Page 56 of Chaos at Westbrook High

Chapter 21

HAILEY

Squeezing the ends of my wet hair with a towel, I glance down at the message on my phone for the tenth time in thirty minutes.

Unknown

What are you doing right now?

I read it when I was just about to step in the shower, but I wasn’t about to tell Kai that, so I ignored him.

I considered meeting him at Rachel’s for all of three seconds before I shut that shit down. I let my guard down in the kitchen at the shop earlier. I won’t be making that mistake again. I refuse to let him play me like he plays every other girl.

A loud knocking sound echoes through my apartment, and I freeze. It takes me a couple beats to realize someone’s at my front door.

Nobody knocks on my front door.

Derek has a key, and he always calls me when he’s a couple minutes away so I don’t shit myself every time he comes back.

Fear crawls up my spine.

I don’t own a gun because Valerie hated them and refused to keep one in the apartment. There’s a baseball bat or some other type of weapon in every room though, as well as a lock on every door. Locking mine, I silently walk backward and wrap my fingers around the crow bar I keep between my bed and the nightstand. Backing up again, I grab my phone off the bed and tuck myself into the corner behind my closet.

Hide, Hailey. Whatever happens, you stay hidden.

The knocking sounds again, and I jump out of my skin. “Motherfucker,” I whisper.

I hate being scared.

My hand fumbles as I pull up James’ number and press the phone to my ear. He answers almost immediately. “Hey?—”

“James, there’s someone?—”

“It’s just Kai,” he rushes to assure me, making me splutter.

“What do you mean it’s just Kai? You let him up here?”

He chuckles, but it dies off quickly. “Oh, you’re serious,” he says. “I didn’t let him do anything, Hailey. The guy’s a nightmare. He does what he wants.”

“Really? I wasn’t aware,” I deadpan.

Dropping my weapon onto my bed, I quietly open my door and walk down the hall, past the dimly lit living room and toward the front door.

The fucker knocks again.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with him?” I hiss into the phone.

“You can handle Kai Kingston. You don’t need me for this. And even if you did…”

“You work for them,” I finish for him, sounding more bitter than I’d like as I push up on my tiptoes to look at Kai through the peephole.

“Sorry,” James says.

“You are not,” I whisper.

James chuckles again, and I hang up on him.

I keep watching Kai through the tiny hole, holding my breath just in case he hears it. Still, it’s as if he can sense I’m on the other side of the door because he’s given up knocking. He’s leaning back against the wall opposite, staring right at me with his hands shoved into the pockets of his dark jeans. He looks good in those jeans.

---