Falling for Hadie

by Komal Kant

  What a freak show.

  “Eddie, can you please explain to me what just happened?” Principal Lawson asked, careful not to make eye contact with anyone else.

  We all turned in unison to stare at Eddie, surprised that he was the one who had been given the opportunity to explain the events. Eddie didn’t seem overwhelmed as Kance and Becky glared at him; he simply stared straight ahead as he spoke.

  “Becky told Bennett that Lincoln is sick. Bennett took Kance and Becky along with him to rub it in Lincoln’s face. They taunted him, and Hadie snapped. Ashton slapped Kance, and Hadie slapped Becky. Then Bennett made a derogatory remark about Becky, so Lincoln punched him in the face.”

  I couldn’t help but admire Eddie as he spoke. He held no bias towards anyone; he had stated the facts exactly as they had happened without adding anything unnecessary or taking anything away. Was that why he was in here with us? Did he go around the school collecting intel on everyone?

  Kance looked angry as Eddie finished speaking. She flipped her beautiful, dark curls over her shoulder and fixed Eddie with a look of disdain. “I’m sorry but why is he here?”

  Eddie didn’t flinch, which I had to give props to him for. Most other people would have run away screaming from Kance Logan. “The principal is my uncle.”

  Kance’s mouth opened in surprise and she muttered something under her breath but didn’t say anything else as Principal Lawson looked over at Ashton.

  “Ashton, you were in trouble two months ago for bullying another student. I warned you that failure to stay out of trouble would result in suspension from the school. You don’t seem to have any reason to get involved in this fight, so why did you?”

  Ashton flipped her golden hair over her shoulder. “Because I’m sick of Kance acting like she runs this school, and I’m sick of the way Bennett acts like her lapdog and treats everyone like they’re worthless.”

  “I’m not her lapdog!” Bennett yelled.

  “Sure you’re not.” Ashton rolled her eyes and looked away.

  Kance pursed her lips as though she were sucking on a lemon and looked Ashton up and down. “I can’t help that you’re jealous of me. I mean, I did steal your only best friend, the guy you wanted to date, and your spot on the cheerleading squad. It can’t be helped that you want to be like me. Everyone wants to be me.”

  As if to further prove her point, her eyes flickered over to Becky who was staring at her with this sickening look of adoration on her face.

  Ashton shot Kance a tight smile. “I guess I should thank you for stealing my life from me. First, it’s a huge compliment that you’d want to take everything away from me. Imitation is the best kind of flattery, or so they say. And, secondly, not being your friend is the best thing that ever happened to me. I finally found myself again—found Luca again.”

  The smug expression on Kance’s face faded at those words. The former best friends stared daggers at each other, and I felt chills run down my spine just watching them.

  It was like the clash of the Queen Bees.

  “Girls, calm yourselves,” Principal Lawson cut in. “Ashton, that’s not good enough. I have no choice but to suspend you for a week. Askance, Becky, and Bennett, you will serve two afternoons in detention. Hadie, I’m very disappointed in you. You’re one of the best and brightest students in your year, yet you dragged yourself down to their level.” He gestured in the direction of Kance and Ashton.

  I swallowed. My stomach was full of knots as I realized how serious my actions had been. I could’ve hurt Becky. I could’ve gotten someone else injured. I’d never acted so recklessly in my life. I was a complete moron.

  “Two days suspension,” Principal Lawson said.

  Suspended. I’d been suspended. Not even a warning. Not even a detention. I’d been suspended outright. My parents were going to kill me.

  No one said anything. I guess we didn’t want to worsen the situation further.

  “Everyone else return to your classes.” Principal Lawson glanced at Lincoln, his expression unreadable. “Lincoln, stay. I need to talk to you alone.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Lincoln

  “You’re not going back to school?” Mom demanded. “You barely lasted there for two months! Is that why you wasted our time and got us to move out here? So you could go to school for a few weeks?”

