One Drunken Night

Chapter 21 (Terrible Teacher)

I walked in the house as Hailey continued to skip towards the living room. Wow, Hailey is in such a good mood after that conversation outside. I just shook my head and followed after a joyful Hailey and went to kiss my each of my parents on the cheek.

"Hey, Steph, what's gotten Hailey into such a good mood?" Mom asked me as she watched Hailey skip towards the kitchen.

I shrugged. "I was wondering the same thing, Mom. Don't worry, we're all concerned for her well-being."

Hailey came stroding back into the living room with an apple in her hand. "Today is just so wonderful, can't you see that the sun is shining, the birds are singing--"

"Okay, Steph, what did you give your cousin?" Dad asked, turning towrads me.

I widened my eyes and pointed towards my chest. "Me? Are you implying that I gave drugs to Hailey?"

He raised his hands. "Hey, in my defense I never mentioned drugs. You were the one who brought it up in the first place."

"By the way, I won't be early in coming home tomorrow since I got something to do after school, great, okay, bye!" I pulled Hailey towards the stairs, eager to get away from my parents since they'll ask so many questions. I froze in place when Dad called me. "Yeah?"

"What are you gonna do tomorrow? Is there a boy invovled?"

See, this is why I hate it whenever I have to ask permission from my parents, their first question is always and mostly "Who's the boy?"

"She's gonna--" I clamped my hand over Hailey's mouth, giving her a silent message with my eyes telling her to shut it. She nodded her head in understanding. She almost told my prents that I have a tutor which leads them to aks why which leads to the answer of me failing calculus.

"You're gonna what Steph?" Mom asked.

"I'm gonna...do...a project!" I smiled. "We have this project in chem that has to....mix chemicals to...help fight cancer!" I answered joyfully, as if I was excited about the idea. Never in my life have I ever lied this much to my parents in a school year.

Dad nodded. "Oh, okay, just come home safely tomorrow."

I nodded gratefully and went up to my room with Hailey. "Okay, spill. What got you in such a good mood?" I asked once the door was closed behind us.

She looked at me innocently from her bed. "What? Can't I just be happy for a day?"

I shooked my head, "I guess it's not that bad, but it's like a different kind of happy...." I trailed off then ask. "Are you sure you're okay Hailey?"

"Of course I am! Hey guess what?" Hailey grinned, walking towards the door.

"What?" I asked not sure what to expect.

"Channing Tatum movie marathon!! I'll get the popcorn, you choose the movies!" with that, she sprinted out of the room before I could say anything.

I let out a sigh and went towards my DVD rack beside my TV. Something's definitely making Hailey a happy camper right now and she's trying to avoid the subject. I've known Hailey and this is one of her attempts to distract me by watching a movie starring my celebrity crush. I'm still not sure what's the reason about Hailey's sudden mood change but I'm sure it had to be something that happened to her after school.

Hailey came bursting back into the room with a bowl full of cheese popcorn. I grabbed one of my favorite Channing Tatum movies and inserted it into the player. I plopped down on the mint green colored bean bag beside Hailey as she happily munched on her popcorn. Once she saw the intro, she groaned. "I've already watched White House Down, I'd rather watch 21 Jump--"