"No, you didn"t. Just surprised me." I attempt a smile. "So, how"s your Spring Break?"
Lame. I suck at chit-chat.
"Pretty good so far." She tucks her feet under her b.u.t.t and slides closer to me. I try to move away without bein" so obvious about it. "Parties the past couple nights. I was hoping to see you there, but someone thinks he"s too good for that stuff." She shoves my leg and laughs.
I chuckle with her. Can"t help it. "Nah, just not the party type. You know that."
She rolls her eyes. "Yes, I know. One of these days I"ll get you to come with me." Her face goes bright red. "I mean go with me, not come..." She slaps her forehead while I laugh my face off. "Please change the subject before I die."
"Okay, when Mom and Dad gave me their itinerary for the weekend, they included every time they"d be... *sleeping"."
Quynn perks up, face still red, but she"s laughing. "Ew!"
"You"re tellin" me."
"At least you know when not to call them."
We bust up, and I hop off the couch. "You want somethin" to drink?" It"s like it was before, funnily enough. Better actually because I"m not nervous around her. I see her, talk with her, but I"m not wanting her. It"s kind of a relief.
"Sure, thanks." She grabs a blanket off the back of the couch and wraps it around her shoulders. It"s the same blanket Hayley used when we played twenty questions, and just when I think I"ve got a grip on the situation, my heart does a funky knot thing. Not sure if Hayles would like me hangin" with Quynn alone. Pretty sure that"s a big no-no in convincing her she"s the one I want.
And I"m not stupid. I know Quynn is flirtin" with me.
This is screwed up. I"m not like Gabe. I"m not like bio-dad.
But I"m not rude either, and I don"t want to just kick her out.
All of this is goin" through my brain as I make like a robot and get us some Cherry Pepsi from the fridge.
"So, uh..." I stutter as I sit back down, in the recliner this time, "what do you got goin" on the rest of the day?"
Please say she has plans.
"Nothing! Totally wide open. Why? You want to do something?"
Ah h.e.l.l.
"N-not sure if I can." Complete lie, Brody. Just tell her the truth. You"re seein" someone else. "It"s Friday night."
Again, that"s my copout because I have no plans with Tanner at all. I"m such a wuss.
"Another game night." She sighs. "You should really go with me to Jamie"s party tonight. I wasn"t planning on going, but if you"re there..."
Her eyes do that puppy dog thing. It sucks. Hayley does that too, but she doesn"t ever mean to. Her eyes are just naturally big and round, suck-you-in green and innocent. They"re hot eyes, if eyes can be hot. Maybe it"s *cause she smiles with them.
I shake my head and focus on Quynn, who is now chewin" on her bottom lip.
Hayles never bites her lip. Only that once, and it was weird.
"I don"t-"
"I"m not letting you say no." She points a finger at me. "You skip out on all the fun stuff. You"re going and that"s that."
She stands up, crossing her arms, giving me the *I"m teasin" but I"m serious about it too" look. She tosses her blonde hair over her shoulder and leans down, holding the arms of the recliner.
"Please, Brody?"
Girls suck. I don"t like her like I used to-I know that for sure-but how do they have such power over guys? One word. That cursed word. Please. Ugh.
"I"m bringin" Tanner."
She smiles and claps her hands together. "Point, Quynn."
I chuckle, but it"s forced. Then she babbles on about parties or some other stuff. I"m not payin" attention. All that"s goin" through my stupid head is what Hayley will think if she finds out.
Oh! Maybe she"ll come with me. I could text her right now!
No, wait. She said she had somethin" goin" on tonight, which is why we"re goin" out tomorrow.
d.a.m.n it.
But I will call Tanner. This will not be a date. *Cause I"m over Quynn. I"ve got Hayles. Or at least, I want to have Hayles.
Then why can"t I just spit out the words? Why can"t I tell anyone? Not Mom or Dad, not Quynn. Not even Tanner knows. Only person who does is my douche of a brother, and that"s *cause he saw me with her. What"s wrong with me?
"Okay, I"ll see you later then!"
I must be on autopilot, *cause I"ve walked her to the door and helped her with her jacket without even realizin" it.
"Uh, yeah, okay."
She skips off the porch to her car, then waves at me as she drives off.
Yup, I"m a wuss.
Reason 21: You can put b.o.o.b marks in all my shirts and I won"t care.
What do you wear to a party you don"t want to go to? Nothin"? Yeah, showin" up buck a.s.s naked will be a sure sign of, *I"m not into you. Sorry if I led you on." This stuff is messed up, I"m tellin" ya.
I called Tanner, but he didn"t pick up. Sent him a text instead, which I"m sure shocked the c.r.a.p out of him. Probably made him wonder if it was really me.
Then, just for the fun of it, I invited Hayles too. I know the answer will be no, but I"m kind of hopin" her plans got changed or somethin". She hasn"t said a word since I dropped her off-late-on Monday. No text, no calls... I may as well have had fifty conversations by myself.
I"m hopin" we"re at least still on for tomorrow. It"ll be no tattoo parlor, but I"ve got my list ready for her.
I run my hand over my wrist before grabbin" my wristband to cover up the tatt. I"m finally able to wear it again without it itchin". Then I put on the first shirt and jeans that don"t smell like b.u.t.t and get out of my room. I"ve cleaned it-Mom will be proud-but I"m still in the midst of laundry. There were a lot of clothes under the bed. Among other things.
Grabbin" the keys, I do a mental checklist of everythin" in the house. Back door, locked. Windows closed. Hall light on. No text from Hayles or Tanner. And fly... whoops, better zip that up.
All right, I"m done stallin". Better get this over with.
