Page 47 of Chaos at Westbrook High

I nod my head against hers. Callie offers me the joint, and I take a few hits, staring out at the city below us while we pass it back and forth. When my thoughts start to wander again, I come right back around to the thought that kept me up for most of the night.

Hailey is Derek’s little sister. And Leila Kingston, my aunt, the woman who was beaten, raped, and possibly murdered by my uncle, was Hailey’s mother.

I wonder if Hailey knows about everything he did to her.

God, I hope she doesn’t know.

After a while, Callie asks, “If your dad knew about what Maverick was doing to Leila, why didn’t he do anything to stop it?” She doesn’t sound judgemental, just curious.

“Because Leila wouldn’t let him. My dad kicked Maverick’s ass for it when he found out, but Leila warned him that if he tried to have him arrested, she’d tell the cops it was him beating her. He could have done it anyway. No cop in this town would’ve believed her and Maverick over my dad, but he didn’t want to go against her and risk losing Derek, I guess.”

Callie nods as if she knew that already.

“She was afraid,” I say.

She nods again. “Yeah,” she says softly.

I close my eyes. “She loves him, Callie.”

She doesn’t ask because she doesn’t need to. She knows who I’m talking about.

“Yeah,” she says again. “I saw that.”

We fall silent again. When the balcony door opens a little while later, Callie looks over her shoulder and kisses my head before she stands. I glance behind me. Damon’s standing there with a scowl on his face. It’s clear he didn’t get any more answers out of our dad, just like I told him he wouldn’t.

When a small smirk touches my lips, I look down at the phone in my hand.

“Kai,” Callie says, leaning over the back of the couch behind me, her cheek against mine as she speaks low enough for only me to hear. “If you keep squeezing that thing, you’re gonna break it. Quit bein’ a pussy and text your girl.”

With that, she leaves, allowing Damon to drag her to their room, probably to fuck all this new anger out on her. My big brother’s a control freak. He doesn’t like being kept in the dark, and I can tell it’s fucking with him almost as much as it is me.

Leaning forward, I run my thumb over Hailey’s name on my phone and think about what to say to her. Usually I play with her a little and leave it at that, but everything’s different now. I can’t stop thinking about last night. The way she wrapped herself around me, clung to me, and cried into my neck. The way she gravitated toward me as if I was the only thing she needed to breathe right then.

Kai

Hey, beautiful.

You okay?

I don’t expect her to text me back because she never does, but I still wait like she might.

When I see the little dots appear and disappear a few moments later, I sit up straighter.

Hailey

I’m fine.

My grin is so big, it makes my cheeks hurt.

Kai

Fuck yeah, you are.

We’ll be there soon.

Bouncing my knee, I watch those little dots impatiently before another text comes through.

Hailey

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