affluenza (1.) | ✔️

Feel The Same

I chuckle surprisedly. She'd hit the nail right on the head. "I still sucked," I admit. "I'm so sorry about all of that, Hayley. I never wanted to hurt you."

She waves me off. "Water under the bridge. If I hadn't forgiven you, I wouldn't have shown up to our strategy meeting a couple of weeks ago."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I ask. "I was awful."

Hayley smiles softly. "This may be a bit surprising for you to hear, but I like you," she says and then laughs. "We're friends. That's not going to change because we broke up."

I grin, too. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she responds. "Now get up and put some clothes on that don't smell like Cheetos."

I raise an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Gang's all here," Hayley responds. "Hunter looked on Snapchat and was able to find where Sebastian is. We're going to see him now."

I gasp. "What, seriously? That's genius!"

Hayley laughs. "Yeah. He can be a total dimwit sometimes, but the kid is kinda smart when it comes down to it."

I give her a knowing smile. "Mhm. So is he a good kisser?"

Hayley blanches before laughing. "This is so weird to talk to you about! How did you know?"

"He'd be an idiot not to see how special you are," I respond with a shrug. "So he's good then?"

Hayley giggles. "Spectacular. But forget about my love life! Let's get your man."

Twenty minutes later I'm slightly more polished in black ripped jeans and a striped sweater. Hayley managed to run a comb through my hair and even gave me some weird half up hairstyle. I say a quick goodbye to my aunt and cousins and then follow Hayley into the car with the rest of our friends.

"Braylen, hey!" Robyn says from the drivers seat. Devin was up front with her, so I wedged into the seat behind him. "Don't look so serious; it's going to be okay."

I swallow hard and plaster a fake smile on my face. "I'm not nervous. Let's go!"

Devin reads the address off of his phone and Robyn begins driving. I roll down the window and let the wind blow through my hair. I hated to admit it but I was sort of nervous to see him. Why hadn't he texted me or called?

        "Are you sure this is right?" Robyn asks as she stops in front of a Motel 6. I gnaw on my bottom lip as Devin nods in reassurance.

        "This is it," he murmurs. "Couldn't have found a better neighborhood?"

        I drum my fingers against my thigh. "His parents did freeze his assets. Can't exactly afford a five star hotel."

        Robyn parks the car and we all pile out. The clouds seemed to be closing in on us and I was suddenly glad I'd worn a sweater.

        My friends and I file into the motel, walking up to the teller, a short woman with ratted up hair. "Hi! I'm Braylen. I'm looking for Sebastian Grey. Do you have his room number?"

        The woman sucks her teeth and then picks up the phone. "Yes, this is Delilah. I've got five kids here asking for the information to a guest. I'm gonna need security."

        "Wait!" Hunter says, breaking through Devin and Hayley to get to the counter next to me. "What if we, uh, give you a little something something, eh?"