Chapter 27: Chapter Twenty-Six

I looked at Sloan where he sat on the floor looking at my room like a lost puppy, and knocked on my own door. Ten seconds later Hailey opened the door with a brief smile and looked down as Sloan scrambled to his feet.

“Breakfast’s ready,” I said.

“Thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you there, Kage,” she said as her hands clutched the T-shirt tightly.

“There’s nothing to thank me for. I’d do it again, in a heartbeat,” I said.

We all ate breakfast in the dining room together and Hailey barely ate. She kept her eyes lowered and Alexander kept looking over at her. None of us really had an appetite and we all looked like we were hungover.

“We should talk about last night,” Alexander said once we had all finished eating.

“I’m sorry if I caused any trouble,” Hailey said softly.

“You didn’t,” Alexander said gently.

“The camera doesn’t show anything so what the hell are we going to do?” Sloan asked.

“It’s up to Hailey,” Alexander said as she looked up.

“Up to me?” she asked.

“If you want to call the cops, we’ll tell them what we saw,” I said to her.

“I don’t want to call the cops. I’m glad nothing happened to me, but Josh’s father will make this disappear, he’s a lawyer. They’ll make my life hell in this town,” Hailey said.

“What about the other girls?” Endri asked.

“I can’t go to the cops, you don’t understand, I’m from the wrong side of town. Nobody’s going to believe me if I say anything. It happened to my older sister and when she went to the police, they made it sound like she wanted it, and asked for it. I can’t go through that,” she said as tears formed in her eyes.

“What happened to your sister?” Sloan asked her.

“Josh’s cousin, he …” she couldn’t finish that sentence as I closed my eyes. I understood her perfectly. My brothers didn’t, but I knew why she couldn’t finish it. I couldn’t either and I wanted to help her in some way, because I didn’t want her to be a victim like me.

“That’s exactly why you should say something!” Sloan said angrily.

“No,” I said as I glared at Sloan.

“Sloan …” Hailey began to say.

“This is your choice, Hailey; we’ll help as much as we can. If you don’t want to go public then you don’t have to,” Alexander said.

“That’s it?” Sloan asked, looking at us in disbelief.

“I’ll take you home whenever you’re ready, Hailey,” I said to her as I pushed my chair out and stood up.

I had showered and changed and saw that Hailey had made my bed. Everyone was in the living room as I descended the stairs and walked to the front door as someone banged loudly on it. I opened the front door and wished I hadn’t.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Madison asked me angrily.

“What are you talking about?” I asked her as I stepped out and closed the front door behind me.

“Josh is in the hospital,” she said, and folded her arms across her chest.

“Good,” I said, not caring what she thought anymore.

“Good? You broke his collarbone and his wrist, his jaw had to be wired shut, and both his eyes are swollen shut,” she said.

“He got what he deserved,” I said as I turned to look at her.

“I can’t believe you! He apologized to you, and this is what you do? I thought we were friends!” She said.

“His apology was so that you wouldn’t dump him! He’s an asshole! You have no idea what happened last night!” I yelled at her suddenly.

“I know you beat the shit out of him!” She yelled back.

“Go back to your boyfriend, Madison. Keep your head in the sand while he drugs and molests your friends,” I said.

“What?” She asked me with confusion in her eyes.

“Do you really think I’d just beat the shit out of him for nothing?” I asked her and she looked down for a moment.

“Kage …”

“I found him in a clearing by the river. Hailey’s shirt was torn open, she was drugged out of her mind while they were taking photos of her,” I said in a much softer voice.

“He wouldn’t,” she said as her eyes met mine.

“He did, Madison. Hailey’s in my living room as we speak, feeling lucky she wasn’t raped,” I said.

“I can’t believe this,” she said, her anger all but gone as she sat down on the steps.

I sat down next to her, not really knowing what else to say. I didn’t care if she believed me or not. I wanted her to believe me, because I liked her. I hated that Josh sat next to her and held her hand. I hated that he got to call her his girlfriend, and I hated feeling the way I did.

“I need to take Hailey home,” I said.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she placed her hand on my arm.

“You didn’t do anything wrong but your choices moving forward will dictate who you are,” I said to her.

“I should’ve known, how could I have been so blind?” She asked me.

“You couldn’t have known,” I said.

“I’ve heard rumors, and then Josh would talk it away. I’m such an idiot,” she said.

“You can still walk away from him,” I said.

“His dad’s a lawyer, Josh will tell him it was you,” she said and her eyes widened a bit.

“Alexander has a lawyer, too,” I said to her.

“I should probably go,” she said as she stood up.

“You could stay, it’s Saturday,” I said.

“Do you want me to stay?” She asked.

“If you want to,” I said as the front door opened and Sloan walked out with Hailey.

“Hey Madison,” Sloan said.

“Hi … Hailey, I’m so sorry,” Madison said as she walked towards her and hugged her.

“It’s okay, nothing happened,” Hailey said and I saw Sloan’s jaw clench.

“I hate him,” Madison said.

“That’s a good start,” Sloan said.

“I’ll be back in a while,” I said as Madison followed Sloan inside.