Never Make A Promise

Never Make A Promise 8

"Sorry, that car just cut in front of us," he said. I looked up and saw that a silver SUV had switched lanes and was now stopped in front of us. "Shoot."

"What? Can't you go around them?" I asked him.

"That's not what I meant," he said, as all four doors opened and some guys were getting out. I didn't get a good look at them because Damon was backing away faster than he was driving before. I gripped on to the door and gaped over at him.

"What the- hey!" I shouted, as he did a one eighty with the car and sped in the direction we had just came from.

"We had to get out of there, I'm sorry," he said quickly.

"Why? Did you know those guys or something?" I asked. He was quiet. "Hello? Space cadet come back to earth."

"I guess you could say that I knew them. From a long time ago," he said quietly.

"What does that mean?" I asked, getting a little nervous. He made it sound like he was a criminal at one point. Oh, god. What if he was? What if he was a murderer?! Would that be why he was trying to get me alone? So he could kill me?! I mentally slapped myself. Calm down, Hayley, I thought. Just calm down. That's not at all why, I told myself.

"That means.........that's something you don't have to know. It would be on a need to know basis. At least for now," he said, looking in the rearview mirror. A need to know basis?

"Don't play that with me, please. If there's something that I should know, then you should tell me," I said.

"Like I said, it's on a need to know basis. And you don't NEED to know."

"Oh come one, how bad could it be?"

"Bad," he said, not so much as glancing at me. I just stared at him. How bad could this be? "Look, when the time comes, I promise-" he began. I stiffened and looked away when he said the magic word. Promise. He seemed to notice my reaction because he stopped talking right away.

"What?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head.

"That's a lie," he said. "You did that yesterday at dinner too."

"It's on a need to know basis," I said, looking at him. He was watching me and I looked back out my window. Definitely on a need to know basis. When would he need to know? Never. I've never told anyone about what I went through, or about me despising that word, except Jordan. The only reason Joyce knew was because of my record and because I kind of had to tell her. Whenever someone tried to promise me something, I always told them not to or I interrupted them before they said it. He stayed quiet for a while. I had expected him to try and get an answer out of me instead of accepting the answer I gave him.

"That's it?" I said.

"What?"

"That's it? No trying to get the answer out of me?"

"I'm not as much as a jerk as you seem to think I am."

"So you have said, but...."

"But?"

"Never mind."

"Okay, now I'm gonna push for an answer. What were you going to say?"

"Nothing. I forgot," I lied.

"Why are you lying to me now?"

"I'm not lying."

"Liar!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"God, how old are we? Five?" I snapped. He smirked.

"Six, actually," he teased. I couldn't help but let a little laugh slip.

"Really?" I giggled. Immediately, I regretted giggling that out. I sounded so girly.

"Indeed," he smiled. I caught my breath and I swear that my heart skipped a beat. I don't think I've seen him smile like that. Or maybe I just didn't pay attention, but he had one of those smiles that made you melt in your shoes! I felt myself blush as I looked down quickly. Risking a side glance, I looked over and saw that his grip on the steering wheel had tightened to the point where his knuckles were white. This silence was awkward now. After a long silent drive, he pulled into the driveway of my house.

"Thanks...for the ride," I said, opening the door.

"Anytime," he said. Thank god he didn't smile that much now. I got out, walked to the door, unlocked it and went inside. I took slow deep breaths and leaned against the door, like I was holding it closed. What the was with my heart skipping a beat like that? Or what was with his smile that made me feel like that? That made me want to melt into goo. What was with that reaction he had? And who were those guys that he was oh-so-obviously trying to get us away from? These are the questions that haunt me.

"How was the movie, Hayley?" Joyce asked, coming into the front hall. I jumped and looked up at her.

"It...it uh...good, I guess," I said, getting off the door and shrugging my jacket off.

"Good? Did you not like it or something?" she asked.

"Uh..." I said, hanging up my jacket while trying to think. How WAS that movie? "Eh, I think it was just one of those movies that you watch, but don't really pay attention to it."

"Oh, one of THOSE movies," she said while I took my shoes off. We went into the living room and as soon as I sat on the couch, I looked around.

"Hey! Where's Chris?" I asked.

"He ran up to get something," she shrugged. I turned back toward her.

"So! I was gone for a while and I was wondering.....what happened while I was gone?" I asked quickly. She turned three shade of red before answering.

"Nothing happened," she replied, obviously lying.

"Uh huh, nothing happened," I mumbled.

"Well...not THAT much at least," she smirked.

"OOH! I would ask for details, but something tells me that those would be better kept private and unspoken," I said. She nodded.

"Private and unspoken is correct," she said. "Let's just say that if my father were to walk in on us, he would take out his rifle."

"Your dad had a rifle?"

"HAD? He still does," she said. I laughed.

"Oh god," I breathed, ignoring the father comment. At least she had a dad to walk in on her and her...boyfriend, I think. I've never had a boyfriend. It's not that no one asked me out, trust me a LOT of boys have, but when you have a hard time trusting people, it makes it a bit complicated to have a boyfriend. And even if I DID have a boyfriend, what dad would I have to walk in on us? More questions that haunt me.

"Hey, I see the lovely young Hayley has returned," Chris said, walking into the living room.

"Yep, I have returned from theater land," I said.

"Was it fun?" he asked.

"Oh very," I said sarcastically.

"Hayley, I wanted to talk to you about something," Joyce said.

"Does it involve the 'd' word?" I asked, meaning dad.

"Perhaps," she said.

"I have homework, maybe later," I replied quickly, getting up and running upstairs.

"Hayley!" Joyce called after me.

"Joyce!" I called back, smiling. I could hear her rolling her eyes at that and that made me smile wider than I had been. It wasn't a lie that I had homework. I did, I just was already done with it. I plopped on my bed and grabbed my Pride and Prejudice book and began reading.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~WHO WERE THOSE GUYS?! Damon knew them, you guys should know that, but HOW did he know them? You will....................NOT find out in the next part! Tee hee, it's one of those suspense things that's going to be going on! Comment and vote please! I love reading feedback!