Page 4 of Bound By Secrets

When my eyes bounce over to the guy on the right, I realise that he must be Brad because his dark eyebrows are furrowed, but a playful smirk is painted on his face as he glares at the girl beside him.

He looks like the cocky type.

His dark brown hair is cropped short on the sides, showcasing a black industrial piercing in his left ear. His eyes are a dark shade of brown, adding to his intimidating persona, and a singular faint freckle on the underside of his bottom lip draws your attention to them. He has roughly the same build as the other guy, but he's a little bulkier, like he might work out often.

"Stop staring, Little C, and pay attention. Our lockers are up here somewhere," Callum says, turning me back around to face the front of the group as we turn down a new corridor lined with blue and grey lockers on either side.

Clearing my throat, I shake my head, knowing my cheeks are probably rosy red right now from staring at the attractive guys behind me for far too long to be deemed normal.

Callum smirks at me, throwing his arm over my shoulder and poking me in the side. He realises his mistake when I curse and hunch down slightly to relieve the pain. Loosening his hold on me, he apologises as his eyes fill with worry almost instantly.

"You're an idiot," Connor huffs, staring daggers at Callum before knocking his arm off my shoulder and replacing it with his, gently pulling me into his side. Callum looks at me sheepishly, but I reach out my hand and lightly squeeze his arm.

It's not his fault I'm in pain and I don't blame him for not knowing where I'm hurt, they never do because I'd rather not tell them. They always feel guilty that they can't help me but I don't expect them to. I know it's too dangerous for either of them to try and stop it.

"You told me you weren't hurting," Connor whispers to me, pulling us to a stop as the rep stops everyone and assigns lockers,handing out keys. I tell him I'm fine before focusing back on the rep, waiting for my name to be called and ignoring Connor's eyes that are burning into the side of my head. He sighs but thankfully doesn't say anything else.

"Calliope Conrad, locker 119." The rep calls out and I hurry over to him, as quickly as I can whilst managing the pain. Once I have the key, I walk over in the direction he points me in. I lean against the locker once I find it, closing my eyes for a second, willing the throbbing pain to stop.

"Hey! Guess we're locker neighbours." I open my eyes to see the blonde girl from earlier, smiling at me as she opens the locker next to mine. "My name's Kat. Nice to meet you." She offers her hand out to me. I look at her hand momentarily before looking across the corridor to where my brothers are standing. Callum's staring at me with a reassuring smile whilst Connor's watching Kat's hand as if it's a deadly weapon. Rolling my eyes, I slide my palm into Kat's awaiting hand.

"I'm Callie. Nice to meet you too," I offer, unsure if that's the right way to respond. I’ve never really had friends, I always kept to myself in school and had the twins to keep me company at lunch, so I never needed any. It was also safer for us not to have any.

She shakes my hand briefly and then closes her locker.

"Well, hopefully, I'll see you around sometime if you're not too busy with your... friends," she says, glancing over at the twins and then quickly back at me. I chuckle a little and also look over at the two imposing giants who are still staring at us. I turn back towards her and see the two guys she was with earlier start approaching.

"They're my brothers, hence why they're staring over here and watching over me like some kind of obnoxious bodyguards. They're just really protective," I tell her, in reference to the twins.

My gaze slides past her head to the two guys who are now standing behind her. The one with the cute nerdy vibe and pretty green eyes smiles at me before reaching his hand toward me, just like Kat did a few moments before.

"I'm Nate, thought I'd introduce myself to you since my sister didn't, and this guy's Brad." He motions to the one who's looking me up and down with an inquisitive expression on his face. Now that we’re closer, I can see slight flecks of green mixed into the brown of Brad’s irises. They're stunning.

I shake Nate's hand, about to introduce myself, but as I open my mouth, I feel a presence behind me. Connor places his hand across my mouth, silencing me.

His other hand lands on my shoulder, turning me to the side and nudging me, his way of telling me we're leaving. I look back at Kat and the two guys and offer a small wave before Connor practically pushes me in front of him and down the hallway. Clearly, he’s finished with this little introduction day.

Chapter Three

Nate

"Well, that was a little weird," I state, glancing at Kat and Brad before looking down the corridor where the little stunner had just disappeared.

I can't get the image of her big, rounded, bright blue eyes out of my head, they’re captivating. She's a small little thing, easily a whole foot shorter than me with this long, silky chocolate brown hair that I want to run my fingers through. Her perfect, plump, rosy lips were one of the first things that caught my attention when my eyes locked on her. She’s a true beauty.

I didn't get a great look at her figure because the guys she was with kept burning holes into my head with their cold stares. I did notice the thick thighs and the rounded, peachy arse when we were walking behind them earlier. I can just imagine myself smoothing my hands across it as I press lingering kisses against her neck.

Kat smacks my arm to get my attention and I blink a couple of times, realising I'd been staring down the corridor in my own little world, picturing the girl who was here minutes ago.

"It's not weird, they're just overprotective. God knows I know what that's like having you two around all the time," she says, glaring pointedly at Brad and me.

"That's overly protective though," Brad adds. I nod my head in agreement.

“She didn’t even get to introduce herself,” I murmur.

Brad nudges me and signals with his head to the doors, silently telling me he's going for a smoke. I nod and watch him walk away before focusing on my sister again. "What classes have you got?”

“The ones I signed up for, duh,” she deadpans. I groan at her typical answer and she giggles. We both know she'd be bored and lonely without me.

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