Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
Max
I lean back against the wall near the main exit of the building and check my watch, breathing out a sigh. They were supposed to be here ages ago. What the hell are they doing?
When I look up again, Silas storms through the hallways, and people actually move aside for him only because they fear being run over. And if there’s one thing you want to avoid, it’s being in Silas’s way.
“You left me!” I lament.
“Oh, get over it,” Silas barks over his shoulder.
“Nice to see you too,” I retort. “Hope it was fun.”
He smacks his fist into the door. “That twig thinks she can get away with it.”
Already at the nicknaming stage? That’s quick. He must really hate her.
But … why?
She’s gorgeous and smart and so very cunning. How does he not immediately fall in love?
We head outside into the sun. Well, it’s more like me following Silas as he rampages around campus, but I like following him and Heath around.
Speaking of …
“Do you know where Heath is?” I ask.
“No. Haven’t seen him.” Silas fishes his phone from his pocket and starts tapping away. “He should’ve been here. I almost had her.”
“Almost.”
He looks up at me and shoots darts with his eyes, making me sidestep. “Maybe ask me to help next time.”
“Why? So you can fawn over her good looks again?”
I stand stupefied underneath a tree in the grass.
A smug grin spreads on his face. “Yeah, I saw you looking at her.”
“No, I—”
He taps my chest. “Don’t go denying it now. I know what I saw. I’d recognize that look anywhere.”
“What look?”
I shriek and nearly jolt up and down from his sudden voice behind me. “Fuck, you scared me.”
But when he places his hand on my shoulder, it immediately calms me.
“Relax. Want one of these pills too?” he muses, showing off the new bottles he got.
“So that’s what you were doing,” I mutter.
“Gimme that.” Silas snatches them from his hand, pops off the lid, and takes at least two.
“Wow, wow, calm down with the pills, bro,” Heath says. “My dealer only wanted to sell me three of these bottles. Talk about being squeezed.”
“Silas is on edge because he talked to a certain thief today,” I say.
“What?” Heath’s fingers dig into my shoulders, and it suddenly doesn’t feel so nice anymore. “Who? Where?”
“Ivy fucking Clark.”
Silas nearly crushes the bottle of pills before Heath finally snatches it back from him.
“A girl?”
“She was missing a fucking hearing aid,” Silas says. “It has to be her.”
“But …?” Heath raises his brow.
“She got away,” I say.
“I confronted her. Told her I knew she stole from me. She told me to fucking prove it.”
My jaw drops. “Holy sh—”
“We have the fucking proof!” Heath growls as he fishes the hearing aid from his pocket. “This is all the proof we need.”
“She’ll just say she dropped it in the grass.” Silas shrugs. “We gotta have something better, something that irrefutably proves she’s a thief.”
“If she really is the thief, wouldn’t it help finding out why she stole from you guys?” I ask.
They both look at me like I’m onto something.
“I mean, we could talk to her. Try to figure it out.”
“And catch her in the act,” Silas adds.
“I didn’t—”
“Good thinking, bud.” Heath grabs my shoulder and squashes me against his pecs, and I don’t even know what to say. “We’re going to make her talk.”
“I scared her so much, I doubt she’ll say another word to me,” Silas says, folding his arms.
“Maybe not to you, but she might talk to him .”
Heath glances down at me, and I frown, confused.
“Wait, what?”
“Yeah, you can talk to her and make her confess,” Silas reiterates.
“What makes you think I’m good at lying to people?” I ask.
“Oh, c’mon, it’s not that difficult,” Heath says.
Silas’s brow rises. “It’s not lying if you like her.”
“You like her?” Heath asks.
A blush creeps onto my cheeks. “It’s nothing, I—”
“He couldn’t keep his eyes off her,” Silas jests.
“Is that true?” Heath’s arrogant smile makes it hard to focus. “Does Max have a crush?”
I roll my eyes. “Fuck me, this is embarrassing.”
Both boys laugh.
“It’s perfect, bro,” Heath says. “She’ll never suspect someone who’s swooning head over heels at the thought of kissing her.”
“Do you really think I could do that?”
“Of course!” He grabs me and turns me around to lock eyes with me. “You go talk to her. Seduce her. Make her trust you.” He leans in and whispers, “And when we have her right where we want her … you will convince her to admit she’s the thief.”
Ivy
Years ago
“I’m home!”
Dad’s voice rings through the hallways, and I jump up from the couch and immediately sprint to hug him tightly like I do every day when he comes home from work.
He hugs me back, laughing. “God, one of these days, you’re going to squeeze the rest of my life out of me with those strong arms.”
I giggle as he leans over to kiss me on the forehead. “Dad, I got an A plus on my test! Wanna see?” I’m jumping up and down with excitement as I hold up my paper for him to see.
