Cold Hands

Chapter Three

Hailey

1 year ago

"Are you even paying attention?" Mads asks me.

"Sorry yeah, I am. What's up?" I respond for the last 20 minutes she and Em have been grilling me about what Colton wanted while we were driving home. I don't have a good answer for them. How exactly do I tell them that the guy I have had a crush on for the last 5 years just asked me out and I told him that I needed time to process it all?

"Wait, what?" Mads asks me.

"What?" I ask confused.

"Colton James asked you out and you told him you needed to think about it?" Em says for her. s**t! I said it out loud.

"Why did you tell him you needed time? Hail, you've had a crush on him for the last 5 years."

"I don't know, I was just confused and it was very VERY sudden."

"Well, do you want to date him?"

"I think I do, I mean I have liked him for a while."

"Then you're going to the party tonight."

"No I'm not." I say trying to put up a fight although I know I will lose.

"The hell you're not, you're going to this party and you are going to tell Colton yes." Mads says.

"I don't do parties, Mads, and you know that."

"You will be tonight. Oh and by the way we are getting ready at your house tonight." Mads says and I freeze. I don't want to be in my house anymore than I have to.

"Why can't we get ready at your house or at Em's?" I ask, trying to cover my panic.

"Your house is right there, when we are done we can just walk back, we can't drive while drunk and I know for a fact that Marcus will be drunk so he won't be driving. He will probably crash at Colton's house."

"Fine, but you guys know that me and my dad don't get along nor do me and my step-mom." I reply then shove my headphones in and turn my music all the way up and hope that for the next 40 minutes I will just be left alone and not think about what is gonna happen tonight.

Finally we get to our town and I turn my music down to see what the girls want to do.

"Hey, do you guys want to stop by your houses to get clothes for tonight?" I ask them hoping to put off going home even for 10 more minutes.

"Yeah, we'll stop at Ems house and then mine. It's on the way." Mads says

"Ok." Em says and I nod my head. A minute later we are at Ems house and when she gets out Mads and I stay in the car.

"Are you really that scared of going home that you want to stop and get us clothes?" Mads asks once Em was in her house.

"Yeah, you know what happens to me, would you want to stay in a house if your dad did that to you?" I asked her.

Her face clouded over before answering. "No I wouldn't but Hail, I'm worried about you. You're never home anymore and if you are, you come to school looking like you got hit by a train."

"That's why I don't want to be there anymore than I have to." I respond and quickly shut my mouth when I see Em coming outside with a black and white adidas duffle bag.

"Ok, let's go to my house." Mads says when Em gets in the front seat and puts her seatbelt on.

It took us another 5 minutes until we were at Mads house.

"Ok, I'm gonna run in and grab some clothes, do you guys want to come in or..." She trails off.

I quickly shake my head, "No I'll be ok, Em do you want to go?"

"No, I'll stay with Hail." Em responds to me and then Mads is off walking to her front door and inside.

"You nervous for the party?" Em asks me.

"No, I'm not, at least not really. I'm still trying to understand why he would want to date someone like me." I responded to her.

"That's probably because you're smokin'." Em says with a laugh.

"Am not!" I shriek and laugh.

"Are too!" she shrieks back and we are then both laughing.

"What's so funny?" Mads asks as she opens her door and hears us laughing.

"Em seems to think I'm 'smokin'." I say to Mads and then we are all laughing.

"She's right though, you are smokin' and you should believe that." Mads says.

"Let's just go back to my house and get ready for this party." I say and as I do my nerves from earlier that day come back.

20 minutes later Mads, Em and I are all in my room, and I walk into my walk-in closet and grab a black off the shoulder crop top and a pair of dark washed ripped skinny jeans. I walk out and hold them up.

"What about this?" I ask the girls.

"No, not black. It hides your eyes." Mads says

"Try something else!" Em says excitedly

I walk back into my closet and grab a red off the shoulder crop top. I walk back out to the girls and hold up my hands in a 'what do you think?' manner.

"Hm, red is definitely your color, so yes I think this outfit will do nicely." Mads says.

"Em, what do you think?" I ask.

"I like it." Em replies.

"Now it's your turn to pick out what you're wearing." I say to Em and Mads.

They both grab their dresses out of their bags and go to the bathroom and closet to change. Mads comes out of the bathroom first and she has on a black off the shoulder dress, after that Em comes out of the closet and she has on a flowery sundress. After they have on their dresses we do our hair and makeup. I do my makeup as a black smokey eye and Mads does hers similar. Em does hers natural.

"Now on to hair!" Mads says to me excitedly.

"Yay." I say sarcastically and roll my eyes.

"Come on, doing your hair isn't that bad."

"Let's go." I say and usher them into my bathroom.

Em decides she wants to braid her hair and have it drape across her left shoulder and Mads wants to curl her hair. While Mads was curling it I helped Em with her hair.

"Sit." I instructed her and she sat in the chair I have in the bathroom to do my makeup.

"Em, hand me the brush in front of you please." I ask her.

"Here you go." She says as she hands me the brush. I brush through her hair and part it so it can be braided. I start on the left side of her head and as I braid down I grab hair from under it. Once it has reached the end of her scalp I use bobby pins to keep it in place while I braid the rest of it.

"Once I finish my hair I'll do yours." Mads says.

"Just straighten mine." I replied.

"Ok, your loss, it'll hide your pretty features so maybe all the boys won't be drooling over you."

"Ha, ha."

"Here, I'll start on it." Em says and she has me take her place in the chair. She brushes through my hair and starts on my hair.

15 minutes later we are all done with our hair and makeup and we walk into my room and sit on the bed.

"So, Mads, Hail, don't be mad but I like Marcus."

"Wait, WHAT!" Mads shrieks.

"You like Marcus?" I ask confused.

"Yeah, I mean I've liked him for a while and I didn't know how to tell you guys." Em says to us.

"Well, I'm happy for you." I say.

"I don't like the prospect of you and my brother possibly dating but if you're happy then I'm happy." Mads says.

"Oh please, he probably doesn't even know I exist." Em says.

"I guess we'll find out tonight." I said to her.

15 minutes later we got ready to leave for the party.

"What shoes are you wearing?" I ask Mads and Em.

"I'm gonna wear a pair of black strappy heels." Mads says.

"I'm wearing my flats." Em says. "What shoes are you wearing?"

"My black heeled boots." I say.

"HAILEY GRACE!" Dave shouts as we are all pulling on our shoes.

"Crap! Mads, Em, out the window." I say to them.

"What about you?" Em asks.

"I'll be right there."

"We'll see you in a couple minutes." Mads says. And I nod my head knowing that it's not completely true, they would see me, but it won't be how they saw me before they left.

Em and Mads crawl out my second story window and grab onto the lattice and crawl down.

"Hailey!" Dave says again once he's in my room.

"What?" I snapped at him.

"What are you wearing?" he says and I can see the wheels turning in his head. I am not letting him do this to me tonight.

"An outfit," I say in a duh tone.

"A very pretty outfit."

"No, no no. You are NOT doing this to me tonight."

"I am your father, I can do whatever I want."

"That's not how this works!" I shriek.

"The hell it's not." Dave mutters and hits me.

I stumble back and make a run for my window.

"Get back here!" Dave yells just as I reach my window. He grabs my hair and I get yanked back. Dave starts pawing at me and I kick him really hard in the groin.

"YOU b***h!" Dave spat from his place on my floor and just like that I was back over to the window and grabbing onto the lattice.

"Bye Dave." I say and give him my sweetest smile.

"You're going to regret that!" I hear him say but it doesn't matter because I'm already gone.