"Oh my god.", I whispered, staring at the back of Hannah's head.
Hannah looked up instantly once she heard my voice. I was taken aback by her appearance. Her face was red with tears and her once beautifully styled hair was hanging limply in strands. Her eyes didn't not hold her usual glare, but were looking up at me with a sad vulnerability.
"Please. Don't tell.", Hannah spoke, her voice sounding fragile, on the point of cracking.
I rushed toward Hannah and enveloped her in a hug. "I won't, I won't.", I said softly as I held her.
Hannah began to cry quiet tears. The salty drips flowed down her face silently and she began to quake.
'Oh, Hannah. Why did you do this to yourself. You are much too strong to fall at the hands of someone as ignorant as Georgette and Nelson.', I thought to myself as I held her tightly.
It was such a strange thing to see Hannah so weak. It was crazy to look into her eyes and not see a hateful glare, but the watery reflection of a broken girl. And despite all the pain she had caused me, and all the hate she had bestowed upon me, I forgave her instantly when I saw her eyes. Because I knew that Hannah was struggling with a problem of her own, and she saw me as something to be compared to. And she thought that I was better in some way, so she put me down, and in private, she put herself down too. I knew, all too well, that she was hurting, and when someone is hurt, you don't cause them more pain. You help them heal. So, that is what I did.
I held Hannah until she ran out of tears and sobs, and together we sat on the bathroom tiles, still dressed in our crinkled gowns. Then Hannah spoke something I thought I would never hear in a million years.
"I'm sorry."
"I know. It's okay.", I replied in a hushed voice.
"I'm still really sorry, Kendall.", She replied.
"It will get better.", I promised her.
"Thank you. For still staying even after I was rude to you."
I smiled softly, "You're welcome."
Hannah offered me a weak smile and stood up, off the floor. I stood with her. "Why don't you take a nap? I'll clean this up.", I said, guiding her to her bed.
Hannah nodded and laid down on her bed, nestling into her soft sheets. I returned to the bathroom to clean up the mess.
I flushed the toilet, watching the vomit disappear down the drain. Then I threw away the toothbrush and began to clean up all the dirty tissues from the floor. Once the bathroom looked suitable, I decided that it was time to return to the ballroom, so I could finish the night.
I walked past Hannah's bed, where she was sleeping, turned off the lights, and walked into the corridor to return to the ballroom. Other that a few tear stains and a bit of wrinkles on my dress, I still looked presentable.
When I returned to the ballroom, I was just in time to hear the closing speech of the entire event. Everyone was gathered underneath the balcony, where Mr. Mason had said his speech earlier that night.
"I'd like to thank everyone for coming tonight.", He began. I kind of tuned out of the speech after the first sentence. My eye had caught something in the distance.
It was Will's father, Arthur. He looked around, as if he were making sure that no one was following him. Then he disappeared out the door that led to the courtyard. Feeling a deep sense of curiosity, I skirted around the groups of people that were listening to Mr. Mason speak, and headed out the door after Mr. Farnsworth.
The air outside greeted me with a cool breeze. I looked around for Mr. Farnsworth, only finding the emptiness of the courtyard.
Just as I was about to head back inside, I heard hushed voices in the distance. I stopped and listened closely.
"Do you have it?", Mr. Farnsworth asked.
"Yeah. It's the good stuff too.", A stranger replied.
"Well then, give it here... how much?", the Mr. Farnsworth said in a rushed voice.
"Two hundred."
"Two hundred? Are you joking?", Mr. Farsworth scoffed.
"Hey, I had to come to this thing. You bet it's going to cost you.", The unknown man said grumpily.
"I'll give you one fifty.", He proposed.
"Fine.", The other person said unhappily.
It was quiet for a moment, then I heard approaching footsteps. I quickly hid behind a tall shrub.
Seconds later, Mr. Farnsworth appeared. He adjusted his suit jacket, and walked back inside of the ballroom.
