Quiet Heart

Chapter 15: Bad Blood

Song: "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift

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The closer we got to the figure, the more suspicious I got. Was someone really standing there or is it just my eyes playing tricks on me?

"Andrew, do you see that person standing over there?"

He directed his attention toward the shadow and nodded his head. He grabbed me by the hand and we quickened our pace, heading right for the mysterious person. The closer we got, the more familiar the figure looked, but I couldn't put my finger on who it looked like. We were now about 5 yards away from the figure and it finally moved. It slipped around the corner of the house and appeared to have vanished into thin air. Andrew and I darted after the shadow, but there was still no sign of it anywhere. That's when we came up on someone in the driveway. Hailey...

I nudged Andrew, signaling him to duck behind the bushes. We sat there for a few minutes and paid close attention. She was watching a video on her phone, but we couldn't make out what it was exactly. Once the video ended, however, she looked around very suspiciously then proceeded to her car. She opened the passenger's side door, got in, and was in there for about 5 minutes doing something before she got out and went inside. Once she was inside, I rushed over to the car to see what she might have been up to.

"What are you doing?" Andrew whispered from the bushes.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm inspecting the car. Hailey's been acting suspicious today and I wanna know why. What if she was the black figure?" I responded before sliding into the passenger's seat. I began searching through the glove compartment, trying to find something out-of-place, but all that was there was a pack of tissues, a pair of sunglasses, and a few CDs. Before going back inside, I decided to look in the sun visor, just in case. It was a good thing I checked because right when I pulled it down, something small dropped down onto the seat. The small object confirmed the worst of my suspicions. Hailey had the SD card. I quickly grabbed it and walked back over to the bush where Andrew was.

"Look," I said holding out the small card, "Good thing I checked. As much as I want to believe that she has nothing to do with this, the evidence adds up. That video she was watching was most likely of me and you and then she was hiding the SD card from me."

"Yeah true... I don't know what to believe anymore. For all we know, she could've been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but she did seem pretty suspicious."

"Well all I know is that I'm tired and maybe after us all getting some sleep, we'll get some answers tomorrow." I said standing up from behind the bush.

"Yeah good point, but we need to go around back so Hailey doesn't think we were following her. She'll think we're just coming back from the dock," Andrew pointed out.

"Good idea."

We made our way back around the house to the backdoor, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Once we were inside, we turned all the living room lights off and headed back to our rooms. When I approached my room, I noticed the door was closed which was not how I left it. I cautiously entered the room and closed the door behind me.

"Hey! You're back!" Hailey exclaimed from the bathroom door, causing me to jump.

"God, you scared me Hailey." I said with sigh as I made my way to the bed.

"Oh haha sorry," she said leaning against the door frame, "So did y'all work things out?"

"Yes Hailey, now can I please be alone so I can sleep," I responded with an agitated tone, "And turn the light off on your way out... please."

"Uhh yeah sure... um sorry for bothering you I guess. Night."

And with that, I was finally alone to sleep. I guess not totally alone because my thoughts soon decided to join the party. I had questions taunting me, previous conversations screaming in my head, and images running across my closed eyelids.

Why would Hailey do this? What would she gain from it? What's so important to jeopardize our friendship? What will Chase think? Should I even tell him?

Was she the one who took the picture? What was in that video she was watching? Is she working with Madison? Maybe that's why she's so close with Sam. But still... what would her motive be? Have I done anything selfish or stupid recently? ...Not that I can think of.

I mean if she is the mystery person, it would make sense. She lives near Andrew and I, so it's easy for her to keep tabs on us. Plus I tell her everything.

What if I'm completely wrong though? Could Andrew be right about her being in the wrong place at the wrong time? I doubt it though. We followed the dark figure and found her. Plus she's been acting weird lately anyways.

What am I gonna do...