Keep Your Enemies Closer

His text

Allie's PoV:

"What?" I flinched at Lila's squeal. She seemed to be awfully excited to hear about my day. I told her about pop's birthday party and how embarrassing it was when mom had my full name called out in the mall.

"Yes, it was so embarrassing." I sigh.
"No- I mean yeah, sure. But you said Chandler Hawkes was talking to you. The Chandler Hawkes, richest kid in whole Litherton. The one who is feared by the toughest and strongest guys in our school. He talked to you?" Lila asked in disbelieve.

I rolled my eyes and changed my position on my bed. I was now laying on my stomach and let my chin rest on my hand.
"To be honest, he was nothing like that. I mean, he didn't kill me. And all of us thought he would." I say. I really thought he would, but meeting him today was different.

"I knew he wouldn't. He is an eighteen year old boy. All those rumors about him killing his mother and threatening his dad to cover for him are stupid." I nodded at Lila's words.
"Maybe. But don't you think they must be at least five percent true? Why would everybody say the same things about him?" I ask.

"I don't know and I don't care. I'd rather hear about how he looks. I've only seen him once. It was years ago when Archer had his ninth birthday party and everyone was invited. He was odd. He didn't talk or socialized with me, do you remember?" She asked.

Yes I do. It's a nice memory of all of us. Archer always had the best parties, perks of being rich. It was the first birthday party I got invited in, because he wanted the whole school to play in his huge backyard. I remember Chandler only faintly. He didn't speak much, always stayed at a spot under the huge apple tree. He watched us silently and I remember it was creeping the other kids out.

"Didn't he wear all black? It was summer and he had a black suit on. Even his shoes were fancy and probably cost more than a house." I remembered.
"Yes and remember when Lizzy Patrick got dared to go over to him? She chickened out and cried when we wouldn't let her continue the game with us." Lila laughed out loud.

"Yes." I smiled at the memories. He was odd, but I remember his looks. I would never admit it out loud, but I think he was my first crush. He was cute for a nine year old. He never smiled though, but I bet he would look even better.

And the fact that he wore a suit made me imagine him as my knight in shining amour. But I think that was just because at that age you really want a prince to save you.
"How did he look? Tell me." Lila asked and I felt my cheeks heat up.

"I don't know. Black hair, black eyes, black shirt. Seriously, this boy is all black." I joked and Lila laughed on the other side.
"Look who's talking." She said and I shrugged. I knew what she meant. I prefer to wear black. You blend in easier if you do.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes.
"Was he hot?" She asked.
"No. God, no. Not at all." I lied. He was hot, but I could never talk about hot guys with Lila. She would always tease me about it.

"Really?" I could practically hear her smirk.
"Yes." I tried to sound casual, but failed horribly.
"I wish I'd see him again. Could you imagine how it is to live on your own? I heard he lives in a huge mansion up the hills and his father was away for more than a month." Lila said and I let her words sink in.

He didn't seem any different from a normal teenage boy when we talked. Sure, it was awkward, but boys are awkward.
"What if those are just rumors. You said it yourself Lila." I shrug, but she made a noise that told me she disagreed.

"We all know his father is in the government and his mother is dead. Who else would he live with?" Lila asked me and I shrugged.
"What happened to his mother?" I asked.

"No one knows. Or at least those who do, don't tell. That's how all those rumors started happening. I mean, you've talked to him. Do you think he was capable of killing his own mother?" She asked me.
"No." I said. I was sure he wasn't.

"Well then, we'll find out. The internet doesn't give away anything, so we'll have to ask Archer, since we don't know where exactly Chandler lives." Lila said and I laughed, before realizing she wasn't laughing along.

"That's a joke, right?" I said.
"No." She answered and I scoffed.
"We're not going to bother Archer about it. It is none of our business and I'm just glad I don't have to hide from him anymore, now that I know he doesn't want to kill me." I say and she scoffs on the other line.

"Fine, be a party pooper." She sighed.
"There is something called privacy and I'm sure he'd appreciate that." I said, making Lila chuckle.

"You sound like my mother." She joked.
"You know what she'd say to your plan? Your curfew is at nine p.m." I laughed at my joke.
"That's not funny. She just wants me to be save." Lila scoffs.

"I know, I know. How come you're even thinking about a plan like that? Last time I checked you were the nerd and I was the rebel." I smirked.
"Clearly, you rubbed off on me." She laughed and I joined her.

"Hold on. I got a message." I said as soon as I felt my phone buzz. I frowned when I didn't recognize the number, but opened the text anyways. My eyes widened and with trembling hands I placed the phone back on my ear.

"I gotta go, Lila. I'll text you later." I rushed and didn't even wait for her answer, before hanging up. I gulped as I read the text over and over again. I didn't recognize the number, but I'm entirely sure who just texted me. Because it said:

Good evening, speedy.

My hands were still shaking out of fear. Maybe he wasn't over me after all. I thought after the encounter at the mall, we'd continue to live our lives as they were before the whole incident. How did he even get my number? What does he want?

Should I reply?