Fakely HIS

Chapter 32

The house was silent.

It was the first thought that entered my mind the day after Hunter had left for his new school. A new wave of sadness entered my heart as I opened the door of my room and stared at the guest room where my brother had been there for the past few months – now it was empty. Even the previous occupant of the room – Brody had been consistently absent from this house; also from my life. The last day I saw him was the day he'd said something so unbelievable, so far-fetched and unlikely that it'd meddled with my brain to the point where I had fainted.

A few minutes later when Hunter had sprinkled water on my face and woken me up, I was on the couch; there had been no signs of either Brody or Dale anywhere there. Hunter had informed me that Brody had left a few minutes ago and that Dale needed some space and was going to be staying at her parents' home for a few weeks. I had been thankful.

I don't think I would've been able to deal with Dale at that moment.

Thinking about it now though, I don't think I'd ever be ready to deal with her.

All the confusions that Brody's version of truth had brought into my life aside, the hurt that Dale had caused more damage to my heart than anything has ever done to me.

Any memory off my childhood that I could pick off my brain, Dale was in it. We practically grew up together. Dale took me on my first shopping spree, the first movie I'd ever watched in a theater was with Dale, my first ever sleepover was with her, she'd been with me the first time I sneaked out of my room – she was my best friend. I knew in my heart that I'd actually considered her my sister.

Maybe that was why I'd been color-blind when she'd always shown her true colors.

In hindsight, I was such a fool.

I don't know how it was possible for me to be so clueless to her true character only to suddenly start seeing everything about her in a different light. I think overhearing the fight she had with Brody was my turning point, a wake-up call, if you may. Something I needed to hear and understand by myself.

Dale had never been the person I thought she was, and that was the bitterest pill I had to swallow in the past few days. That, or maybe I was just being dramatic about it all.

I opened my laptop, checking to see if there were any emails from Hunter. When I found none from him, and only spams, I sighed, closing it before leaning back on the couch. It had been two days since Hunter had left. He had called me once after reaching his new school, but other than that, there has been remote silence on his part. Maybe he has all the unpacking and stuffs like that to do. Not to mention, he was starting classes tomorrow that meant more pressure on him adding to that everything that had happened here with Dale and Brody must've taken a toll on him.

He hadn't said a word to me about what Brody had said and when I subtly tried to get him to talk – since I too needed someone to talk to it about – he shrugged, gently shooting the topic down, telling me that he still wasn't ready to think about all that. I wouldn't blame him though; Subconsciously, I knew, I wasn't ready to think about it either. Whatever Brody had said was just too much to take in at this point of our life.

My phone ringing pulled me out of my thoughts and I scrambled to pick it up, frowning at the unknown number before answering it.

"Hello."

"Hails, it's me, James."

"James?" I sat up straighter, a gentle smile lighting up my face, "Which James?"

"Hardy har har, Hayley."

"No, seriously," I grinned, "I don't know remembering knowing anyone by the name James. What kind of name is that anyway? Huh, what a loser!"