Chasing the Stars, page 11
“I don’t remember her exact words, but it was something like, you’d be together after the party.”
“I’m so sorry, baby.”
***
We arrived at the party where a lot of people were hanging out outside. I decided right then and there that I was claiming Mackenzie. She didn’t know it yet but I’d make sure that everyone—especially Candy—knew that she was my girl. I’d just tell my dad I was sorry but everyone figured it out. He’d get over it, or not. I didn’t care about that anymore. I only cared about Mackenzie.
As we walked up the driveway, I slung an arm over Mackenzie’s shoulder. “What are you doing?” she asked with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She looked cute.
“Just putting my arm around my girl.”
She quickly removed it. “People will start talking.”
“They know we’re friends. As your friend, I can put my arm around you.” Little did she know that by the end of the night I was going to do much more.
“Hayes!” Kurt yelled. “We need you to play Quarters with us.”
“I’m good,” I called back.
“Just go play. I’ll be fine. I promise,” Mac told me with her big blue eyes looking straight into mine.
“Okay.” I walked over to the table and got busy playing as someone handed me a Solo cup of beer. I tried to focus on the game as much as I could, but my eyes followed Mackenzie. She was starting to get to know people and was able to find a few people to talk to.
“Drink up, Hayes!” The people at the table started yelling. I downed my beer and handed my cup to some girl to refill. I was starting to have some fun when a hand went around my shoulder from behind and someone whispered in my ear, “I’ve been looking for you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve been busy.”
Candy moved to my front, blocking me from the game. “Why don’t we get out of here? It’s kinda boring, and I know we can have a lot more fun alone.”
The truth was that Candy had been an okay lay. I had been with better, and Mackenzie, well, she was in a completely different category. I would never be able to sleep with anyone else. She’d ruined random and okay sex for me. “I’m having a lot of fun right here.”
“I promise you’ll have a lot more fun with me. Come on, Hayes.”
I bit my cheek and tried not to laugh at what I was about to say. “Candy, I would have more fun getting punched in the face right now. That stripper name of yours is false advertisement. I can’t even begin to describe what you do for the word ‘okay.’”
She slapped me across the face. “You’re an asshole, Hayes Morgan!” she roared so loud the party almost stopped.
I laughed. Loudly. “And you’re a whore.”
I turned around to see Mackenzie staring at me with a small smile across her face. I knew that even though she was enjoying this little spectacle, she also felt bad for Candy. She’d probably tell me later how I could have done it privately or in a nicer way.
Fuck nice.
Fuck Candy.
All that mattered was Candy had hurt Mackenzie and I had to make that right.
Candy balled up her fists like she wanted to hit me but instead she stormed off. I chuckled and downed a shot that was in front of me. “All right! Let’s get this game going!” I yelled at the people at the table that had stopped playing Quarters to watch Candy and I argue.
I played a few more rounds while growing tipsier. I didn’t want to get drunk because I didn’t want Mackenzie to say I only did it because I was drunk. For what I had planned, I wanted her to know that I was very lucid when I did it.
I looked over the crowd to see Mackenzie talking to Trent Franks. He was a nice guy but I knew that if he thought Mac was single, he’d hit on her. “I’m out, guys,” I told the players as I walked toward Mackenzie and Trent. “Hey!” I yelled. “What the fuck are you doing with my girl?”
Mackenzie’s eyes widened as Trent’s eyebrows shot up. I stepped between them and looked directly into Mackenzie’s eyes. “Yeah. I said my girl,” I declared loud enough for people to hear. I grabbed her face and planted a kiss on her lips. Now, everyone would know that Mackenzie was mine.
Chapter 17
Mackenzie
A month had went by since Hayes had made our relationship public knowledge. Candy had been rude and called me a few names but for the most part, people were nice to me. Actually, most of the girls had been extra nice to me. I wasn’t stupid. I knew they only wanted to be my friend because I was the one girl that had gotten Hayes Morgan’s attention for longer than a night.
I had asked Hayes if his dad had been mad about our relationship coming to light. He said that his dad was a little irritated but got over it quickly. Something told me that Hayes just didn’t care about that anymore and I was glad.
I hadn’t been feeling well and my period was two weeks late. I was positive that it was stress from my parents and just being worried about dating Hayes. After my shift the previous night, I had stopped in the drugstore and picked up a pregnancy test. I knew it would be negative but I needed to make sure. Hayes and I had always been careful but I knew of one time in the back of his Jeep that we hadn’t used a condom. We had been stupid.
I read the instructions which seemed easy and peed on the stick. I placed it on the counter, and set my phone timer before sinking down on the floor with my back resting against the wall. As I waited, my mind raced with a million thoughts. What if it’s positive? What if Hayes doesn’t want it? What if Hayes breaks up with me?
I felt the buzz of the timer in my hand and I shakily got to my feet. Maybe I can just run out the door and not look? I crept to the counter and closed my eyes. I wanted to vomit. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out before opening my eyes and peeking at the small test that held my future.
Positive.
I was going to be a mom.