As I stood concealed in the shrubbery, I thought about what had just happened. I had an unexplained feeling that Mr. Farnsworth had just bought something illegal. Perhaps, drugs? Yes, it had to be drugs. When I was on the Ferris Wheel with Jack on our first date, he had said something about Mr. Farnsworth being involved with drugs in the past. Jack had mentioned something about his father having to fire him because of drug possession.
Now that that is solved, next question: what should I do? I definitely did not want to walk up to Mr. Farnsworth and ask. Who knows what would happen if I walked up to him and bluntly asked if he was a druggie. I would probably get murdered or something.
Another option would be to tell Mr. Mason or John. No, that wouldn't end well.
I suppose I could tell a police officer. No, you don't even have proof. I sighed to myself.
And my other choice: pretend like you never heard anything until further notice. I guess that's the best decision.
When I returned to the ballroom, all the guests were leaving. What a relief. This night has gone on for far too long.
I walked toward the Mason's, who were talking in a circle in the middle of the ballroom, fraternizing with the remaining guests.
"Kendall? Where have you been?", Anna spoke, once she caught sight of me.
"Hey, Anna." I replied with a tired smile, low-key avoiding her question.
"I haven't seen you in hours. I was starting to worry.", She said. "Did you find Hannah?"
Right. Hannah. "Yeah, I found her.", I replied vaguely.
"Well? Is she doing alright."
'You promised Hannah you wouldn't tell anyone.', I remined myself. "She's fine. She was a little upset but she got over it. I think she, uh, had to use the restroom. That's why she's not here yet.", I lied nonchalantly. I cursed my stupid answer. It's not like she's been in the bathroom for the past two hours. Ugh, Kendall!
Anna frowned. "Well I hope she's doing alright."
"She's fine, don't worry.", I told Anna, giving her my most convincing smile.
"If you say so.", Anna replied.
Once all the guests had left, including the Farnsworth and Morris families, Mr. Mason looked at us with a huge grin. "We did it!", He said happily, giving Mrs. Mason a kiss on the cheek. Anna and I laughed.
"Thank you all for your best behavior. To celebrate, I'll take you out to dinner tomorrow.", He said.
"Where?", Anna asked excitedly.
"Hmm, how about we go to Aspen.", He said, referring to the fanciest, most expensive restaurant in California.
"Yes!", Anna and John said with huge grins.
I smiled. Anna and John were so happy at this moment, no doubt because their father was paying attention to them. Mr. Mason wasn't around often, and when he was, John, Hannah, and Anna savored every bit of his presence. They had missed their father, and it even made me happy to hear that we would be spending time with him tomorrow.
After everyone said their goodnights, Anna and I headed up the stairs together. As we walked past Hannah's door, I felt a pang of guilt. I had lied to Anna, after she had covered for me. But I was only lying to help Hannah. Is there a way to justify that?
"Goodnight Kendall.", Anna told me with a tired smile.
"Night.", I replied, before heading into my bedroom.
Once I was safely in my room, I peeled off the gown, leaving in on the ground, and snuggled into my bed. It had been a very long day, and I would need a lot of rest to take on the next one. I plummeted into a dreamless sleep.
<<<>>><<<>>><<<>>>
"I can't believe he did this again!", Anna ranted to me the next day, as she paced around my bedroom.
"I'm so sorry Anna.", I told her sympathetically as I sat with my legs crossed on my bed.
"I believed, I really believed, that he would stay long enough to take us to dinner! I mean, he told us yesterday that he would take us to Aspen! Now he just takes off to New York without notice!", Anna said, waving her arms around in dramatic gestures. She was wearing a frown and her eyebrows were knitted together.
I nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry.", I said softly, wanting to be able to comfort her, but not finding the right words.
Mr. Mason had abruptly left last night, on a "sudden business trip" to New York while everyone was still asleep. Both Anna and John were extremely upset. Mrs. Mason didn't act surprised, and continued with her day. However, Anna and John seemed to take out their frustration in different ways. John had immediately taken off to go surfing. Anna had come into my room to rant to me. And Hannah, well, she was still asleep, and hadn't even known about dinner in the first place. So I suppose she wouldn't be too angry about it.
