His Sweet Revenge

Chapter 19.

His smile fades. "This isn't you show me yours, and I'll show you mine, Layla."

I smile at that. "Okay. I'm sorry."

He smirks. "But I'm down to do it if you are. Just not with the necklaces."

I laugh, pushing his face with my palm. "Why are you so defensive about it? Did a girl give it to you? Did she break your poor heart?" I get up and begin clearing off my vanity.

Grayson scoffs. "No. I've never had a girlfriend before."

My jaw drops as I turn back around to look at him. "Never?"

He shakes his head with a funny smile. "Nah. Do you think they can handle all this?"

That makes me laugh hard. I finish cleaning up, turn my music off, and flop on my bed. At the same time, Grayson's phone buzzes from my nightstand. He reaches over to pick it up.

"What's up, Kade?"

I hear faint sounds from his phone, but none are clear enough to understand.

"What? What's going on?"

Silence.

"Kade, where are you?" Grayson sounds worried. I sit up, watching him. "Buddy, I can't understand a thing you're saying. Okay ... just turn your location on for me. Can you do that? Okay, I'm going to come get you."

Grayson turns his phone off and gets out of bed.

"What happened?" I ask.

Grayson shrugs, a worried expression on his face. "I don't know. I think he's out of it. I need to go get him."

"I'll go with you," I say, getting up and heading to my closet for a hoodie.

I follow Grayson downstairs. He swipes Hale's keys from the kitchen counter and throws on a hoodie from the foyer, zipping it closed.

"He sent me his location," Grayson says, turning the keys in the ignition. "Could you look at it?"

I swipe open Grayson's messages with Kade, and my stomach immediately drops. "Grayson, he's here. In Redwood."

Grayson grabs the phone out of my hand. "What the hell is he doing here?"

I don't have a good feeling about this. At all. 575 Valley Ave. It's not ringing any bells for me. All I know is that Valley Ave is across town.

Could this day get any weirder?

"Does the address sound familiar?" I ask.

He shakes his head, still staring at his screen in the dark. "No." I know he's telling the truth.

The drive over is quiet, and I can't help but notice how Grayson is gripping the steering wheel tight the entire time. He's also driving pretty fast.

When we reach the address, the GPS in Hale's car lets us know we're there. The house looks unfamiliar, and a party is clearly going on.

I follow Grayson out of the car and up to the house. We had to park pretty far, and the house is on a hill, so it's a steep walk up.

Inside feels different than any party I've ever been to. People are drinking and laughing like usual, but some are also doing other questionable things. There's a whole group of people surrounding the coffee table doing lines.

"Stay close," Grayson says, pulling me towards him by grabbing my hand. I think he's picking up the same energy I am.

We walk around the house, Grayson's hand in mine, and people shoot us weird looks. We're definitely not dressed for the occasion, and I'm sure we look out of place. Still no sign of Kade. The stairs leading to the basement are lit up.

Grayson sighs right before we start to descend the steps. Downstairs feels even weirder. It's dim, people are making out everywhere, and they don't look normal. They look drugged out. Some are passed out or almost there.

"There he is," Grayson says, pointing to a couch in the empty living room. He lets go of me, and we fast walk over to him.

Kade is passed out, lying on his stomach with his phone in his hand.

"Shit," Grayson huffs, kneeling. "Kade? Kade, can you hear me?"

Kade groans slightly, unmoving.

Grayson slips Kade's phone into his pocket and grabs his arm, pulling him up so that he's sitting. Kade doesn't do anything. He slumps back with his head hanging. Grayson wraps Kade's arm around his shoulder.

"Will you help me, Layla?"

I rush to Kade's other side and wrap his arm around me. Grayson and I both lift him at the same time.

"Hm?" Kade's eyes flutter, but he still can't keep his head upright. We walk across the basement and back toward the stairs. Kade can barely walk. That's concerning.

How much did he drink?

"Should we take him to the hospital?" I ask, breathless, as we help Kade upstairs. "This doesn't feel right."

Grayson blows out a breath, taking most of Kade's weight. "Let's just get him to the car first."

We maneuver through the crowd of people. Their drunk stares are intensified as we move past them. We finally step out into the night air, and I feel thankful for the breeze because I've started to sweat.

"What the fuck?"

My gaze is on the floor, struggling to keep up with Grayson, but I snap my head up at his words.

"Oh, no," I sigh.

Hale's car. All the windows are smashed, and the windshield has a word written in big letters. Murderer.

I watch as Grayson gently sets Kade on the grass of a lawn. He runs his hand through his hair, clearly tense.

"What do I do, Layla?" It looks like he still hasn't processed what has happened. His eyes are clear of emotion. And I know it's coming. I see the anger is going to hit him all at once. "It's not even my car," he whispers to himself. "It's my uncle's car, Layla," he tells me.

I scramble for my phone in my hoodie pocket. "How about I call a tow truck?"

Grayson tries to move past me. I step in his way.

"What are you doing? Get out of my way." The anger is slowly overtaking the stress.

"Where are you going?"

Something flickers in his eyes. "To burn Noah's fucking house down."

I place my hand on his arm, trying to ground him. "How about we deal with Kade first?" I say, pointing to Kade passed out in the grass.

Grayson grabs his head in his hands and falls into the grass next to his friend. He's not going to be any help. There's only one person I can think to call.

He answers on the third ring. "What's going on, Laylabug?"

"Hey, Grandpa, I need your help."

"Go on," Grandpa says.