Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Carlton being an asshole wasn’t worse than when she had food poisoning, but I knew it twisted up Hailee’s stomach just as bad. My stomach was in fucking knots, so I couldn’t imagine what hers was doing.
I stared out the window with her, looking at the big oak tree sitting in front of it. We stayed there for a few minutes, silent and still. I only knew she was still alive due to her blinks every few moments.
“I put on a dress,” she finally said.
“I know.”
“I hate dresses.”
“I know.”
“I also did my hair.”
“I know.”
“I hate doing my hair.”
“I know.”
She turned her head in my direction, and her eyes were bloodshot, and fuck, if hearts could break from moments, mine shattered right then and there.
“I thought he was my friend,” she whispered.
I sighed. “I know.”
I patted my left shoulder, and she lay her head against me. I placed my head on top of hers, and we went back to staring out the window. Her makeup smeared on my shirt, but I didn’t care at all. If she wanted to use my whole outfit as a rag, I’d let her.
“I’m going to kill him,” I told her. It’d been the only thing I’d been thinking about since I’d seen the video of Carlton being a complete shithead. When I saw him, I was going to murder him.
“No, just… let it be.” She sighed and lifted her head from my shoulder. “Don’t you have a party to be getting back to, anyway? I’m sure Princess Cara is freaking out about you being gone.”
“I don’t care what she thinks.”
“Please. She’s the only thing you’ve cared about for years. Plus, going to a party is on our high school bucket list. At least one of us can check it off.”
“I’m not leaving, Hailee.”
She looked my way and frowned. “I think I need you to go, though, because I feel like I’m going to cry.”
“Which is why I need to stay.”
“You don’t need to see me cry, Aiden.”
“Why not? I’ve seen you cry a million times before. You’ve cried an unrealistic number of times before. Remember when we watched Bambi for the first time? Waterworks.”
“This is different. I’ve never cried like this before.”
“Like what?”
Her lips trembled as she stared down at her hands, which were linked together, and she began slightly shaking as she choked out her words. “Like everyone is laughing at me because of how I look. Because of my weight. And I just thought… I thought he was my friend, and I don’t know why he’d say those things just because someone mocked him about us being friends, and… and… and…” She began sobbing into the palms of her hands, and I was definitely going to murder that fucking asshole.
“Please, Aiden? Please just go? I want to be alone right now.”
“Swear?” I asked.
She nodded. “Swear.”
I sighed and stood from the bed, but before turning to leave, I wrapped my arms around her from the back and held her tight. “I know you’re sad, Hailee, and I know you’re hurting, but even though you want to be alone right now, you aren’t alone. I’m right next door. Okay? I’ll be right here, too, if you need me to be.”
I walked out of the room and closed the door behind me. Instead of going home, I had another thing to tackle. So I headed to the living room, where Hailee’s parents were sitting on the couch, talking about what had happened to Hailee.
“Penny and Karl?” They looked up at me with concerned expressions, and I gave them a broken smile. “Do you think you can help me with something?”
10
Hailee
* * *
“Dad, what are you doing here?” I asked, confused as my father stood in front of my bedroom door in a tuxedo, looking as dapper as ever.
“I’m your chauffeur for the evening, my lady,” he said, holding his arm out toward me for me to loop around.
“My chauffeur?” I giggled, even though I was far from the mood to laugh. But I’d cried so much that I wasn’t certain I had any tears left in me. I’d already wiped all of my makeup off and tossed on my oversized sweats, ready to binge-watch The Vampire Diaries and eat Ben & Jerry’s like a good heartbroken girl. I arched an eyebrow at Dad. “You’re not wearing shoes. You’re going to drive with no shoes?”
He tipped his invisible hat and smirked. “Where we’re going, we don’t need any cars. Now come on, your date is waiting.”
I was too intrigued to ask more questions, so I looped my arm around Dad’s. He walked me through the house, and my alertness rose as I saw Mama standing at the front door with a goofy grin on her face.
“You look beautiful, Hailee,” Mama said, snapping pictures of me.
I glanced down at my gray sweats and cocked an eyebrow. “Where?”