Chapter Fourteen
Chase
I’d just gotten in a good hour of music practice and was walking out of the Music building and toward the parking lot absorbed in my thoughts when someone slammed right into me. “Hey, watch it!” I snapped, then blinked several times to make sure that the blubbering mess in front of me was who I thought it was. “Hailey? What the hell happened to you?”
“Leave me alone!” Hailey cried, tears streaming down her face as she pushed me away. But instead, I held on tighter. I wasn’t going to desert her while she was at her lowest. I lowered my head so it was closer to hers, and smoothed back the stray hairs that had fallen across her face.
“Take a breath, Hailey. I’ve got you. You’re okay.”
Hailey’s body shuddered as she took several gulps of air. I couldn’t imagine what had happened to make her break down like that. If some asshole had messed with her I was going to punch their teeth out.
It was the first time I’d ever seen Hailey completely lose it. Usually, she was scribbling away in that stupid planner of hers, trying to control every second of her life. I wondered if an emotional breakdown was part of the plan.
She shook her head and stared down at the ground, refusing to let me in. But I was just as stubborn as she was, and I refused to let her shut me out.
“Hailey.” I grasped her tear-stained face in my hands. “What happened to you? Did someone do something? Are you hurt? I’m here for you, okay?”
And, it was like I’d said the magic words, because all of a sudden she began crying so hard I was afraid she would break.
Each sob that Hailey took ripped through me like a tornado—the effect was devastating. “H-he said he didn’t know why I was trying to change who I am. That I don’t look like his Hailey anymore.” She shuddered against me, and I had a sudden urge to punch her boyfriend in the face.
Hailey didn’t need to elaborate for me to realize who “he” was. She was referring to her boyfriend. What the hell kind of guy would say something like that to his girlfriend over a haircut? Stupid ass. He didn’t deserve someone like Hailey.
I took a step back and held Hailey at arm’s length, studying her—all of her. I wanted her to see every word as it came out of my mouth so she knew how deeply she affected me. “Hailey, listen to me. There aren’t enough words to describe how beautiful you look. I could tell you a hundred different ways, but none of them would come close to doing justice to how truly amazing you are, inside and out.”
The expression on Hailey’s face was one of surprise and confusion. Her eyes drifted to my lips and for a second I felt as though I knew what she was thinking.
“I-uh-you think I’m-“
I nodded, pulling her close again. “Who the hell is he to say you’re not beautiful? You’re so damn beautiful that I can’t keep my eyes off you.”
Hailey didn’t say anything, but her crying subsided. She continued to stare at me as though she was in a daze, and now I really wanted to know what she was thinking.
“Do you want me to call Tessa?” I asked, trying to keep my voice soothing.
Hailey shook her head, biting on her lower lip. “No, it’s fine.”
Yeah, right. Whenever a girl said something was fine, it really meant the exact opposite. “Well, do you want me to walk you back to your room?”
Hailey shook her head again. “I don’t really want to go back there. Honestly, I’m fine, Chase. You can just let me be.”
But I wasn’t going to let her be. Not when she’d just had an emotional breakdown over her jackass boyfriend. What Hailey needed was something to make her feel better.
“Do you want to come back to my apartment?”
I realized it was a pretty big ask considering she hadn’t even wanted to eat breakfast with me. What would make her want to go back to my apartment? I braced myself for another rejection similar to the one she’d given me that morning in the Music room, but to my surprise Hailey began to nod.
“Yes, I’d like that. I just really don’t want to go back to my room right now.” “I get it,” I said, and began leading her toward my car.
And, you know what? I wasn’t trying to be one of those guys who empathized with a girl when she was at her lowest just to get in her pants. I actually did get it.
I knew what it was like being in a toxic relationship where you were constantly making excuses for the other person and trying to convince everyone else, including yourself, that there was nothing wrong.
I didn’t know a damn thing about Hailey and her guy, but I knew enough to know that the fact her boyfriend had said that to her meant that he wasn’t willing to let Hailey change or try new things. It was like he was afraid to let her grow; afraid that she might grow away from him.
And, so what if she did? She deserved better than that asshole telling her that she wasn’t his Hailey anymore.
Okay, and what about what I’d said? In that moment, when emotions were so high, I’d told Hailey that she was beautiful. Which wasn’t a lie at all. She was beautiful, whether she dressed like a librarian or the way she dressed now. It didn’t matter to me. Hailey had always been beautiful
But was that inappropriate for me to say? I mean, I wasn’t her boyfriend—should I be saying things like that to her? It had felt right at the time, especially when her own boyfriend wasn’t saying those things to her. But maybe it was wrong of me to say that and try to get too close to her.
The drive back to my apartment was a quiet one.
There were a million thoughts running through my head, and Hailey seemed distracted so
I didn’t want to say anything to upset her further. I always seemed to end up rubbing her the wrong way without meaning to.
It was just that I always said the first thing that came into my head and sometimes people took that the wrong way. At least you could count on me to be honest and not sugarcoat things.