“Really?” The beaming smile on his face makes me feel proud. “You did great, sweetie. If you keep this up, you’ll definitely get into Spine Ridge University one day.”
“YES!” I yell.
Suddenly, he begins to cough, and I hold my breath while he struggles and clutches the table next to him. Mom jumps in to whisk him away while he keeps coughing and drops my paper on the floor.
“S-sorry, sweetie, I n-need a f-few minutes,” he stammers, coughing up heaps.
The smile dissipates off my face while I look down at the paper, as a splotch of blood slowly spreads on it like venom seeping into the ink…
And into my hopeful heart.
Present
I put my bag on the counter and lock the door, but when two warm hands envelop me, I jolt up and down.
“Ivy!”
Smiling, I turn around and kneel for little Cora, whose hands barely fit around my body.
“Hey, sweetie,” I murmur. “What are you doing out of bed? It’s way past your bedtime.”
“I couldn’t sleep. I miss you,” she says, rubbing her little face into me.
“I missed you too,” I say, hugging her tight. “How was your day?”
“Mrs. Schwartz is mean. I don’t like her.”
I sigh. “I’m sorry. I’ll ask her to be a bit nicer.”
I wish I didn’t have to leave her with my neighbor every day, but I have to work and study so I can at least provide us with a better future.
“Can you tell her I don’t like peanut butter on my sandwich?”
I frown. “What? You don’t like peanut butter? Since when.”
She shakes her head. “Not anymore. I want chocolate cereal and milk.”
I rub my lips together. “I get that … it’s just that it’s very expensive.”
She pouts and averts her eyes, and I know she’s disappointed. So am I. This life was not the one I had envisioned.
I place my hands on her shoulders. “You know what? Once I get that next check from the club, I’m going to get you some chocolate cereal.”
The pure spark of hope in her eyes makes this all worth it. “Really?”
I nod, and she hugs me even tighter.
“Thank you!”
I rub her back, knowing full well I will have to keep my promise now, no matter how much it costs me. The only problem is that check will never provide enough for us to afford that expensive brand of cereal.
This means I’ll have to employ different means to get my hands on that kind of money.
She yawns against my shoulder, and when I push her back, she’s rubbing her eyes.
“C’mon,” I say, and I pick her up. “Let’s get you back to bed.”
“Wait, but I want Rosey with me!” she pleads.
I roll my eyes and pick up the plastic flower from the table. “Here she is.”
She hugs the flower like it’s some kind of stuffed toy. Adorable.
I put her down on the only bed we have and lie down next to her on the second pillow, pulling the blanket over us while the small light next to the bed stays on so I can watch her fall asleep.
I cherish moments like these the most, a sliver of happiness in the daily storm of life.
And I find myself slipping away, just like her, into a deep sleep filled with waking nightmares.
Pools and pools of blood.
My vision becomes cloudy as the red puddles growing on the floor beneath me stain my eyes.
I have to get out.
Frozen, I stay put near the wall, shuddering from the breaths my lungs refuse to take.
It’s happening again. And again. And again.
“Ivy!” I can hear my name but don’t hear anything else even though I can clearly see a mouth moving in the distance.
My head spins violently, but I don’t know what to do.
All I can hear is the deafening sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.
THWACK.
THWACK.
THWACK.
Tears form in my eyes and roll down my cheeks, flooding the house with my tears until I can no longer stand. I’m drowning. Drowning in the misery of my own wails. I grasp my neck as I suffocate, reaching out to breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe.
Breathe.
But no matter how hard I try, my lungs refuse to open.
Refuse to give me the life I need to force my legs to move.
RUN.
A crackling noise makes me stir, and I turn around, but a warm fog close to my face wakes me up from my slumber. I sit up straight, sweat dripping from every pore of my body as I swiftly turn on the light.
There’s nothing.
No one.
Yet …
The window is open.
I didn’t open it.
I shiver and get out of bed, brushing off the recurring nightmare I just had. I grab my knife from my bag and clutch it tightly as I look around. I check all the closets, all the doors, all the nooks and crannies, under each cabinet, and under the bed.
Nothing .
I take a deep breath and sigh out the remaining adrenaline.
Maybe it was just the nightmare that woke me up, as usual.
I approach the window and peer outside.
A man standsin the shadows down below.
I don’t know what he looks like. I can’t see his face or make out any features except for his lanky figure.
A gust of wind makes goose bumps scatter on my skin, and I promptly shut the window, sealing it tightly, still staring at the man who refuses to budge.
Maybe I was only dreaming.
Maybe the gust of wind pushed the window open.
Or maybe … just maybe … someone was inside my house.