Mom stared at me over the rim of her coffee cup while she sat at the dining table, not for the first time this morning. I had the creepy feeling that I had some sign that said "LOOK AT ME" taped to my forehead. Normally my mother never spent this much of her precious time concerning herself with me. Sad to admit, yes, but it was entirely the truth.
I set my empty bowl of oatmeal in the sink and turned to stare at Mom, gripping the kitchen counter. "Is there something on my face?"
Mom tsked into her cup of coffee and shook her head. "Don't take that tone with me, young lady."
I almost blurted out a horrific obscenity at her words - a clear sign I'd been spending too much time around Archer. The boy cussed like a sailor.
"Okay," I said. "Sorry."
"How is school going?"
Now it was my turn to stare at her like she had something sticking out of her head. "Uh...school is fine, I guess? There's really not much too it."
"How's that geometry grade?" Mom continued, sipping primly at her cup of coffee.
"It's an 82%," I answered dully. "I got an A on my last test, though."
"You'd better keep an eye on it," she said knowingly. "It could drop down to a C if you're not careful."
I was very well aware of my geometry grade, thanks very much. I wasn't stupid. Mom obviously didn't want to talk to me about school. This was probably about something totally different.
"And...your job?"
Yep. Call it teenage daughter's intuition.
"The job's fine," I said as coolly as possible. I downed my glass of water and gave an awkwardly polite smile in Mom's direction before making my way to my room.
"Not so fast, Hadley!"
I scrunched my eyes closed, muttered a shit under my breath, and turned back around. "Yes, Mom?"
"About you and that boy..." Mom trailed off, looking just the slightest bit embarrassed.
"You mean Archer?" I hinted, trying not to sound too rude.
Mom nodded, clearing her throat.
"What about him?" I asked.
"Are you two...you know...dating?"
Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for Mom, I'd heard this so much these past three days that I was able to keep the shock and horror off my face.
"No," I said as calmly as I could manage. "We're not. Just friends."
It stung a little at how easily Mom believed the horrible lie coming out of my mouth. Archer and I really weren't dating, but we did sort of have...a thing or whatever. And my parents didn't even know enough about to me to realize that I was obviously head over heels for "some guy".
"Well, then," Mom said, blowing out a sigh. "Have a good day at school then."
I stared at her for a moment before I managed to wipe the shocked look off my face. "Thanks. Have a good day at...the office."
I turned and sprinted back to my room before Mom had a chance to say anything else.
So far this morning was turning out to be pretty weird. Dad was still locked away in the bathroom, so that was nothing unusual. Mom, though, never bothered herself with chitchat. A long time ago she used to ask me how my day went when I got home from school and she'd help me with my homework. Once I hit high school things changed. Whether for the worse, I wasn't sure.
I tried to keep Mom's awkward behavior out of my mind while I showered and got ready for school. I had bigger fish to fry today. I was hoping with crossed fingers that my involvement with Archer was old news now, but that was probably wishful thinking. This was JFK we were talking about, so one could never be too sure.
Mom and Dad were both gone by the time I dragged myself out of my bedroom and out the front door. My mind was mostly in the clouds as I made for the subway. This was nothing out of the normal. Taelor was already waiting on the platform when I finally arrived, and she instantly started babbling at me about anything and everything in her typical Taelor way.
Today, for some reason, this didn't bother me. If it were any other day, I probably would have told her to shut up. But my mind was focused on something else. A something else like Archer.
I couldn't explain the feeling that was slowly starting to creep over me as Taelor and I filed off the subway and made our way for the surface. It was as if there was this heavy weight pressing down on my shoulders, and my stomach was twisting with butterflies. I kept looking over my shoulder every moment or so, having this overpowering sensation that I was being watched. Nobody was paying any attention to me, but that did nothing to quell my neves.
"Okay, what are you looking at?" Taelor demanded, yanking my forearm to pull me to a stop.
"Nothing," I said slowly. "Nothing at all."
That was certainly a total lie.
Taelor's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Yeah, right. Are you looking for Archer?"
"No," I sighed exasperatedly. "I'm not. Let's just go now, okay?"
Taelor kept shooting me shrewd looks as we started walking again, which just made me all the more annoyed. This day had started out weird, and now it was turning into something I knew wasn't going to be too particularly pleasant.
