“Do you know their names?” I asked him.
“No. I don’t hang around them, so I have no idea.”
“I tried knocking some sense into Steven, but it’s pointless.” She shook her head, and we fell into silence.
“How about you give me your number, Sarah?” Mateo asked me straight out. What?
I was sure my confusion showed on my face, since he brought his hands up in the air in a defensive manner. “Hey, I don’t mean anything bad. If you want to text me, or I can text you...” He scratched the back of his neck.
I watched in disbelief as he transformed from a confident guy into an embarrassed boy. Was he actually embarrassed because of me? Was he embarrassed because he asked me for my number and didn’t know if I was going to reject him or not?
“Really smooth,” Melissa muttered under her breath. “Asking for her number in front of his grandfather.”
He was still waiting for my answer, but with each second I remained silent, he looked more disheartened. Ugh. I didn’t want to give him my number, but how could I refuse him now? He actually looked cute with those puppy eyes he made. Was there really any harm in giving him my number?
“Okay,” I replied. “I’ll give you my number.” I really hoped I wouldn’t regret this.
He gave me his phone to type my number, and as soon as I did, he called me. My phone rang in my pocket. “Now you have my number too.”
I took out my LG and froze when the crack on my screen reminded me of the way Hayden went through my phone on Tuesday. He’d warned me not to keep any male contacts.
It was better if I didn’t save Mateo’s number under his real name. After some thinking, I decided to save it as “Maria’s Hair Salon.” Hopefully, Hayden wouldn’t doubt that. It was only natural for girls to go to salons.
“Hey, you and I didn’t exchange numbers, right?” Melissa asked and looked at me expectantly, her phone already in her hand. Really? First Mateo and now Melissa too? What did I do to deserve this honor?
“Thanks,” she said with a huge grin after we exchanged our numbers. “Be prepared to be pestered with my messages.” She sounded vicious, and I almost grunted.
Once more, I strongly hoped I wouldn’t regret this.
IT WAS LATE IN THE evening when Mateo’s first message arrived, which created a mess out of my heartbeat. My thumb hovered over my screen as I battled with my nervousness. Finally gathering the courage, I opened his text.
“Hi, are you sleeping? I’m with my friends, and we’re drinking... Yeah. I just want to say you’re cute when you blush. See you next weekend.”
Chapter 12
EVERYONE HATED MONDAY , right?
There was nothing good about Monday. It marked the start of a new cycle of never-ending suffering in Hellhole, making the weekend seem eons away. Thanks to our A/B block scheduling, I was spared from attending the same classes as Hayden today, but that also meant I got to see Christine and Natalie in calculus first thing in the morning. That in itself was a good enough promise of another disastrous day.
I was about to enter the school when someone called me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Jessica rushing toward me, her smile illuminating her whole face. She seemed genuinely glad to see me.
I smiled back at her. “Hi.”
“Hi to you too. I almost overslept, so I thought I was going to be late.” She wiped a few beads of sweat off her forehead and fixed her loose gray shirt. “Phew!”
“How was your weekend?” she asked when we entered the overcrowded hallway.
It was rather out of the ordinary, taking the horrible episode with Hayden into account. “Eventful. How about yours?”
“Pretty boring, like usual. I stayed home and enjoyed lunch with my family. Actually, my parents make a big deal out of Sunday lunch. Since they work hard and we don’t get to eat together during the week, Sunday lunch is rather special. We all gather, eat a lot of food, and maybe watch some family comedies.”
I smiled at her, feeling envious. “That’s awesome. I’d like to have something like that.”
“Don’t you have Sunday lunches with your mother?”
I thought about the sullen Saturday lunch we spent together. I was perturbed after I came back from Hayden’s house, so I didn’t even have an appetite, yet I sat there just so I could spend some time with her, wearing a turtleneck shirt to hide the bruises on my neck. There was so much I could’ve said to her, but I didn’t want to. Not when she was already hugging her bottle of vodka. Not when we didn’t have common topics. Not when I was reliving the moment of Hayden’s hands on my neck over and over again...
We spent Sunday lunch in similar fashion. She complained about her work as the increasing amount of alcohol in her system made her snappier, and there was no chance we could converse normally. I just scarfed down the food and rushed back to my room to work on my art college applications and the new art video I planned to upload on YouTube.
I tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “Occasionally, yes, but most of the times it isn’t anything special or fun,” I replied to Jessica.
We rounded the corner, and I spotted Hayden talking to a guy next to him in the distance. My pulse kicked up when his gaze locked with mine almost an instant later. He was impassive, and it astounded me to see there was nothing in his eyes—no rage, no coldness, no emotion. Nothing. This scared me more than seeing him mad at me.
Jessica was talking about something, her eyes set on the floor, but I tuned her out as we came nearer to Hayden, too aware of his nearness. Each inch of me was attacked with apprehension as I waited for him to do something, however, seconds ticked by without him doing a number on me. Not even a word.
I exhaled a long sigh when we moved past him and his friend and went around the next corner, arriving at Jessica’s locker.
She yawned and opened her locker. “I can never get used to getting up so early for school. I’m so sleepy.”
My pulse was still quick and erratic. I dared not look if Hayden followed us. “Me too. I didn’t sleep much last night.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I better go so I won’t be late for class.”
“Sure. See you at lunch?”
I didn’t get to answer her, because I heard Hayden’s voice a short distance away, and my throat closed up. I could practically feel him watching me. I glanced in his direction and found his unrelenting stare directed at Jessica and me as he passed by with his friend. It was unnerving. I held my breath, expecting the attack, but it never came, and I didn’t know what to make of it.
The frown lines appeared around Jessica’s mouth. “Are you okay?” she asked me, staring at Hayden as he walked away from us.
“Yeah. As good as I can be when I’m near him, I guess. See you at lunch.” I half-smiled at her and scurried in another direction, increasing the much-needed distance between Hayden and me.
JESSICA AND I ENTERED the lunchroom discussing what to eat. She settled for spaghetti, while I decided to eat vegetables.
“How can greens keep you full? I get hungry right after I eat them!”
I chuckled, shrugging. “I don’t know. They’re enough for me.”
“Well, if I don’t eat one big slice of pizza I won’t be—” She stopped abruptly, looking in front of her, her eyes growing large in fear.