Chapter 11 Chloe put down her backpack and sat down. Leaning back against the chair, she said, "Callum, I don't have time to play games with you. Just say it-what do you want?" I've made it so obvious. You still can't tell Callum suddenly leaned forward, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. I'm trying to win you over ." Chloe. God, I seriously want to punch this guy! ' "Stop pretending. Callum chuckled. I know the truth. You've had a crush on me for a long time now. Don't be shy." Chloe: God, 1 seriously want to punch this guy. Callum winced in pain. "Why'd you hit me?" Chloe gave a cold laugh. "Can't you tell? I'm trying to knock some sense into your head. Don't start your nonsense so early in the morning" "Callum," Vincent whispered, "she really doesn't look like she has a crush on you. Maybe you got it wrong?" Callum held his forehead. "She's just shy. And she's so shy that she gets angry, Yeah, that's it. She's just embarrassed. Vincent nodded. "Girls really do get mad so easily." Chloe shot them both a sharp look. That finally shut them up. After reading for a bit, her phone buzzed quietly in her pocket. The original owner of this phone barely had any contacts, so it rarely Chloe pulled it out and saw a message from Michael, the guy she had just added a couple of days ago. Michael: [Ms. Lancaster, are you participating in the Rhodes Entertainment talent show!] Chloe replied, [Yes] While waiting for a reply, Chloe opened Instagram . The first post was a new update from Callum. It was a photo of him reading a book. The caption read. [A new day starts with good study habits.] Chloe was about to scroll past, but then she saw Michael had commented under Callum's post. [Not bad. Making progress .] Callum replied: Thank you] Followed by a cheeky smiley face . Chloe's hand froze. She looked up and stared at Callum's face Vincent whispered, "Callum, she's looking at you. Guess she really does have a thing for you. Knew your instincts were right" Callum immediately sat up straighter , tilted his chin slightly to show off his jawline, and pushed back the hair from his forehead, putting on what he thought was his most charming side profile. Then he flashed a smile. Chloe said, "Hold sull Chloe thought, "That side profile looked exactly like Tristan when he was a kid. No wonder Callum felt familiar from the start. But the Rhodes family has always been bookish , known for their elegance and intellect. This guy-could he really be one of them? Chloe took a deep breath and raised her phone. Click She took a photo. Callum chuckled. "What you want my handsome face as your lock screen? Damn, you really are something else." Chlor sent the photo to Michael (What's your relationship with him! ] Michael replied, M. Lancaster, you en know the Rhoades family's core passcode, yet you don't know how he's related to me?l Chlor: [ So he's part of the Rhodes family too? ) P P · Chapter 11 Michael: [Full-blooded brothers.] Instantly, Chloe had mixed feelings. She put down her phone and couldn't help glancing at Callum again . Pink-dyed hair, earrings, chain necklace, skull-print T-shirt, ripped jeans. Inside his desk cigarettes, playing cards, snacks, a game console. Chloe thought. What a grandson. I must've done something great in a past life to be blessed like this. "You still looking? Had enough yet?" Callum leaned his whole head closer. Chloe pressed a hand to his face and shoved him aside. "Get away from me. Just looking at you makes my eyes hurt. With that, Chloe opened her math book and quietly started reading again. by the time morning classes were over, Chloe's mood had finally settled a little. By Chloe had read the news before-Tristan's son and daughter-in-law had passed away more than ten years ago. Which meant Callum had grown up without his parents. No wonder he turned out like this . It was kind of understandable. She stood up. "Come on. Let's go to the cafeteria "It's a good time to talk about the Rhodes family history, Chloe thought.. Vincent winked. "Callum, we'll head out and get thingready. Callum nodded and walked beside Chloe. The two of them made their way to the cafeteria side by side. The cafeteria was packed. Almost no empty seats. But Callum was the top dog at Erord High School. Callum stood by one table and lightly tapped it. Then everyone at the table quickly picked up their trays and cleared out, The next moment, Callum snapped his fingers toward the back. "Chloe, over here." Chloe had just arrived and was about to sit down. Suddenly, fireworks popped right inside the cafeteria. Vincent rushed over with a huge bouquet of roses and shoved them into Callum's arms. Callum held the flowers high and shouted, "Chloe, I like you." The cafeteria went dead silent. Then, the whole place exploded with chatter. "Holy crap, the school bully just confessed?" "Wait, wasn't he into Erin , the school beauty! Since when did that change?" "No idea. This is wild." At a window seat, Erin was sitting with Zayne. She glanced over at Chloe standing in the middle and smirked. Both Erin and Chloe had inherited the Lancaster family genes-big eyes, high nose bridges, almost identical faces . Erin muttered to herself. 'Callum confessed to Chloe just because she looks like me. Is it because I asked Callum to look after Chlor the other day? And this's the ridiculous way he chose to "take care of her. Hilarious. "My dad's counting on my sister to retake SAT and actually get in this time ," Erin said, biting her lip. "If she ends up with Callum, he'll definitely drag her down. Zayne, she always listens to you. Why don't you go talk to her?" "None of my business," Zayne interrupted, setting down his fork . Tmn heading back to class ? Erin smiled at herself. Just as expected-Zayne lus zero patience for Chloe . A girl from the countryside like her, she's better off with cone like Callum They probably get married straight out of school and love a bunch of kids. That will be her whole life.. Erin stood up and followed after Zayne Chapter 11 Back in the cafeteria, Callum pulled a crystal necklace from his pocket. "Chloe, I picked this out just for you. Will you be my girlfriend?" Callum smiled wide, full of confidence. A public confession, Roses. A gift. No way she'll turn me down. If she says yes, I'll immediately tell everyone it's just a joke and turn Chloe into the biggest laughingstock in school. "Say yes !" Vincent and his crew started chanting on the side. "Come on, Chloe! Say yes!" Chloe reached out and took the bouquet. Then she plucked out four or five roses, crumpled them into a ball, and shoved them straight into Callum's mouth-before he could say anything even dumber. Chloe snapped, "That's for being a little traitor. And that's for being disrespectful to your elders." With that , Chloe swung the giant bouquet right at Callum's head. Callum stumbled backward and fell to the ground, landing right on the crystal necklace. His knees hit it hard, and his face twisted in pain.