Welcome to New Haven (54 page)

“Yes.” Said Dev. As Alex kneeled in front of Holly, his hands cupped her face.
 

“Holly.” He said, gently.
 
“Baby…breath.” Holly was gasping for breath, her hands grasping the arms of the chair, knuckles turning white.
 
Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks.
 

“Oh my God.” Said Dev and Alex saw that she was tearing up too.
 

Alex rubbed his thumbs across Holly’s cheekbones.
 

“Shh, babe.
 
Breathe for me. Take deep breaths.” He said quietly.
 
Alex was on the verge of a panic attack himself.
 
Holly,
his
Holly had gotten so upset because of Stacey.
 
She
did this to her.
 

Holly saw the worry on Alex’s face, and she finally started to find her breath.
 

“That’s it babe.
 
Deep breaths.” He said.
 

As her breathing evened out, she let go of the chair and raised her hand to stroke down Alex’s face.
 

“You had me worried.” He whispered.
 

“If she touches you, even one strand of hair…” Said Holly. Thoughts of Stacey hurting Alex had sent her into a full blown panic attack, and
 
Alex had somehow brought her out of it… again.
 

“She won’t, babe.
 
I’ll get the order, and she won’t be able to come near us again.
 

“Here’s the footage.” Said Mr. Lawson. They all turned to the screen and sure enough; Stacey appeared with a golf club and what looked like a switch blade.
 

First, she stabbed all of the tyres.
 

She walked around to the passenger side of the car and then swung the golf club down onto the windscreen. Glass exploded everywhere, and Stacey’s head snapped to the side as if she’d been hit.
 
She then walked to the front of the car and, with her switch blade, scratched ‘BITCH’ into the bonnet.
 

Stacey picked up her golf club and ran off.
 
“It’s a wonder she didn’t try to disguise herself.” Said the officer.
 

“We had this system installed at the weekend.
 
Students were not made aware of the external CCTV.” Said Mr. Lawson.
 

The officers asked for a copy of the footage and contact details for Holly and Alex.
 
They were going to have a team sent to take photographic evidence of the car and then transport it to a garage for repairs.

The atmosphere was tense on the ride home.
 

“If she touches you, I’ll have to hurt her.”
 
Said Holly.
 

“Me too.” Said Dev.
 
“She’s completely lost it. Who the fuck does
that
?”
 

“Crazy people.” Said Alex, coldly.
 
“How did I not see this coming?” Alex was so frustrated.

Stacey had been chasing and harassing him for the past two years, since she started at New Haven.
 
She’d moved one from another school after moving from San Francisco and made a play for him straight away.
 
She’d been through the football team within the first six months and that was just what people knew about.
 

“Nobody knew, Alex.” Said Dev. “We thought she was obsessed with you, yes, but we didn’t think she’d do this.”
 

“But look what happened! Look what she did to Holly’s car!” He said, raining his voice.
 
He took a deep breath to try to calm himself down.
 
There was a long silence in the car.
 

“Guys…” Dev said gently, sitting herself in the centre seat, leaning into the space between the front seats. “Please don’t let this split you up.”

Alex and Holly turned to each other.
 

“Never gonna happen” they said at the same time and they smiled as they held hands.
 

“Thank God! You guys love each other
way
too much to let her win.”
 

Alex noticed when Holly’s eyes widened at what Dev had said.
 
He thought that Dev had spilled his secret but had she spilled a secret of Holly’s too?

Does she love me?
No, she can’t…Can she?
 

“Oh shit.” Dev whispered. “You guys know that’s just a figure of speech, right?”
 

“Yeah.” Said Holly.
 

“Yeah, sure.” Said Alex as he quickly glanced to the side at Holly.
 
She turned to look at him.
 
He squeezed her hand and gave her a wink.
 

Holly masked her smile by biting her lip as she looked away. She adjusted their hands so that their fingers interlocked and squeezed him back.
 

Chapter 19

They pulled up outside Holly’s house, and they all got out. There was no way Alex was going to leave Holly alone to face her parents. He felt responsible because it was he who Stacey was after.
 
He felt sick thinking that Holly could be in danger because of him.
 

Holly opened the door and they all went through into the living room.
 

“Mum!” Holly shouted.
 

“Hiya love.” Kim said as she came through from the hallway.
 
“How was school? Hi Dev.”

Kim looked to Alex and smiled mischievously.

“Hello again…Alex.” Kim looked between them all.
 
“What’s going on? Has something happened? Are you ok?” She asked, frantically.
 
Her face paling in fear.
 

“Mum, you need to sit down and don’t freak out until I’ve finished.”
 

“Holly. Just tell me.” Kim said.
 

Holly felt Alex’s hand tighten around hers as she prepared to tell her Mum.
 

“Do you remember me telling you you about a girl that was all over Alex and how he didn’t like it?”
 

“Yes.”
 

“Well…um…”
 
Holly blew out a breath and closed her eyes.
 

“Ok, her name’s Stacey and she’s a loon…”
 

Holly told her Mum everything from when she started right up until the incident with her car.
 

“
What
?!!” Kim screamed.
 
“Where does she fuckin’ live?! I’m gonna rip ‘er a new one, the cheeky
twat
! Wait ’til Oli ‘ears about this.
 
He’s gonna go ape shit!” Kim shouted.
 
Her own accent thickening with rage as she paced up and down the dining area.
 

“Mum, calm down.
 
The police are going to her house,
and
I don’t know where she lives.
 
They’re taking pictures of my car for evidence to go with the CCTV.
 
They’re taking it to a garage afterwards.” Holly explained.
 

