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“Yeah. I mean, don’t get me wrong, you’re hot and famous, and she’s… nobody.”
Within an instant, any kind of attraction I felt for Cara sizzled up and died. I removed her from my lap and stood. “I’m going to head back downstairs,” I shortly stated as her phone dinged. She reached over and grabbed it, ignoring my comment.
“Oh my gosh, did you see crazy Carlton?” Cara asked. “He’s going off downstairs about Hannah.”
“Who’s Hannah?”
“Your Hannah.”
“Hailee.”
“Whatever.”
I stood and grabbed her phone from her hands. On the video was a drunk Carlton on a table, swaying back and forth with a bottle of liquor in his hand. “No way. You think I like Hailee Jones?!” he spat out. “Hell no. Have you seen her? It’s like she swallowed the Doublemint twins,” he slurred, mocking Hailee’s weight. “Honestly, I just hung out with her cuz I felt bad for the chubby cupcake. She had no friends, really.” He went on and on and on, because the crowd gave him the laughter and attention that the addict craved.
I could feel the blood boiling beneath my skin.
I was going to murder the asshole.
I pulled out my cell phone to text Hailee, but it seemed she’d already seen the video.
Hailee:I’m not coming.
Hailee:This is humiliating.
Shit.
“Where the heck are you going?” Cara asked.
“To check on Hailee.”
“Who cares how she’s doing? Besides, it’s funny. Laugh a little. She’s not even on our level.”
Our level? As if Cara and I were the same in any way, shape, or form. That made my rage grow stronger.
“We’re not on the same level,” I muttered, walking toward the door.
Cara dashed in front of me and blocked my exit. “I swear to God, Aiden, if you walk out of this room to go check on that loser instead of having the best night of your life with me, then you are dead to me. Do you understand me? We are over if you leave. You’ll be dead to me. DEAD!”
I swallowed hard and stood tall as I cocked an eyebrow and locked my eyes with hers. “RIP.”
She gasped, stunned. “You’ll regret this, Aiden Walters. Mark my words. I’ll make sure of it.”
I pushed past her and left the house. I started running home as nerves shot through my system. The moment I approached the Joneses’ house, I repeatedly rang the doorbell.
“Is she okay?” I asked, my voice cracking when it left my throat as Hailee’s parents answered the door. They looked up to see me, and the hurt in their eyes made my own chest ache even more. Fuck. What kind of assholes would hurt someone as soft as Hailee? She was the definition of kind. At that moment, I wanted to track down everyone who posted, reposted, and mocked my best friend. I wanted to tear them limb from limb and make them feel like the complete trash they were.
“Not right now,” Penny said, her eyes glassed over. I wasn’t surprised that Penny was on the edge of her emotions because her daughter was her heartbeats. When Hailee hurt, Penny hurt even deeper. That was what moms did. They felt their child’s pain as if it were their own.
“Can I talk to her?” I asked.
“Did you know?” Karl asked. His brows were knitted, and his face was stern. Unlike Penny, he wasn’t sad. No, he was pissed off. “Did you know they were going to mock her?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Going to that party was your idea. I swear to you, Aiden, if you knew—”
“Karl,” Penny cut in, grabbing him by the fabric resting against his forearm. She looked at me and frowned, seeing the hurt in my eyes that Karl couldn’t see because he was too busy dealing with the hurting of his daughter. She shook her head. “He didn’t know.”
