Chapter 53 *

Chapter 53 Chapter 53
Angelina’s POV
She looked up at me with this smile. This confident, nasty smile.
"My boyfriend and his boys don't play. They'll teach you some RESPECT."
I walked over to the folding table and grabbed a bag of Takis. The spicy kind. I opened it slowly, took one out, ate it. The whole time, I was looking right at her.
"Cool. I'll wait."
The next fifteen minutes were weird. The music was still playing, but nobody was dancing anymore. Post Malone was singing about something sad, and the basement just felt heavy. Tense. Like everyone was waiting for something to happen.
Some people were trying to leave. I could see them grabbing their jackets, checking their phones, making excuses. But most stayed. Because drama is better than Netflix, I guess.
Mia pulled me over to the old couch in the corner. The one with the mystery stains that nobody wanted to think about too hard.
"Aria, seriously, who did Chelsea even call?"
I shrugged. "Doesn't matter."
"You're way too calm about this." She was doing that thing where she twisted her hair around her finger. Nervous habit. "Like, way too calm. What if they actually show up?"
I just kept eating my Takis. They were really good. Spicy as hell.
Across the room, Chelsea was with her girls. They kept looking over at me and whispering. She was checking her phone every like thirty seconds. I could see her getting more and more hype about whatever was coming.
"They'll be here soon," I heard her say. Loud enough for me to hear. "She's so fucked."
Novak was pacing around like a stressed dad. He kept looking at the stairs, then at me, then at Chelsea. Poor guy. His parents were gonna kill him if this got too crazy.
Some dude in a Lakers jersey had his phone out, recording. Another guy next to him was laughing.
"Five bucks says nothing happens," Lakers jersey said.
"You're on," his friend replied.
I wondered if they'd want their money back later.
Forty minutes later, I heard footsteps on the basement stairs. Heavy ones. Not the light steps of teenagers trying to sneak down for snacks. These were adult footsteps. Purpose in every step.
The wooden door at the top of the stairs pushed open.
Someone hit pause on the music.
Four guys came down. Maybe five, I didn't count. They were all in their twenties or thirties, wearing black leather jackets. The kind of guys who definitely should not be at a high school party in someone's basement.
And then I saw him. Jayden.
He was at the front. Six foot three, muscular, with those full sleeve tattoos he was always so proud of. He had a scar on his face. New one. Probably from some fight he started and couldn't finish.
His left hand was in a cast. Held against his chest with a sling. I remembered those fingers. I remembered cutting them.
He was carrying a baseball bat. It had dents in it from hitting other things.
The basement went silent. Even the guys who'd been betting shut up. A couple of freshman girls actually screamed. Everyone was backing away, moving toward the walls, trying to create distance between themselves and these men.
Everyone except me.
I stayed on the couch, bag of Takis in my lap.
Chelsea stood up fast. She had this huge smile on her face. Victory smile. She pointed at me with one of those fake nails.
"That's her! Teach her a lesson!"
Jayden started walking toward me. Slow. His boys spread out around the room. Blocking the exits. Professional. They'd done this before.
Mia grabbed my arm again. Harder this time.
"We need to leave right now."
I gently pushed her behind me and stood up. I set the Takis down on the couch carefully. Didn't want to spill them.
Jayden was getting closer. He had that look on his face. That tough guy, I'm about to hurt you look.
"We don't play around," he said. His voice was deep. Trying to sound scary. "You think you're tough?"
I didn't answer. Just watched him.
He was getting into it now. Showing off. The bat was moving faster in his hand.
"Last week we had to teach this punk some respect. He couldn't walk right for a week after we broke his—"
Then he got close enough. The LED lights hit my face just right.
He saw me. Really saw me.
Everything changed.
Jayden froze mid-sentence. His mouth was still open, but no words were coming out. The confidence drained from his face like someone had pulled a plug.
The baseball bat slipped from his hand. It hit the concrete floor with a loud CLANG that made everyone jump.
I watched him process it. Watched his face go from tough guy to terrified. His injured hand started shaking. The whole cast was trembling.
I didn't move. Just looked at him. Let him remember.
