Chapter 2

Hazel Sinclair

I didn't take out the clip from my hair when I woke up the next day. It was Sunday and I wanted so bad to stay in bed all day and not do anything but my thunderous thoughts were tantalizingly torturous. I got up and grabbed the hoodie I was wearing yesterday and put it on. I heard the jingle of keys as I frowned.

I don't put my car keys in my pocket.

Then the events of last night came back to me. I was very harsh on the woman who just brought cookies to me.

Watch your words, Hazel. Or see your world crumble in front of you.

My world was already crumbled. Crumbled? It was like a fucking tornado came and just blew up everything piece by piece. My granny was gone, hell my insensitive and ignorant parents were gone. I had no family left. How much of my life is left to be crumbled? I practically had no life. Ha!

I fed my cats and got out of the apartment. I lingered on my neighbors' door to knock but I couldn't bring myself to do so. What would I say? Hey, your son dropped your keys on my door last night. Feeling generous today, I might spare you with my snide remarks.

I shook my head and walked further down to the lobby to get to my car. But I decided against it as the weather was nice and I wanted to walk. That was the thing I was cringing at. I started to notice how nice the weather was even though I never gave a crap about it. I hated the word nice and kind. I hated people with nice and kind personality because all they do is let everything go. They never confront problems as whatever they do is let go of the problem. They are so nice that they always forgive even if someone had done deadly grave to them. It was fucking annoying to see nice people being heartbroken but still embracing it all in with open arms. Hell, they'd even embrace with their open feet if it were upon them.

"Hazel, hey, wait up." The sound of that familiar guy was polite and annoying.

I turned around saw him smiling. He walked towards me and sighed. "You look very grown-up. You remember, we met at the mall three years back?"

"No, I don't remember. And don't call me Hazel." I mumbled and began walking away.

I heard footsteps behind me as he followed over. He didn't say anything for a while as we both walked side by side. I was watching my steps and my way but also noticing the crunching sound of gravel and asphalt underneath our feet and birds chirping happily. The sun was bright and up but it was not a hot day considering it was the early days of March.

I noticed that we walked to the park and sat on the bench which was close to the pond and hidden by trees. "What do you want?" I said, irritation laced in my voice. I was not in a mood for a company. Especially a nice one.

"How do you not remember the mall where we met for the first time? Do you remember Christian? Man, you two were about to go batshit crazy on each other. Thank God I stepped in between and made him apologize." His eyes twinkled at the memory. "Do you not remember?"

I very well remembered the moment because that night, I had been thinking about that event and till yesterday, it was in the back of my mind but I never forgot it. Unfortunately, I had to lie and refuse to remember because I didn't want this nice guy to be friendly to me.

Why?

Simply because I was a bad, irritating, and disrespectful girl who doesn't deserve anything nice in her life.

But majorly, because I was a murderer. I killed my own granny because I didn't say the words she was expecting me to. I didn't tell her that I needed her because I was too much of a coward to do so. I was too much of a prude because apparently, my feelings seemed more important to me than her life. Am I a type of person to be friendly to? No, I'm not.

"No, I don't. You must have mistaken me for my sister. I had a twin sister who died a year ago." I made up another lie.

He was silenced. He looked straight in my eyes and I noticed how dark his eyes were. His eyes were brown which complimented his face beautifully.

Wait, what?

"Liar." He said simply. "It was you. You have a mole on your upper lip and small scars on your right wrist." He grabbed my hand and pulled up the sleeves.

I was too much in a shock to stop him.

"See this? You still have them." He smiled at me and squeezed my hand then stared back at the blade scars I had on my wrists from self-harming when I was younger. "Why do you do this?"

His voice was almost a whisper and was very soft and velvety that it tugged at my heart. I was about to reply, but then a voice in my head stopped me.

Stop it. What are you doing? You are a murderer and not a nice and kind type of girl. Don't give into him. Don't tell him your secrets. He might crush you.

I jerked my hand back from him and stood up, my breathing heavy. "I need to go. Goodbye."

I didn't even let him speak further as I practically sprinted away from the place and ran back to my apartment. When I entered, I threw his keys which were still in my pocket, on the kitchen counter and cleaned up the mess my cats have made. I kept myself busy for the whole day and didn't even sit free to let my mind wonder about and wander in the thoughts and flashbacks of the day.

