"Maddie...please! He's hiding somewhere and I'm sure he will never come back in Haverhill!" I tried to convince my newest friend as she kept ranting about Dylan, her worst nightmare. Dylan knew he was still under the radar of the police, they would catch him without hesitating if he decided to come back. He must be hidden somewhere secluded from the civilisation.

"She shouldn't be worrying about him," Nate said in almost an inaudible voice and I frowned at his weird comment, "He will never hurt her again," he added as he finished Sawyer's joint.

"Where are you, Elle?" Maddie asked clearing my thoughts.

"I'm at Nate's. We have to meet someone who will possibly help us to find the masked man." I jabbed before hearing the bell ringing, Carter and the boys instantly stood up and left me.

"Nathan Walker?" She questioned and I closed my eyes to inhale deeper.

"Yes... I will probably spend the entire day with them to try to find something. Lila is arriving tomorrow... maybe we could meet up at the Smiths? The four of us?" Voices erupted from the corridor proving me the boys were coming back.

"Cool!! See you tomorrow, Elle! Text me if you need something!" We hung up after our byes and at the same time the boys entered in the room with a blond guy following their shadows.

"Hi! You must be Carter's girl? Elle?" He stepped forward to shake my hand. "I'm Jason Masters, you can call me Jase." I caught sight of the piercing on his lower lip, tattoos occupied almost the entire surface of his arms too. He was good looking but not my type.

"Nice to meet you!" I replied after clearing my throat and his grey eyes examined my face before he inquired:

"Same. Carter told me everything. I'm gonna try to find an IP or something. Can you show me the texts, please?"

———————

We spent the entire day looking for anything. Jase was certain the masked man used different phones to text and call, he was sure he changed them so we couldn't track him. At 2pm Vaughn finally graced us with his presence and for the first time he wasn't hostile towards me.

At 9:30pm Carter decided to bring me back home. He wanted me to sleep another night with him but I couldn't. I needed to take care of Cali and the house but I still promised him I would call if anything looked anormal. It's been three months since my arrival in Haverhill and I could still remember the first weeks. I still didn't know why he decided to bully me. To be honest even if we got really close there was a lot of unanswered questions. That needed to be answered.

It was 10pm when I finished my long bath. I climbed up my bed before reaching out for my phone and dialing Nicole's number.

"Hello Elle!!" My friend answered after the first beep.

"Nicole!!! How are you? What happened last night? Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry I should've called you sooner!" Her voice made me apologize in a heart beat.

"I'm good. Don't worry Elle. Carter told us he would take care of you but I wanted to go with him so you wouldn't be alone but they said it was better if I went home. In the end Sawyer had the idea to go to this bar and they asked me if I wanted to come with them... I don't even know why I agreed though." She ranted before pausing to take a breath.

"And you got drunk?" A small laugh escaped my lips.

"Y-yeah!! I don't really remember what happened next but the following day I woke up at Vaughn's. He didn't hurt me or bully me." She clarified after clearing her throat.

"Thanks God! I would have killed him if he had! Are you free tomorrow? Lila, Maddie and I planned to go to the Smiths at 10am, it would be nice if you joined us!"

"I will! Elle...I'm so glad to be able to call you and the girls my friends. I love our little group so much! Our friendship means a lot to me..." Nicole confessed shyly and melted my heart.

"You're going to make me cry, Nicole! I love you and the girls so much too. We all complete each other!" I stated while crossing my legs.

"I love you too, Elle! I have to go, I really feel like trash today! See you tomorrow! Bye!"

I decided to read a book before going to bed and as I was almost falling into sleep I was shocked to hear the bell ringing. It was 11pm who could it be? My heart started beating faster while I created new and painful scenarios in my head. Could it be the masked man? The last time he didn't bother to ring.

I tiptoed toward the front door holding my phone and a knife I captured while passing through the kitchen. Ready to press on the bottom to call Carter, Cali started barking furiously.

"It's Madden, Elle." I heard before dropping the knife and opening the door as I tried to calm my breath.

"You scared me Madden!" I voiced after opening the door and he hugged me before I could protest.

"I missed you, Elle! How are you?" He responded and I instantly closed the door after letting him in.

"I'm fine! I missed you too! It's been a while since we had a conversation." I said while shivers licked my arms.

"I know right, I should have probably waited for tomorrow to visit you but I didn't know if you had plans with Carter so... " Madden apologized before sitting on my couch and I made my way to the kitchen to make a warm tea that my throat begged to get.

"Don't worry! I wasn't sleeping. I'm making tea, do want something ?" I whisper-shouted.

"Same for me. Thank you El! So do you have some news about your stalker?" Carter's brother added as I headed next to him with our teas.

"We spent our day looking for anything. Unfortunately we haven't found something that could change the situation." I confessed after taking a gulp of my tea, its warmth making my eyes close.

"I'm sure we will find the person behind it. " Madden said with assurance before placing his hand on my tight and taken by surprise I gasped his hand.

"You're really gorgeous, Elle..." He explained and I almost shocked on my tea. I could feel my cheeks getting hotter and hotter as he decided to place his bowl on the little table in front of us. I followed his movements.

"Thank you, Madden. You're adorable." I thanked and my heart stopped as Madden's lips crashed into mine, his mouth devoured mine with an unexplainable urge. I pushed him away before slapping him hard, I stood up and massaged my wrist from the violent gesture. Madden's right cheek was red and it made me feel guilty, for a second.

"Fuck. I'm sorry, Elle..."

"Madden... I'm sorry but we can't, I really love Carter!" I still couldn't believe he dared to kiss me.

"I know. I'm so sorry! It's been a while since I have feelings for you, Elle. I'm sorry I really didn't come here with bad intentions. I just wanted to see how you were but you always take my breath away and I can't stop thinking about you..." he admitted before inhaling and my knees started shaking.

"Madden... I really love you as my friend! You know you're important to me but I'm sorry I can't reciprocate your feelings. The ones you want. Carte-"

"I know you love him. It's ok, Elle. I really don't deserve our friendship... I'm sorry ." Madden repeated again.

"It's ok...it's late and I'm tired." I tried to avoid his eyes as I tightened my ponytail.

"I'm leaving! We will see each other at school, if you still want to be friends." Madden expounded as he walked to the front door.

"Madden... of course I want! Our friendship means a lot to me!" He hugged me one last time after apologizing for the hundredth time and I gave him a fake smile in return.

A heavy feeling stayed on my chest even if I knew it wasn't my fault if he decided to kiss me. I just felt like I betrayed Carter...why boys always complicate things?

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