HAILEY
“Can I pick up tomorrow night?” he was insisting for a hundred times.
“We already talked about it. I’ll see you on Monday morning, Percie.”
He wasn’t impressed with my decision, but I knew he’d respect it in the end. I already spent my whole Saturday with him. He rubbed the back of his neck before he knocked on my parents’ door.
“You can go now. I’m sure the squirrel can’t kidnap me to its lair,” I cracked a joke before he left me with those sad eyes.
“If you change your mind.”
“I won’t.” I cut him off. “Now go before Mom would ask you what we did in the lake house.”
“And what if they’d ask you?” His eyes glinted with mischief.
“We sat on the deck, ate our lunch, talked about school projects—”
“And we made out. That was a whole lot of—” I covered his mouth with my hand when I heard footsteps from the house.
“Go,” I warned him with a look. He was right, though. We made ou
HAILEY We arrived at the old warehouse where the party was held. It was crowded that we could barely make it to see their stupid game. Two students were assigned to record the game. The crowd started laughing when one of the jocks asked an overweight student who looked so drunk. If he wasn’t tied, he might have fallen off the chair. Anger raged beneath my skin as I noticed Remy was one of the jocks, and he seemed not enjoying the way they treated the poor guy. But if what Victoria and Megan had told me was true, their parents were elite club members. That was how they became buddies. And it seemed that he didn’t have a choice but to be a part of this, or he would look weak, and he would be the target of these stupid rich kids. “Where’s Lexie?” I asked Megan. I couldn’t call Percie. He needed his undivided attention in searching for Lexie. Once he knew I came over to help, he would just be mad at me. “Percie hasn’t still call
HAILEY “What the hell were you thinking?” I was still pressing a tissue against my swollen nose, wincing in pain. “Who are you now, Hailey? I don’t recognize you anymore?” Dad was shaking with anger down at me. “It was my fault, Mr. Ward. I went to your house to tell Hailey about Lexie,” Victoria said as we gathered in the precinct. “No. It was my fault. I was the one who told Victoria to go to Hailey—” “I don’t care who’s fault who! You all could have gotten hurt. Why didn’t you just call the police or call 911?” “And tell what, Dad?” I met Dad’s gaze. “That someone held a party? As far as I know, it’s not illegal.” “Underage drinking. Taking of drug substance. How about bullying? I don’t care if they own the city, I still took an oath to protect the people.” “Are we under arrest, Mr. Ward?” “No. But you will stay here until morning.” Dad turned to me. “And you are grounded. You will stay and go to schoo
HAILEY Percie looked right into my eyes, and my heart just broke to see how deep sadness lingered in. “Come home with me.” “But Dad—” “We would understand. I’ll take the fall.” He took a deep breath, not breaking eye contact. “I need you right now.” He pressed his lips against my forehead. “I-I thought I’d lost you. I couldn’t watch it again. You couldn’t know the feeling of watching someone you love—someone you cared about slipping through your finger—or through your sight until they’re gone. And I’d rather die before I’d go through that again, Hailey.” I nodded, and I didn’t know if I should answer or kiss him again. “Don’t ever do that stupid heroism again. Come with me. I need to feel you because right now, I feel like I’m still dreaming of you that every time I want to reach out to you, you slip through my grasp.” I cupped his face. “I’m here. I’m alive. I’m right here with you.” “Please?” The
HAILEY It was amazing! I was not exhausted of some sort, but I had barely enough energy left to breathe when he drew me into his arms and never let me go. His sigh of contentment was a relief that there would be no awkward moment after sex—one of the post-sex things I heard and read in books. I let myself sag into his arms, nuzzling my nose into the crook of his neck before I closed my eyes. We stayed like that for a long while. Percie lazily trailed his fingers on my back down to my spine while I just placed my hand on his chest, feeling the rises and drops as he breathed. Things came into my mind—was there anything going to change between us? What should I say if he built back his walls? Should I pretend that I did not enjoy my first time or pretend it did not happen? And so on. “What now?” When I couldn’t bear the thoughts spinning in my head. He kissed the top of my head and lifted m
HAILEY It’s Monday. Since I spent my Sunday with my parents, I hadn’t seen Percie asides from video calls. I was excited to see him. Percie said it was better for me because if I stayed with him last weekend, he couldn’t keep his hands to himself. As if I ever complained. Considering that I was still sore, it wasn’t good for me, as well, to stay closer to him for the past twenty-four hours. I met Victoria and Megan on my way to the building when a commotion suddenly appeared around us. “What’s going on?” I asked with pure shock. All I could hear was my name. I looked around. I found students taking pictures of me—some took selfies even if I didn’t give them my permission, even this feeling social media influencer that I thought her posts were nothing but nonsense. “Hey, guys. This Eve, and I’m with Hailey Ward right now. You know her, right? Guys, don’t forget to tweet #womenempowerment.
PERCIE Once you made one mistake, people forgot your good deeds. What stuck in their heads was that one mistake. The last person I thought would never judge me was Hailey. When I saw those judgy eyes staring at me, I snapped. Now I left her. Not because I was mad at her, but at myself. I cared about her more than anything, but seeing her questioning my sanity, I couldn’t bear that look. I had to go away for a while. I found myself walking away from the campus. I stayed for a while outside my car, wondering who burned down that warehouse. No students would dare. I knew that. Unless someone who hated Adrian or those rich stupid kids. I scratched my head in frustration. I shouldn’t have left her like that alone. I should have been straight with her. Hailey deserved to know the truth. My conscience was clear, yet what the fuck I was still doing here? “Damn it!” “Is something wrong? Is
PERCIE It had been a while since I came back to visit her. I had been dwelling with grief, pain, and regret of losing her. I was still in denial until I found out I wasn’t alone anymore—so was Larkin. I cleaned up dried leaves on her grave and placed lilies just right beside other lilies. My brows knitted while I took a seat.Who came to visit Emma?These flowers still looked fresh. “I’m a bad brother, aren’t I? I missed you so much, Em. I know it’s been a while. I haven’t come here often, it’s not because I don’t love anymore or I have forgotten you. I just can’t accept the fact that you’re not here with me anymore. It still hurts. I’m so sorry.” I pulled one of the callas out of the vase. “You’re beautiful as this calla. You’re pure, always faithful to the people you cared about. I wish we had more time together so that you had the chance to tell me the special guy you ever loved. Did you ever plan on telling
PERCIE After that accident, it took me a while to drive a car. Honestly, I was busy trying to kill myself. If it wasn’t for Emma, I might not be able to do it again, but she kept reminding me that it was not my fault. When Remy patted my back and said drive safely, he reminded me of her. I followed him back to school and parked the car beside his. I was still checking my message when someone was shouting outside. My stomach tightened as soon as I recognized that voice. “Seriously? This fucking sister killer? This is how you spent your free time. You so went too low, Rem.” It was Adrian. He was glaring at Remy. He looked like he just came out of bed with tousled blond hair and bloodshot eyes. He must have been drinking. He was a mess. “And hey, you asshole! Your girlfriend will pay for what she did to me!” My anger combusted in my chest. Before I could say something, Remy grabbed a hold of my arm. “He’s drunk.” “She