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.
“Well, yeah. You don’t leave your number in the pockets of people you’ve tried to kill if you don’t want them to call.”
“And you don’t offer to pick things up where we left off, without leaving a form of contact.” I sat up straighter.
“You were in no state to, so I did. Could have always just turned up to your address, I suppose.”
My eyes widened as I froze, “What do you mean?”
Her tone elevated slightly as she reeled off my address, “38 Ellershaw something or other, right?”
Shit! How the hell did she remember that? Surely the docs at the psych ward pumped her full of enough drugs to forget something as small as my address.
“You seriously fucking remembered that?” A low snigger sounded down the line as my mind struggled to keep up with her.
“Um, yeah? I like to hold onto information that could be useful to me.” Her words dripped with an ominous threat.
“You’re not coming to my place.” At this point, I felt like I was in a standoff with a cobra. Toying with its food, unable to predict when it would strike.
“Oh? fair enough. How about Abattoir Street? Storage yard. Back gate. Midnight.”
Was this going to be it? our chosen arena? Wouldn’t have been my first choice, but anything was better than her turning up at this shit hole.
“That place is locked up tighter than my mum's purse strings. You’ll never get in.” A slight chuckle escaped me.
“Wow, you really do continue to underestimate me. You sound like you’ve tried to get in yourself. Got outsmarted by a rusty padlock, did ya?” If looks could kill at this point, then I’d be on a murderous streak—the irritation from her words grating on me. I shook my head as my smile grew wide.
“Alright, I’ll bite. Guess I’ll see you later then.” A challenge accepted or a death wish.
“Alright, I’m bored now. See you then.” The line disconnected, leaving me in a state of excitement and unease.
My fingers lightly tapped the phone against my lips as I reflected on the conversation that had just occurred.
I stood up, placed my phone back into my pocket, and went back inside.
Thoughts of Misfit were still running rampant around my mind, as Squeeks jumped from around the banister, heading back towards me.
“Well, you got far.” Her eyes looked me up and down as I stood in the kitchen, still shirtless and wearing last night’s jeans.
“Gimme a sec, ok, heads fucking pounding.” I pushed past her, leaving her standing by the table as I ventured up the stairs.
Danny’s snoring bellowed through the hallway as I got closer to our room.
Pushing the door open, I slumped my body down onto the bed, resting my head in my hands for a moment.
Why did I agree to take her to Chester’s?
What was she hoping to find? Chester sat there, smiling as if nothing had happened, welcoming us back with open arms.
I highly fucking doubt it.
Chester was gone, especially if Danny had anything to do with it; that fucker knew how to make shit disappear if he wanted to. Why would a person be any different?
Lifting myself from the bed, I searched the floor for one of my countless hoodies Squeeks had borrowed, leaving them scattered across the floor.
Slipping it over my head, I felt the chill of the fabric causing my skin to ripple with goosebumps.
Accompanied by a sickly feeling churning around in my stomach.
I headed for the door, being met with the ghostly face of my mum, slumped against the wall, fiddling with her dressing gown cord.
“Rough night?” My eyebrows raised to her as my tone was filled with sarcasm.
“Could say the same about you. You look like shit.” I scoffed as I turned, heading for the stairs.
“Always a pleasure mum.” She shouted after me as my feet hit the stairs at a hurried pace.
“Where you going?” I ignored her; she never cared where I went, normally.
Squeeks met me at the bottom, looking up towards mum as she stood at the top, hip cocked as if she was looking for a fight. “Don’t ignore me! Where are you going?”
I snapped, glaring at her through my brow, “OUT!” Slamming the door behind me as we set off down the street.
The walk to Chester’s flat felt longer than I remembered, though maybe that was just the weight of Misfits' phone call pressing on my mind. Squeeks walked beside me, chewing on her thumbnail, her steps quickening against my strides. We reached the narrow stairwell leading up to Chester’s.
The paint was peeling from the railing, and the door at the top was faded, decorated with countless notices.
I paused, letting out a breath as Squeeks turned to me.
“You sure you wanna do this?” I asked. Squeeks nodded firmly as she set off up the steps before me.
She cupped her hands against the door, looking through the small arch-shaped window.
“Still looks the same.” I lowered my gaze to the doorstep, crouching down, pulling up the corner of the mat.
Revealing the spare key Chester had always let me use when I needed to.
My face gained a small smirk as I held it up to Squeeks, “Some things never change.”