Afterwards: An "After" Fanfiction

Chapter 12 & Tessa's Diary: Part 3 - "Hey Angel (Part 2)"

A/N: This chapter contains mature content. Like. Graphic, sexy shit y'all. You have been warned.

"Do you want to know what happened?" Nora tucked her pale arms around her chest, a waterfall of onyx strands falling about her face as she made sure neither Zed nor Landon were within earshot. Her dark almond eyes looked hesitant, but it was as if she needed to get whatever it was off of her conscience immediately.

"Okay tell me." I'd waited long enough. By now, I had probably thought through a million scenarios, some of them so awful that they would most likely dwarf the actual news. Whatever Hardin was up to, it couldn't be that bad.

Finally satisfied that nobody important was around, Nora took a breath. "A while back, Zed and Hardin used to sell drugs together. Landon always suspected that Zed was the one who dragged Hardin into it. One time, after Hardin almost overdosed, Landin confronted Zed and he uncovered a secret."

"Hardin's a drug dealer?" My body felt cold. I knew Hardin had been around drugs, but for him to be a dealer? It couldn't be. He knew about my father's history with narcotics, and when I told him how traumatized I was by his death, Hardin should've told me the truth about his past.

Nora looked towards the ground. "Probably not anymore. I'm pretty sure they all stopped after what happened. The secret Landon found out...Zed and Hardin were working for a pretty well-known kingpin of the underground, his name was 'Big Shot.' Real ruthless guy." Her sing-song voice was low, and she kept checking to make sure we were alone. "I don't know exactly all the details, but Zed tried to rip Big Shot off for thousands of dollars and somehow, Landon caught on. Zed was trying to pin it on Hardin and Landon found out."

I always knew Zed was bad news. But framing Hardin? Risking his life for drug money? I didn't understand why Hardin still associated with scum like Zed. I had to tell him. But Nora had other plans.

"Landon never told Hardin because Zed agreed not to go through with his plan, and nothing came of it in the end. They both know if Hardin ever found out Zed even considered something like this all Hell would break loose. So it's just a shameful secret Landon holds over Zed's head to manipulate him as shitty as that sounds."

I felt sick to my stomach. The amount of betrayal that existed between the two was always evident, but there had to be something else tying them together--why else would they still associate with each other after brewing such bad blood? My gut told me that Nora didn't have the whole story. Something was missing. Still, I felt an underlying allegiance to Hardin. "I have to say something, don't you think it's the right thing to do? Why did you tell me in the first place?"

Nora sucked her lip in frustration. "You can't. That's not the whole story. I just wanted you to be aware of what was going on just in case..." she paused, shaking her head. "You can't tell Hardin. Promise me."

As I opened my mouth, The Devil himself arrived. "They say if you speak of The Devil, he shall appear." Hardin slid in behind me with the most gorgeous smirk I'd ever seen. Two little red horns protruded from his head, and a pair of plastic fangs sat in his mouth. "Hey, Angel." Hardin grinned as he took in my costume. "What is it you can't tell me?"

It suddenly hit me that this was why Nate found my angel costume humorous. "Nora was just saying...um...what was it you were saying?"

"H-how drunk I am!" The other girl stammered, suddenly tripping over her white cat tail. "I wouldn't want Logan to find out how completely wasted I got when I already promised I wouldn't drink. But I guess the secret's out." She looked back and forth between us before seeing herself out. "I'll leave you two alone."

She stumbled off towards the dance floor, leaving Hardin and I by the pool. I was more than tempted to ask him for answers, but now wasn't the right time. It was all slowly coming into place, but with some major pieces still missing, I couldn't tip off that I was even investigating before I'd solved the puzzle.