CHAPTER 14
Iwoke up with my mouth dry and my head pounding, like someone was drilling through my skull from the inside. The taste of old booze and ash clung to the back of my throat, thick and bitter. My topless body slumped across the sofa; one arm draped over the side. The house was still quiet. Not peaceful, just drained like even the walls were hungover.
I peeled my eyes open one at a time as I sat up, every part of me aching from the night before. Empty bottles littered the floor; ashtrays were overflowing, and someone’s bra dangled from the ceiling light. A groan escaped as my head urged me to lie back down. I dragged myself off the sofa, stepping over a girl still sprawled on the floor asleep.
Heading towards the back door, I reached into my pocket for a smoke but felt something crinkle under my hand. My brow furrowed as I pulled out a slip of paper with a phone number scrawled on it. My stomach tightened, but not from the sickening feeling churning in my gut. The handwriting was hers—Misfit’s.
I hadn’t imagined it. She was real. That moment outside the bar, she must’ve slipped it into my pocket without me noticing. A smirk crept onto my face as I folded it and tucked it back into my pocket for safekeeping.
What did this mean? Should I have followed her last night? Or was this some sick trap meant to lure me into something I wasn’t ready for?
I opened the door and flinched as the cold air hit my skin, my eyes blinking fast against the sharp glare of sunlight. Squeeks was already sitting on the step. She turned, offering me a half-smile as I joined her. I slipped a cigarette between my lips and glanced sideways.
“Thought you’d still be asleep.”
She shrugged, tucking her knees up tighter to her chest. “Didn’t sleep much,” she muttered as smoke curled past my lips.
“Too loud?” Though we both knew the house had been chaotic. Slurred voices, broken glass, and Danny’s awful taste in tunes. Her silence told me everything. I nodded, flicking ash into the gutter.
“Sorry.” She gave a gentle nod, then rested her head on her knee, looking at me.
“You ever think about Chester?” My jaw clenched at the name, it had been a year since she’d told me. His face flashing into my memories as I returned my gaze forward down the garden.
“All the time.” That was a lie. I hadn’t. If anything, I was pissed off with him for ditching us. I mean, I still held onto the thought that Danny hadn’t topped him off, and he just decided we were too damaged to save. But in reality, I’d wrapped myself in the madness of taunting others, Danny’s dodgy deals, and now Misfit. She nodded like she already knew that.
“He wouldn’t want this for you. For either of us.”
“Yeah, well,” I muttered. “He didn’t come back, did he?”
Her voice dropped, “No.”
I nudged her with my shoulder, “Tell you what, why don’t we go back to Chester’s place. See if we can’t figure this out.”
Her eyes lit up as she sat upright, smiling. “Really?”
I slowly nodded; her arms quickly wrapping around me as I patted her forearm. “Alright, alright. Get off me.”
A small, excited giggle left her as she ran off back into the house. I stayed there a moment longer, pulling the crumpled paper from my pocket again. Her handwriting was sharp, jagged like she’d written it in a rush or under pressure—just a string of numbers. No name. Always keeping people guessing.
I pulled out my phone and stared at the screen, heart hammering even though my head was splitting. What do they say? Curiosity kills the cat, or some shit like that. Hell, I’ll be the cat if it means I get to see her.
There it was again, that pull on me, dragging me closer to her every fucking time. The dial tone was almost comforting in its silence. One ring. Two…
Click. No hello, just a breath. I smiled to myself.
“Are you always this friendly in the morning?”
Her voice sounded sleepily through the line, low and smooth. “Not morning though. Is it?”
I pulled the phone away from my face, narrowing my eyes to the time on the screen, 12:01 pm.
Jesus, time had really slipped away from me. I returned the phone to my ear, hearing the muffled sounds of a distant yawn.
“You took your time calling.” She drawled.
I leaned forward, elbows digging into my thighs. “I was otherwise engaged.” I turned my head at the faint sound of the girl stumbling from last night, heading towards the front of the house. Her heels clutched in one hand, and her other hand held her up against the wall. I rolled my eyes as I turned back, looking to the floor. “Plus, I didn’t have to call at all.” Her silence stretched, then a tiny slip, a catch.
“Mhm. But you did.” How could I not? I needed to know if it was a trap or a lifeline.
