5. The Point Of No Return
5
The Point Of No Return
“Where the hell were you?” Kendrick throws a million questions at me the very second I get into his car. I don’t have it in me to answer. Not after everything I’ve been through.
As soon as I got far enough from Haze and his psycho brother’s house, I found myself on a hunt for a good citizen willing to let me use their phone. The nice cashier at the convenience store turned out to be my savior. Kendrick picked up on the first ring, and I’ll admit, when I heard his voice, I almost cried in joy.
“Winter, answer me. Where were you?”
I don’t speak, completely drained from the rush of adrenaline I previously had.
“What happened to you? Are you okay?”
“I’m alive, aren’t I?” I let out, not bothering to look at him.
“Gee, Winter. Do you have any idea how scared we were? I had to tell my mom you were sleeping at a friend’s place, and she wasn’t easy to convince. I thought something horrible happened to you. You could’ve called—I was worried sick.”
“I lost my phone,” I mutter.
“Oh please, cut the crap. You treat that thing like it’s your child. Someone stole it or something?”
“Something like that.”
Haze just had to take my phone. Asshat.
“I’m going to ask again. Where the hell were you?”
“You really want to know? Fine. I was at Haze’s.”
Color drains from his face. “What?” he shouts. “What did you just say?”
“I slept at Haze’s place, and if you really want to know, he’s the one who took my phone.”
“How could you let that happen?” Kendrick’s accusing eyes are pointed right at me.
“I didn’t let anything happen. I didn’t have a choice. He saved me when you guys left me to fend for myself. Thank you for that by the way. A heads-up about the gangs coming after me would’ve been appreciated.” I can’t stop the resentment from growing.
“He…” He pauses, in disbelief. “He saved you?”
“Seriously? That’s the only part of my sentence you remembered?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. We have no idea how it happened. No one was supposed to know about you. Haze might be a piece of trash, but he usually keeps his word.”
“It wasn’t him,” I whisper.
“Is that what he told you?”
I nod faintly.
“And you believe him? For all we know, he’s the one who set this whole thing up.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Gee, I don’t know. Let me see—to get you killed?”
“Is that why he helped me escape? Or maybe that’s why he found me a place to sleep? Because he wants me dead. Are you even listening to yourself?” I rest my head against the car window. The headache is officially here to stay.
“I don’t know why he did it, Winter. All I know is, no matter what he did for you last night, you can’t trust him. Ever. It’s all a game for him. Nothing he does is out of the kindness of his heart.”
“Yeah, yeah. I got it. He’s bad. Do we have any idea who did it?” I wince and shift in my seat. I know from the burning sensation that Tanner’s handprints must be quite obvious under my hair.
“We’re on it. We suspect the North Side, but it doesn’t add up. Ian is Haze’s ally. He wouldn’t pull the trigger on an attack like that without consulting him first.” He glances at me. “We’ll figure it out. I promise.”
I’m slightly amused by the way Kendrick talks to me like I’m supposed to know who the hell this Ian is. I need a “street fighters for dummies” lesson fast.
Kendrick’s car pulls up into Maria’s driveway, and I’m relieved to see her white car is nowhere to be seen. I’ll have a lot of explaining to do when she comes home from the hospital tonight. My cousin shuts off the engine and we walk to the front door side by side. Kendrick tells me about Kass not coming home either. Apparently, she texted him not to worry. He says he suspects it has something to do with a boy.
“Good for her,” I reply. After everything Blake put her through, she deserves it. Of course, I refrain from saying the last part out loud as Kendrick isn’t aware of Blake and Kass’s secret.
We stop on the porch to unlock the door. When a cold breeze blows my hair off my neck, Kendrick stops dead in his tracks. I frown.
“What the hell is this? What happened to you?”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“What is what?”
“Your neck. Oh my God.”
He brushes the hair off my neck swiftly before I can step back. He balls his hands into fists, making them look like white-knuckled weapons.
“The bastard attacked you?” he says through gritted teeth, the look in his eyes making my skin crawl.
I consider lying for a second. I don’t want to cause any more problems than I already have. When I get a quick glance of my reflection in the kitchen window, I’m forced to face the obvious truth—nothing can get me out of this one. What could I possibly say to justify the bright red marks on my neck? I got into a fight with a curling iron?
“It wasn’t Haze. He was gone when I woke up. He wanted me to wait for him.” I finally come clean, my eyes dropping to the ground.
“Then who?” Kendrick shouts, anger flowing out of him profusely.
“Kendrick, calm down, please.”
He’s about two seconds away from punching the wall.
“Who?” he screams again.
I give in. “Tanner.”
“I’m going to kill him.” He unlocks the front door and rushes inside the silent kitchen. I follow him, terrified that he might do something stupid. Against all expectations, he gets his phone out of his pocket and starts typing.
“What are you doing?” I try and see the screen.
“Texting you,” he grumbles.
“But Haze has my phone.”
Kendrick looks up from his phone, and we lock eyes.
“Exactly.”
I glance over his shoulder, finally getting a clear shot of the message.
Winter: Your brother lays a finger on my cousin again, you’re both dead. - K
Lovely.
I remember turning off my phone last night, and although I’d like to think Haze won’t see it, I also know I’d be dumb to think he hasn’t tried to snoop. Even if—thank the Lord—my phone has a password, the locked screen will allow him to read Kendrick’s text. My cousin storms out of the room seconds later and I collapse onto a chair, cursing.
It’s official, life hates me.
“What about these?” Kass interrupts the foreign thoughts spinning around in my head for the billionth time today. I look at the heels she’s holding up in front of my eyes.
