The Hooded Figure

FORTY TWO

After another long day of studying and working my ass off at school, it was finally the weekend.

Well, Friday at least.

Even though I was exhausted, I had another shift at Marco's which I was currently in the middle of. Asher had been in and out of the kitchen because he was on delivery today, but after my revelation with Alex yesterday, I felt awkward around him. Was it possible that he could like me too? After that speech the other day about being pretty and smart, I was inclined to think that he did, but was that just me reading into things? I mean, I did reply with the same compliments, but I didn't even know that I liked him at the time, so maybe he was just telling me as a friend? To make me feel better about being tricked and played by Alexander.

Or he likes you and he's not being subtle at all.

While I was making pizzas, I was trying to think about any hints he'd given me that suggested he liked me, but everything I thought of could be categorized as close friendship so that didn't really help. All of a sudden, I noticed a TV playing in the corner of the kitchen.

Is that new?

Just as I started pondering its nature, Asher walked in. Overcoming what I thought was awkwardness, I asked, "hey, how long has that TV been there?"

Ash looked at me with an eyebrow raised. I noticed that he'd gotten a haircut. Not much of a difference, but when he styled it upwards, it didn't reach as high. It looked nice. "Since the place was built?" He answered, smile on his lips. I resisted the urge to look at them. Here I was telling Alex to manage his emotions and yet I was a blithering mess.

"Oh," was all I could manage. I started watching as the news came on.

"Are you alright?" He asked, a bit of an Italian accent making an appearance.

"Huh? Yeah," I said, distracted by the TV. I didn't catch the slight frown on Ash's face as he left the kitchen with a pizza in hand, I was too caught up with the news segment.

"Young Leo has been found, ladies and gentlemen! After the relentless search of his father, Alexander Marauder has been brought home to Hollywood safe and sound." I gaped. I stopped working on my pizza to watch.

The male anchor continued, "here we have a live interview with the star."

The TV cut to a live video from Alexander's house. He seemed to be recording from his phone as he smiled at the camera. His dad was in the background, hovering over his shoulder.

"Well, I'm back. You can think a brunette from Charleston for that," he winked at the camera and I gaped, "anyway, she gave me some advice and I'm going to make a point to follow it. Starting with number three. I'd like to thank my twin brother for dropping literally everything for a brother that he hadn't seen in nearly six years. Even after I treated him like absolute-BEEP- for the entire time. This one is a combination of number one and two." Alex turned his head to his father, "you're fired. Paul Talon is now my main, and only manager." His father's jaw dropped in the background.

"I'm going to be taking a break from stardom for a while though. I'll be attending Charlesteen high school in Charleston, living with my brother, my manager, and my father if he wants to come. I'm still working on number four and I'm pretty sure it'll take me a while, but I'll try my best for you. Thanks for all the support, lots of love to my fans," he finished, shutting his camera off. I felt frozen as the news anchors returned to the screen, looking as flabbergasted as I felt.

"Well, that was something," the male anchor began, coughing afterwards. I zoned out and ignored the TV as I numbly started rolling the dough again. I finished a few more pizzas before my shift ended and Asher only came in once throughout the rest of my shift. As I left, Maria closed up the restaurant and I drove home. So many things were on my mind, it was hard to focus. If I wasn't thinking about my feelings for Asher, I was thinking about Alexander's worldwide proclamation, and if it wasn't that, it was how in hell I was going to be able to study for my midterms with all this stuff happening.

I blinked and the next think I knew, I was slammed to a halt. As I hit the car in front of me, the airbag went off and sent my head flying back towards the headrest. Then, the car behind me obviously wasn't prepared to stop either because they rammed into my bumper, sending my head flying forward, narrowly missing the steering wheel. I felt my nose crack and my neck tighten as the pain from the whiplash started to kick in. I groaned, praying that it was over as I held my head. I could faintly see people rushing out of their cars, but everything was getting blurry.

Soon, I heard sirens in the distance, but everything went dark before I could process anything.

-------

I woke up for a moment in what I think was the ambulance. There were paramedics above me, attaching an IV into my forearm, making me grimace. However, I was grateful when the pain started to disappear almost instantaneously.

"Do you have family we can contact, dear?" One of the paramedics asked me, smiling calmly above me while the rest of them were working to treat my wounds to the best of their abilities. I tried to reply but my mouth seemed glued shut. I kept trying until my eyes started to flutter. I strained to keep them open and reply to her question, but it was no use as I fell back into unconsciousness.

• Author's Note •

For those of you that read the first two, who remembers the car crash?

I tried to include some scenes from the old books ;)

Lots of love, Nat 💕