Anna opened her mouth to say something, but closed it, and slumped into my desk chair.
I bit my lip, trying to think of a way that I could help cheer up Anna. "Hey, how about we do something fun today.", I proposed with a smile.
Anna looked at me, raising her eyebrows, "What did you have in mind?"
What did Anna even like to do? "Uh, I was thinking we could go shopping.", I said, taking my best guess at what Anna liked to do in her free time.
Apparently, my guess was correct, because Anna's face lit up like a Christmas tree, the second that I mentioned the word 'shopping'.
"Yes! Shopping! Let's. Go. Now.", Anna squealed, pulling me off my bed.
Laughing, I shoved on my Converses and followed after Anna, who was already heading down the stairs.
Instead of asking Charles to drive us, Anna and I both decided to drive to Downtown Curmouth ourselves. That meant we had to go to the car garage and pick out a vehicle to take. The car garage was on the backside of the Mason's property, not too far from the courtyard where I eavesdropped on Mr. Farnsworth. The car garage was a large, spacious building with cars lined up along aisles. The Masons could pick from several cars to drive. The types of cars varied from color, brand, outdoorsy, to luxurious. We picked out a nice silver Lexus from the car garage and got inside. I then began to drive off the Mason's property.
Anna's mood seemed to have brightened tremendously since we left the Mason's Mansion. She was currently singing along with the radio and bobbing her head up and down.
We drove down the sunny streets with our windows down and the speakers blasting. Several minutes later, the brightly colored shops of Downtown Curmouth came into view. I pulled into the parking lot and turned off the car.
"Where should we go first? I was thinking PacSun? Or maybe Dolce and Gabanna?", Anna asked as we headed down the sidewalk.
I shrugged. "You can choose."
"Dolce and Gabanna it is!", Anna said happily, walking into the store of her choice. I followed after Anna, not concerned about buying any new clothes. I had plenty of clothes already. The Mason's had enough clothes stocked in my closet, that I could go years without wearing the same thing twice.
For the next couple of hours, I followed Anna from store to store, waiting until she had enough of shopping. After three hours of shopping, and not a sign of going back home, I was so hungry and tired of shopping that I had to leave Anna and go find some food.
"I'm going to get something to eat. Do you want something?", I asked Anna, hoping to escape the Hollister that we have been in for nearly forty minutes.
"I'm good. I'll be in H&M when you come back, okay?", Anna told me, completely engrossed in a clothing rack. I nodded and quickly left the store.
When I stepped outside, I had to squint my eyes for a few seconds. The lighting in Hollister is so dim, that I practically had night-vision.
Then I began to walk down the sidewalk, searching for somewhere to eat. All of the restaurants seemed to be on the far side of downtown. The farther I walked, the more I noticed that Downtown began to grow more dismal. Finally, I found a Subway on a dim street corner.
"Praise the Lord.", I mumbled as I opened the door, causing a little jingle. I got in line behind a man, and waited for my turn. While I was waiting, I looked out the window, observing the streets. Just as it was almost my turn to order, I saw a familiar vehicle park along the street. It was a rusty, old pickup truck that I could instantly recall as the truck that Will had rescued me in when I was being attacked in that alleyway last week.
Sure enough, the door of the pickup truck opened and a familiar blonde mop of hair appeared, that belonged to no other than Will Farnsworth. He slammed the door of the pickup closed and walked down the street, heading toward the sketchy part of downtown.
"Excuse me, Ma'am.", A guy dressed in a Subway uniform asked me from behind the counter.
I turned and looked at the guy with a dazed expression. I had to find out why Will was here. I had to know why he secretly visited the scary part of Curmouth in that pickup truck. I just had to. Without saying anything to the Subway dude, I turned on my heel and bolted out the door.
I burst onto the streets and began jogging in the direction that I saw Will disappear. As I got farther, the more the buildings became abandoned and worn down. It didn't take long for me to recognize the area as the exact place I had been when I ran from John last week. I was in the same rundown area of Curmouth, that I had been attacked in.
