Chloe (Made Men #3) Read online

  Staring at her intently, Elle studied her a moment before she replied, “No, you weren’t. That’s a lie.”

  “W-What! Y-Yes I wa—”

  “Again, that’s a lie,” Elle responded. “You’re a terrible liar, you know.”

  How would she know?

  “Why do you think I’m l-lying?”

  Elle shrugged. “Because I have to lie to my parents way more than I’d like to, and when you are a professional liar like me, it’s easy to tell when someone is clearly lying straight to your face. Also … You are just really, really bad at lying.”

  Chloe looked down at her hands as Elle slightly chuckled at her lying skills. She didn’t know what else to say other than what her father had embedded into her since she had woken up at the hospital.

  “Okay, fine.” Standing up off the floor, Elle started wiping off any dirt that might have stuck to the back of her jeans. “You were in a car wreck. For now, anyway … till you decide to spill.”

  Brrring.

  The lunch bell sounded right on cue.

  Elle reached her hand out to help Chloe up off the seat, and as her hand came close, Chloe let out a small scream.

  Quickly, Elle pulled her hand back. “I’m sorry … I was just going to help you up.”

  Chloe covered her mouth and tried desperately to blink back the tears that started to fill her eyes, but she was unsuccessful.

  I’m so screwed up. What’s wrong with me? How am I supposed to go on with school or life now?

  Sitting back down on the floor, it was like Elle could read her mind. “It’s okay. We’ll wait till you’re ready to go back out there.”

  Silently crying, Chloe could only repeat the words that would forever be ingrained in her soul.

  I was in a car wreck; that’s all I know. I was in a car wreck. No one hurt me …

  Seven

  Payback was a Bitch

  The first day back to school was so horrible Chloe only hoped her second day wouldn’t turn out as bad. Nevertheless, as she headed to her first period, it was going the exact same way.

  Trying her best to block out the students, she headed straight to her class, and when she reached her classroom, she saw some of her old “friends” reading a newspaper.

  Slowly heading to the back of the class, she began to feel nauseous as they started to laugh behind the newspaper, watching her sink into her seat.

  “I told you she turned into a freak from a car wreck.” Cassandra snickered, handing the newspaper off to some other students who had just come in.

  “Bullshit. He swerved to miss a dog. Her father was probably drunk.” Sebastian looked right at her. “Wasn’t he?”

  Not that night.

  Chloe looked down at her lap to see she was digging her nails into her skin.

  Sebastian stood and spoke more loudly. “Wasn’t he?”

  Hearing the snatching of a newspaper, she looked up to see Elle had taken the paper away from a nosey, little kid who was one step away from getting picked on himself if it weren’t for Chloe being the main target in school.

  Shoving the paper into her satchel, Elle took the seat right in front of Chloe, shielding her from their view.

  “If her father was actually drunk, we would have all heard about it by now.”

  “Her father didn’t even get a scratch, while she got her face all fucked up.” Sebastian cackled.

  Chloe tried to focus on the pain she was causing to her palm, but it wasn’t working. She took each harsh word as a slap to the face.

  “So he didn’t get hurt. What’s your point?” Elle glared at Sebastian .

  Sebastian now stood, looking down at Elle. “So, my dad says he was drunk off his ass since drunk drivers are never the ones who get hurt because of the effect from the alcohol. He can’t believe that her father won and hates everyone who voted for—”

  “That’s enough, kids! It’s time to start class.” The teacher walked in, finishing the conversation.

  Brrring.

  The loud bell had Chloe opening her hands to see little droplets of blood appear where her nails had dug into her skin.

  She spent the class in her head, wishing that drunk driving were the cause of her “fucked up” face. Then she spent the next class trying to push away the memories of what had really happened. The battle continued until her third class started, and finally, when the lunch bell rang, Elle brought her out of her thoughts.

  “Chloe, it’s time for lunch. Are you okay?”

  Looking around the now almost empty room, she stood, slowly nodding her head.

  It took Elle a minute of staring her down before she decided to walk on to the cafeteria.

  Walking beside the strawberry-blonde to lunch, she kept her head down. It was easier looking at the cold floor than the cold stares when everyone looked at her marked face. Despite not seeing them, she could still feel the stares as they tried to get a glimpse of her through her dark curtain of hair.

  When they reached the lunch room, it was obvious it was pizza day, as the line was long and the other line of chicken patties and hamburgers was practically empty.

  As Elle walked toward the chicken and hamburger line without a thought, Chloe stopped her.

  “Wait, you don’t want pizza?”

  “Yes, but not enough to stand in line with them.” She nodded her head toward the back of the line that held Cassandra and Sebastian, along with all the other kids who had helped beat her up.

  “You’re right.” Chloe gulped at the thought.

  Following Elle to the empty line, she couldn’t help feeling like she would never be able to eat school pizza ever again. She could already sense her freedom of picking what to eat for lunch taken away from her.

  After grabbing their lunches, she followed her once again to the table closest to the cafeteria door, the one she had watched Elle sit at alone every day. She sat in front of her so her back was to the filled lunchroom. This way, she wouldn’t have to watch all the students staring at her and mocking her fresh cuts.

