Deadly Beautiful | ✓

Chapter Nine

Hailey Thomas.

"I still can't believe you left Olivia's party so early," Jack says, letting out an over dramatic sigh as he sprawls himself out across his bed. "I mean, I heard that the party was still in full swing at 2:00 am!"

I chuckle, flopping down beside him. "Maybe you should have gone with Brad, then. Didn't you mention that you two met at a party? Relive it," I joke, raising my eyebrow slightly.

Jack sighs, shaking his head. "Last night was our pizza and old movies night," He says. "Besides, when you're in a relationship, there's a lot more you would rather be doing than going to parties." Jack wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, and I laugh, slapping his arm playfully. 

We lay on his bed, just talking like we usually do, and a good five minutes pass before I'm forced to get up and answer my ringing phone. I don't even bother to look and see who's calling.

"Hello?" I say, sitting on the edge of Jack's bed while Jack lays on his stomach, flipping through an old magazine I must have left last time I was here. I quickly check the time on the alarm clock sitting on Jack's bedside table; 3:30 pm. 

There's a loud crash on the other line and then I hear Aiden's loud sigh before he says, "Hailey? It's me. I need your help. I'm babysitting my neighbour's five-year-old kid, and she won't listen to a word I say."

I raise my eyebrow in slight amusement. "And what do you expect me to do about it?" I ask, running my fingers through my strawberry blonde curls. 

"Well, Elle has a little brother, right? You're good with kids?" Aiden asks, sounding hopeful.

"Ethan is fourteen, Moore. And he only listens to me because I was nicer to him than Elle was," I joke, rolling my eyes. "I'd hardly say that makes me a child whisperer." 

Aiden sighs loudly once again, and then I hear another crashing sound in the background. "Anna! Stop! Put that-" He doesn't get to finish before there's another crash. "Hailey Thomas, I am begging you. Please, please, please help me," Aiden begs. 

I bite my lower lip slightly, standing up from the edge of my bed. "Alright, Moore. Give me five minutes, okay?" 

I hear Aiden's sigh of relief before he says, "You're an angel in disguise. Thank you, Hailey. I'll see you soon." And then he hangs up. 

Jack looks up at me, raising his eyebrow as I grab my jacket, slipping it on. "Got somewhere to be?" He smirks, sitting up as I crouch down to pull my shoes on.

"Aiden is having a crisis that involves a five-year-old girl," I chuckle, tying my shoelaces before I stand up again. "I'll text you later?" I offer, and Jack nods, waving me goodbye as I closed his bedroom door behind me and head downstairs. 

☟

When I reach Aiden's house, I walk toward his front door, pressing the doorbell. I press it again when he doesn't open the door the first time. And I'm about to press it for the third time when I hear Aiden's shouting inside, so I open the already unlocked door and step inside, just in time to hear a high pitched little girl's voice shouting back at him. 

"Aiden?" I call out, slipping my jacket off. I walk into the living room, hanging my jacket over the couch.

"We're in the kitchen!" Aiden calls back, and I leave the living room, walking down the hall to the kitchen.