Recovery | On Hiatus

Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

THREE. TWELVE. NINE. Thirty.

Three weeks I've had to stay at the house with Darrin and my parents. Twelve times Hayden snuck in through the window to visit me at night. Nine times Darrin cornered me while our parents were gone after school or on weekends. Thirty new bruises I've counted since the first beating of my return home.

In other words, besides Hayden sneaking in the window at night, things were pretty normal. Honestly, the most interesting thing that's happened in the past three weeks would have to be Camille actually convincing my mom that she'd kept an eye on me and her son whenever I'd stayed there, and the confusing conversation that'd happened between Hayden and his girlfriend at lunch today.

It was Friday, and I was sitting at lunch with David and a few of Hayden's other friends. Despite what you'd think, Hayden was not the leader of their little clique—that was David. It was also David who called me over to come sit with them every single day for a little over a week. Hayden and Sasha weren't here yet, so everyone around the table took turns making jokes about what the two could be doing in the meantime.

"I bet they're getting it on in the Janitor's closet," one of the three girls said. She had short, bright red hair and dark liner around her eyes. The dyed color of her hair clashed with the blue and gray cheerleading outfit she wore for the game tonight, but she was still able to pull it off. I couldn't quite remember her name.

"Nah," her boyfriend, Aiden, disagreed. His dark brown hair matched almost exactly to the slightly lighter brown aviator jacket he wore with light jeans. "Hayden's only done it once, and him and Sasha aren't nearly close enough for him to even consider the two of them having sex."

"He's right, Laura," David agreed. Laura, that's it! "They're probably sneaking off to the Teacher's Lounge to get some Coke from the vending machine. Everyone knows the teachers' got a secret stash of that shit in there."

"Well, you never know." Laura wiggled her eyes suggestively and laughed when Aiden nudged her playfully with his shoulder. "Hey! I'm just saying."

More arguing ensued, but I'd be lying if I said I was paying attention. The subject of conversations had just walked in the cafeteria doors, Sasha walking a few angry paces ahead of Hayden. He yelled something from behind, looking desperate for her to stop and listen. She didn't at first, but turned to face him with a heavy sigh after he said something else. They weren't yelling loudly, probably with the intention of nosy people like myself not eavesdropping on their conversations. Still, every once in a while I'd hear a little shout from one of them that was just loud enough to hear, but too quiet to make out what they were saying.

My attention shied away as they started this way, but shifted back just as quickly when I noticed David watching me skeptically from my left.

Hayden looked offended by something Sasha had said. By the time they were in hearing range, all I could make out was, "You're out of your mind."

Sasha shook her head, but she didn't seem as angry as before. The expression on her face looked more like one of disappointment than anger. "You may not realize it yet, but you do. Trust me."

No one dared to say a word as the two of them took their usual seats at the table—Hayden to my right and Sasha on his. Neither said a word to each other through the entire lunch period, but happily included themselves in the conversations between others.