  She remembered how bad she used to feel for Elle sitting all by herself. Never once had Chloe sat with her. Because I was afraid.

  Wasn’t it ironic?

  She feared their judgment, but she had found out what true fear was. She used to feel bad for Elle, yet now she admired her uncaring attitude over whether they liked her or not. Payback was a bitch.

  “You d-don’t really get to pick what you w-want for lunch, do you?” Chloe asked, picking at her chicken patty and fries.

  Popping a fry in her mouth, Elle seemed unbothered by her question. “Nope.”

  Bye, pizza.

  “I guess you didn’t get to pick what they said happened to you, either?” Elle continued.

  “W-what does-s that mean?”

  “They want you to say you were in a car wreck when you weren’t. Who’s making you say that?”

  I wish.

  “I-it did happen.”

  Giving her another long stare, Elle decided to say something this time. “What happened? Tell me what happened that night.”

  Looking down at her lap, Chloe started to wring her hands. A flash appeared in front of her as a blade started to inch closer and closer to her face. She quickly slammed her eyes shut.

  “I-I don’t remember.”

  “Okay. Then tell me to my face you don’t remember.”

  Lifting her head up, she could feel her teary eyes betray her as lone tear slid down her cheek. Looking at Elle, she pictured her helpless, on the ground, bloody again.

  I can’t do it. She couldn’t move her lips to lie to that girl again.

  Understanding Chloe couldn’t speak the words, Elle said, “I won’t tell anyone, and when you’re ready to tell me what happened, I’m here.”

  Minutes passed as Chloe continued to pick at her food before she began to wonder what had given her away when no one else in the world seemed to question what had happened that horrific night.

  “How did you know?”

/>   Elle stared into Chloe’s now hollow gray depths. “Your eyes. I can tell someone not only marked you”—she pointed to her own face with a slicing motion—“but your soul.”

  Chloe closed her eyes as she tried desperately not to cry, picturing the demon who haunted her dreams.

  Glancing at the table that held Sebastian and Cassandra, Elle continued, “I know that because I’ve been marked, too.”

  Eight

  Burned by The Hand of Her Demon

  Elle needed a book out of her locker, so Chloe went with her during break to retrieve it. The last class of the day seemed to come quickly after lunch. Surprisingly, they shared every class except the second one of the day. While she had art, Elle had health class. It sucked to not have the exact same schedule, but thankfully, it was only one class.

  Watching Elle open the locker, she saw a rectangular piece of paper flutter to the ground.

  “What the …?” Elle bent over to pick it up. Turning it over to the other side, her expression changed.

  Chloe stared at what she thought was a piece of paper, but what was actually a photograph. The photo was of Elle lying on the pavement, bloody and broken, the exact image Chloe had thought of earlier. One of them must have snapped a photo of her when Chloe had been heading back into the school.

  “W-who did this?”

  They both looked around to see who had placed the photo, and they saw Sebastian standing against his locker, smiling evilly.

  Elle quickly turned around, shoving the photo in her bag along with all her books. “Go get everything out of your locker.”

  “I h-had no idea he took t-that—”

  “Go get your stuff,” Elle ordered, continuing to clean out her locker.

  “I d-didn’t kno—”

  The slamming of Elle’s locker made her jump.

  Taking a deep breath, Elle tried again, “I know you didn’t. We need to get to class. He’s not happy with me bashing him this morning about the whole car wreck thing, so he’s letting me know he can beat the crap out of me again if he wanted.”

  Agreeing, Chloe quickly went to her locker, putting all the contents shakily into her bag.

  “I’m sorry, E-Elle,” she whispered.

  “It’s okay.” Trying to make her feel better, she went to pat her shoulder.

  A small gasp escaped Chloe’s throat before she quickly moved out of the way.

  Stepping back a bit, Elle held her hands up. “Sorry.”

  It took Chloe a moment before she went to put the last book from her locker into her bag and closed it.

  “We need to get to class … fast.”

  Watching Elle swiftly leave with a sad look on her face, Chloe rubbed her shoulder where Elle’s hand had almost touched her. It was like her skin burned. Burned by the hand of her demon.

  Elle sat on her bed, staring down at the picture she had found in her locker today. It was strange to see herself that damaged on the pavement. She had looked at herself in the mirror after it had happened, but it was still strange to see it in person, as if she were looking down at herself in that moment when she had thought death was going to greet her.

  A droplet of water fell from her cheek onto the photo. Don’t let them make you cry anymore.

  Getting up, she went to her bookshelf and grabbed a photo album off the shelf. Sitting back on her bed, she flipped through the pages, glancing at the photos of herself throughout the years.

  She looked happy in every picture, and her long, strawberry-blonde hair used to frame her face perfectly.

  Reaching up, she touched the strands she had left now that fell to the base of her neck.

  Nope, don’t you cry.

