Aggro - CoraLee June Page 0,19

heart in my chest.

My sandals slapped against the tiled floor as I moved down the hallway, making my way toward my locker. I kept my head down, ignoring the whispers as much as I could.

Do you think Kai did it?

I heard Breeze just left her at that party.

Celeste said Breeze left with Kai. Think they were fucking while she was murdered?

I opened my locker, and a fresh wave of tears sprung from my eyes when I saw the pinned photograph on the inside. It was a picture of Violet and me sunbathing on the beach. She looked calm and at peace, the sun wrapping her in light. I had a wide grin on my face, my cheeks pink from the sun. I remembered that day. Dad was surfing with some locals, hoping to drum up some business. We went to watch. “You okay, Breeze?” a warm voice rasped at my back. I grabbed my geometry textbook and spun around to greet Chase.

He looked about as good as I felt. His hair was tousled and his shirt wrinkled. The bags under his eyes made me feel like shit. We hadn’t spoken since the kiss. I wasn’t even sure what to say. How could we possibly move forward after what happened? I wanted—no, needed—to be there for him. I just didn’t know how.

“Not really,” I replied.

“I called.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve been…”

“Avoiding me since the funeral?” Chase answered for me. He never did beat around the bush. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t in the right headspace.”

I nodded, knowing this was coming. This was the part where we both admitted that the kiss was a mistake. We were hurting and leaned on one another for comfort. “It’s okay,” I replied. I had a list of excuses piled up in my mind, ready to be spewed to save us both the embarrassment of admitting to what we’d done. However, Chase spoke before I could get them out.

“It’s not okay. I didn’t want our first kiss to be like that…”

I snapped my attention back up to him and bit the inside of my cheek until blood coated my tongue. First kiss? He had been thinking about it? What did that even mean?

“Listen,” Chase said while leaning closer, “Kai has been hanging out at the rock garden. I was wondering if you could go talk to him. You know? Like what we planned. It’s a public place, so he won’t try anything.”

I nodded.

“Do you really think it was Kai?” I asked, immediately regretting my question the moment it left my lips. Chase’s icy gaze blazed with anger.

“Who else could it have been? Kai was annoyed with her. Those two were always fighting. Always. She probably pissed him off. I know some shit about Kai…”

“What? What do you know?”

Chase exhaled and looked around before answering. “He’s involved in a local gang. The Devils. His brother deals drugs. He’s no stranger to violence.”

My eyes widened. I knew Kai was involved in some shit but didn’t know it was to that extent. How could Chase let Violet date him if he knew this? “So why are you sending me in? If he’s so dangerous, why do I have to get close to him?”

Chase softened. “I’d let nothing happen to you, Breezy Baby. I want to go with you. You’ll never be around Kai without me watching. I just feel like he’ll tell you. He’ll open up to you.”

“What makes you so sure?” I asked.

Chase frowned and stepped closer. “I just do. I’ve seen him staring at you. Watching you. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.” No. Certainly he was wrong. Kai and I were friends, a byproduct of his relationship with Violet. We spent time together, but there was never any doubt over our friendship. He was head over heels for Violet.

“I just don’t know, Chase,” I whispered.

“I’ll keep you safe, Breezy. I won’t let anyone hurt you. We just have to try, okay? Can you do this for me? I’ll protect you. I promise.”

I nodded, but Chase had misunderstood my hesitancy. I wasn’t worried that Kai would hurt me; he seemed innocent. I wasn’t sure about getting closer to him under false pretenses. My gut was telling me that Kai wasn’t the murderer. He wouldn’t hurt me, would he?

“You won’t go without me, right? After school, we can head out there.”

“Yeah. Sure,” I replied half-heartedly. I felt like I was humoring him. It wasn’t Kai. It couldn’t have been.

So who was it?

I couldn’t bring myself to think too much