  Mom was breathing hard, red in the face, as she verbally assaulted me with questions that I didn’t want to answer. Dad had a bracing hand on her shoulder as though he thought it would calm her down.

  “The principal thought it was the best thing to do since I’ve been missing so many days of school. I won’t lie; I’m feeling worse and worse every day. The painkillers aren’t working for me anymore, Mom. The pain is finding its way through the cracks. I’m always tired; all I want to do is sleep.”

  Silence met me. Finally Mom turned her judgmental eyes onto Hadie, who was standing beside me.

  “Becky told me all about what happened at school today. How dare you lay a hand on my daughter! I should press charges against you, if your backwoods town even has law enforcement.”

  Hadie looked like she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to cry or run away. She dripped the edge of her jacket, twisting the fabric in her hands. Her eyes shot to Becky who was standing next to my mom.

  “Becky, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have hit you. I don’t know what came over me. I promise, I’m not usually like this…”

  Becky’s lip curled and she folded her arms and looked away, refusing to acknowledge Hadie’s apology.

  “I warned you about her.” Mom acted as though Hadie hadn’t spoken at all. “I told you this girl was trouble. As usual, you didn’t listen to me. You always think you know best, don’t you? Look what she did to your own sister! Well, I won’t have it, Lincoln. I want her out of my house and I never want you to see her again.”

  Nausea washed over me at her words. She couldn’t stop me from seeing Hadie if she tried. Hadie was my everything. She was the only thing I had to look forward to when the one thing I’d looked forward to for so long was death. I wasn’t going to give her up for anything.

  “You can’t stop me from seeing her,” I said, fists balled up at my sides.

  “Well, I’m going to try my damn hardest!” Mom fixed her gaze on Hadie. “Get out of my house! And don’t even think about sneaking my son out tonight or I’ll call the police!”

  Hadie whimpered and I heard her run out, the door slamming shut behind her. Ignoring my mom’s cries of protest, I ran out after her.

  Hadie was just getting into her car when I reached her. Tears were streaming down her face as she started the ignition. My heart broke to see her like this. This was all Becky’s fault, yet Mom blamed Hadie for it when Becky was the one who’d started this entire mess. It hardly seemed fair that Hadie should be banned from my house just because my mom had something against her.

  Hadie wound the window down when she caught sight of me. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean for you to get into trouble or for any of that to happen. I should never have hit your sister; I’m not entirely sure why I couldn’t just ignore what she said. Then none of this would’ve happened…”

  “Shhh.” I silenced her, pressing a finger to her lips. “Stop rambling and calm down. I don’t blame you for any of this. Becky had no right to tell anyone about my sickness. She’s been nothing but horrible to me for years now and nothing has changed. I’ve changed, but she never will. When I’m gone she’ll continue to live her miserable existence, pretending to be nice and innocent when all she has is jealousy in her heart.”

  “But—” Hadie tried to speak but I silenced her again.

  “Didn’t I tell you to shut it, Hades?” I traced her lips with a finger. “Listen to me. We will never get through to my mother. She’s too set in her own ways. Let her be the way she wants to be. I can’t change that any more than I can change how I feel about you.”

  Hadie sighed and slumped forward, her head re
sting on the steering wheel. “I just hate all this fighting.”

  “Sometimes there are things worth fighting for.” I leaned in closer until Hadie turned her head to look at me; our eyes locking.

  We continued to stare at each other until Hadie’s cheeks flushed pink and she looked away. “I’d better go before your mom comes out here with a shotgun and blows my brains out.”

  “I’ll see you soon,” I said, leaning through the window to plant a light kiss on her lips. “Enjoy your suspension.”

  Hadie shoved me away, a frown on her mouth. “You’re an ass.”

  Laughing, I stepped back as she began to pull out of the driveway. “An ass who loves you!”

