The day ended fast, and luckily, I didn't have anymore run-ins with ex-boyfriends and bad boys. People were staring at me, but after the day I've had, I wasn't all that surprised. Some random guy had called me out on needing protection, Haydn confirmed that, and I couldn't even call him out on a lie because Andrew had witnessed the entire thing—not to mention Jayson's random appearance today.
We hadn't spoken in almost two years, so what he was doing back, I didn't know. I didn't have to be a genius to know that his story of wanting me back was a lie, but it did have me curious. Everything is happening so soon after my brothers appearance, and I can't help but think he had something to do with it. Of course, there was no way that I was going to even attempt talking to him. Every time I tried, I'd end up with another bruise on my body, and that was something I didn't want to have to try and explain to my mom. She already had me on a leash; how much worse could things get?
When I reached my locker after my last period, I expected to see Andrew there waiting for me, but he was nowhere in sight. I wanted to talk to him before my forced ride home with my mom, but even after waiting for five minutes, he was nowhere to be found.
Feeling defeated, I closed my locker and began my walk towards the double doors at the end of the hall. Just as I reached it, I heard someone call my name from behind me, and I turned around to see Cassandra running over to me with a tired look on her face. We hadn't really spoken much since that day at the hospital, so what she's been up to, I wasn't sure. What I did know though, was that she seemed pretty out of it today, and I had no idea why.
“What's the matter, Cas?”
She bit her lip, but simply shook her head and gave me a small smile. “Nothings wrong; I just wanted to check on you. I know we haven't exchanged many words since. . . You know.” Pointing at my wrists, she shifted uncomfortably before speaking again. “I haven't seen much of your brother around anymore. Do you think he transferred in just to transfer out?”
I thought about it for a second, but I couldn't really place my mind on anything. He probably began to feel guilty after the numerous times that he decided to put his hands on me. That didn't explain why he was so beaten up the night of the break in, but that was a question that would have to be answered some other day, I suppose.
“I'm not sure, Cas, but I'll worry about it later.” She nodded, and then rubbed her arm again. Things have never been awkward between us before, so the fact that it was now kind of bothered me. We were best friends; practically twins of personalities, and now it was as if we were total strangers trying to have a conversation. Who would have thought one night could change us to much. “Um. . . Well, my mom is waiting for me outside, so I'll see you. . .”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Totally fine.” Smiling one last time, she turned on her heal with her shoulders slumped and proceeded to walk away.
Before she got too far though, I called out to her and asked her a question that was beginning to bother me. “You haven't seen Andrew, have you? I was with him earlier, and he said he'd meet me by my locker, but he was a no-show.”
A slight pout found its way to her lips, but she quickly covered it with another smile before shaking her head. “Sorry, I haven't seen him. But I'll text you if anything, OK?”
I nodded, and watched as she walked off before I had the chance to question her again. It kind of hurt watching her walk away like that, but I couldn't worry about it. Things fall out of place all the time, and worrying would only make the situation seem worse than it actually was. So, for now, I'd give her the space she wanted and when the time was right, she'd come to me. I wasn't going to rush it; things never work when they're rushed.
With that in mind, I walked out of the school and in the direction of the parking lot where I saw my mothers car waiting for me. Her windows were up, but she was leaning casually against the hood of the car with her sunglasses on, her hair tied up in an all-too professional bun and her arms crossed over a floral blouse. Her lower body was covered by a knee-length black pencil skirt, and she was wearing a pair of painful looking blue heals. Why she was dressed so professionally just to pick me up, I didn't know, but I wouldn't question it; she loved to impress people. Even if those people were a bunch of horny, teenage boys who were ogling her from all angles of the parking lot. . .
When she noticed I was walking over to her, she smiled and reached out to hug me. Once she finally pulled away, she lifted her sunglasses into her hair and gave me a once-over; her smile quickly disappearing. “Sweetie, I don't buy your clothes so you can wear them like. . . This.”
Looking down at my uniform, I raised a brow. My skirt was a little loose, my shirt wasn't tucked in, and my socks weren't raised to equal levels. My hair was in a messy pony tail with strands sticking out in every direction, and I'm pretty sure the small amount of make-up I was wearing had smeared. I didn't necessarily care at all throughout the day, but now that my mom was staring at me with such a disgusted look on her face, I couldn't help but feel self-conscious. “Sorry mom, I wasn't really thinking about it.”
She must have noticed my sudden change in demeanor because she blew out a sigh and motioned for me to get inside the car, which I did without arguing. She was just looking out for me, I knew that, but that didn't make her criticism any less agitating.
As soon as she got inside the drivers seat, I looked in the direction of the school and found a pair of dark brown eyes staring at me. I opened my mouth to say something, but I knew that he wouldn't be able to hear me, so I simply watched him until my mom pulled out of the parking lot and began the drive home. I was kind of hoping that she wouldn't notice the little stare down between Haydn and I, but I knew her better than that. She payed a little too much attention to my life, so there's no doubt in my mind that she had noticed.
Much to my surprise though, she didn't say anything about it. She simply continued the drive in silence and stayed in that state until we pulled into the driveway. I had just reached for the door handle when she decided to say something. “Adriana, do you have a boyfriend?”
Raising a brow in confusion, I looked over at her and raised a brow. “No, why?”