Taelor and I parted ways after we stepped through the front doors of the school, and I walked off to homeroom with that creepy feeling hovering over me.
Something was wrong here, and I wasn't too eager to find out what it was.
Archer wasn't at lunch. I stared at his empty seat with a baffled look on my face, wondering where on earth he could be. The coffee house wasn't in need of extra help, was it? The coffee house was doing just fine to my knowledge. Was Victoria alright? Did Regina have another flashback or something? Did something happen with April, May, or June?
The possibilties of what could have happened were endless. My hands were shaking as I dropped into my seat and I nearly knocked my lemonade bottle off the table.
Every possible frightening scenario was currently running through my mind and it was all I could do not to burst into tears in the middle of the cafeteria. I knew I was sort of a crybaby about all of this. There was no getting around that fact. But today something horribly wrong was waiting on the horizon and there was no doubt about it. Archer hadn't once missed a day of school to the best of my knowledge even this entire semester. When I headed down to the gym from chemistry I'd pass his locker every day, and he'd always be there, shoving things into his backpack with his usual surly expression. It wasn't like I purposely went out of my way to look for him, but I usually always kept to the sidelines in the hallways and it was sort of hard not to catch sight of him. Even if everything else in my life was ridiculously unpedictable, Acher was always there, and that was sort of reassuring.
A sliver of ice cold dread slipped down my spine at one thought that occured to me suddenly.
What if Archer had killed himself? What if he'd actually done it?
Whoa, hold up there, Hadley, I reasoned with myself. I have 11 days left. It's too early, even if he's going to do it. There has to be some plausible reason why he's not here today.
If he really had killed himself then I'd know it. I was sure of it. Technically it had already happened before and it had been the talk of the entire school. No, I was positive I would know if Archer had ended his life.
I threw my half eaten sandwich down on the table and pulled my phone out of my pocket. Archer didn't have a cell phone, so I couldn't call that, but I could call the coffee house, which is exactly what I did.
I crossed my fingers and held my breath while the phone rang. First once, then twice, then three times. And then the line went dead.
This did not bode well at all.
I took several deep breaths while I rested my head on the table, trying really, really hard not to start crying. I even checked the scarred number on my wrist just to make sure I wasn't imagining things. No, I definitely had 11 days left.
Then what the hell was going on?
I kept my head down on the table for the rest of lunch and ignored my sandwich and everyone else that happened to pass me. Hopefully I could just pass of the pained look on my face as a stomach or head ache.
When the bell rang for fifth hour, I took my time gathering my things together and knocked my sandwich off the table into the trash can. Fifth hour was CP English, and we'd recently started doing a term paper on The Great Gatsby so class was in the library until further notice. At least in the library I'd be able to avoid everyone else. Either that, or take a nap in some secluded corner.
Mrs. Lowe the English teacher was waiting for the class in the library and once we were all assembled, she gave us all the usual spiel about being quiet and respectful and how we were all supposed to be working diligently on our papers. This was the typical blah-blah instructions, so I really didn't pay attention much.
I dropped my school bag onto a table near the far corner of the library and went in search of a copy of The Great Gatsby. It wasn't placed on the "F" shelf - F for Fitzgerald - and it wasn't on the return cart. So I ended up having to go up to the front desk to ask the librarian, Mrs. Peterson, to help me find a copy.
This ends up taking a good fifteen minutes. I didn't mind so much, since any chance I got to avoid doing my paper I usually took.
The table I'd dumped my school things on remained empty when I returned, which was a relief. I took my time taking out my notebook, eraser, and pencil and all but threw them down onto the table. I gave The Great Gatsby a disgusted look as I reached for it. It wasn't like I didn't like the book. On the contrary, it was pretty well written. I just didn't have the time or concentration to work on this dumb paper.
I couldn't stop thinking about Archer. I didn't know where he was or what was going on and I just wanted to see him to know that he was alright. I wasn't having any luck getting ahold of him and that was seriously starting to freak me out.
I leaned back in my chair with a sigh and flipped open The Great Gatsby, skimming through the pages. I'd just gotten to chapter three when a little scrap of paper fell out of the book and fluttered onto my stomach.
I made the sign of the cross before I grabbed the note and began to unfurl it, my heart pounding in my chest.
And what I read was enough to make me faint.