  Finally going to the first blank page, she stuck the horrendous photo of herself that Sebastian had given her as a warning message into the photo album. She was going to remember this exact image of herself for the remainder of the school year. Then, when the new school year started at her new school, she could look back at this photo and thank God she had survived.

  She closed the book. “I will survive.”

  Looking across the dinner table, Chloe watched her father pour more of the hard liquor into his glass.

  He downed the contents the asked, “Are you going to s-s-stare at me o-or eat?”

  “Eat, Chloe,” her mother commanded.

  Looking down at her plate, she picked up the fork to eat, but she had no appetite. The only reason she was sitting there and not in her room was because her mother had insisted.

  “Quit acting like you’re a victim,” her mother’s words rang through her head again.

  She glanced back up when she heard the liquor bottle ting against his glass once more.

  Quickly, she put her eyes back on the plate when he downed the contents in a split second.

  Maxwell wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Go.”

  Stunned by his harsh voice, she couldn’t move. He had sounded just like—

  “Get the fuck out of my fac-c-ce!” He slammed his hand down on the table, making the silverware quiver. “I can’t even-n-n look at you!”

  Jumping up from the table, she tried not to trip as she started sprinting from the table like her life depended on it.

  Her father became scarier by the day, each day reminding her more and more of the one who had given her nightmares.

  Her eyes became cloudy, blurring her vision along the way. Once she reached her room, she slammed the door shut and leaned her back against the door before falling to the floor, sobbing.

  She had asked herself many times, Why me? Why did this happen to me? But tonight, she had started asking herself a different question.

  “Why couldn’t I have died?”

  Nine

  The Memory Banging at The Door

  It was strange, but in a short amount of time, she was becoming close with Elle. They understood each other as outcasts along with their suffering. The semester was almost up, and it was time for Christmas break. Chloe was going to really miss Elle, yet she wasn’t going to miss school. However, she wasn’t sure what was better at this point: her home life or school life.

  Walking to their last class of the day, Chloe kept her head down. She walked closer to Elle than ever, letting Elle guide her through the hallways so she could keep her head down. Since the picture had showed up in Elle’s locker, they didn’t waste time in the hallways, and they were beginning to wonder if they were acting paranoid.

  “Freak!” someone yelled out as she passed.

  So the name-calling hadn’t stopped, but at least they weren’t too worried about their safety.

  Reaching the science classroom, they took their seats in the back.

  “Our science project is due before Christmas break. If we don’t finish it today in class, then we will need to finish it up outside of school,” Elle told her in a worried voice.

  “Okay,” she agreed, nervous about where this was going.

  “Good. If we don’t finish it, then we can finish it up at your house. Tomorrow sound okay?”

  No…

  “W-Why can’t we do it at yours?”

  Elle cleared her voice. “I’m sure you heard about my dad. My parents don’t really want company right now …”

  Of course she knew what had happened to her dad. Cassandra had blabbed about it to the entire school at the beginning of the year.

  “Come on, Chloe; it’ll be fun. We should make it a sleepover!”

  Instantly, she felt backed into a corner. The last word she would use to describe her house was fun. She knew Elle was taking the opportunity to help her come back out of her shell, to make her feel normal again. And while she wanted to desperately, her house wasn’t the ideal place to do so. Nevertheless, it didn’t sound like Elle’s was, either. And since Elle was the one with a good excuse, she was screwed.

  What am I supposed to say? My dad is now an alcoholic because he can’t handle what happened to me any better than I can? Realizing her back had now hit the corner, her las
t hope was talking to her mother to keep her father controlled. If anything, the last thing they wanted was their appearance damaged.

  “I-I’ll ask my parents if you can come over, then.”

  “Awesome! Do you live in the little white house now?” Elle’s eyes lit up.

  She shook her head. “No, we won’t move until January when my father gets sworn in.”

  Brrring.

  The teacher stood from her desk. “All right, students, let’s get to work. This is the last day you can work on your project in class, so make it count.”

  Chloe quickly went to work. She was going to work her ass off until the bell rang. That way, Elle wouldn’t have to come over.

  There is no way I am not going to finish this project.

  Brrring.

  She did not finish their project.

  “Mom, Elle will be here any minute. Where are you?” she whispered into the phone.

  “I’m running late at the office. I’ll be home in an hour.”

  That was all Chloe heard before the beep came through the phone, telling her that her mother had hung up.

  Crap!

  She was about to do that exact same thing in her pants as she watched her dad pick up his bottle to fill up his cup again. Her mother had advised her that she was a failure in the first place since she hadn’t finished it at school. Then she had advised her to finish it up at Elle’s, but when Chloe had explained Elle’s situation, her mother had no longer cared.

  Her mother had quickly realized Elle didn’t come from money since she couldn’t recall the last name of Buchanan having any real standing in Kansas City, Missouri. In turn, she couldn’t give two shits what she thought about her family. However, her mother had promised her that she would keep Maxwell contained. Clearly, that was low on her to-do list.

  Ding.

  Just don’t answer it. Maybe she will go away.

  Ding.

  “Are you … going to ans-s-swer the damn … door?” Maxwell started going toward the door himself.