An Angel Wears Hightops [A Sequel to The Devil Wears Girl Jeans]

An Angel Wears Hightops (Chapter 20)

The sound of the front door a opening a few minutes later caused all of us to jump, Blake immediately grabbing a wooden spoon off the counter and holding it like a knife. Poe and I both glanced at each other, and then back at the spoon, but Blake seemed quite content with his weapon choice.

Quiet, steady footsteps made their way down the hall towards us, and pretty much in unison, we all dropped down into a crouch, listening carefully. Blake cocked his head to the side, his eyes opening wider as if to say, Did you hear that too?

I did. It wasn't just one person anymore either, another set of footsteps had entered the house, also heading towards us. A few seconds later, a dark figure entered the room, and Blake lashed out, striking the person in the knee cap with his wooden spoon. Poe was on his feet a split second later, pushing me behind him and holding his fists up in a fighting stance, ready for a fight.

“Ow, hello to you too.” Seth muttered, rubbing his knee cap where Blake had hit him.

“Seth!” I cried, knocking Poe out of the way to throw my arms around his neck. His face lit up immediately, and he pulled me off the ground, spinning me around in a circle.

“Hey little lady! Look at how much you've grown.” he said, pinching my cheeks and puckering his lips at me.

“Don't ruin the moment.” I told him, hitting his hands away from me. Over his shoulder, the top of Mickey's head appeared, causing my heart to race a mile a minute. What was Mickey doing with Seth? They'd never even met each other as far as I knew, and now they'd come all the way from Seattle together? Poe gave me a look, apparently thinking the same thing as me. Something was up.

“Mickey? What're you doing here? Why are you with Seth?” I asked nervously. Seth paled, shooting Mickey a warning look as if to say 'keep quiet'.

“Uhm...I was looking for Poe, and I thought that maybe Seth might be able to give me some information, because, uhm...”

“You told me you were going to be meeting with sketchy people, so why are you with him?” I asked again, nodding in Seth's general direction since it was obvious that he was trying to find a way out of answering. Both of them were clearly uncomfortable, and that made me feel a lot more satisfied than it probably should have, to be honest.

“Oh for Christ's sake, just tell her.” Poe snapped, and Mickey's head swung in his direction, just noticing his brother for the first time since he'd entered the house.

“You're alive?” Mickey asked with wide eyes, as if he couldn't quite believe that Poe was standing in front of him. Then again, this was coming from a guy who could see ghosts, so I guess it made sense that he was a little uncertain.

“Yeah.” Poe grunted, looking away quickly and crossing his arms over his chest. Blake was right; something about Poe had changed. I mean, he'd never been a ray of sunshine to begin with, but now it was something more than just simple dislike for the human race. He was broken in some terrible, unreachable place, and I wasn't sure that anyone would ever be able to fix it.

“Oh my god, can someone please explain what's happening right now?” I groaned in frustration, flopping down onto a dining room chair. If Mickey tried to avoid the question one more time, I was going to kick him in the throat.

“You have to promise to keep an open mind.” Seth said after a moment of silence, and I could tell by the look on his face that he'd caved. He had always been bad at keeping secrets, and for once, it had came in handy, making my work a lot easier.

“I promise.”

“Okay, so basically, I got kicked out of university a while ago, and had no way of getting money. I knew this guy who called himself Moth, and he told me about a, uhm, business opportunity that he knew about. So...I pretty much make counterfeit death certificates, passports, birth certificates, and everything like that. You name it, I can make it. So yeah, Mickey came to see if I'd made any passports or anything for Killian or Poe, because he needed to know if they were still in the country or not. It's not as shady as it sounds, I promise you, Hart.”

I just blinked at him, not quite sure what I was supposed to say to that. I settled on shrugging and giving him a dramatic sigh instead, because it was nearly impossible to verbalize my feelings at that moment.

“That's it? No lecture?” he asked, apparently surprised by my lack of anger.

“I think you're a dumbass, but you gotta do what you gotta do to survive, right?”

“Speaking of surviving,” Mickey interrupted from where he was perched on the edge of the kitchen counter, “We need to figure out what to do now. Killian is still out there, and we-”

“Killian is dead.” Poe said bluntly, causing all of us to turn and look at him with startled expressions. Blake and I had already known, of course, but the fact that he was being so upfront about it was surprising.

“What?”

“I killed him. He's dead.”

“Oh my god, I just... what?” Mickey froze for a moment, trying to regain his composure. “He's dead. Okay then. But he had people working for him, so we're still in danger, right?”

“One of them tried to kill Hartley, I think it's best to keep an eye on her more than anyone else.” Blake piped up, and I immediately cringed as Seth and Mickey both shot me a look that was part horror and part worry.

“I'm fine, guys, it was nothing.”

“It was most definitely not nothing.” Blake muttered under his breath, narrowing his eyes, but he quickly let it go.

“If that's true, then you need to get out of here immediately. Like, not even just the house, the entire city. I mean, the province would be preferred, but....”

“Mickey,” I said flatly, crossing my arms over my chest, “School starts in two days. Dallas is in the hospital here. I have, like, a family, too. I can't just leave.”

“Sure you can, it's not that hard. Poe and I do it all the time.”

“No.” I said simply, leaning against the counter. “Not happening.”

“It's being this difficult really necessary, Hart?”

“Yeah.”

Mickey sighed, shooting imaginary hellfire out of his eyes at me as he paced the length of the kitchen for a few minutes, trying to figure out an alternative.

“Fine, you can stay here. But I'm enrolling in your school to keep an eye on you.”

If I'd had liquid in my mouth at that moment, I would no doubt have spit it out dramatically, because what Mickey was saying was completely insane. He'd been home schooled his entire life, highschool would tear him to pieces in a matter of seconds. But then again, who was I to stop him?

“Fine, but if y-”

“Hartley?” a familiar voice called from the front hallway, cutting me off mid-threat, “Can you come help me with my suitcases?”

The five of us froze, all of us standing completely still with matching looks of horror on our faces. My mom was home early, and if she caught me home alone with not just one, but four guys, I had a feeling that I would never be allowed to leave my room ever again.

“Uhm, yeah, just a minute!” I called back, looking to Blake frantically.

“Where do we go?!” he whispered with wide eyes, but I just shrugged helplessly. The only way out was through the front door where my mom was. Or....

“Out the window!” I whispered back, throwing open the tiny window over the sink. Mickey went first, but immediately got stuck when he tried to get his broad shoulders through. He let out a string of curses, thrashing around wildly as he tried to get himself out, but he failed miserably.

“Hartley!” my mom called again, except this time the sound of her footsteps accompanied her yell, coming to a stop in the doorway of the kitchen. Her eyes went from Seth, to Blake, to Poe, to Mickey, who toppled out of the window seconds later, and finally rested on me.

I was done for.

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hey guys! i know its kind of short, but the next ones will be longer, I just had severe writers block for a while there. also, my read counter wont go up for the last little while, is this happening to anyone else? :/ It just kind of freezes at like 10 and it makes me sad :(