“You’re not having that car.
 
No fuckin’ way. We’ll get you a new one.” Kim said as she sat down.
 

“And what if she does it again?” asked Holly.
 

Alex shifted uncomfortably at the mention of another attack against Holly.
 
She knew he wouldn’t let that happen.
 

“If she comes near you again, Holly, I’ll hunt her down myself.” Said Kim through gritted teeth.
 

“It might have even been a one time thing.” Holly said, trying to keep her Mum calm. “She was mad, and she trashed my car. Once the police pick her up, they’ll tell us more.”
 

“It doesn’t change the fact that
that
was what she was willing to do.
 
This is because she’s obsessed with you?” Kim asked Alex.

Oh no, please don’t.

“Yes.” He said quietly.

Kim looked back and forth between Alex and Holly.

Holly felt sick at what she thought her Mum was thinking.
 

“Mum…” She said with a warning tone. “No.”

Kim took a breath and blew it out.
 

“I want you kept safe.” Kim said, and she held up her hand to stop Holly from speaking.
 
“Alex, has this girl ever done this before?”
 

“Not that I know of.” He replied.
 

Holly was terrified where her Mum was going with this.
 

“She doesn’t accept ‘no’.” Said Dev. “She has this delusional sense that all guys are chasing her, and when they say no, she says that
they’re
in denial.”
 

Kim rubbed her forehead, and Holly and Alex squeezed each other’s hand, looking to each other with concern.
 

“It’s obviously stupid to suggest you stay away from each other…” Kim said, with a smile. “If I
had
told you to do that, would you?”
 

“Not a chance.” Said Alex at the same time Holly said, “No way.”
 

“Good. You’d be giving in to her and she’s not having the satisfaction.” Kim said flatly.
 
“Oli’s going to be home soon. He’s dealt with plenty of cases like this before. I’ll ask him what to expect.”

“Thanks, Mum.” Holly said as she hugged her Mum with one arm.
 
Her other still holding on to Alex.
 

“I’m sorry it’s come to this Alex. I really am. However, I don’t want Holly anywhere on her own, or yourselves. If she’s one of the worse cases, your friends need to take care too.”
 

“I won’t leave her alone, Kim.” Alex promised.
 

“Either one of us will be with her.
 
If not, the others in our group will be.”
 
Said Dev.
 

“You too.” Kim said as she pointed to Alex and Dev.
 
“Nowhere on your own.”
 

Holly was happy her Mum hadn’t tried to get her to stay away from Alex. It wasn’t going to happen.
 
No matter what Stacey did, it wouldn’t break them up.
   

She’d had started on Holly from day one and didn’t like how she’d had fought back against her.
 
It was only a matter of time before she resorted to some kind of retaliation.

“So, what are you all doing tonight?” Kim asked.
 

“Actually, Alex and I are going… on a date.” Holly said shyly, and Alex blushed.
 

“Reallllly?” Smiled Kim.
 
“Well, nowhere too crowded
or
too remote.
 
Somewhere not too popular where she could guess.”
 

“We’ll be safe.” Said Alex.

Holly cringed when she saw the glint in her Mum’s eyes.
 

“
More
than safe.” Said Kim as she was holding back a grin.
 

“Oh, goodness, Mother.” Said Holly with a hand over her eyes in embarrassment.
 

“What time are you going out?”

“I was going to suggest I pick you up at six. If that’s ok.” Alex said, turning to Holly.

“Ok,” Holly replied as she beamed at her gorgeous boyfriend.

My boyfriend.!

“We should go then.” Said Dev.
 
It’s four thirty now and you both need to get changed, so let’s go, Alex.”
 

“Oh yeah, good point.” He said.
 
Holly walked them to the door.
 

“See you at six, babe.” He whispered as he leaned in to kiss Holly.

As soon as they’re lips touched, Holly was on fire.
 
She lifted her arms and rested them on Alex’s shoulders, threading her fingers into his hair.
 
He held her close with one strong, muscular arm and cupped her head with the other.
 

Their tongues stroked each other gently, and with so much tenderness, Holly’s knees were shaking.
 
Holly pressed closer and held tighter.
 
Wanting more. Needing more.

“Uh, guys.” Dev said.
 
“I think you need to cool down before this is no longer a family show.” She chuckled.
 

They reluctantly pulled apart from each other.
 

“Later” Holly whispered.
 

“Defo.” Alex replied with a cheeky smile, and Holly giggled at his use of her slang.

After Alex and Dev drove away, Holly rushed upstairs to shower and chose her outfit for her date.

Hmmm what to wear.

Holly smiled as she thought about the track that afternoon.

“She did
what?’
Shouted Evie when Alex and Dev told her why they were home later than usual.
 
“Is Holly ok? What about her parents?”
 

“Holly’s fine, Mom.” Said Alex.
 
He told his Mom about the discussion they’d had, and he made sure to emphasize the part that nothing was keeping him and Holly apart.
 

“So you’re still going out?” asked Rami.
 

“Yes, of course.” Said Alex.
 
“She’s not ruining anything for us.
 
We’ll be careful and go where we can see her coming, if she does.”
 

“Like where?” asked Dev.

“I’m taking her to Quincy’s.

"Quincy’s was a restaurant that was well known for it’s romantic, yet relaxed, ambience. With candles and rose petals on the tables tops.
 
Quiet booths for extra privacy and soft background music.
 
It wasn’t necessary to dress up formally, and that’s what the customers liked.
 

After Phys. Ed, Alex had called up to see, by any chance,
 
if they had any tables and luckily for him, they had a corner booth left at six thirty.