Chapter 5 No.5

Hailey's POV

"Don't forget you promised to come to the party tonight. It starts at eight but you can arrive around ten," Peyton couldn't stop talking. The party's tonight, which means it's Friday and also means that I must go somewhere. I haven't been looking forward to this day for the whole week. "And don't come wearing whatever it is you wear. Wear something that's hot but not too--"

"Revealing. Got it," I interrupt her as we sit in the English class.

"Good,"she says, "So you be--"

"I'll be there," I cut her off again.

"So are you auditioning for R and J Revolution?"

"Nope are you?"

"Nope, not talented enough to sing and dance at the same time," she laughs.

"Sing and dance?"

"Yeah you have to dance as well," she explains.

"That's awesome," I say.

"Yep. I hear that the queen bee, Stephanie, has the lead role. She is such a witch. She has slept with almost every guy in this school and her dad owns this shipping company which makes her rich. I bet the only reason why people worship her is because she has money and she's popular, but other than that, she's a horrible person," she says. "She sounds nice," I say sarcastically.

"Yeah nice enough to make the devil jealous," I laugh at her statement and continue to listen to Mrs Nell teach.

.........

"Who of you ladies are going to the party?" Nate asks.

"Why is everyone talking about the party?" I enquire.

"They say it's gonna be the biggest and best party this year, since Greg, the guy who hosts the best parties, is hosting it," Kaitlyn answers. We are sitting in the cafeteria, since it's lunch and enjoying our delicious slices of pizza. This school serves the best food ever.

"Okay," I nod and take a slice out of my pizza.

"Where's Peyton?" Cathy asks. "She went to go talk with Luke," I reply. Peyton said she wanted to talk to Luke during lunch about the kiss and where their relationship stands, so they went somewhere to talk in private. "Really? Are those two finally dating?" Kaitlyn asks and her eyes sparkle with excitement. "Not that I know of. Did you know they liked each other?" I question. "Please, the sexual tension between those two has been going on for months," Cathy says.

"Hailey can I talk to you?" I hear a stern yet familiar voice. Everyone at the table's staring wide eyed at the mysterious figure behind. I turn around to him and guess what?

It's Tristan Wilder.

"What for?" I raise my eyebrow.

With not a care in the world, he pushes his arms underneath my armpits and swiftly lifts me up from my seat, putting roughly back on the ground so that I'm on my feet. This guy is something. He wraps his hand around my wrist and pulls me out of the cafeteria.

"Tristan, what is so important that you literally had to pick me up, drag into the hallway, and make me leave my pizza?" I ask as I narrow my eyes at him.

"What did you hear yesterday?" He asks angrily.

"What?" I ask confusedly.

"Don't act dumb," he warns. "Yesterday in the parking lot. What did you hear?" He asks and yesterday's memory of him yelling on the phone came flooding in mind. He was really angry.

"Nothing," I reply.

"Don't lie."

"I'm not."

"Good." And just like that, he walks away. This guy is a huge mystery to solve and I think that even the Mystery Inc won't be able to solve him. Yeah I still watch Scooby Doo, don't blame me if I don't want to let go of my childhood.

I return to the cafeteria and sit down with the group again. Suspense and silence pervades the table as everyone stares at me anxious to know what just happened. "He just wanted to know if I overheard his conversation with someone on the phone," I broke the silence. Everyone nods and goes back to what they were talking about and I couldn't help but ponder over the reason Tristan was enraged about yesterday.

The horrid bell rings signalling the end of lunch and we all say bye to each other and I go to maths class. I enter the classroom and see that there's only a few people, considering that I'm early. I take my seat and plug in my ear buds to listen to some music.

"Oh hey! It's Hailey," I look up to see the trio standing in front of me: Chase, Jordan and Tristan.

"Hi Jordan," I greet him. "Since when are you in this class?" I ask him quizzically. "Since today, I changed classes," he grins. Oh boy. I nod at him. "So what are you listening to?" Chase asks me as Tristan sits down behind me. "The Weeknd," I reply. "Cool," he nods. Chase sits down next to Tristan as Jordan sits down next to me, and soon Mr Thompson enters the class.