“I tried walking in heels once. I made a new friend—the floor.”
She doesn’t laugh, instead she looks at me sharply.
“Think of how great you’d look.”
“Maybe, but my feet would never forgive me. I tried yesterday at the party. It’s not worth it.”
I glance around the crowded mall and wonder why on earth I let her convince me to go shopping. I guess I needed something to take my mind off the whole Haze mess. Shortly after Kendrick sent him that very kind text message, Kassidy walked into the house with a cheeky smile on her face. Kendrick left almost immediately after. I followed him outside to beg him not to do anything he might regret. He nodded briefly before taking off.
Do I feel better? Not even a little bit.
I grimace at the pain emanating from my neck and adjust the silk scarf I’m wearing. I am not risking Kassidy seeing the handprints on my skin and losing her mind, too.
I tried to get her to tell me where she was all night, but she sticks to her obviously false story which is that she was at a friend’s. She seems lighter than usual, happier, less controlling, less moody.
Less Kass.
It’s a boy. It’s got to be.
After a good thirty minutes, I end up convincing her that she’s bought enough clothes for the day, although I practically have to drag her out of the mall. Resting my head against the car window, I watch the passing houses in the rearview mirror. We come to an abrupt stop, and Kassidy sighs, stretching her neck in an attempt to see the reason behind the blocked circulation. That’s when she hits me with the one sentence I did not want to hear.
“So… About the party.”
“What about it?”
“Rumor has it you slept at you know who’s?”
I chortle. “You can say his name. He’s not Voldemort.”
“Haze,” she says, anxiously glancing around as if she fears he’s going to come out of one of the cars next to us in traffic.
“Yeah. I did.”
But it’s actually a funny story, you see? My life was in danger, and that’s why Mr. I’m-too-handsome-to-be-human slash don’t-look-me-in-the-eyes had to come to my rescue. Not to mention that his psycho brother ended up attacking me.
Ah, memories.
“What’s the deal between you two, Winter? He’s dangerous.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” I mutter under my breath.
“I’m serious. You need to be careful. I can’t believe you let him take you to his house. You need to stay away from him.”
“I’m trying to.”
“Oh, really? Is that why you keep hanging out with Kendrick and his trouble-magnet friends? They’re involved in… some stuff.”
I pretend to be surprised when in fact, I already know exactly what she’s talking about.
“Stuff?”
“Stuff.” She makes it clear she is not willing to discuss this any further. “Do you know what happened yesterday? I was already gone, but I heard it caused a panic.”
I look down. “Cops.”
I hate lying to her.
“I know that’s what everyone said, but it seemed like a lot more than that. Some people said they heard a gunshot.”
“Cops these days.” I pray that she won’t ask any more questions.
“Yeah.” She shrugs. “I’m just saying to be careful. Haze Adams is not one to do romance and—”
I cut her off. “Wait a minute. You were gone? With who?”
“With… with a friend.”
“Oh, come on. Who’s the boy?”
“There’s no boy. Don’t try to change the subject. What were we talking about?”
“You were lecturing me about Haze.”
“Right. All Haze wants is fun. Like what he does with Bianca. He keeps sleeping with her even though the poor girl’s head over heels in love with him. Just don’t let him fool you, too.”
“Believe it or not, I’m actually not a fan of heartless douchebags. I’m one of the girls who don’t enjoy when a man doesn’t give a crap about them. Yes, we do exist.”
“Says the girl who literally just let him take her home.”
I can’t hold it in anymore.
“Okay. You know what? I did not sleep at his place willingly. Something happened to me, and I was in trouble. Haze helped and offered me a place to stay.”
She seems a bit taken aback by my sudden change of tone and doesn’t reply for a while, mentally debating on something.
“Some street gang trouble?”
My face drops.
“You know?”
She nods faintly. “I’ve known for a while now. I’m not blind. Neither is my mom. She knows Kendrick is involved in something she can’t control. I hear your fights at night. Kendrick needs to stop taking the world for idiots. Not to mention Blake’s behavior was so weird back when we were dating. Eventually, I put the pieces together.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because it’s better to pretend not to know certain things, Winter. I don’t want to get involved in his mess, and I’ve managed to do that successfully until…”
I finish her sentence. “Until me.”
“Well, don’t get me wrong, but you literally threw yourself into the fire. What were you thinking following my brother when he goes out?”
“Seriously? You heard that, too?”
“You guys are pretty loud when you argue at night.” She puts her hands up in surrender.
We don’t speak for a couple of minutes. We haven’t moved one bit, still stuck in traffic. I look out the window and spot a woman dancing like no one’s watching in her car. Singing along to the radio, she doesn’t have a care in the world. I can’t suppress a smile.
“Look at her.” I rest my chin in the palm of my hand.
“Can’t. I’m driving.” She keeps her eyes fixed to the road.
“You’re sitting in an unmoving car, actually.”
She exhales. “What?”
“I hope I can be this carefree when I’m older.”
Kass stiffens. “If and only if you live beyond the age of eighteen.”
I raise my eyebrows. How could I not see that one coming?
“Harsh.”
“I know. I know. I’m being an asshole, I’m sorry. It’s just… Haze Adams is only as nice as he needs to be to get your trust. Promise me that you’ll stay away.”
I find myself locked in her persistent gaze.
“I promise.”
The traffic picks up the pace, and Kass’s face softens. She focuses on driving, pleased by my response. As I tap my foot, eager to get home, I can’t draw my thoughts to a close. Something tells me that if I make it my mission to avoid Haze, he’ll somehow be in my life even more. It doesn’t matter if I promise to stay away from him.
I’m not sure he will stay away from me.