Haze Bois

Chapter 9

Haley linked arms with Katie on the short walk home from school. She was glad her bestie lived so close you could throw a stone and hit the schools fence as her legs were killing her. Her cookery course meant she had been on her feet all day preparing dishes for an exam. The palms of her hands still smelled faintly of garlic, no matter how many times she washed them, but Katie didn’t seem off-put by her pungent aroma. 

“So, what is the plan?” Haley asked. She knew Katie would want to hang out at her cousins, and the thought of hanging out with Caleb was exciting, as scary as he was. Maybe if she bothered him enough he might let her on the secret to unlocking Greg’s heart. Last night Greg had called her on the phone... something he had never done before.

“You know,” Katie smiled and winked.

The pair let themselves into Aunt Mel’s house. As usual, she was pottering about in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning.

“How is it you are the only person who can spend all day cleaning and not actually make the place any cleaner?” Katie teased her Aunt.

“Your friend is here. The pretty little brunette,” Mel told them, ignoring Katie’s criticism. She leaned in a whispered, “in Cal’s room,” with a look that asked, ‘what is that all about?’

“I was starting to think he didn’t like girls,” Mel admitted. “Not that it matters who he puts his d**k in. Boy or girl.”

‘Auntie Mel sure has a way with words,’ Haley thought. 

Mel wasn’t like other mums. She was usually drunk, high or just having a panic attack about something inconsequential. She was honest though and loved her kids. That was the important thing.

“Why would Jade be with Cal?” Haley asked Katie.

“She’s not. She’s in my room.,” Cal shouted from the living room.

“Erm... why?” Katie asked. Haley noticed the way she straightened up her back and pushed out her chest when in the same room as Jamie. He probably wouldn’t notice. He had never seen her slouched, slack-jawed and picking her nose. 

‘They have it all to come,’ Haley thought, ‘Ah... young love!’

“She’s his b***h,” one of the lads piped up but didn’t explain further.

The girls exchanged worried looks as they climbed the stairs. They entered Cal’s room to find Jade curled up on the bed amid a sea of papers. She was furiously typing on the laptop, practically breaking the keys with the force of her fingers.

“God, what is wrong with some people?” Jade cried. “I need a A30 series 2, not a A20 series 3! Why can’t these people tag their eBay items with the correct serial numbers?”

“Erm... Jade.” Haley said. “Whatcha doin?”

“Trying to get this piece of crap eBayer to refund my bid,” Jade cried. “Oh, you mean what am I doing in Caleb’s room on his laptop?”

Both Haley and Katie nodded.

“I said I would work for Cal to pay off my brother's debt to him, you know, so he doesn’t cut my brothers fingers off one by one like a massive psycho,” Jade cried and rolled her eyes. 

“s**t! don’t tell him I called him a psycho,” Jade added, casting a worried glance in the direction of the door.

“Aman was right, you are Caleb’s b***h,” Katie said, earning her a bitchy look from Jade.

“Like I have a choice?” Jade sighed.

“We could have pooled our money and got you three hundred quid,” Haley said. 

“Thirteen hundred. He decided to charge interest,” Jade informed them.

“Oh, okay, well that might just be a stretch for us jobless wasters,” Haley said. “Why did he suddenly add interest? He said three hundred like a week ago.”

“Because I’m a b***h, basically,” Jade threw her head back and groaned loudly.

“Jade!” Caleb cried, barging into the room.

Jade’s head snapped back and her eyes flew open like a deer in headlights.

“What did I say?” Caleb huffed. He shook his head.

“Whatever, Jamie is going to help you for a bit.”

Haley felt her friend stiffen as Jamie brushed past her. There was room for him to get by without touching her, yet he definitely bumped into Katie’s side. It was a good sign.

“Why do I need your help?” Jade asked Jamie.

“Well, some of this stuff we won’t find on the regular internet,” Jamie said.

“Ah, you’re talking about the dark web,” Jade cried. “I always wanted to see it.”

“You don’t. Trust me. You will never feel safe again if you see what’s out there,” Jamie warned.

He plugged his own laptop into Caleb’s other socket and sat cross-legged by the radiator, laptop on knees. Whatever he was doing didn’t take long. Tapping away at the keys, he looked up at the girls and smiled. 

‘How can anyone type so fast without even looking at the keyboard?’ Haley wondered.

“What are you guys planning?” Katie asked. “I feel like I’ve missed something.”