"Mr Collins, may I ask what are you doing in this class?" Mr Thompson asks Jordan. "Changed classes Sir," Jordan grins. "Great," Mr Thompson mutters sarcastically and the three boys snicker. Mr Thompson didn't even bother explaining the work we had to do just gave us a worksheet. With having practiced the equations that are printed out on the paper, I begin doing the worksheet, but Jordan, who's next to me, begins nudging me to grab my attention. "What?" I hiss at him. "Can you help me?"

"With?"

"Maths."

"Ask Tristan he's smart," I look back at my work. "Don't even bother," I hear Tristan hiss at Jordan and I let out a soft chuckle.

"Mr Collins, do your work," Mr Thompson commands Jordan.

"But I don't understand," he says. "Then I suggest you get yourself a tutor," Mr Thompson says. "But you're the teacher, you're supposed to explain," Jordan protests. "I don't have time to waste on idiots like you," Mr Thompson scowls. "Is that what your teacher said to you back in your days?" Jordan grins and an 'ooh' is heard from the class as learners start chuckling. Mr Thompson's face becomes as red as a tomato, anger radiating off of him. "Jordan you have now earned yourself detention!" He shouts. The three boys laugh their butts off and I couldn't help but also join their fits of laughter.

Jordan is one package.

.........

"Don't forget about tonight and wear a dress," Peyton talks non-stop about the party tonight, which I might probably not be able to attend, but I'm not going to tell her that. I'll try to make it. "Yes Peyton, I won't forget, but I'm not wearing a dress," I assure her. "Why not?" She whines, "You have to look hot, who's knows who might ask you out?"

"I'm good, I really don't care," I shake my head.

"Fine," she sighs. "Anyway I have to go. Bye," she walks away and leaves the hallway. I place my unnecessary books in my locker and take only the ones I need for my homework. After shutting my locker, I exit the school and head to my car, and I throw my bag in the backseat as I sit in the driver seat. I insert the key in the ignition and turn the key, but my car doesn't budge and I turn the key again but still, nothing.

I go out of the car and open the bonnet, but I don't find a problem. Is the world trying to to punish me or something? 'Cause if I don't go where I need to go, I'll be dead. I kick my car in frustration and close the bonnet, and I fish for my phone in my pocket.

"Need some help?" I turn around and suprisingly see Tristan standing there.

"Nope, I'm good," I refuse sincerely. "Okay, suit yourself," he turns to walk away. "Fine," I sigh. "Follow me then," he leads me to his car. It's a red Ford Mustang GT Fastback. I love Mustangs. I get into the passenger seat, Tristan puts the key in ignition and the car roars to life. Gosh this is so amazing. The fresh scent of a new car pervades the car and there is not a speck of dust. We drive through the streets of the city and I stare out of the window to see the blurry streets of houses as we pass them.

"So where you heading?" Tristan breaks the silence that began to surround us. "The old building towards the outskirts of town," I reply. "Why so far?" He asks, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

"I need to deal with some business."

"What business?"

"It doesn't concern you."

"It does considering the fact that I'm driving you there," he takes a second to look at me, before looking at the road again.

"Still not gonna tell you. You offered to drive me there, so just drive and shut up," I hear him laugh lightly and a smile tugs at his lips.

"How come you never smile?" I ask, but his smile fades away at my question and his knuckles stiffen as his grip on the steering wheel tightens. "Is there a reason to smile?" He asks with a serious expression glued to his face.

"Yes."

"Which is?"

"I don't know," I shrug.

"Exactly. So keep quiet," he says sternly and I roll my eyes. "Can you put on some music?" I ask him. He simply pressed the on button on the radio and a song that I couldn't make out filled the silence around us.

We reach the building and Tristan pulls up his car on the side of the road. He scans the building and its surroundings and shakes his head disapprovingly. "What are we doing here?"

"I need to run some errands," I answer.

"In this place?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I know this place and it's not safe."

"How?"

"Would you just stop asking questions?" He shouts.

"Why?" I tease. He lets out a frustrated sigh and gets out of the car with me behind him. He heads to the entrance of the building and pushes open the doors. He walks straight into a passage and takes a right. For a person who hasn't been here before, he sure knows where he's going. I follow close behind and we reach a brown door, and he roughly swings the door open.

The men in the room stare at him shocked, but the man behind an office desk smirks at the sight of Tristan, who just stares angrily at him.

"Tristan, long time since I've seen you my friend," the man says.

"Henry," Tristan growls.

Wait, what?