***

Working during my shift the next day of Monday, I was horrifically tired and exhausted. The nightmares were starting to become harsher and torturous that it was almost impossible to sleep. I guess my mind has started thinking too much that my nightmares have gone crazy. One moment in, I see my granny smiling and hiking up the mountains, the next I see her vomiting blood like a doll and me having a knife clutched in my hand covered in blood. I shuddered at the nightmare I had last night. It was about my own parents beating me and accusing me of being a murderer of granny and also of them. Accusing? You already are a murderer. You even killed your parents because you ran away and they were on the way to find you.

A few tears left my eyes as I saw a little girl being bullied by a few boys. The anger brewed inside me as I instinctively ran over to them and held the girl to me. "Leave her alone." I spat at them.

The four guys which were about to rape the little girl looked at me and smiled. One of them with short black hair whistled at me as he checked me out from top to toe. "Well, a nice replacement for the girl. You in, babe?"

I fumed in anger. The tornado of anger and frustration was already very high and enormous that I didn't know what I was doing as I angrily groaned and grabbed the closest thing to me.

A bowling ball.

I grabbed a green bowling ball and threw it at the same guy who talked to me a few minutes ago. The ball spun away from my hand and attacked at his thighs, nearly missing his balls. The guy groaned and dropped down in pain. "Fucking hell!"

Then I came back to my senses. What the hell did I just do?

I just hit a guy with a bowling ball. And when I looked around I saw people looking at me and I noticed I grabbed the ball from the heavy section.

I'm gutted.

***

"Get up! You've been bailed." The police officer shouted at me. "You're lucky that young man came looking for you or else you'd have to be strayed in this cell."

Young man?

The fifteen-year-old petite girl who was shaken up by the eventful night got up and smiled at me awkwardly. "So there we go, we have a superman to the rescue."

The fifteen-year-old girl named Sophie was with me when the police took us in charge of attacking a customer because my working hours were not finished. During the eight hours we spent in the holding cell, Sophie had told me everything about herself because she was bored out of her mind. She had no parents like me and she lived with her friend. Because of a little falling out with her friend she was walking on the streets and ended up in the bowling alley I worked at.

I got up and curiously walked out of the cell to see this young man who was currently sitting with his back towards us. He was talking to the policeman and turned around after he was informed of us. The brown eyes were instantly on me as the intent stare tugged at my heart. My mind was clouding with confusion and irritation as I stared back at him.

It was that one familiar guy who wouldn't leave me alone at any cost. Dammit, I didn't even know his name.

He got up and gave me that devilishly handsome smile. "Hey."

What was happening to me?

I frowned and walked towards the exit. "You didn't have to save my ass."

He was beside me in a moment. "A simple thank you will be sufficient, Hazel."

Sophie was on my left and he was on my right. I gritted my jaw. "What time is it?" I asked.

He shrugged. "It is half-past three in the morning." He turned towards Sophie. "Hey, I'm Jayden. Can you tell me how did you end up with this killjoy?"

So his name is Jayden.

Sophie giggled. She began to tell him the whole story she did to me when we were in the cell. I was quiet the whole time, walking silently with my hands in my hoodie pocket.

"Did Hazel tell you how we ended up in the holding cell?" Sophie grinned at me.

Jayden shook his head. "No, she did not. How did you end up in a holding cell, Hazel?"

He said my name with so many intense emotions that my heart started fluttering like a butterfly.

"I attacked the almost-attacker of Sophie with a bowling ball. I'm surprised it didn't hit his balls because I was aiming for it." I said simply.

Jayden just stared at me for a few seconds and then started laughing out loud. Sophie joined him and I felt awkward.

Were they laughing at me?

Yes, they are. You are pathetic.

Tears brimmed to my eyes and I gulped then took long breaths to take it back in. I didn't want to cry. Taking a look at Jayden's laughing face, and Sophie's wheezing face, I assumed that they were happy. They were laughing and enjoying but there I was, crying over my pain and cowering away from my monsters because I was a coward, pathetic, and stupid girl.

Sophie and Jayden began talking softly after that and I noticed we were heading to my apartment, so I took out the keys in my pocket which belonged to Jayden and dropped them in his hand carefully not to touch the soft-looking hand of his. "Take Sophie home and you dropped this outside my apartment the other day." I stared in his eyes. "Goodnight."

And then I left them both and walked up to my apartment.

***