LOSING IT ALL //HAYLEY PARKER

26

~LOSING IT ALL ~

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26| THE CRAZY ONE & THE CALM ONE
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"FUCK, NO! WE'VE GOT TO stop her!" I shriek, snatching my phone up from on top the Formica-topped island. Dale and Newt breezes into the kitchen, very conflicted.

"What's going here, guys?" Newt asks, looking very pale and anxious. I don't say anything, instead, I quickly enter my call log and dial Jennifer's line. The buzzing sound emanating from the socket behind the refrigerator adds to my disconcertment.

Jayden unplugs the phone and waves it at us. "She forgot to take her cellphone with her." He says, and I nearly cuss at him at the obviousness.

"What're we going to do now, Hayley?" Camille asks, discomfited. "It's my fault, I knew how Jenny handles things so personally yet I didn't stop her from taking action."

"It's not your fault, she left before you could stop her anyway." Dale imbues before I can. I tilt my eyes and stare surreptitiously at him.

"So, now what?" Newt probes, irritated.

"Well now, we go find her before she causes any catastrophe." I say.

Dale jingles his Volkswagen Beetle's keys at midair. "I'll drive." He says, pointedly looking at me. I gulp.

"C'mon then." Newt urges impatiently, dashing towards the threshold. Turning away, I grab a jacket and join the rest outside while Jayden turns off the lights and locks up. The ride is awkwardly quiet and tense. Everyone seems to be on their edges. Camille sitting right next to me is nervously bouncing her feet as she surfs through Becky's Facebook page.

I slide my hand down and cup her bouncing knee. "It's going to be okay......hopefully." I say with a grimace.

She smacks my hand off, cornflower blue eyes glaring. "Yeah, what a great way to comfort me." She hiss.

I scoff unbelievably at her. "Girl, you take what you get." She rolls her eyes and silently returns to her phone.

"While we're on it, isn't it best to call Becky, just in case?" Newt suggests, leaning forward to peer at me over Camille's restless person. A bright smile instantly spreads across my face. Why didn't I think about it before?

"Milley, can you call Becky?" Camille bites her lips, an uneasy expression on her pale face. "You've to. What if she's already there, we should warn her maybe? To keep both parties safe until we get there."

She sucks in a cowering breathe and then timidly proceeds to dial Becky's line. I fold my hands expectantly. Listening to the burr-burr-burr on the line intensifies my anxiety, well, until the line clicks into the life and Becky's deep voice floats slightly huskily from the phone speaker.

"Mill, is that you?" She grills almost in a rapturous disbelief. "Is everything okay?"

Camille gulp volubly beside me. I reach out and grasp her hand. "Are you at home?" She asks, her voice surprisingly impassive regardless of how nervous she is.

"why?"

"By any chance, is Jennifer with you?" I sidle closer to the cell phone, eager to hear the response. God, she shouldn't. And then, I hear the music jamming in the background and it all cottons on quickly. Becky isn't at home.

"Jenny?" Becky squeaks in a why-should-she kind of voice. "No, of course not. I've not seen her since we broke up, and besides, I'm not even at home. A bunch of finals hosted a party and I'm at their lodge with some friends."

I volubly exhale a breathe of relief. That's a good sign.

"Uhm, okay. I just wanted to know if you've seen her. Bye." And Camille quickly cuts off the line. I gather her into a hug and kiss her temple. "You'd well."

Jayden twists in his seat and face us having listened to the entire conversation. "So now what? If Jenny pulls up at Becky's she won't find her there. Do we still have to go there?"

"Of course!" Camille squeals. "Jenny's always determined. Let's go and fetch her, it's better we do that than have her wait on Becky and her friends."

"Yeah, I agree." Newt says.

A few minutes later, we pull up at Becky's apartment building. Jayden's blue truck is parked haphazardly in front of the building, and when Dale switches off the car engine, Jennifer emerges out of the building, shoulders sagged and head low.

"Jenny!" Camille calls out, running up to her. I stand by the Volkswagen silently watching the heated conversation going on between them. Newt rushes over to take Jennifer's side as always, Jayden goes to check out his truck while Dale silently sidles over and stands by my side.

The half silver moonlight glints down from the dark sky as the cool breeze howls by. I fold my arms around my chest, very aware of Dale standing beside me but I dare not look at him.

"Isn't it funny?" He starts.

"What is?" I ask, struggling not to look up at him.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, but, you and Jennifer are both Camille's friend. In one hand, Jennifer can do anything to avenge her, and in the other hand, you can be anything to comfort her."

Now, I turn to look at him. Against the moonlight, his features are very angled, and for some reason I can't stop staring at him.

"I can do anything to avenge her." I say.

Dale smiles and looks down at me. My heart seizes at the private look in his stare. "You can, no doubt. However, you're not a violent type of person." Then he shrugs. "I would say, Camille is very lucky. She has the crazy one and also the calm one too."

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Thank you all for reading "LOSING IT ALL". HAPPY NEW MONTH, guys❤️