It"s still raining. Pouring buckets as Dad would say. Nothin" like living in the central point of G.o.d"s showerhead.
And because I"m majorly pathetic, I take the long route to Jamie"s house. I have to drive by Hayley"s just to see if she"s really not some s.e.xually frustrated fantasy I"ve concocted over the past few weeks.
Nope, her house is still there. Lights out except for the porch light. Guess Hayles did have somethin" goin" on tonight. Not that she"d lie about it, but I know she hides things from me.
I"m about to turn off the road when something in her driveway catches my eye. A shadowy figure crouched on the ground, shakin" and tryin" to keep dry under the very little covering the garage has.
Holy s.h.i.t.
I slam on the brakes and back up. Then I park the big truck against the curb. I"m texting and sprinting at the same time, tellin" Quynn I won"t be there, then jammin" my phone in my pocket before lifting a soaking wet chin up so her eyes meet mine.
"Hayles, what the h-?"
"B-Brody? What are y-you doing h-here?"
"Are you locked out?"
She nods, teeth chattering as her whole body goes into tremors.
"Why didn"t you call someone?"
She tucks her hand in her pocket, pullin" out her phone. "W-waterlogged."
c.r.a.p, is this what happened before?
"When will your mom be home?"
She shrugs... I think. She"s shivering too much for me to tell. I grab her and pull her to her feet.
"Come on. I"m takin" you to my house."
She doesn"t argue, but she doesn"t let me hold on to her either. She curls into herself and I can"t be sure, because of the rain, but I think she"s cryin".
The heater"s up all the way as I go back to my house, tryin" not to hydroplane. When we get there, she still won"t let me touch her. Just walks alongside me and stands in my doorway while I run to get her a towel.
"You know what?" I say after tryin" to dry her off, and it not working at all. "Just go take a warm shower."
Her eyes flick up to meet mine. Those s.e.xy eyes I"ve been thinkin" about. "Y-your p-parents w-won"t m-mind?"
Wish she"d let me rub her arms. She"s freezin". "They"re not here. Please, go warm up."
"I-I don"t h-have any e-extra clothes."
"You can borrow some of mine, and I"ll stick yours in the dryer."
She rolls her eyes and attempts a smile. "I-I won"t f-fit in y-your clothes."
"Knock it off." I go for her hand, but she pulls it out of my way. "Go take a shower, all right? I"ll give you a sweater and some pants and I guarantee they"ll be fine."
She shakes her head, but goes upstairs to the bathroom while I run and grab the cleanest stuff I can find.
"Here," I say as I open the door a crack to hand her my clothes. When I feel the weight off my arm I pull it back out and leave her to it. I hear a small *thanks" before I get back downstairs.
This is the part where I speed clean. After getting into some dry clothes of my own of course. Livin" by myself for the past few days made the whole house try to do an a.s.s room impression. I get the couch cleared off and the kitchen sink emptied, then hurry to my room to do a double check. And spray cologne all over it. Again, not like I"m expectin" her to be in here, but what if she needs to stay the night? She can take my bed, and I"ll sleep in Mom and Dad"s. Or take the couch. No biggie.
I hear the water shut off just as I clear out the dryer so it"s open for her clothes. She"s goin" to be wearin" my underwear, my sweater, no bra. Whoa, things are shiftin" around and I haven"t even seen her yet.
And d.a.m.n it, I can"t be some h.o.r.n.y jackhole right now. There"s somethin" really screwed up goin" on in her life, and she"s going to tell me about it. Even if I have to force her into twenty questions.
"Hey."
She"s got an arm wrapped around her chest and the other holdin" out her soggy clothes. The hoodie isn"t tight, not baggy, but not tight, and the pants fit. I give her an *I told you so" look before grabbin" her stuff and throwin" it in the dryer. The bra misses, hittin" the floor, and I quickly pick it up by two fingers and chuck it in, slamming the door behind it. She"s laughin" at me as I start the dryer.
"It"s just a bra."
"Yeah, yeah." I motion her to the couch. "You want somethin" to drink?" Dude this sounds familiar. Was doin" this with another girl not five hours ago. But it"s different now.
"Something warm, please."
"*Course."
Only thing I got is apple cider. I call from the kitchen to make sure she"s okay with that. She is, so I make two mugs and try to sit as close as she"ll allow me to.
"Ooh, yummy. Thank you." She"s smilin" her Hayles smile and tuggin" at the hoodie.
"Is it itchy or somethin"?" I point to her stomach where she"s pullin" the sweater away from her body.
"No, I just don"t want to put b.o.o.b marks in it." She laughs. "But I think it"s impossible. It"ll be a little stretched out in the chest region for you."
"You can keep it if you want," I say before taking a gulp of the boiling cider. My eyes water and I shut them as I try to push back the burn in my throat. She starts laughin".
"You know, you can sip that and I won"t think you"ll be any less of a man."
I push her leg and set the mug down. "Are you warm enough?"
She nods, blowing across her drink before taking a sip.
"All right, then, now is when you tell me what you were doin" out in the rain like that."
It"s amazin" how just in the few weeks I"ve known her-really known her-I can tell when she"s about to shrug off a question like it"s no big deal. Her eyes go to the most borin" thing in the room, and the corner of her lip tugs upward with her shoulder. She opens her mouth, to tell me the big lie she"s got ready for me, and I cut her off.
"Hayles. I mean it." I take the cup out of her hands and put it on the coffee table next to mine. Sliding my fingers on her knee, I make sure she"s lookin" at me before I say anythin" else. Takes a minute, but she finally locks gazes. "Don"t hide this from me anymore. Somethin"s wrong, and I can"t stand to see you like this."