My breathing hitched, and I began to rethink my decision of following Will. Here I was, unprotected and vulnerable, in a dangerous area. All for what? To discover a rude, arrogant, boy's secret! It was stupid. But that didn't stop me from continuing to jog along the cracked, dirty sidewalk.
I eventually found Will. As I rounded a street corner, I spotted him walking toward an abandoned warehouse with shattered windows. Parts of the warehouse had boards nailed across windows, but they clearly weren't doing a good job at keeping people out. A large gaping hole in the side of the building served as an entrance. He walked to the side of the warehouse and easily slid through the hole, disappearing from my view.
Making sure the coast was clear, I darted across the street toward the warehouse. I ducked behind a stack of crates, only feet away from the entrance to the warehouse. Then I listened.
I could hear sounds coming from the warehouse, but I couldn't make them into words. I heard a few grunts, and a few shouts. From what I could hear, I guessed that there was about eight people inside, and an argument was arousing.
Curiosity ate at me as I stood behind the crates. I couldn't hear what they were saying. I had to get closer. Compromising my hiding place, I snuck out from behind the crates and inched closer to the hole, until I was just on the other side of the wall.
"I need the money today.", A gruff masculine voice spoke from inside the warehouse.
"I know. I got sidetracked. I'm sorry, man. I can get you it by tomorrow.", Will spoke, his usually confident tone faltering.
"Listen, kid. I need it today. And I can tell you're lying. You don't have the money at all, do you?", The man spoke.
"Of course I have it. It's in my car, I just forgot it.", Will insisted.
"You came to me last night begging for something. I gave you the good stuff. We made an agreement. You had to pay me today. You need to learn some respect kid. I took you in when your father-"
"Don't talk about my father.", Will blurted, interrupting the man.
"What did you just say to me!", The voice demanded harshly.
I heard a quieter voice whisper, "Oh, he's dead."
"I, uh, I-", Will stuttered.
"Repeat it. I dare you.", The voice demanded again.
The warehouse was silent, then the unmistakable sound of a fist colliding with a person rung out. I heard a groan.
I bit my lip, not wanting to shout out for Will and show myself. I just hope he can take a few punches.
I heard more punches. More yelps. The fight was getting more intense by the moment. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that Will would be alright. People began shouting, and I could hear Will and the mystery man fighting. A glass shattered, causing me to bite down on my tongue to prevent from shouting out.
Then, I heard a gunshot.
"Will!", I screamed, fear consuming me. Without thinking, I jumped into the hole, falling into the warehouse.
I landed hard on the concrete, pain shooting up my spine. I looked around the dim warehouse, desperately searching for Will. Desperately hoping he wasn't shot.
Before I could even look for Will, someone grabbed me upwards by my hair and placed a cold blade against my neck. I froze.
"Well, well, well. Look who we have here. I think lover boy brought us a peace-offering."
<<<>>><<<>>><<<>>>
A/N:
I know, you all hate me. Another cliffhanger. :)
On a better note, Happy #MachoMonday! Can you believe it. I updated in a week. That's seven days! I think it has been over a year since I updated within a week. I finally have the entire story line of this book planned out! So hopefully this book will realistically be done in 2017. It will be my New Year's resolution or something.
I will probably be updating one more time before January comes. I am going on vacation for Christmas Break so I won't be updating between the 18th of December and the 4th of January. I know, I know, but I will come back from vacation with a new update so be prepared for that.
Also... 2.7k reads!! We have come so far guys!When we hit 3k I will begin to dedicate chapters to readers who I notice are the most active! So remember to vote, comment, and spread this story to other Wattpaders through your reading lists!! I seriously love all of my readers!
So, as usual: Chapter Thoughts (Please Comment, don't be shy!)
•Mr. Farnsworth being a druggie?
•Mr. Mason canceling the dinner?
•Will being a little sneaky snake?
•The gunshot?
•Kendall getting a knife held up to her neck?
•What do you predict will happen in Chapter Twenty-Four of Things Happen?
What Team do you ship?
•Kendall and John: #Khon
•Kendall and Jack: #Kack
•Kendall and Will: #Kill
Love you guys!,
Cora❤️