Tic tac toe, three in a roe
Sixteen days down, eleven more to go
April, May, and June are sweet
But some may see them like a piece of meat
Watch were you go and look where you walk
Because you never know when you're being stalked
Holy shit. Holy shit.
Tears were burning in my eyes and my lips were trembling as I mouthed the words written on the note, plain as day, clearly meant for me. Sixteen days plus eleven days? That was 27 days. Who else was involved with 27 days like I was? No one was.
This had Havoc written all over it. There were no ands, ifs, or buts about it.
I tried to look inconspicuously around me, searching for any sign of Havoc or somebody that was watching me, watching me read the note left in my book. No one was paying any attention to me, but that didn't mean anything.
So the intense feeling I had earlier of somebody watching me had to be right. It was stupid of me to forget that just because I couldn't see Havoc didn't mean he wasn't here. Of course he had to be here.
I pushed back from the table and stood up, clutching the note tight in my grasp, and went marching off in between the rows and rows of bookcases, hoping against hope that I'd catch at least some sight of Havoc. The rows of bookcases were completely empty. Nobody was there. I stood in the middle of one of the rows and gave myself a minute to let a few tears escape.
Having a breakdown in the middle of the library wasn't in my best interest. The last thing I needed was to call attention to myself.
Not knowing what else to do with the random thought I got, I took a deep breath and whispered-yelled, "Havoc! I know you're there! And I'm not finding this note shit amusing at all!"
I received no answer.
I blew out a sigh and made to turn to head back to my table and then got whapped upside the head with a book that fell off the top shelf of one of the bookcases.
I let out a yelp and toppled over backwards onto the ground, clutching at my forehead. My head was already pounding with pain and when I looked at my fingers, they were dotted with blood. Getting injured by a falling book was the least of my problems, however.
Wiping my hands on my jeans, I leaned over and picked up the book that had hit me upside the head. When I looked at the title, my head started hurting all the more.
Why the hell would some heavy, five pound American law book suddenly fall off a bookshelf and hit me in the head?
I highly doubted that a book on a top shelf would randomly fall off a bookshelf as I happened to be walking by. As much as it didn't make it any sense, this was probably Havoc's doing. Was he sending me more diluted messages by hitting me upside the head with books?
That guy was seriously messed up in the head.
I crammed the book back into the shelf beside me - I wasn't tall enough to put it back on the top shelf, I'm only 5'3 - and stood up, intent on heading to the bathroom.
I needed to give myself a few minutes to get my composure back and clean the cut I no doubt had on my forehead.
I kept my hand over my cut as I searched for Mrs. Lowe, letting her know where I was going so I wouldn't get in trouble for suddenly disappearing. She was sitting with a few of the snobbish, popular kids - Jace McMahon, Bailey Summers, Hayden Edwards - and it looked like she was giving herself a hernia trying to help them understand The Great Gatsby.
"Uh, Mrs. Lowe?" I said awkwardly, rocking back on my heels. "May I use the restroom? I hit my head."
Mrs. Lowe whipped her head up and stared at me with a shocked look. "Are you alright?"
"Fine, fine," I answered breezily.
She nodded frantically and quickly stood up, telling me she was off to go get me tissues for my cut. The second she was out of earshot, the three idiots sitting at the table jumped at me like a shark would their pray.
"Did your boyfriend finally lash out and try to...you know...kill you?" Jace McMahon muttered towards me with false concern, a smirk pulling at his features.
"Piss off!" I snapped, narrowing my eyes. "For your information, a book fell off a shelf and hit me on the head. And also? Archer's not even here today."
Jace, Bailey, and Hayden all exchanged knowing looks with each other.
"You're really brave, you know," Bailey told me in confident tones. "I'd be worried about being, like, raped or something around that Morales kid. He's so creepy."
Hah. Bailey Summers certainly had a sense of humor.
"You don't even know Archer," I pointed out with an eye roll. "So stop talking about things you don't understand."
"Calm down there, Hadley," Jace said quickly, holding up his hands in a "stop" motion. "We're just warning you. We're friends, right? Friends warn each other when they're dating somebody criminally insane. It's what friends do."
"I mean, you do know that his dad killed somebody, right?" Hayden added, throwing in another smirk.
Okay, that was it. It didn't matter if I didn't have the slightest bit about fighting. I was about ready to throw myself across the table and slam my fist into Jace's face.
