"I'm sorry, I did not mean to hurt my little girl. It's beyond me, I cannot carry the weight of the heavy world. So goodnight, goodnight, goodnight, goodnight. Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight,"
Adam heard his voice flowing out of his phone speakers. That ring tone had been set for one person and one person only.
Baylee.
The ringtone used to belong to Sarah, but she was gone. He had transferred the ringtone to Baylee's number so that he would always know that it was her. But she went stomping out of the house yesterday morning, and left both Adam and Lena broken hearted. Why would she be calling him?
Adam rolled over and picked his phone up off of the mahogany nightstand that had been there since before Adam had met Sarah. He got off the bed and walked out of the bedroom and into the hallway so that he wouldn't disturb Lena.
Adam clicked the green answer button and held the phone up next to his ear. "Hello?" Adam said in a groggy, morning voice.
"Dad?" Adam heard Baylee whisper. She sounded as if she'd been crying or as if she had been hurt.
"Baylee? Sweetie, what's wrong?" Adam asked. He was going into full dad mode. If somebody had hurt his daughter, he was going to go after them. Nobody lays a finger on Adam Levine's child.
"I-I-I need y-you to c-come p-pick me u-up. I'm in t-trouble," Baylee said. To Adam, it sounded like she was about to burst into a fit of sobs.
"Where are you Baylee? I'll come get you right now," Adam said as he walked back into the bedroom and started rummaging through his dresser drawers, looking for a clean shirt to wear.
"I-I'm at the Beverly Hilton. I made a big mistake dad. I need you," Baylee said as Adam found a clean shirt and a pair of jeans.
"I'll be there in 20 minutes, sweetheart. Hold tight," Adam said before he hung up and threw his phone onto the foot of the bed. He quickly pulled the pair of jeans on along with the t-shirt before slipping on a pair of Nikes.
He looked over at Lena to make sure she was fast asleep. If Baylee had gotten into that much trouble, Adam knew he couldn't let Lena find out. She had already put them under so much stress, this would've pushed Lena over the edge. Especially since Adam was the one who suggested adopting a teenager. Obviously he didn't know what this teenager would have in store for them.
He tucked his phone into his back pocket and grabbed his wallet along with his keys before sprinting downstairs and into the garage. Adam climbed into his navy blue Porsche and quickly shoved the key into the ignition. He brought the car to life and took off out of the garage.
Whatever trouble Baylee was in, he was going to get her out. No matter what.
***
Baylee hung up her phone and stuffed it back into her clutch. She wiped away her tears and gathered up her clothes before running to the nearest bathroom. She slammed the door shut and pushed the lock in before turning to look at herself in the mirror.
She didn't even recognize the reflection looking back at her. The reflection was a seemingly broken girl. Smeared mascara took home underneath her eyes and droplet of it spread down her cheeks. Red lipstick was smeared across both her lips and went far beyond the corners of her mouth.
Her hair was matted and in knots. This wasn't the Baylee she had known. This was Baylee, the drug-obsessed party girl. The girl that longed to fit in with the older crowd. The Baylee that tried to act much beyond her years. Clearly, acting beyond her years hadn't gone as planned.
Baylee looked closely at herself in the mirror and saw that her neck and collarbones were doused with deep purple bruises and bright pink splotches. Yet another aftermath of her plan gone wrong. She surely hadn't expected her vodka to be roofied. She never would've thought her group of friends would do that. She realized now that they weren't true friends.
