Page 87 of Play Me

Chapter Twenty-Five

CADENCE

“What the hell are you doing here?” Sarah demands when we return to the apartment to see Hailey standing there.

She takes a step towards me and I flinch, unconsciously backing up, seeking shelter behind my friend.

“Go,” Sarah says to her, her voice angry, growing in volume.

“I have to speak to you,” she says to me, ignoring Sarah. Her eyes are bloodshot and for a moment I can’t help but liken them to my own.

Sarah can barely hide her agitation. “There’s nothing you have to say to her, just go!”

“No, please, Cadence, just five minutes. I have to tell you what happened, and then I promise never to bother you again.” Her voice cracks as she speaks. And I wonder what could have made it that way.

It physically hurts me to be this close to her, but a part of me craves information, yearns to know what happened and why. So I just nod, and Sarah sighs.

I open the door and gesture for Hailey to follow us in.

“Have a seat,” I gesture to a chair by the dining room table. Once she sits, I remind her, “Five minutes. And then I’m going to ask you to leave.”

She nods. “Firstly, for everything that’s happened, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I had no idea this was going to happen.”

Sarah, who’s standing behind me, scoffs, and I turn to shush her with a look.

“I had no idea she was interested in you guys, I just thought she was a groupie.”

“Who? What are you talking about, Hailey?”

“Gemma, the girl who was with me that night at Patrick’s club, do you remember? Do you remember her being with me?”

That night is such a blur to me, it takes some time for me to rifle through my memories to place a face to the name.

“She was the blonde girl who came with me to hang out at our booth.” She adds and it helps to clear the fog.

“I remember her.” Sarah mutters.

“That night, she said to me that you looked familiar to her, but she couldn’t pick it. I didn’t think anything of it. After that she kept trying to get me to find ways for her to hang out with the band, so I’d invite her out when we went out for drinks or something. Most of the time you and Sebastian weren’t there. But the other night, when she found out about the concert, she practically begged for me to get her backstage. I thought she probably had a crush on Brad or Marius or something. Anyway, during the encore she talked me into going in to wait in the greenroom because surely everyone would go back there after the concert. That’s when you guys came in. We didn’t even have time to tell you we were there, so we just decided to hide out in the adjoining bathroom. I had NO idea she was filming, and no idea what she had planned. I guess the whole time she was just waiting for a chance to use the pictures that she had of you before. I guess she hit the jackpot. It was her, it was all her. I called her a few days ago and she admitted to everything. She even thanked me.” Hailey stops and draws a long breath, shaking her head at her own words.

I can’t believe what I’m hearing.

Literally.

I don’t know if I can trust this woman standing in front of me who I’ve seen as my enemy for so long. Can I trust her with these revelations she’s just dropped on me? I don’t know what to say.

Sarah doesn’t have the same restraint.

“I don’t believe you.” She says, narrowing her eyes.

Hailey turns to her, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what else to tell you, but it’s all true.”

“I heard you that night, Hailey, in the bathroom, you were bragging about having slept with half the band and that you were going to try to score with Sebastian that night.” Sarah accuses her.

The sound of his name makes me flinch and my breath catch. Images of him and her intertwined flash in my mind. I turn to Hailey and she looks at me, her jaw locked, speechless.

Then she takes a breath and closes her eyes.

“I lied. About all of it. None of that was true.”