Page 32 of Chaos at Westbrook High

“Callie’s coffee’s gonna get cold.”

“She won’t mind,” he assures me with a grin.

I sigh, folding my arms over my chest. “You won’t touch me?”

He crosses his heart, leaning his ass back against the table in the corner. It’s my turn to be suspicious, warring with myself a moment while I glance between him and the exit. I don’t want him in here with me, alone with no witnesses around, but I’m tiny and he’s…not, and there’s no way I’m pushing him out of that door without help. Probably not even with help.

“Fine,” I huff, pulling the cloth out of my back pocket.

I’m sure he’s really pleased with himself right now, but I don’t look at him to find out. I ignore him as I walk around the counter to the front door. Kai turned the sign around on his way in here, so I just double check the street and lock the door to ensure no one can walk in.

“Now we’re talkin’,” Kai teases, but he sticks to his word and makes no move to come for me.

I pretend he didn’t speak as I walk back behind the counter and clean up the mess I just made. Wyatt already cleaned the kitchen and locked the back of the store for me, so there’s not much left for me to do. I turn the machines off, clean them, and make sure everything’s put back where it goes. Once that’s done, I go back to cleaning the tables, spraying and wiping them down before I flip the chairs and place them on top.

“Is Derek at your place again tonight?”

Refusing to look up, I consider keeping my mouth shut. I don’t want him knowing where Derek is or what he’s doing, but I know he’ll keep pushing me if I say nothing, so I figure distraction is the best way to go about it.

“How did you even know where I live?”

“I looked at your file at school.”

Pausing, I look up at him this time. “You broke into the principal’s office?”

“Yep.”

“How the hell did you get away with that?”

“I get away with everything.”

I narrow my eyes into thin slits.

Right.

“I would say I’m sorry but…”

“You’re not,” I finish for him, my pulse throbbing against the side of my neck when I feel his eyes on the flesh there. He’s staring at me again, just like he always does, and I find myself playing with the brim of my hat, just like I always do when I feel uneasy.

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?” I ask, clearing my throat when my voice comes out all raspy.

“Hide.”

I stop what I’m doing completely, my hand freezing on the table right in front of him. A long, heavy silence stretches between us, and I slowly lift my eyes up to meet his baby blue ones. My brows pull down, and his lips tip up into a small smile.

“You don’t even realize you’re doing it, do you?”

No, I don’t think I do anymore. It’s just a habit, something I couldn’t shake even if I wanted to.

Hide.

Whenever Val and I would go out in public, I was to stay by her side and keep my head down. Never make a scene. Never draw attention to myself. When we were at home, I was taught to never answer the door, not even for the neighbors if they wanted to borrow some sugar. I was taught to hide in the closet just in case he ever came for us. I didn’t know who he was at the time, just that I was to hide.

Kai tilts his head at me, and I shake it off before I continue cleaning the table. He opens his mouth to say something, but I beat him to it, afraid he’s about to ask more questions he has no business asking.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than watch me clean on a Friday night?”

---