bad idea

Chapter 33

Kai's Pov

You know when you have a gut feeling about something deep down, but you ignore it because you think it's too absurd or you want to prove a point?

I should've listened to my gut Friday.

Ariana and I's 'date' on Thursday went well, in fact, it was probably the highlight of my week. But when she told me, she wasn't gonna attend Normani's party with me, I didn't take that lightly. Why would she wait last minute to tell me something like that, knowing I'd anticipated for us to go together? So that night ended, in not only us arguing til late at night, but I went home and Victoria came over.

Zayn was already hesitant about us going to the party, since well, the price on my head, but nevertheless, I still wanted to go. We kept this between us and figured it would be handled after the party. But, this should've already been my biggest red flag, not to go to this party. Shawn, Lauren, and Camila were all down though, in fact, they were just as excited as I was. Victoria was coming along as well, and so was pretty much the entire senior class... except Ariana, of course.

Anyways, the night with Victoria went well and so did the school day. The cheerleaders finally started back up their Friday dares, plus everyone was hyped about it being Halloween, so it felt like things were on a cloud nine. Although Ariana and I still weren't speaking, it wasn't like I had to see her. Classes were rowdy, teachers were pretty much fed up, and Mr. Taylor was still Mr. Taylor. Madison still had yet to come to school, and it was a bit worrying, but we figured she was sick or something.

My second red flag was Tommy. It was during lunch he came up to me, and pulled me aside, expressing how nervous he was for Normani's party. He explained that the girl thrived to outdo sophomore year's party, so he knew that she'd have a bunch of crazy shit. Tommy was never the Halloween type, and I noticed this while watching movies with Ariana and her friends. He kept opting to keep this year in the house and skip her party, but I brushed it off. So after Tommy finished sharing his concerns, I promised that my friends and I would leave by ten, and he promised the same thing, saying we could all meet up at mine, which I agreed to.

Looking back, I should've said nine, because shit started to get weird around then, but no one noticed including myself, and I only realized this after that night.

Oh, and my third red flag, was the end-of-the-day, annual Halloween assembly. It was like Principal Cabello foreshadowed the whole night... this speech was different compared to last year's, it was much more... off. It wasn't necessarily Principal Cabello, but my stomach just felt off, as if I'd come down with a stomach bug or something. All-day there had been a rush of anxiety throughout random moments, and I also blamed this on the argument with my girlfriend, maybe it was taking a toll on me and I didn't realize.

And if you think that was my last red flag, you were wrong.

"It's literally eight and he's still not ready. If we're leaving by ten then we need to go now," Lauren groaned, collapsing on the couch as we all waited for Zayn.

"Why are we leaving at ten, again?" Camila asked, looking my way.

"Tommy wants to go to mine, Halloween isn't really his thing,"

"Fine with me, I hate parties," Shawn shrugged.

Lauren chuckled, "Well maybe you shouldn't be bobbing for apples while trying to ski on the railings,"

"To be fair, the ski trip was probably one of our best," Camila added. "Hey, where's Ariana?"

"With Ryder." Lauren looked at me in amusement, probably thinking I was jealous. I wasn't. Ryder was definitely under me in looks... he was dating Frankie anyways, so why would I be jealous?