Charming (14 page)

He stood there, eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open. “You really have changed. I’m sorry you can’t see it. And I’m sorry you’re going to let yourself be used by someone as rotten as Chris. He lights farmers’ fields on fire.”

Haley threw the truck in drive and drove off as fast as she could, heading home. She needed time to figure out what to do. Maybe she could write a note and give it to Chris to give the police? Maybe she could go on a couple dates; the maniac only said he wanted to pay Mr. Charming a visit.

Holy crap. How could she say that? It’s not true. No one would go through this much trouble just to ‘pay someone a visit.’ Besides, that would be the easy way out, and Mom raised Haley better than taking the easy way out.

The Charmings were good people, and Chris somehow broke through every wall Haley put up, made her feel things again, not pain, not loss, not loneliness, but made Haley feel like a teenager again, weightless… happy.

She’d made such a huge mistake when judging his character, and she could not let his family down, or hers.

But how could she save both?

“Haley, help me.” Jocelyn cried, handcuffed to a mold-covered concrete wall, cuts and bruises covering every inch of her skin, blood dying her hair bright red. “Why won’t you save me?”

“She’ll never save you, Jocey. Your sister’s too selfish.” Dad turned around, a baseball bat in his grip, black with old blood. “Aren’t you, Haley?”

Haley rushed forward, but she couldn’t get any closer; she couldn’t move a foot. The ground fell out from beneath her, and when she looked up again, she’d taken Jocelyn’s place. Fire burned through her hand, up her arm. Haley’s right forefinger had been cut off.

“Too focused on boys and her dead mother to even notice us missing, Jocey.”

Dad and Joce stood over Haley, lips raised over sharp teeth. They laughed, stalked forward, swung their bats, and hit Haley in the skull.

She couldn’t defend herself with her arms chained to the wall.

Bolting upright in bed, Haley held back a scream. “Just a dream. Just a dream.”

So many bloody nightmares plagued her sleep last night. Most of them ended with her death, not Dad or Joce’s. In none had Haley seen Mom, not like the dreams she usually had.

Haley crawled out of bed and headed for Joce’s room, careful to avoid looking out any windows. What if he was watching? What if he’d been watching for a while? “Joce? Dad? Anyone home?”

The only thing that answered was deafening silence.

She stopped at the bathroom and stared longingly at the shower, but the thought of removing her clothes sent chills along her spine.

Must not act out of character.

Covering the window and mirror with towels, then double and triple checking that the door was locked, Haley undressed and stood under the stream of hot water, allowing the bathroom to fill with thick fog. The water ran so long, washing away some of the tears and vomit from yesterday, that it lost some of its warmth, and she stepped out to get ready for school.

School. How could she? How could she leave Joce and Dad in the hands of a psycho to go to out and act ‘normal?’

Haley returned to her room and stopped as soon as she stepped one foot into the plain space. The window was wide open and an envelope sat on her unmade bed, once again with her name in Jocelyn’s handwriting. Trembling, Haley rushed over to the window, closed and locked it, then picked up the note. She lifted the flap and pulled out the paper: Go to school, idiot.

At least Jocelyn still had fingers and could write. Unless he made her write this before chopping them off.

Haley ran back to the bathroom and threw up, nothing but acids. Again. She brushed her teeth and stared in the mirror, then poked at the dark circles under her eyes, sizing herself up for a fight. “You can do this. You have to do this.”

Ten minutes later, Haley and Christine met up on the street to walk to school.

“You didn’t take my advice, did you?” Christine sighed, dropping her shoulders. “I guess taking advice from someone like me would be pretty stupid anyway. Who am I to tell you what to do?”

Haley stared at the weeds growing tall through unpatched cracks in the asphalt.

“Earth to Haley?” Christine waved in front of her face. “You in there today? Saw you take off last night. Where’d you go?”

Every person walking on the street, driving by in their car or truck, every squirrel rustling thick layers of fallen leaves, everything spooked Haley, made her question how well she knew the people in her life. Who could know her well enough to understand her problems, her family, enough to infiltrate her whole world?

“Okay, silent treatment. I get it. My parents do this often enough. Don’t know what I did, but whatever.” Christine ran ahead, barreling through the double doors of the school before Haley had a chance to process what just happened.

Every locker slamming made her jump.

“Ha-ley, you’re breaking my heart,” Richard sang, bumping his hip against hers as they walked down the hall.

“Please don’t.” She ran ahead, but Richard stayed close to her side, smiling at her with his adorable boy next-door smile, his light brown hair mussed up like he’d rolled out of bed and said fuck it when he looked at the comb.

“Come on.” Richard grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the stream of students flowing through the hall. “I heard you and Niles were getting freaky on the side of the road last night. Chris is cool, and he really likes you.”

“Hey, Richard,” a blonde girl said, snagging the end of Richard’s blue hoodie as she walked by, winking.

Haley had no idea who this girl was. All she’d ever tried to do since enrolling here was disappear, but in the process, she made everyone else disappear. Because it seemed everyone still saw her.

“That’s my cue,” Richard said, running backward to the catch up with the blonde, “Just don’t hurt my friend, got it?”

Yeah, she got it. How could Haley possibly act normal when nothing in her life was normal? When she had to find a way to save the dad who beat her and the sister who couldn’t stand her? When she had to find a way to protect Chris and his family without hurting them, with people like Richard always watching?

And all day long, last night’s nightmare looped through Haley’s mind, all her problems, her fears, that man’s distorted voice.

“That’ll be two dollars and ninety-five cents.” A girl helping out the lunch ladies—a job offered to students for extra credit in accounting—held out her hand, eyebrow raised. “Did you hear me, Haley?”

“No. What did you say?” How did this girl know Haley’s name? She was sure she’d never talked to her before, and why was the chick looking at Haley as though she was crazy?

