Chapter 9 #3
“He basically told Celeste that if she touches you again, she’s done.
That she was never an actual member of their club and was just a groupie, so she’s replaceable.
The girl threw a hissy fit. No female at this school wants to be a groupie.
That’s basically a kind term for whore . They’re meaningless to members.”
“You are a member,” I said.
“I am, indeed!” Her jovial mood continued.
“Are you dating that one guy in Vendetta? Midnight or whatever?”
“Haldon Cadot?” She winked, ignoring the fact that I basically called her out for being a crew member. “Midnight is a nickname only members use for him. We’ve been together for a little over three years now. We live in an apartment not too far from here with a roommate.”
“Someone else in your club?”
She shook her head. “Naw, he’s a few years older than us. We basically rent a room from him, but he’s a really nice guy. Super trustworthy. Not shady in the least.” She smiled at me. “Those are important qualities in a person in Harley.”
I knew that. It was why Vail, Shaw, Lee, and I stuck together as kids. We had absolute trust in each other. Well, we used to.
“Have the guys approached you yet?” she asked suddenly, and for a moment, I thought I’d spoken my thoughts out loud.
“What?” I asked, quickly looking up at her in alarm.
“Vail… has he spoken to you?”
“Why would he?” I turned away to slowly start mixing the dry and wet ingredients together, hiding my face from her.
“Just with the way he’s been acting lately, I’d say you seem to have piqued his interest…”
I snorted in disbelief. “Yeah, okay. And the sky is red.”
“I’m serious, Casey. Has he come to you?”
“I have zero desire to become a groupie,” I said flat out and faced her. “Vail hates me. He wants nothing to do with me, and that’s just fine. I want nothing to do with him, either.” Even as I spoke the words, my heart twisted in my chest. You liar!
Meredith simply laughed again. “Oh honey, I know that. You aren’t the type at all. Celeste might not see it, but the guys know you aren’t… a lady of loose morals .” She snickered.
I scowled at her and leaned back against the counter, crossing my arms. “I don’t want to be a member of a… club …” Gang, I think in my mind. “That’s why I said I’d be a supporter.”
She shook her head. “A crew, honey. We’re a crew.”
“Same difference.”
“We aren’t the bad guys in this school, Casey,” she said, going all serious on me, but I listened, as she’d been the only one to tell me anything about this place and how to survive here.
“The real bad guys are outside of these walls, and they’re trying to break in.
That’s why the Jackals are so fucking dangerous. ”
“What are you talking about?”
She reached for the mixture and poured it into a greased pan. I observed as she carefully spread the batter out so that it was nice and even before she talked again. “Why do you think Vendetta and the Jackals are at odds?”
“Old rivalry?” I answered, thinking about all the times we fought with Hunter and his boys as kids.
She shook her head and smiled. “Give us more credit than that,”
“Sorry. Okay. So it’s nothing to do with old rivalries?”
“No, there’s a bigger picture here. I know enough that I want to help, but it’s the higher-up members of our crew who keep things tight to the chest. It’s for safety. Protection. The more everyone knows, the more danger we’re all in.”
She said this so matter-of-factly that I laughed for a second, before her wide eyes flicked up to me, her expression deadpan and solemn. “You’re-you’re serious?” I said incredulously.
“As a heart attack.” She stuck the pan in the oven and headed over to one of the round work tables where we’d left our bags and took a seat.
She pulled out the same knitting project from the first day I met her and got to work on it, and I soon realized she was making a blanket.
I sat across from her, waiting to hear more.
“If an olive branch is extended, take it,” she said finally, and counted her stitches carefully.
“Like, an offer to join a crew?”
“An offer for protection,” she said after she finished and kept going.
“I am not selling pussy for protection,” I said blatantly, and she giggled.
“No, I can’t picture you doing that. And I highly doubt Vail would use you that way.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, confused. “What has Vail said about me?”
Meredith’s blue gaze flicked my way, suddenly looking uncomfortable. Great. I could only imagine what he said.
“Nevermind, Mer. It’s okay. I won’t put you in the middle of our bullshit.”
“Bullshit?” She seemed puzzled.
“Yeah, but really, it’s fine,” I sighed and lounged back in my seat, feeling tired and defeated. “I was picking Vendetta’s side, but it’s been made clear I wasn’t wanted,” I muttered.
She shrugged. “Ignore him. He’s just being an ass.