“I saw the way that boy was staring at you.”
See what I mean? She knows everything! “He's just a friend of mine.”
“How come I haven't seen him around before?”
Looking over her face for any hint of anger, I blew out a breath when I realized there wasn't any. “We just recently started hanging out. He's completely harmless though.” That was a lie, but she didn't need to know that. Haydn was as big of a threat to me as Eric was, yet he didn't take any opportunity to hurt me—even though he's had more than plenty. Haydn and I weren't necessarily friends, but he wasn't my enemy right now either, and that's what I'd have to deal with for now.
The look of disapproval on her face broke me from my thoughts, and I couldn't help but look away from her eyes. She would search for the answer if it killed her, and that wasn't always a good thing. “If you're having sex-”
“-Mom, just stop." I groaned in disgust. "You know after what happened with Jayson that guys are the least of my interests right now.” Shuddering at the very though of Jayson's hands on me, I opened the car door and began my walk towards the house. Just as I looked down at the door, I noticed the splintering wood and I instantly remembered the night of the break in. My mind raced back to the empty look in the strangers eyes and I couldn't help feel my knees begin to weaken.
'What is important, is that you're about to pay a debt for someone.' Those words had been molded into my brain for days, and I couldn't seem to get them out. I didn't know anyone who had a debt to be repaid, and even more-so, I didn't know how I got tied into it. I'm not friends with anyone in that kind of crowd, so-
“Sweetie, are you OK?”
Turning around at the sound of my mothers voice, I nodded and walked inside; ignoring the concerned look on her face. The doctor had mentioned something about me having trouble forgetting the incident, but part of me didn't mind that. It was almost as if I found a thrill in the danger, and that getting used to it, as opposed to pushing it away from me, made me. . . More alive. No, I'm not saying that I want to get chased down the block again an get another concussion, but I knew that if I tried to ignore it, things would only get worse. The only thing that I could do was accept the fact that things were complicated now.
Without bothering to speak to my mom again, I walked up the stairs and into my now door-less room. Lucky for me, my dad had the decency to understand that I needed privacy, so he hung up a curtain over the door frame. Sure, everyone could still hear everything that went on in my room, but they couldn't see; something that would possibly become useful in the near future.
I smiled at the thought before sitting down on my bed and taking my phone out of my pocket. I didn't have any missed calls or text messages from Andrew, so I decided to call him, and I was relieved when he picked up. “Hey blondie, I missed you at my locker today.”
He let out a small laugh. “Sorry, I got caught up in some business. And yes, I'm putting emphasis on the word 'business' because it involves a guy.”
Letting out a small laugh, I leaned back on my bed and kicked off my shoes. “I'm glad you finally found someone who plays on your team, but can you at least tell me when you're going to be a no-show? I got really worried.”
“No need to worry about me, Love. I'm perfectly capable with taking care of myself.” I nodded, and then remembered he couldn't see me. I was going to reply, but I heard a familiar male voice on the other end of the phone, and I raised a brow. “I have to go, OK Adri? I'll text you tonight. Love you.”
“Love you too. . .”
With that, I hung up the phone and tried to remember where I had heard the voice before, but I couldn't place it. I knew that if I didn't figure it out, it would bother me for the rest of the night, but I didn't even have time to begin to worry before the sound of a soft knock coming from my window broke me out of my thoughts. My mind instantly remembered Haydn's face, and my heart rate picked up; only to find myself disappointed when Trace climbed inside.
He noticed that the door was gone, so he made it his mission to get in without making a sound, but that didn't mean I wouldn't make one. “What are you doing here?”
Motioning for me to be quiet, he walked over to me and sat down on my bed. I noticed that a lot of where the blood had been had turned into small scratches and bruises, and he looked a lot calmer now. I knew enough to still be cautious around him, but I didn't let it show; I wanted to know why he was here, and where he had been.
Once I placed my hands on my hips and stepped in front of him, he looked up and blew out a sigh. “I've been acting like an ass lately-”
“-you don't say?”
He rolled his eyes at my sarcasm, but kept his cool, which actually surprised me. Every other one of our recent encounters involved him losing his cool and putting his hands on me; something he hadn't done yet. “Look, I just wanted to apologize. Also, to tell you that you need to watch your back. There are a lot of bad people after you because of things that I've done-”
“-what kind of people, Trace?”
Shrugging, he stood up, making me take a step back. “I can't tell you. Just know that-”
“-why can't you tell me?” I realized that I had been raising my voice a little, so I took a deep breath before looking at the 'door' and continuing in a low whisper. “It's my safety on the line and I'm pretty sure that means I have a right to know what's going on.”
He sighed, and placed his hands on my shoulders. Not enough to hurt me, but enough to let me know that he was serious about what he was saying. “Look, I want to tell you, but there's a lot you won't understand.” I had begun to interrupt him, but he placed his lips on my forehead, stunning me. “I want to keep you safe, and the only way to do that is to keep you in the dark. Just trust me, OK?”
I nodded, not even completely sure if I should. He was acting differently, and I didn't know if it was because he had actually changed, or because he just wanted me to trust him for the wrong reasons. All I knew was as I watched him climb out of my window, that things weren't going to be easy anymore. I was in the middle of a war-zone, and I had no idea why.