“Oh, Caleb is building a doomsday device so he can take over the world,” Jade informed in a cheery and helpful tone that didn’t match the gravity of her statement.

“Oh,” was all Haley could think to say in response.

“Out of this old junk?” Katie asked, pointing to the pile of electronics in the corner of the room.

“That’s what I said,” Jade cried. She made a ‘what can you do?’ face and returned to her work. “Of course, I got scolded for it.”

“Well, I’m done,” Jamie announced, closing his laptop and stashing it back in its leather case. “I’m going to have to get the train to pick this up.”

He sighed and pouted, “It’s all the way in Sheffield. Knowing me I’ll get lost.”

“We’ll go with you!” Haley cried, making everyone jump.

“Ooookay,” Jamie frowned. 

They said goodbye to Jade, whose response was, “Yeah, whatever,” and made their way to the kitchen.

“I got one. It’s in Sheffield, though. The girls said they wouldn’t mind tagging along to keep me company... if that’s okay?” he asked Caleb as if he was the big boss in charge of everything.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Katie making pleading gestures at her cousin. Joining in, Haley pressed her palms together in a prayer-like manner and made puppy dog eyes. 

Both girls dropped the poses abruptly as Jamie turned, following the direction of Caleb’s gaze.

“Fine,” Caleb conceded.

“Erm, you guys go ahead, I need to bother a certain person about a certain other person,” Haley said. This had been her plan all along. Now the lovebirds would have a romantic train journey together in private. Well… as romantic as things could get in a midland mainline economy coach.

“So, Cal,” Haley slid over to the teen, raising her eyebrows. “Are you going to fill me in on how I bagged Greg before our big date or am I going to have to go in unprepared and blow it and end up dying alone and being eaten by my seventeen cats?”

“That escalated quickly,” one of Cal’s friends commented. 

“Why won’t you just tell me?” Haley whined. She genuinely wanted to know.

“I just like seeing you squirm, obviously,” Cal said. He raised his eyebrows but wasn’t smiling exactly, so Haley couldn’t figure out if he was joking or not.

“But… why though? I’m not Jade. I never make snide comments about you or call you a massive psycho—” Haley began to argue.

“When did she call me a massive psycho?” Cal asked, eyes narrowed.

“Erm… never. She never said that. It was someone else,” Haley said, remember how Jade had specifically requested they didn’t tell him. 

‘Grr… why did I blurt that out?’ Haley thought. ‘It’s not as if I genuinely hate Jade. If anything, I feel sorry for her.’

“Tell you what… you tell the truth to me and I’ll tell the truth to you,” Cal proposed.

“Fine. She said it just now. But she didn’t mean it. Honestly. Please don’t be mad at her. I feel like a snitch.” 

The guilt of dropping her friend in the s**t made her feel sick, but in all honesty, she would do anything to ensure her date with Greg went well. The on-again off-again relationship had taken its toll on her mentally. All she wanted now was some stability.

“I told him you worship him,” Caleb revealed. “A guy like that craves power because he has none. Living with his parents, no job, no prospects. All he wants is someone to make him feel like he’s God.”

Haley had no idea what to say to that. She did worship Greg. That much was true. But the picture Caleb painted of him made him seem so pathetic. She had never thought of him that way. To her, Greg was an intelligent, insightful, and superior being. 

“People like Greg have no inherent sense of self-worth. They need others to bolster their over-inflated egos.” Caleb added. 

“Erm, well, wow… it worked… I guess,” Haley said, but she suddenly felt unsure about everything. Something about the situation wasn’t sitting right. Maybe it was the pity in this teenage delinquent’s voice as he described the love of her life, painting him in such a somber light. 

“Don’t worry. Eventually, you will wise up to his bullshit. When you realise he tells you, ‘I’m so intelligent,’ but never says anything intelligent without it being a rehearsed topic. When you notice he steers the conversation towards the topics of interest he prepared to impress you and gets annoyed when you talk about your own areas of interest.”

Haley had no idea how to respond to that.

It was true. Greg did brag about his intellect. He also dominated the conversation.

'How on earth does Caleb know all this?' Haley wondered. 'He’s making me doubt my feelings for the only guy I’ve ever wanted.'

Haley shook her head, clearing away the clouds of doubt.

‘What does Caleb know, like he has any sparkling life prospects,’ Haley assured herself.

Haley sauntered off, hoping that Katie was having a better time with Jamie.