  I knew she’d heard me because I saw her roll her eyes just before she backed out into the street and drove away. I was glad that I’d at least managed to distract her from her tears. The last thing I wanted to do was see her cry because of my family.

  Once her car was out of sight, I walked back inside—ignoring my mother who was still yelling about Hadie—and went into my room. Grabbing a couple of sheets of paper and a pen, I sat down at my desk and began writing furiously.

  There were so many things I had to say, so many thoughts I wanted to share that I couldn’t write fast enough. My writing was messy, but I didn’t want to type it up. Writing this down made it a lot more personal, and I wanted this to mean a lot to the person who was going to receive it.

  Once I was finished, I looked over the words again, making sure that I’d described my feelings as best as I could. I wasn’t much of a writer and talking about feelings wasn’t my strong point, but I think I’d managed to say everything that I’d wanted to say.

  Finding an envelope in my top drawer, I neatly folded both pages of the letter and slipped them inside.

  My eyes were heavy by the time I left my room in search of my dad. Going out was the last thing I wanted to do. All I really wanted to do was collapse onto my bed and sleep off the pain that was writhing like a live wire inside my chest. But this was important. A part of me was telling me that it couldn’t wait, that it had to be done now. Before it was too late.

  I finally found Dad in his room reading the paper. Now that Mom had stopped her yelling, I guess he could concentrate better.

  The door was ajar, but I tapped on it anyway to get his attention.

  Dad glanced up, seeming surprised to find me standing there, and folded up the paper. “Lincoln, what is it?”

  I shuffled nervously from one foot to the other, dreading his answer. “Uh…could you drive me into town? I’ll only be a few minutes. There’s something I need to give someone.”

  “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea…” Dad looked uncertain as his eyes darted left to right. “Your mother isn’t too happy about what happened today.”

  “We could just tell her we’re going to get something to eat.” My tone was edging towards desperation. “Please, Dad. I really need to do this.”

  He was silent for a few moments and then he began to nod. “Okay, I’ll take you, but we have to be back in an hour. I don’t want to create any problems with your mother. You go wait outside and I’ll tell her we’re stepping out to grab a bite to eat.”

  Shooting Dad a grateful smile, I headed back the way I’d come and walked past the living room where Mom and Becky were watching TV. Distracted by the sounds coming from the TV, they didn’t notice as I snuck past them and out of the house.

  Since Dad was probably going to take a few minutes, I walked around to the back of the house where Chance was tied up. He was lying down, looking forlorn but as soon as he caught sight of me, his ears pricked up and he sat up, wagging excitedly.

  There was a sharp pang of pain in my side as I bent down to pat him, but I ignored it.

  “Hey, little guy,” I said, as he calmly sat for me. “I’m sorry we haven’t been able to spend much time together, but I want you to know something, okay? If I hadn’t picked you, you weren’t gonna make it. You were gonna go to sleep for a long time. I didn’t want that for you. I won’t get a chance to live, but you can do all the living for me, okay boy? You’re gonna go live with Hadie and she’s a great girl. She means a lot to me, so do me a favor…look after her for me, okay?”

  Chance wagged and looked up at me as though he understood everything that I’d just relayed to him. I gave him a final pat before painfully rising to my feet.

  As I walked back to the car, I thought about how much Dad had changed since last year. He was still the same quiet, reserved guy, but he was slowly growing a backbone and thinking for himself. That’s all I ever wanted for him—to make his own decisions without any influence from Mom. He was a completely different person without her and I liked that.

  Sometimes your relationships made you weak. Those poisonous relationships were the ones you had to sever yourself from. When I’d told Dad about Mom’s affair with his best friend, I’d wanted him to break away from his poisonous relationship with her.

  I know it probably sounded horrible saying that I wanted my parents to split up, but they’d both be better off without each other. Mom had cheated on him for a reason, maybe because something was lacking in her relationship with Dad. After twenty years if Mom was willing to throw everything away for some guy who probably hadn’t even called her the next day, then Dad definitely deserved someone better.