Guess that’s the price he pays for being the leader.
” Huh? The leader? So Vail was the head of Vendetta?
“From what I can tell, you haven’t been written off by the crew.
Stay close to me. If you don’t have anyone looking out for you, well… you’re gonna get grabbed.”
“Already have,” I muttered, thinking of Hunter and Bryce.
“What was that?” she asked quickly, looking suddenly afraid.
“Nothing,” I shook my head and pulled out my spare notebook, one I enjoyed doodling in and scribbled a quick sketch of a dragon’s face, bent over, a small tear sliding off the end of its long nose.
Around it, I added in several white hellebores as if they were falling around it, dancing in the wind.
Mom… I was thinking of the one word as I shade the petals of one of the flowers—her favourite.
The oven dinged, and Meredith put down her knitting to check on our brownies.
“Again, ladies?” Mrs. Adamson came over and shook her head to see that we’d baked the same thing as last week.
“What can I say? They’re scrum-diddly-umptious!” Meredith beamed at her and set them on the cooling rack.
Though she continued to shake her curly white hair, I could see the smile twitching on the corners of our teacher’s mouth before she walked away.
“If I did that, she’d probably have grabbed that spatula and smacked me upside the head with it,” I told her when she joined me back at the table.
Meredith puckered her lips and blew a kiss in my direction.
“Can’t all be as adorable as me.” I rolled my eyes and bent over my dragon sketch again, my mind drifting as I thought about what she’d told me, about Hunter’s gang versus Vail’s, wondering what the hell they both wanted from me?
“May I ask you for a favour, Casey?” Meredith said softly, breaking the silence.
At the seriousness in her tone, I immediately dropped my pencil and stared at her. Meredith’s smile was gone, and though she was lounging back in her chair. Her arms were crossed defensively over her chest, and she was biting her lip, looking nervous.
“What’s up?”
She glanced at the other girls in the room, but they were busy in their own little worlds to listen in.
She let out a long, heavy sigh between her lips and looked up at me with apprehension.
“I have some… crew business to take care of tomorrow night. Unfortunately, Haldon is coming, too, and my roommate is working a night shift. Haldon’s grandmother needs to go to bed early on weekdays…
” Her voice trailed off as I listened. I’d never seen Meredith look so nervous.
I wasn’t sure where she was going with this conversation.
“Okay?” I said, hoping she’d continue.
“Look, I’m just going to say it. I need a babysitter.”
Oh! I gaped at her as her words echoed in my head. A babysitter. “You have a baby?”
“I have a toddler ,” she corrected me. “Her name is Amelie. She's two and a half. Haldon’s grandmother watches her during the day while we’re at school, but by the time we get home, she’s pretty much done in.
It’s a lot, especially for a seventy-two-year-old lady.
Normally Haldon and I aren’t paired for certain…
tasks… but in this case, pretty much all members are involved. ”
I processed everything she just said. She and Haldon have a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter.
A child who was just several months younger than their relationship.
But honestly, I’d seen the way they were with each other at school.
They seemed happy. They were making it work.
The fact that they were even trying to finish high school despite their circumstances was pretty admirable.
“What time do you need me to stop by?” I asked.
Meredith’s expression perked up, “What?”
“What time should I be at your place? How late?”
“Um, from six to maybe one in the morning? Two at the latest?” She pursed her lips as she told me the late hour.
“No problem,” I answered her easily, and I could see she’d been surprised by my reaction.
“I used to babysit all the time in my old neighborhood. Not to brag, but I’m pretty good with kids.
And I have my CPR training all up to date, too.
” I mentally said thank you to Nylah for dragging me along with her for that one.
“You-you’re okay with it?” Her voice was soft, and for once, Meredith actually sounded vulnerable, and it shot straight to my heart.
“Yeah, no worries. Gotta be hard finding a sitter last minute, hey?”
“It can be, yes,” she breathed, sounding relieved.
“Well, you don’t have to stress. I’ll arrive a little early so you can go over everything I need to know for Amelie. Can you text me your address?” I held up my phone, waiting for her to give me her number. She did, and I could see the smile on her lips, a real one. A thankful one.
She glanced up at me then, her expression unreadable for a moment. “Thank you, Casey.”
“No worries, Mer. You’re one of the nicest people I’ve met here. I’d love to help.” I flashed her one of her own trademark winks, and she grinned.