“Your lunch, it’ll be two ninety-five. And I heard you were spotted talking to a guy from DA. Is it your old boyfriend? What does Chris think?
I
think that’s so cool. What’s it like dating guys from there?”

Haley handed over the money and turned and walked away before the girl could return the change, leaving the question about Niles unanswered. None of her business anyway. She took a seat at the empty table she usually shared with Christine, not upset for the moment of solitude her absence provided, finished her food in a hurry and then moved on to the last class of the day.

The guy couldn’t want the Charmings for anything Chris had done, not when he referred to Mr. Charming as sleazy. Not Chris, but his dad. Maybe the psycho wanted money, one of their cars? Maybe it had something to do with Berkshires?

“Miss Tremaine?” Mr. Thompson—could she have zoned out in a worse class?—called her name again.

Glancing around, Haley realized no one else was in the room. “Yes, sir?”

“Since you appear not to want to leave my class today, even though the bell rang thirty seconds ago and you’re usually the first to leave, would you mind discussing your behavior?” He made a point not to look at her, skimming down papers and writing grades at the top in red pen. “I’ve heard several rumors about you being on the side of the road last night with a boy from DA. I’ve heard rumors that you’re pregnant. That your sister is pregnant with the boy from DA and you’re jealous. You would not want to hear
all
the rumors that have gone around today. I’d prefer to ask you directly if you’re okay. Does your head in the clouds have anything to do with your mother?”

“No, sir. And no one’s pregnant, for the record.” Haley gathered her things, stuffing a pen and composition notebook into her bag. “I’m sorry. I know you think I’m horrible, and maybe I have been, maybe I’ve sabotaged my life for reasons I don’t think anyone will understand, but I’ve got to go.”

“Wait,” Mr. Thompson said, scooting out his chair then rushing to the door, reaching an arm across so she couldn’t exit. “What are you trying to say?”

Closing her eyes, she drew in a deep breath and held out her papers. “Nothing, sir. Here’s my extra credit work, Mr. Thompson. Thank you for allowing me to complete it, for caring.”

He took them, making the mistake of moving his arm, and Haley bailed. Mr. Thompson called her name several times, but she didn’t stop to look back. Not normal? Sure, but she couldn’t keep up her normal anger, her normal not caring demeanor. Today, she cared too much. Today, she wanted to save Dad and Joce, not avoid them, not ignore the larger issues.

Today’s issues were larger than anything she’d ever faced.

Haley reached the lockers, and everyone in the hall fell silent. Were they watching, waiting to see if she spilled some detail that would further explain Haley’s encounter with a boy on the side of the street last night? Gasp? Would it explain the pregnancy rumors?

People could be so infuriatingly stupid and small-minded.

She shook off the feeling of being watched and opened her locker, then froze. A note.

Run or scream?

Was one of Frontier Regional School’s teachers a killer? No way. They couldn’t be. They
could
be. Anyone could be. Haley took a deep breath, grabbed the note, stuffed it into her bag, then ran home without waiting for Christine.

Sweat soaking her hands, Haley locked the bedroom door, pulled the curtains closed, then sat on the bed with her backpack containing the newest note, a thin envelope.

Too thin for a finger.

Not Jocelyn’s handwriting; Niles’s.

Haley opened the card and fell back against her mattress with relief.

Happy Anniversary. That’s what the card said. Niles had snuck into Haley’s school and broke into her locker to deliver an anniversary card. Not the anniversary of them dating, but the celebration of the night they finally had sex. The night she regretted with more regret than anything else because she wasn’t ready, he wasn’t the right one, but she didn’t realize that until Mom died. And telling him why sounded too scary.

“Every year, this day will mark our anniversary, the day I became yours and you became mine.” Niles tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, bit his lip, then kissed her.

Asshole. Why couldn’t Niles just leave Haley alone? What could he possibly want? Couldn’t someone take no for an answer and move on with life? And how the hell did he get into the locker?

Deep breath.

If she couldn’t stay hidden from Niles, how could she hope to hide from the man who had Dad and Joce?

Breathe in. Breathe out.

What if the creepy guy is Niles
?

Okay. Total paranoia set in, and Haley gasped for air.

Maybe Mr. Thompson helped Niles. The man
had
tried blocking her exit, but, then again, he had a good reason.

The school kept locker combinations in the office. Maybe the receptionist helped Niles get in? People used to go out of their way to help Haley when she still had money, class, prep school, Mom. Niles still had all of those things. That made sense. And was him remembering their “anniversary” really such a horrible act?

Overreact much
?

Haley left the house, and her chores, behind to go mend things with Christine.

She opened the door, eyes bloodshot and rimmed with red. “Ahh. So you remember I exist now?”

“I’m sorry.” Haley launched her arms around Christine. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Umm. Personal space. You have yours, over there, and I have mine… here.” Peeling out of Haley’s embrace, Christine shrugged. “No offense. And I’d already forgiven you. The rumors kind of helped me understand your issues. And I know you’re not pregnant, and if you were, it wouldn’t be Niles’s baby.”

“I think I love you.”

“My baby, then?”

Haley snorted and pushed into the house. The girls made their way to Christine’s haven in the moldy basement, then lay on the bed and watched TV, doing their usual, the most normal Haley experienced all day. But she was lost in thoughts, chewing on her lip as she tried to work out a way through this. Maybe she could ask her neighbors if they’d seen anything strange going on at her house lately, like strange men climbing in her window, or someone dragging Dad away?

“So, it would be Chris’s baby, right?” Christine pulled a forbidden picture of her and the ex-boyfriend from beneath her mattress, rubbing a finger over her belly. “You’ll have to introduce me to the man you’re having a love affair with, like properly, not as a coworker.”