Page 49 of Chaos at Westbrook High

I knew this was coming, knew they’d want to have a conversation with me even before Kai hinted it was happening last night, but I can’t help feeling anxious now that they’re all here in front of me. They’re all staring at me intently, picking me apart with their eyes, almost as if they might see Derek or my biological mother in me if they look hard enough.

“I’ll come by myself,” I finally answer. “You want coffees?”

“You can make mine. Get him to make the rest of them.” Kai flicks a hand at Wyatt.

“I can just make them all.”

“I don't wanna wait that long,” Kai says, handing me a fifty dollar bill.

This fucking guy.

Sighing, I run their usual order through, place Kai’s change down on the counter, and get to making his drink, glaring at him over my shoulder when he leaves the money where it is.

“Take it.”

“Make me.” He grins with his tongue between his perfect teeth.

“What do you want, Hailey?” Wyatt asks as I hand Kai his iced latte.

When he takes it, he wraps his hand around mine, holding on to get my attention. Our gazes collide, and I see the unspoken question there. He wants to know if I know the truth about what Derek did to Callie. Chewing the inside of my cheek, I look away before he can see the emotions brewing within me. Anger. Regret. Disgust. It’s all swirling around inside, simmering beneath the surface.

When I glance back, I find Wyatt watching us with a look on his face I can’t read. “Hailey?”

“Yeah?”

He huffs. “Do you want a coffee?”

“I’m fine, thanks. Just make theirs.”

He gets to it, and I go to Kai, who peels his glare from Wyatt and follows me to the empty couch in the corner by the bookshelf. A few of my customers watch curiously as we pass them, the two sophomore girls from school included. Pulling my hat down over my eyes, I sit down next to Kai, his arm resting behind my head.

“How long have you known our dad?” Damon asks impatiently as he and the others sit down on the couch opposite us.

My eyes meet his dark blue ones. “What did your dad say?”

“I’m asking you.”

I raise a brow at that, my confidence growing as a little smirk plays on my lips. Elijah hasn’t told them anything. He’s giving me the power to tell them as much or as little as I want to.

“How long?” Damon asks again.

I lean back in my seat and cross one leg over the other. This is more fun than I thought it’d be. I consider stringing him along a little longer just to see how angry I can make him, but then I decide against it, wanting to keep this as short and painless as possible. “I met him six years ago. The same day I met Derek.”

“What do you mean you met Derek?”

“I mean I met him. Six years ago,” I say slowly, quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear what I’m about to tell them. “My aunt had been meeting up with your dad for years to see Der, but I didn’t know he existed until Elijah brought him to meet me. I was eleven. Derek was fourteen.”

Damon shares a look with Kai, similar to the one they shared last night, and I glance between them suspiciously, not forgetting the way Kai played me so Damon could snoop through my phone. I don’t think they’re planning to do anything like that to me now, but I can’t be too careful.

“Where?” Damon asks me.

“Where what?”

“Where did our dad bring him? To your apartment?”

“No. There was a diner my aunt and I used to go to off the highway just outside of Bridgeport.”

He frowns at that. “Why there?”

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