Rumor has it

Chapter 8

Kai's pov
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" Kai, just come it will be fun," Cameron argued on the other line, we were playing a TV game and he was beating me.

" Maybe, we will see," I said, duking away from his attacks. My finger cramps and that is all he needs to get his victory.

My door bell rings and I take of my headset. The pizza was here and I had to go.

" My pizza is here, bye."

He saluted me grinning." Good game, bye."

I shut the tv off before opening the door. I thanked the deliveryman and tipped him. A big cheesy pizza and two cold drinks. I put the pizza down on the kitchen counter and then put my shoes on. It was getting quit late and I had to hurry before Dad got home.

My dad always tells me to not be single like him and live life, and I encouraged him to start dating again. He had gone off on a second date and it seemed to going pretty well I assume. He had divorced two times already so I hope he doesn't rush into anything. Gosh, I sounded like a dad speaking about their impulsive child.

I grabbed the pizza and drinks before leaving the house. Usually, I would have to wait until my noisy neighbor is asleep or not at home to sneak out of my own house. Hazel had Erica and Hailey over and I was immensely grateful for that. She couldn't escape those two and I was free to go over to feed Jack without wondering if Hazel was following me there. I still looked around for any strange person or group passing by me.

I probably looked crazy walking through the street with a pizza in flip-flops. The street was not dark enough to hide me but it at least there weren't many people around. Only dog owners take their dogs on walks down the road that leads to the beach.

Jack was seriously going to get my concession to swallow me whole at his point. I wouldn't have promised him to stay silent about his whereabouts if I had known how bad I was at lying. Hazel had been getting on my ass for acting suspicious and coach was threatening to bench for showing up late to training. I was a mess honestly and was stuck between two siblings who were equally stubborn.

All these trip at night to my family boat had my dad thinking I was deeply invested into the alarm problem. Instead, I was accompanying Jack who had been hiding there waiting for food and he also slept there. I had to go either very early or very late to avoid people, specifically Hazel.

Jack gets up from the couch and takes the pizza out of my hand. I find my balance and close the door after me.

Jack waited for me to open the pizza and we took a few slices and a cold Coke. Jack was getting pale and had dark spots around his eyes.

The sight of his bloody bruise covering his face was still fresh in my mind. I don't know if it was luck or not that I was the one that checked the boat that night after the alarm went off. My dad would have definalty called the cops and alert Jack's family. I had meet Jack I enough to know his behavior was out of the ordinary. I had almost dialed Hazel's number to let her know her brother was fine. Jack had slapped the phone out of my hand and the rest of the encounter was a bit more civilized. Sixteen days, that is how many days he said he needed to stay under the radar and each that past I kept wondering if I had screwed up for not alerting anyone.

" She is to stubborn for own good." Jack sighed, I had told him Hazel was not going to stop searching for him. I had no idea how he thought his own sister wouldn't want to find him. Even his aunt had traveled down as she was worried sick about him. I had told him all of that but he never budged.

I cleared my throat." Yeah, she got a text for you today."

" Why would they contact her?" He placed his pizza slice down in frustration. His gaze shifted toward the clock on the wall.

"Exactly what I was thinking, who are you even running from?" I had been wondering why would they keep his phone now that the cops were searching for him.

He looked at me, he probably didn't realize he had been thinking out loud. I opened my can and waited for his response.

" She didn't answer it right?"

As expected he deflected and hit me with another question. " No, but I had to let her know you were alright for her to drop it."

He swore and closed his eyes. " Shit, she can't know that, this is getting to messy."

I frowned, wasn't it already a messy situation or was I tripping? I decided not to ask.

He had told me that it would be dangerous if she knew but not why. I couldn't read the guy but I could tell he was not happy about Hazel being involved in this. He didn't know that it had already affected Hazel in ways already. Everyone in school were whispering about her brother and how he must be a bad guy. The had twisted what happened that night as Jack attacking her and leaving her all alone because of his anger issues.

Jack didn't have anger issues, he was the silent type of guy that you don't know if they are angry or not. Beside that, I had seen a group of men running away from Hazel. They had been the ones to harm her but because of Jack's silence, they used him as the scapegoat.

Hazel didn't talk very much about their childhood, all I know is that the two grew up together before they got split up by Hazel's dad. Her dad and her have gotten closer over the years and I was happy for her. Her grandma on the other hand is the most talk-active person I know and I can see how that has influenced Hazel. But with Jack, I can't really tell how he is as a person or his thought process. Putting their stubbornness aside the two were like day and night.

" Prepare to get grilled because she will come by tomorrow." I dropped it on him, then took a sip from my can. I sighed in defeat and leaned back into the couch.

" I guess I have to then, where is she now?"

" At her house, she has some friends over and can we stop talking like this? Aren't you tired of hiding?" It was driving me crazy to not get answers and only get questions in return. Which is why I couldn't keep lying to Hazel.

" Very tired, I'm going to sleep, thanks for helping me out." He said and put his two last slices of pizza back into the box.

" Goodnight then." I stood up and grabbed my phone and keys. He closed the door to the boat after me and looked around the place. I breathed in the cold air and then began to head back home.

I take my phone out of my pocket and let Cameron know that I was going to skip the party. My dad had gotten us some tickets to a baseball match tomorrow and I knew I would stand him up if I didnt get any sleep for one more day.

I began to walk back home and watched over my shoulder here and then. I was just hoping I looked crazy enough in case anyone was following me.

My legs and arms hurt from practice and I turn on the shower before going to bed. I hopped out of the shower A few minutes later and changed into some pants and a shirt. I opened my window and shook my head as I saw that Hazel and the girls still had the lamp on. I turned my off and jumped into my bed.

My phone rings and I groaned before answering." Don't tell me you are going to sleep?"

" I already am, good night Cameron."

" Goodnight, I just wanted to check on you alright."

" I get it, I would told you if I was on my way."

"You're right, but it has gotten crazy outside lately."

If he only knew how crazy it had been, Cameron would freak out. I didn't want to drag my friends into this and had to do something before it gets out of control. Hopefully with Hazel knowing we might get some answers out of Jack to solve this mess. I tired to do it on my own but that wasn't going to get us anywhere.

" True, let me know when you get home."