CHAPTER SIX

HAZEL

"Your secret is safe with me."

I turned around so fast I nearly lost my balance. "What secret?"

I managed to get that out, while my mind raced through everything that had just happened in that hallway. Did he see what really happened? Did the memory wipe or whatever it was not work on him?

Lucian smiled. "About how you stood Darryl up on his birthday. He told me everything."

The relief that flooded through me was so intense I almost laughed. Of course that's what he meant. What else could he have been talking about? Maybe I really had imagined everything in that hallway. "Oh. Right. That."

"Were you expecting something else?" He raised an eyebrow.

I shook my head quickly. "No, just... it's been a weird day. Look you're Darryl's friend, which means we probably shouldn't be having this conversation."

"Actually, that's exactly why we should be talking." He stepped beside me, and I noticed he had to slow down his long strides to match my pace. "I want to help you fix things with him."

I stopped walking. "And why would you want to do that? Aren't you supposed to be on his side?”

“I'm on his side and that's exactly why I'm doing this. I've known Darryl for years, and I've never seen him as alive as he was when he was yelling at you today." He grinned when I glared at him. "Hey, at least he's showing emotion, right? Better than the walking zombie he usually is."

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass on whatever this is."

"His birthday's next week, you know," Lucian called after me as I started walking away. "This might be your chance to make things right this time."

I froze immediately. Of course I knew when his birthday was - I'd never forgotten it. Back in the city, it was a day of mixed emotions. Grief for my mom, Regret about Darryl. I'd spend that day locked in my room with a single cupcake and a whole lot of what-ifs.

Wait. His birthday. The bracelet.

"I have to go," I mumbled and turned away.

"Think about what I said!" Lucian called after me, but I was already running.

I burst into my room twenty minutes later, tearing through the boxes I still hadn't unpacked. It had to be here somewhere. I'd kept it all these years, unable to throw it away even though I'd never had the chance to give it to him.

Finally, my fingers closed around something wrapped in old tissue paper. I pulled it out carefully, unwrapping it to reveal the friendship bracelet I'd made for his tenth birthday.

The threads were still bright. Red for strength, blue for loyalty, gold because it was his favorite colour.

I held it up and watched it catch the light. Eight years ago, I couldn't give him his gift. But now? Now I had a second chance.

Maybe it was stupid to think a simple bracelet could fix years of hurt. But as I traced the patterns with my finger, I remembered how much love I'd poured into making it. How many hours I'd spent getting each detail just right.

This time, I'd be there to give it to him myself. This time would be different.

I just had no idea how different it would really be.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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I couldn't stop fidgeting with the bracelet as I got ready for school. Something felt different about today - like electricity running under my skin, making everything feel sharper and more alive. Maybe it was just because it was Darryl's birthday, but this feeling had been building since I woke up, this pull toward something. I didn't know what.

"Hazel?" Dad's voice carried up the stairs. "You're going to be late!"

I shoved the bracelet into my jacket pocket and grabbed my bag, taking the stairs two at a time. Dad was at the kitchen counter, coffee in hand, and his eyebrows shot up when he saw me.

"You're... bouncing," he said slowly. "Are you okay?"

"Never better," I replied, pouring myself some orange juice and downing it in one go. The weird energy in me made it impossible to stay still.

Dad's eyes narrowed to me. "Hazel, what's going on?"

"Nothing! Just... feeling good today." I kissed his cheek quickly and headed for the door before he could ask more questions I couldn't answer.

First period was a blur. Second period was worse. I couldn't focus on anything the teachers were saying - my mind kept drifting to the bracelet in my pocket and the empty seat where Darryl should have been. He never missed school, not the Darryl I remembered. Even Katrina was nowhere to be seen, which was weird. The whole thing felt off.

By lunch, the pull in my chest had grown stronger. I sat with Amy, the only person who'd been genuinely nice to me since I started back. She was sorting through her lunch when she noticed my distraction.

"Hazel," she waved her hand in front of my face. "You've been staring at the door for ten minutes straight."

"Have I?" I forced myself to look at my untouched sandwich instead.

"You're looking for him, aren't you? Darryl?" When I didn't answer, she sighed. "Girl, you need to let that go. He's not worth it."

I stabbed at my food with a fork. "You don't know him like I do."

"No, but I know what happens to girls who get close to him." Amy leaned forward and lowered her voice. "Haven't you heard the rumors? Every girl he's ever dated... they end up dead."

I choked on my water. "What?"

"His last girlfriend, Sarah? 'Animal attack' in the woods. The girl before that? Car accident, body never found. Even Katrina - thank God they never actually dated. Who knows what would've happened to her."

"Wait." My heart flipped. "Katrina's not his girlfriend?"

Amy snorted. "God no. She wishes. They're just weirdly close. Like, creepy close. But dating? Never happened."

Relief flooded through me, followed immediately by guilt. What was wrong with me? Girls were dying and I was happy about relationship status?

"That's ridiculous," I said. "Those were accidents."

"Is it? Ask around. Nobody talks about it openly because everyone's scared of him. There's something... not right about Darryl Hale. The way he disappears sometimes, it's just so fishy. He's gorgeous, but definitely cursed or something."

But I wasn't really listening anymore. That pull in my chest had suddenly become overwhelming, like someone had tied a rope around my heart and was yanking it forward. Without thinking, I stood up.

"Hazel? Where are you going?"

"I don't know." And I actually didn't. I just knew I had to follow this feeling before it drove me insane.

My feet were moving on their own, following that invisible thread that seemed to be guiding me. Through the cafeteria doors and then down the empty hallway.

I ended up at the back entrance to the school, breathing hard like I'd run a mile. The door burst open and Darryl stumbled through, looking as wrecked as I felt. His eyes were wild, his hair a mess like he'd been running his hands through it.

The moment our eyes met, everything else disappeared. That pull in my chest exploded into something else - something huge and terrifying and wonderful all at once.

Then Katrina burst through the door behind him, face flushed like she'd been chasing him. But I barely noticed her because Darryl was staring at me like he was seeing me for the first time. His mouth opened and one word came out from his lips.

"Mate."