everything went sideways.

Natalie buried her face in my shoulder and sobbed:

“I never thought Derek would treat me like this. Why would he do this to me?”

“How could he… how could he send my photos to others? How can I stay at school now?”

Natalie cried so hard she could barely breathe—there was nothing left of her former goddess image. Her words were a ragged plea, her hands clawing at my shirt.

I forcefully pushed her away. “Had enough crying? If so, get out.” My words sounded colder than I meant, but I didn’t take them back.

She stared at me in disbelief. The shock in her eyes was almost enough to make me falter.

Yes, I had never refused her before. She was the first person who ever made me feel like I belonged.

When I was little, I was frail, and the other kids didn’t want to play with me. I was always picked last, the one who got the busted kickball and the broken pencil.

Only Natalie would help me up when I fell, dust me off, and gently say, “From now on, I’ll play with Caleb, okay?” Her hand was always warm, her grip unbreakable.

She was the only one who would comfort and praise me. Her words were like Band-Aids on scraped knees and bruised egos.

So, ever since I was young, I listened to her and liked to follow her around. Even when the other kids teased, I didn’t care.

I was so obedient to her that even my mom would joke, “Your Natalie is better at keeping you in line than I am.”

…

I ignored Natalie’s reaction, sat back down, and continued working on my scratch paper. I could hear her breath hitch, the silence stretching between us.

She looked deeply aggrieved. “Now even you treat me like this? Caleb, do you look down on me too?” Her voice was small, the words trembling.

She looked so pitiful, it was hard not to feel sorry for her. My chest ached, but I steeled myself.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. I just liked him. If I didn’t do this, he would have broken up with me.”

Natalie choked with tears. “Caleb, do you know? Only with him do I feel at home.”

“My mom just forces me to do things I don’t like. Only he accepts me, flaws and all…”

I really didn’t expect to hear her say that. It was like she was reaching for something just out of her grasp.

After Natalie’s dad died, her mom worked overtime and took care of her, just so she could study without worries. I remembered Mrs. Adams making pancakes at midnight, the apartment always smelling faintly of syrup and sadness.

But now, she claimed a thug she’d only known for forty days gave her a sense of home. It didn’t add up, but I could see the desperation in her eyes.

Yes, her mom was strict, but that was no excuse for her to act out. We all wanted to rebel; not all of us burned the house down to do it.

There was no point in saying more. I just told her, “If you don’t leave, I’ll call Mrs. Adams to pick you up.”

Natalie wanted to say more, but I coldly cut her off. I refused to meet her gaze, focusing on the numbers scrawled in the margins of my notebook.

She got angry too. “Fine, Caleb. I always treated you like a brother, was so good to you, and now when I’m in trouble you just watch from the sidelines.”

“From now on, we’re strangers.”

Natalie said a lot of harsh things, but I stayed unmoved. My jaw clenched, my hands trembling in my lap.

She left, slamming the door in anger. The echo lingered, rattling the picture frames in the hallway.

To be honest, she rarely got so emotional. She must have really cared about the rumors at school and genuinely hoped I would help her. I knew the pain of being gossiped about—our town loved nothing more than a scandal.

But I knew too well what would happen if I got involved. This time, I wouldn’t interfere in any of her affairs. I closed my textbook and stared at the ceiling, letting the silence settle around me.