  He needed someone who was faithful at the very least.

  The door swung open and Dad stepped out, his face blank as usual. Once we got into the car, he didn’t say anything until we got closer to the town.

  “Where exactly did you want to go?”

  “Swinton & Associates.”

  Dad seemed surprised by this. “What is that, a law firm?”

  I nodded. “Hadie’s dad works there. I need to speak to him.”

  “Well, you need to tell me which way to go.”

  That’s what I loved about Dad. He didn’t pry into anyone’s business the way Mom did. Besides, if he asked why I wanted to see Hadie’s dad, I wasn’t too sure I’d tell him the truth. It was so close to my heart and I was so distant from my family that I kept my personal life to myself.

  When you didn’t have a good connection with someone, regardless of how much they complained that you didn’t tell them anything, there was no way you’d want to share aspects of your life with them.

  I still remembered the way Hadie had taken when she’d driven past her dad’s office and pointed it out to me, so I just directed Dad the same way. It wasn’t long before I spotted the place I was looking for.

  Swinton & Associates was a small grey building with its name in black lettering. It stood out from the other buildings beside it because it looked like it had been recently painted. On its left was a large real estate company and on the right was a drugstore that looked like it had been around for decades, based on the shabby exterior.

  Dad pulled up right outside the law firm but didn’t turn off the engine. “Don’t take too long. Your mother wasn’t too happy about you going out with me. I told her we were going to the diner, so she asked for some food. I’ll go and pick it up while I wait for you.”

  “Yeah, sure,” I said, and then gave him a small smile. “Thanks for doing this, Dad. It means a lot to me.”

  Dad tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, looking uncomfortable. We didn’t have the best relationship and I rarely shared my feelings with him. “It’s fine, son.”

  Without saying anything else, I climbed out of the car and watched Dad drive off. There was a sharp stab of pain on my left side as I opened the door of the law firm and stepped inside. My legs were shaky and there was a tight knot in my chest. Usually, these symptoms were normal and the pain was dulled by the medication, but this time something was different.

  Heart racing, I glanced at the deserted reception desk as I tried to get myself under control. Hadie had told me that her mom was the receptionist here but since her mom had been the one to come into school today after the fight it made sense t
hat she hadn’t gone back to work.

  God, I hoped Hadie wasn’t in too much trouble.

  “Can I help you?”

  The voice was familiar, and I glanced around to see Mr. Swinton emerging from a side door and hurrying towards me.

  “Good afternoon, Sir,” I said in my politest tone, extending my hand for him to shake.

  Mr. Swinton returned the handshake and studied me with concern in his eyes. “Is everything alright? You look awfully pale.”

  A bead of sweat rolled down my face as I nodded. “Yes, Sir, I’m fine. I just came by to speak to you quickly.”

  “Sure,” he said with a nod, “why don’t we step into my office?”

  He led the way through the side door that he’d just come out of and once we were inside, gestured for me to take a seat as he sat down behind the large desk that was littered with folders.

  Once we were settled, Mr. Swinton leaned back in his chair with a frown on his face. “I heard about what happened at school today. I can’t say that I’m impressed that my daughter slapped someone.”

  The way Mr. Swinton was watching me was unnerving. He had a great poker face and I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Was this the look he used when he was questioning someone so they’d spill all their deepest, darkest secrets?

  I shuffled around in my seat, and the movement made me wince from the pain. Another bead of sweat rolled down my face, and a cold flush was spreading through my body. That definitely wasn’t normal. I shouldn’t be cold and sweating.

  “She didn’t…do anything wrong. It was my sister she hit, after all. If anything, I should be angry…but I’m not.” My throat was getting tight and it was becoming difficult to speak.

  Thankfully, Mr. Swinton hadn’t noticed. “She’s different since she met you. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that.”

  “….Sorry,” I choked out, gripping the armrests of the chair with shaky fingers.