And just like everything else that had been going wrong in my life, Mrs. Lowe returned to the table before I could even do something about the jerks sitting in front of me.
I grabbed the tissues from Mrs. Lowe, muttering a thanks, before I left the library, grinding my teeth together. Thank God it was Thursday, and almost winter break. Just a little while longe dealing with the complete idiots that went to this school, and then I'd be free...for two weeks.
Thankfully the bathroom was empty when I pushed the door open and stepped inside. I examined my reflection in the grimy mirror and winced a little when I saw how bloody the small cut on my forehead was. I pulled back my hair and splashed water on my face before using the tissues to dab at my forehead.
I tossed the tissues in the trash once the cut stopped bleeding and gripped the counter, trying to give myself a confident look in the mirror.
So far this day had sucked.
I grabbed the note I shoved into my pocket and looked at it again. Reading the words again, I realized there were only three things I understood from the note.
1. I only had eleven days left to stop Archer from killing himself.
2. I was being stalked by Havoc.
3. April, May, and June were in danger.
I scrunched my eyes closed and pinched the bridge of my nose, exhaling shakily.
I didn't have any siblings. Even though I'd only known the triplets for two weeks, they were already like my little sisters and I wouldn't ever forgive myself if something happened to them on my behalf. Those girls were only five years old. They were practically still babies.
Havoc really had to have no heart if he was willing to hurt three little girls.
I left the bathroom a minute later and silently prayed for the Morales family's safety. I'd been raised Catholic, so I was pretty aware of guilt, and never before had I been this full of guilt before. This was entirely my fault.
When I stepped out of school after the bell rang later that day, it was raining. I didn't mind, though. Rain could sometimes be soothing, if not just the slightest bit chilly. I gripped my school bag tightly as I walked towards the subway two blocks over. I'd decided during seventh hour that if I didn't hear from Archer anytime soon, I was going to head over to the coffee house, invited or not. Call it creepy or whatever you wanted, but I had to see him. I couldn't take the risk of losing him, not when I barely had ten days left.
"Hadley!"
I let out a squeak of surprise and spun on my heel only to see Archer himself walking swiftly down the sidewalk towards me. The dark circles under his eyes were even more pronounced than usual, his hair was tangled from the drizzling rain, and he looked bloody exhausted.
"Archer!" I exclaimed, a hand flying to my mouth. "There you are! Are you alright? Is everything okay? What - "
Archer grabbed my wrist and yanked me off to the side down some dingy alley that was empty of any people. I slumped against the bick wall, clutching at my school bag, forcing myself to not fire any questions at Archer.
He stood in front me with the most pained look on his face I'd ever seen before, his jaw visibly locked, his eyes narrowed, his breathing heavy.
"Archer?" I whispered, biting my lip.
He let out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair in an almost deranged gesture. "Something happened."
Oh, God.
My heart was pounding so hard now it was starting to hurt. "What happened? What is it?"
"They...I mean, my dad's...my dad's attorney...they called for a retrial."
It was as if I'd just been slapped in the face.
I sucked in a breath of air and leaned forward to grip my knees. "What do you mean, Archer?" I asked him, my voice barely above a whisper.
"The lawyer that represented my dad in court was just diagnosed Alzheimer's and now they're saying that my dad didn't have a fair trial because the person who represented him wasn't in his "full mental capacity" at the time," Archer explained in a rush, not meeting my gaze.
Oh, my God.
This had to be the worst day ever in existance. What the hell was I supposed to now?
Not knowing what else I could do to comfort Archer, I just dropped my school bag on the ground and reached out to pull him into my arms, holding him tightly. He returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around my waist and burying his face in my hair.
I wasn't quite sure how long we stood there like that, but I didn't think either of us cared. Just for those few moments it felt like I'd found some sort of temporary relief from everything going on around us.
_____________________________________________________________________________
This chapter was insanely hard to write, believe it or not. It took me awhile to figure out how I was going to play this part out, so please, do me a solid and let me know what you guys think! I'd really appreciate it! (: votes, reads, and comments are always super awesome and make me feel super duper cool. You guys are seriously awesome. So please, let me know what you think! Just scroll down to the bottom and leave a comment if you so desire. (:
And just an fyi...things are going to be getting a tad bit more intense in the chapters to come. What do you think of that? D: