♡Hailey♡
Today is a Saturday.
Every Saturday since we've moved to L.A. has been filled with unpacking, arguments, and a lot of listening to music. Today, however, is different.
Zander invited Luke over to hang out with him today. This is the first time anybody has been to our house since we moved.
He's been frantically rushing around the house, fixing his hair, and checking every room to make sure it's clean. I haven't seen him this panicked since our parents announced we were moving.
I'm not really planning on interacting with Luke while he's here. Don't get me wrong, I like him, he's nice, I'm just busy. I have to finish all my homework, and still make it on time for a Miraculous Ladybug episode premiere.
I also want to give Zander some alone time with Luke. Zander has always struggled with making friends, and now that he's seemed to accomplish just that, I want to give him time alone with his friend.
I used to get irritated when Zander would walk in and start trying to shove himself into a conversation me and Daisy were having. Daisy never really minded, but Daisy is an angel sent from the heavens above by god himself.
I don't want to irritated him, so I've decided I'm going to stay away from him and Luke for the next few hours.
I'm currently standing in the kitchen, drinks a small strawberry smoothie. I continue to scroll through TikTok to see if there's any art or clothing hacks I should try. I get a video with a girl petting her dog instead. I double click. That dog is cute.
The doorbell rings, and I jump. I'm not used to visitors. I hear Zander scurry down the hallway, and roll my eyes, shoving my phone in my pocket. I continue to slurp the smoothie, as I listen to the sound of Zander unlocking the door.
I snicker to myself. It will be fun listening to him awkwardly greet Luke. He's never been the welcoming type.
I hear the door creak open, and Luke's voice greets Zander. I can just imagine Zander right now. Fidgeting with his fingers, and flushed red face.
Then suddenly, I hear another voice accompany the two.
It's very familiar, and I feel like I should be panicking right now, but I honestly can't remember who the voice belongs to.
The voice greets Zander, and his response is to ask. "Who the hell are you?".
This is comedy TV at this point, so I continue to listen from the kitchen, drinking my smoothie. Thank god my parents aren't home. This is perfection.
"Zander, this is my friend. Meet Jake."
I simultaneously drop the cup on the floor, and begin choking. Great job Hailey.
After a few seconds I manage to stop dying, and drop to the floor, picking up the spilled cup.
"What was that?" Luke asks.
I sigh, and grab a large wad of paper towels. I begin cleaning the floor.
Zander sounds like he's almost laughing. "I'm guessing that's Hailey. She chokes on air sometimes."
I roll my eyes, and stand up. There was only a small portion of the smoothie left, so the paper towels absorb the majority of the leftover strawberry soup. I throw the soggy mess into the trash can and let it slam shut.
"Thank you for asking if I'm okay Zander." I yell back, ignoring the slippery floor. I hide behind one of the counter tops and pray that Zander just walks by the kitchen.
Unfortunately, he doesn't. I hear the footsteps enter the kitchen, and I remain hidden.
"Are you seriously hiding Hailey? Are you that much of an introvert?"
I don't move.
"Yes, now go hang out with your friends or something."
Zander turns the corner and spots me. He gives me a look that says "Really?" and proceeds to walk towards me.
I stand up quickly, fearing his friends will see me like this. I avert my eyes from anything, and keep them glued to the floor. Once I make it out of the kitchen, I let out a small sigh of relief.
I begin trudging up the stairs, but Jake's voice gives my stomach butterflies.
"Hailey?"
I force myself to ignore his voice, and began taking the steps two at a time. I hear footsteps follow me, and my heartbeat speeds up.
I race into my room, and slam the door closed as quickly as I can. I turn the lock, and it clicks shut.
✿✿✿
I don't hear anything for the next thirty minutes, besides the sound of quiet chatter from downstairs.
None of the voices are directed at me though.
I've been sitting at my desk and writing the beginning to another short story for me and Milly to finish. Writing with someone else is actually much more fun than I thought it could be. Well, with the right people that is.
It's hard to write and listen to anything except for Lofi or Classical music. If the song has words I usually just end up jamming out instead of writing.
The silence is interruptedby three solid knocks on my door.
They startle me, and I sit up straighter, turning to look at the door. There are three possible options of people behind that door, and two are perfectly fine. The other one loves to give me a heart attack.
I stand up, and step by step, inch my way to the door. I hesitate for a moment, but reach my hand out, and grip the doorknob. I take a deep breath, and turn the lock, swinging the door open.
Of course out of the three options it has to be him.
Jake's standing at the door with his hands shoved in his pockets. He's wearing a pair of dark jeans and a red sweatshirt.
He looks calm, and stares me in they eyes for a few seconds. My breath hitches and I feel my face flush. He continues to stare until I clear my throat.
"Uh hi."
I seem to snap him out of his state of distraction, and his eyes widen. He closes his eyes and groans.
"Sorry. I didn't expect you to actually open the door." He says awkwardly.
I'm a mess. He looks like he just stepped off the pages of a magazine. Me, on the other hand, look like I haven't slept for the past week. I'm wearing a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants. My hair is down, and I'm not wearing any make-up.
He's still staring.
I sigh.
"Do you need something?" I ask.
"Well I'm kinda lonely. My best friend ditched me for your brother. Can I hang out with you?"
Silence.
"Luke...ditched you? What do you mean?"
Jake looks around the room, and continously slides his feet back and forth across the floor. I know it will most likely scuff up the hard wood, but I don't have the heart to tell him to stop. He's seems pretty upset right now.