I was seventeen and pregnant. In a couple of weeks I would be eighteen— a legal adult— and that still felt too young to be pregnant. What am I going to do?
I silently sobbed for what seemed like an hour on the bathroom floor before I finally decided to shower and get dressed for my Saturday night date with Hayes.
Hayes.
How would I tell him this news?
I put extra care into my appearance making sure my makeup was perfect and my hair was flat ironed. I didn’t own a flat iron, but Miranda had let me borrow hers along with a cute shirt that looked like someone had cut it with scissors. I felt beautiful. Better savor that feeling before you get fat.
I grabbed my new Coach Hobo bag that Hayes had given me as a “just because” gift when my door flung open. My dad staggered inside with the smell of whiskey. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“Out with a friend.”
“Looking like that?” he asked walking closer. I backed up instinctively toward my dresser.
“Answer me!” he roared.
“Yes. I thought I looked nice,” I whispered. He looked more menacing than he ever had before. Something was definitely off in his eyes.
“I lost my damn job and you’re going out! Spending my money!” He took one step closer then slapped me hard across the face. I tried to put my hands up to protect my face but he yanked them down with one hand and hit me in the eye with the other. Pain radiated across my face.
Please don’t let him hit my stomach! I placed an arm over my stomach. I hadn’t really had time to absorb the fact that I was pregnant, but I still wanted to protect the tiny life growing inside me.
He grabbed my chin then pushed backwards, sending my head into the mirror behind me and my lower back into the edge of the dresser. He forced my head back several more times as I heard the mirror shattering. I knew my mom wouldn’t come but maybe a neighbor would hear me if I yelled. “Help!”
He placed his hand over my mouth. “Don’t you dare yell for help!” He slapped me again making me eye flash with pain. Gripping my shoulders with one hand, while grabbing a fist full of hair with the other, he threw me to the floor and kicked my ribs. I laid perfectly still, praying that the beating was over as he left the room, slamming the door behind him.
I lay on the floor, trying to gather my thoughts, willing myself not to cry. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of hearing my cries of pain. Inside or out.
My hand smoothed over my stomach, grateful that he hadn’t hit me there. I forced myself to roll over and crawl to the bed as my whole body radiated pain. Grabbing my purse, scattering the contents, I clutched my phone. I needed to get the hell out of this place.
I jabbed the messages app and sent a text to Hayes.
Me: Help.
It was just one word but I knew he would know exactly what that meant. I just hoped he read the message quickly. I didn’t want to stay in that trailer any longer than necessary in case my dad’s rage picked back up again.
As I lay on the floor, I scanned my body. My eye felt like it was swelling shut and my lower back hurt like hell from the bite of the dresser. I lifted my hand to the back of my head which was throbbing as my rib emitted pain. I placed my hand back on my leg as I took in the site of blood on my fingers from my head. I felt like I was going to pass out.
It felt like hours went by before I heard banging on my window.
Hayes.
I scrambled over to the window but didn’t have the energy to lift the blinds or the actual window. I peered out and his eyes flashed with anger before he was running around the trailer toward the front door.
I didn’t hear him knock, but I heard yelling before he was in my room picking me up from the ground. “Mac. Oh God, baby, I’ve got you. I promise I’ve got you.”
I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent. I felt loved but more than that I felt safe.
Chapter 18
Hayes
It had been a week since I had found Mackenzie beaten up in her bedroom. I had immediately driven her to my house where my mom helped take care of her. While my mom was with Mac, I was with my dad in his home office, pleading for him to intervene.
He had agreed and made a call to child protective services. I had been so angry and worried that it never occurred to me that she could be placed anywhere in the state. Now she was gone.
My dad had contacted someone at the agency and they had told him that she had been placed in a home five hours away, but she had ran away from the foster home. That was two days ago.
She was a missing person.
She had left her cell phone behind, but she hadn’t tried to reach out to me in any way. I wondered if it was because she was mad at me for asking my dad to make the call.
I was numb. I felt completely numb. She had become my world in the few months I had known her and now my world was gone. Missing. What if something has happened to her? I was barely living but if something actually happened to her, I knew I’d die right along with her.
***
I had been sitting in a chair at some dumbass party drinking beer after beer. I had no idea how long I had been there, all I knew was that somehow my cup kept getting refilled.
“She’s okay. She’ll turn up. I promise,” Carson said sitting beside me.
I shrugged but didn’t respond. It was getting harder and harder for me to speak. I couldn’t feel any type of emotions to put behind the words.
“You gotta keep hope. Your dad’s a resourceful man. Surely he can find her,” he said as he watched Sam dance with some guy. Sam had called it quits with Carson last Saturday. Last Saturday was a fucking shitty day all the way around.
I nodded but still couldn’t reply. The truth was that Mac would be eighteen in two weeks. I had no proof, but I didn’t think they were looking too hard because she was practically an adult. It wasn’t like she was a fourteen year old runaway.
I had no idea when Baylee had sat down on my lap, but she was there when I looked up. I couldn’t find it in me to say something hateful to her or even knock her off. I just sat there, downing another cup of beer.
“What the hell?” I heard Carson growl. I glanced to the dance floor to see that Sam and the guy had started grinding against each other in a completely sexual way.
“She’s just seeing what you’ll do,” Baylee told him. “She keeps looking over here every few minutes.”
How long has Baylee been on my lap?
Why am I still at this lame ass party?
Where is Mac? Where the fuck is she?
I wasn’t sure how or when it happened but I suddenly realized Baylee’s tongue was in my mouth. I had no idea when we had started kissing, but she was extremely into it. She moved her body closer, running her hand up my shirt.
This is wrong.
Wrong mouth.
Wrong tongue.
Wrong girl.
I finally gathered up the energy to push her back. I didn’t say anything as I stared at her face. I wanted to puke knowing that my mouth had been on hers. I was only supposed to kiss Mac. I forcefully got up, letting Baylee fall to the floor. I paused to look at her, knowing I should say something but instead I just walked out the door.
Carson had driven me to the party so I called my mom and asked her to pick me up a few blocks over. I needed to go home, sober up, and then climb in my Jeep and find Mackenzie.
I got in her car a few minutes later. “Hayes, you reek of beer.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. I had no idea how much I had drank.
“Let’s go by Taco Bell and get you something to eat.”
I didn’t reply as I looked out the window at the blurring trees. I closed my eyes, fighting off the nausea the car ride was causing. I couldn’t hold it back any longer. “Mom! Pull over.”
The car whipped to the side as I threw the door open and emptied my stomach. I couldn’t remember being in a lower place in my life as I wiped the vomit off my mouth with the back of my hand.
“Here, use this,” my mom said offering me a napkin from her car.
“Thanks,” I said as I sat back up in the seat and closed the door.
She placed her hand on mine. “Honey, I know you’re hurting right now but you have got to get a hold of yourself. What’s important is that she’s away from that man…and that woman.”
I was drunk. Really drunk. “Were you beat when you were younger?” I blurted.
She looked shocked. “Why would you ask me that?”
“Just answer the question. It’s not like you have anything to be ashamed of.”
She looked out the windshield as she nodded. “It wasn’t my dad. It was my mom. She would slap me around and tell me how ugly I was. How I would never be anything.”
“How did you get out?” She rarely talked about my grandparents. We never visited them because my parents said they lived in Illinois and it was too far away. As I child I never questioned that story.
“I went to college and met this amazing guy. We dated and got married as soon as he graduated from Law College.”
“College was always Mackenzie’s goal. She had worked hard so she could get a scholarship. I had told her that even if she didn’t get one, I’d pay her way.”
She grinned at my statement. “That’s my sweet boy.”
“As soon as I sober up, I’m going to look for her. I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” I told her as I rested my head on the headrest.
She smiled in her loving way. “You could also use a shower. I love you, Hayes, but you stink.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Once I was home, I ran up the stairs and jumped in the shower. I needed to clean myself up quickly so I could get on the road. I had to find Mackenzie. She was my world. My everything.
Chapter 19
Mackenzie
After running away from the foster home back in November, I had hitchhiked and walked back to Maverick. I had wanted to find Hayes and tell him about my pregnancy, but when I found him at a party, I knew I had never really meant anything to him.
As I rode into Maverick, I remembered everyone talking about a party being held at some guy’s house, so I headed that way after a truck driver dropped me off at a gas station. I walked into the party looking like a train wreck with my hoodie covering my head as I looked for Hayes. I ducked around a door, stopping in horror as I watched Hayes make out with Baylee.
She was sitting on top of him, enjoying every second of kissing him. Hayes had always said he hated Baylee, but from my vantage point, he liked her very much. I had been gone less than a week and he was already making out and probably sleeping with other girls. I stared at the couple in dismay as I backed out of the house and ran to the interstate.
After I left the party, I hitched a ride with a nice truck driver named Sparky and tried to forget about Hayes. I wasn’t successful but I tried. I tried so fucking hard.
I parted ways with Sparky at a truck stop diner and found some luck. As I sat at the counter sipping the only thing I could afford—water, I watched the owner become more and more stressed with each new patron. She had one waitress plus herself and a packed diner. As soon as she walked behind the counter, I cleared my throat, and found some courage.
“If you need another waitress, I have experience,” I said confidently in her direction.
She didn’t look up from filling two glasses with tea as she spoke to me. “Can you start now?”
I felt a bit of relief knowing she might hire me. “Yeah, show me my section.”
She took me behind the counter and showed me the ropes as quickly as possible before shoving an apron at me with a pad and pen. “Those tables over there are yours,” she said pointing to the left side of the dining room.
“Gotcha,” I said over my shoulder as I made my way over to a table.
By the end of the night, when the diner was empty, I was feeling a small amount better about my situation. I had made some good money from my tips, and I could buy some peanut butter and crackers. Not the healthiest meal but it was something.
“So, Mackenzie was it? You wanna come back tomorrow?” Tina, the manager of the place asked.