Once we got to the apartment, Hailey remained silent as she followed me up two flights of stairs. There was no way to know what she was thinking, but as she stared around at the dismal surroundings, it wasn’t too hard to guess.
She probably thought the building was old and shitty. Well, she was in for a real treat once she saw the inside of our apartment.
When I opened up the door, Hailey still didn’t say anything, but I noticed her eyes dart around the room as she took in our humble abode. ‘Humble abode’ was code for ‘crappy dump’.
I’m sure she was probably used to something entirely different growing up, judging from the stuck up attitude she had going on sometimes.
I assumed she had wealthy parents who spoiled her and gave her everything she wanted.
Sure, my parents were wealthy too, but I didn’t play into all that bullshit. I was fine acting like a poor bum, even though I knew my parents could buy me a brand new apartment if I only did what they wanted me to.
Well, fuck that. I didn’t do things to please other people.
“It’s not much,” I said, leading her inside and shutting the door behind us.
“It’s fine, really.”
I could see she was trying hard not to be rude, which was a nice change for her. Maybe she’d decided to give me a pass since I was being nicer to her for a change. Hey, I wasn’t that bad, was I? Hailey wouldn’t have come home with me if I was a complete jerk.
“Do you want a drink?” I asked, as Hadie awkwardly sat down on the edge of our ratty couch.
“A glass of water, please.”
Complying with her request, I got her a glass of water and then made a whiskey and Sprite for myself. I walked back over to the couch, handed Hailey her glass, and then decided to sit on the couch across from her.
“So, how long have you and Jonathan been living together?” Great. We were going to make awkward small talk.
I took a gulp of my drink before answering. “Since we were eighteen. We’ve been friends since we were
kids.”
“Oh.” Her eyes fell on my drink. “What’s that?”
“Whiskey and Sprite. Do you want one?”
Hailey hesitated before nodding slowly. “I’ve never had whiskey before. Drinking’s never really been my thing, but apparently I’m a different person than I was before because I cut my hair so maybe this new Hailey likes whiskey.”
Yeah, I doubted that but I wasn’t going to tell her no. It wasn’t my place to tell her how to live her life.
An hour—and three drinks—later, Hailey was more than a little tipsy. She was definitely a lightweight and probably should’ve stopped at her first. I’d had several whiskey and Sprites myself, and was now starting to feel the effects of it.
It was funny how much of a change a little alcohol could make—Hailey and I were sitting on the same couch now, knees pressed together, laughing about the first time we’d met in class.
“I really didn’t want to talk to you. You terrified me,” she was saying, her eyes bright and her cheeks flushed. “I was worried you would steal my lunch money or something worse.”
“I was worried you would put me in detention.”
“In detention? What do you mean?”
“Well,” I said, feeling a smile tug on the corner of my mouth, “you kinda dressed like a librarian.”
Hailey’s eyes widened and for a second I thought I’d offended her. But then she started laughing. “Tessa said the same thing! I guess I kind of did dress a little too old for my age, huh?”
“You’re actually fun to hang out with, surprisingly,” I told her, downing the rest of my drink. I wasn’t sure what glass I was on. Sixth? Seventh? It was easy to lose count. “So how come you never drank much before?”
Hailey heaved a sigh and I could tell that whatever she was about to tell me was a big deal. “My dad’s kinda got a drinking problem so the stuff never really appealed to me. Plus
Braxton never drank so I think he wouldn’t like it if I did.” Wow. That was heavy.
“That’s rough. So you’re not some spoilt, rich kid, huh?”
Hailey shrugged and absently took a sip of her drink. “I guess not.” “I kinda am.” I let out a nervous laugh.
“You’re a rich kid?” Hailey raised her eyebrows in surprise. “But you live so...frugally.” I laughed at her attempt to sugarcoat my hobo style of living. “My parents aren’t supportive of my music or what I want to do in life so I don’t have a great relationship with them. They’ve never been to any of my shows.. I’ve basically rejected their offer of financial help and they don’t really want to support me anyway; not until I’m doing something more practical with my life, like studying for a Law degree.”
“Wow. I don’t think I could ever picture you as a lawyer. Then again, you are stubborn and like to argue, so there might be some natural talent there.” We both laughed, and Hailey placed her glass down on the table and stood up, wobbling a little. “Where’s your bathroom?” I pointed to the left down the hall. “It’s the door in the middle.”
With a nod, Hailey began to move forward and, as she did, started to trip. I quickly jumped up to steady her and she grabbed onto my arms for support.
“Your arms are really musclely. Is musclely a word? No? Well I'm making it one because your arms are definitely musclely.”
Yeah, she definitely should’ve stopped at the first drink.
“Do you want me to take you home, Hailey?”
She shook her head, frowning a little. “No, I feel great. And, besides, I’m just telling you what I first thought when I saw you. I noticed how big your arms were and I wondered what it would be like to touch them.”
“So you find me attractive?” My voice was low in her ear.
Hailey’s face was so close to me that if I turned my head, our lips would touch. And, maybe I did want our lips to touch. Maybe kissing Hailey was exactly what I needed to do right now.
Maybe it was exactly what I would do.