"Please," he said. His voice cracked. "Please don't take the other fingers."
Then Jayden dropped to his knees. Not just kneeling. Full prostrate. Forehead almost touching the dirty basement floor. In front of all these people. In front of his boys. In front of Chelsea.
He held up the cast to show me. Like I needed to see proof.
"I learned my lesson, I swear. Please."
The silence in that basement was insane. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. I could hear someone's phone hit the floor somewhere behind me.
Chelsea's mouth was hanging open. That victory smile was completely gone.
I tilted my head a little. Looked down at Jayden.
"Get up," I said quietly.
"What the fuck?!"
Chelsea's voice was high and shrill. She was staring at Jayden like he'd just grown another head.
"Jayden?! What are you DOING?!"
She stumbled toward him. Her heels were catching on the carpet. Her voice was getting more hysterical with every word.
"Get up! She's just a fucking high school girl!"
Jayden didn't even look at her. He was still staring at me, waiting for permission to move.
I nodded once.
He scrambled to his feet. But instead of backing away, he turned on Chelsea. Fast. Angry. All that fear and humiliation had to go somewhere.
He grabbed her arm. Rough. Way too rough.
"Shut the FUCK up!"
Then he slapped her. Hard. Right across the face. The sound echoed in the basement.
Chelsea stumbled backward. Her hand went to her cheek. Her eyes were huge. Tears were already forming.
"You stupid bitch!" Jayden was yelling now. Really yelling. "Do you know who she IS?! You almost got me KILLED!"
I just watched. Didn't interfere. This was between them.
Chelsea was crying now. Makeup running down her face in black streaks. But the tears turned to rage real fast. She pointed at me, her whole arm shaking.
"I'll fucking KILL you! You're DEAD! You hear me?!"
She grabbed her Michael Kors bag from the couch. Pushed away one of her friends who tried to touch her shoulder.
"Don't fucking TOUCH me!"
Then she ran for the stairs. Stumbling. Still crying. Still yelling. The door slammed hard enough that I bet the whole house felt it.
Three or four of her friends chased after her. I could hear them on the stairs.
"Chelsea, wait!"
"It's okay, just calm down!"
But she wasn't calming down. Even from the basement, I could hear her outside, still screaming and crying.
Jayden turned back to me. He bowed. Actually bowed. Deep and formal.
"I'm sorry. Won't happen again."
He started backing toward the stairs. Wouldn't turn his back to me. Smart. His boys were already heading up, confused but also scared. They kept glancing back at me, trying to figure out what they'd missed.
The baseball bat was still on the floor. Nobody touched it.
Novak had come back downstairs. He looked at me, then at the stairs, then at the bat, then back at me.
"Uh," he said. Just that. Uh.
There were maybe ten people left in the basement. Everyone else had either followed Chelsea or just noped out completely. The ones who stayed were staring at me. Some had their phones out. Still recording.
A guy in a Thrasher hoodie spoke first.
"What the actual fuck just happened?"
His friend nodded. "Did you SEE that? That dude was like, TERRIFIED."
Some girl near the stairs asked, "Should we leave?"
Another voice. "I'm not going anywhere until someone explains what I just saw."
They all turned to look at me.
I walked back to the couch. Sat down. Picked up my Takis. They were still good. Still spicy.
Everyone moved closer. Not too close. They kept distance. Smart. But they formed this loose circle around me and Mia.
Mia was just staring at me. Her face was pale.
"Aria," she whispered. "What did you do?"
The guy in the Thrasher hoodie stepped a little closer. Not threatening. Just confused.
"Yo, seriously, what was that about? That dude came here with a bat and then just. Like. Knelt down?"
Someone else chimed in. "The fingers thing. What did you do to his fingers?"
I ate another Taki. Crunched it slowly. Let them wait. Let them wonder.
Then I said, "I cut three of his fingers last month."
Silence.
I took a sip of my Sprite.
"That's all."
More silence.
I looked up at them. All those faces staring at me like I was some kind of alien.
"He's lucky I stopped at three."
Someone whispered, "Holy shit."
A couple of guys did that nervous laugh thing. You know, when something is so crazy you don't know how else to react.