"Yeah, come in."
I angle my body away from the doorway, and gesture for him to come in. I watch as his expression morphs into one of pleasure. He toes-off his vans, and strolls into my room.
I follow behind him, and lock the door again. When I turn around, I can see him surveying my room. His eyes rest on a picture frame in the corner. It's a picture of me and Adam in Freshman year. I took it the day he had asked me out.
He had his arm around my waist, and I was leaning my head on his shoulder. We were both smiling. I remember being so happy that day. I'm not sure why I even kept that photo in the first place. All it does is bring back bad memories.
Jake seems to take great interest in the photo, and moves towards it.
I follow him, pushing myself forward. I don't know if I'll be able to answer any of his questions without crying.
He doesn't say anything for a few seconds. Just stares.
"Is that your boyfriend.
I look back at Jake. His eyes are on me now. He has no distinguishable expression.
I can tell he's trying to gage if this is a sensitive subject for me. Unfortunately, it is, but I don't want to make this whole situation even more uncomfortable than it is.
"He was. We broke up."
Jake glances between me and the photo.
"I didn't know you'd ever dated anyone. No offense, but you seem too innocent to be in any sort of relationship."
I scoff, and I'm presuming my cheeks are shaded a rosy pink. This is a sensitive topic.
"Yeah well, the relationship was really innocent. We never really did anything. We barely even kissed."
Jake quickly turns and stares at me. I can tell he's almost laughing.
"Are you serious? You never made out, or got drunk together or-" he pauses. "Did, you know what?"
"No!" I splutter. This conversation is not going where I expected it go.
"But that's like...the best part of being in a relationship. You're telling me that at age seventeen you've barely kissed a guy? Did you ever cuddle him or hug him or whatever?"
I groan.
"You're making this so weird!"
"You're the one who's making this weird! These are normal things you should have accomplished by now." He answers, looking at me like I'm the problem here.
Jake isn't supposed to be at my house right now, but here he is, judging me on my relationship status. It's like having another Zander in the house.
"To answer your question, no. We just kissed like every once in awhile and held hands. I was sort of like a friendship type of love."
Jake has a stupid smirk plastered on his face. I would slap him if I could.
"Really?" He says mockingly.
I glare at him.
"Okay then jackass, have you accomplished all those things? The making out, getting drunk, and doing...that thing?"
Jake's smile intensifies. That's the only response I need to conclude his answer.
"You are such a weirdo."
He actually laughs this time.
"You're the weirdo sweetheart. I don't choke on air or hide behind kitchen counters."
He receives another one of my angry looks, but his grin doesn't fade in the slightest.
"So then, do you have a girlfriend? I'm guessing you've dated half the school." I say, breaking the silence.
"Well of course I do. I could get any girl I wanted."
A small jab of pain strikes my heart, but I ignore it. I'm probably just having another case of heart burn.
I swallow, and suddenly my urge to keep talking simmers down a bit. I take my bottom lip between my lip, and meet his eyes again.
"Is it serious? How long have you been with her?"
His smile falters, and I can see he's struggling to keep that same cocky grin on his face.
"Um..no. not really, and uh, we've been together about a little over a year".
He seems suddenly upset, and if the relationship isn't serious, why is he still with her? A year is a long time to be in a relationship with someone you don't want to commit to.
The room fills with silence, and Jake continues to stare at the floor. I watch his eyes shake slightly, and he almost looks like he's filled with guilt.
"Jake?"
His eyes find mine, and I choke on my words for a second.
"Are you cheating on her?"
His eyes widen, and he begins backing away.
"What, no! Of course not! I just...feel...guilty". His eyes seem a bit darker than usual, and his expression has morphed into one of sadness and distress.
I slowly inch closer.
"For what exactly?"
I'm standing right in front of him at this point. We're about seven inches apart. I can hear his slow breathing, and I can see his eyes drowning in some sort of despair.
"I don't know. I just feel like I'm somehow just never going to be enough for her." His voice cracks midway through the sentence, and I can see it in his eyes that he's heartbroken.
"Jake, what's going on? Why do you feel that way?". I can feel my own heart begin to feel heavy. His expression looks so hopeless, so lost.
He looks like he's struggling to keep talking.
Without thinking, I step forward, and hug him.
He pauses for a second, and I can feel his breath hitch. My own hearbeat begins to speed up, and my ability to form words vanishes.
However, after a few seconds, he clasps arms around me, and pulls me against him. I can feel him rest his chin on my forehead, and he breathes out a small breath of what seems to be relief.
We stay in the position for a bit. As much as I hate to admit it, it was strangely relieving. I haven't hugged anyone for almost a year, and damn, this felt nice.
After a bit, Jake cleared his throat, and pulled away from me, as warmth disappeared from my body. He looked much calmer, but I could also see a slight bit of embarrassment in his expression. His cheeks were a flaming red.
"Ahem. So that was weird. Sorry. I'll just be leaving now."
He quickly turns to leave, brushing right past me. Before he can get a full arms-distance away from me, I grab his hand.
He turns to look back at me, and I know I'm blushing. Hard.
"If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."
His look shifts from embarrassed to thankful, and I drop his hand.
"Thanks Hailey."
He continues to the door, but stops just after grabbing the handle.
He turns, and gives me one last smile.
I feel my legs almost give out, but he turns away quickly, opening and shutting the door.
He's dissappeared just as fast as he arrived.