CHAPTER FOURTEEN
❝ disappear ❞
HAYDEN FELT GROGGY the next morning, barely managing to pull herself out of bed and get ready for school. However, after she had finished off her breakfast, which consisted of a bowl of fruit and a piece of slightly burnt toast, she was surprised to find that Emmett's familiar Jeep was parked in her driveway. With her eyebrows furrowed and her bag on her shoulder, the brunette proceeds outside in search of a reason for his unusual and unnatural appearance.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Hayden asks the boy as he steps from the Jeep, crossing her arms over her chest in question. "Shouldn't you be going to school, Emmett?"
"I'm picking you up for school," he says in an obvious manner. "Now come on. You don't want to make us both late, do you sweetheart?"
"Screw your nicknames," Hayden rolls her eyes, taking a step back to the house. "I'll be right back."
Emmett chuckles as he watches her disappear back into the house, his attention averted as the curtains of a top-floor room is pulled back. Hayden's mother peers down to the driveway, rubbing her eyes with the palm of her hands. Then, in quick realization, she leaves the window, bursting through the bedroom door to try and catch Hayden before she exits the house.
"Hayden!" Amberley calls out, practically racing down the staircase. "Hold on a minute, I need to talk to you before you leave."
"Sorry mother, but I have a school to attend to," her daughter dismisses her without a second glance, slamming the front door behind her. Once outside, she doesn't hesitate to walk straight to the Jeep.
Upon tossing her bag in the backseat, Hayden realizes that her mother was standing patiently in the doorway, her eyes expectant. But the brunette had no intentions of speaking to the woman that had neglected her time-and-time again. It was time that she cut toxic people from her life, and destroyed all negativity that haunted her every day.
"Just drive," Hayden instructs, pulling on her seatbelt. "She isn't worth my time anymore."
"How did things go last night after I dropped you off?" He asks, complying as he pulls out of the driveway and onto the paved road.
"They were asleep," she shrugs in response. "I expected nothing less, though. At least I didn't get yelled at for staying out late."
"I blame Alice for that," Emmett grumbles. "For some reason, she just loves to embarrass me in any way possible. I'm starting to think that you'll pick up that hobby too."
"You know, I think your family and I will get along just great," Hayden chimes, glancing over to him as a grin spreads across her lips. "They seem to know how to have fun, and I like that."
"Yeah, well, sometimes they like to ruin the fun," he mumbles, shaking his head with his eyes trained on the road ahead. Hayden didn't understand what he was referencing at first, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
"Huh?" She tilts her head. And suddenly, it was all clear, and her cheeks grew red with the sudden realization. "Oh, nevermind."
Emmett chuckles in response. "You know what? We don't have to talk about that right now. We can wait until later if it makes you feel any better."
"I'm not so sure I'm ready for the conversation at all," the brunette admits, running a hand down her face. "Everything is already so complicated."
"Wouldn't you prefer to just get it over with?" He raises a perfect brow, looking over to her. "I don't think it'll be as awkward as it seems."
"Then what are we, Emmett?" She asks, turning in her seat to face him. "From your perspective, anyway."
"Close friends." He states, biting his cheek. "But . . . I just . . . "
"You just what?" The girl insists, preparing to get her heart broken. Because now that she was thinking about it, this was Emmett Cullen. She was an ordinary girl from Georgia with parental issues and a sense of sarcasm to kill. Something like this‒ a perfect boy and a confusing and broken girl‒ wasn't possible. Anything else would be a pretty little lie.
"I think that we should‒"
Hayden's cell phone begins to ring just as Emmett starts talking, breaking through their conversation. Emmett's grip on the steering wheel tightens, his knuckles turning white as Mike Newton's name flashed across her screen. "I'm sorry," Hayden sighs, placing some tendrils of hair behind her ear. "I'll make this quick."
Answering the call, Hayden inwardly groans. Why couldn't he have just said it and gotten it over with? But, of course, at a time like this, Mike had to call. It was such a perfect time.
"What's up, Mike?" The girl places the phone against her ear. "Do you need something?"
"You haven't talked to me in a while, and I started to worry about you." His voice chants, a breath of relief echoing through the speaker. "I know you've been hanging out with the Cullens lately, and it just had me on edge, is all."
"I already told you, that's nothing you need to think about," the girl rolls her eyes. "They're good people, Mike. I don't know why you think so low of them, but I think they're great."
"I don't hold anything against them," the boy's voice pauses, "but the thought of them makes me uncomfortable. Have you noticed how secretive they are? That's not normal, Hayden. They barely have any friends; none apart from you and Bella."
"So what? They don't socialize, and that makes them weird and secretive?" Hayden scoffs. "Mike, you can't judge people like that. I bet you've never had a full conversation with one of them. They're good people, I should know."
"Whatever you say," he sighs. "Why don't we hang out this afternoon? We haven't really had time for each other these past couple days, and I think it'd be nice to see a movie or something."
Emmett swallows back the urge to yank the phone from Hayden's hand and crush it in his palm. Between Mike ranting about his family and wanting Hayden to stay away from them, he wasn't sure how he could control himself when he saw the boy again. But since Hayden didn't know that he could hear Mike so clearly, Emmett kept his composure and allowed his eyes to focus only on the school parking lot ahead.
"Sure," Hayden caves. "Just us, alright? I don't think Jessica is too fond of my existence, if I'm being brutally honest."
"Sorry about her‒ sometimes she can be nauseating," he chuckles. "I'll see you at school, Hayden."
"Bye, Mike." With that, Hayden ends the call, stuffing her phone into her back pocket and looking to Emmett expectantly. "So, where were we?"
"We can talk tomorrow," Emmett gives her a small smile, unbuckling his seatbelt. "Have fun with Mike, okay? I'll see you later."
Slamming the door behind him, Emmett doesn't wait for Hayden as he makes his way through the front doors of Forks High School. With an exasperated glance, the girl rushes from the Jeep, shoving her way past a few teenagers to follow after him. "Emmett, wait! Please!"
And as much as it hurt Emmett, he didn't look back as he walked down the hallway; too upset to allow his other feelings to overwhelm his being.
Hayden frowns, stopping as he disappears around a corner. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she turns at the sudden calling of her name. With a soft smile, she approaches Bella, glancing between her and Edward.
"Hey," Bella greets her. "Edward tells me Emmett drove you to school. How did everything go with your parents last night?"
"Not too shabby, but mostly because they were preoccupied by sleep," she replies smoothly. "And yeah, Emmett volunteered to pick me up this morning. By the way, what's up with him right now? He ditched me as soon as we got here, and we didn't really get to talk . . . "
"I'm sure there's a good explanation," Edward assures her. "What did you need to talk to him about?"
Edward already knew‒ but he found it necessary to ask, just in case Bella couldn't fill in the blanks. Hayden looked a bit taken aback by his question, but answered honestly, nonetheless.
"We almost . . . um, kissed last night," the brunette scratches the back of her neck. "We we're talking about it until Mike called. And when we got here, he just ran off . . . did I do something wrong?"
"Maybe he just needs time to think," Bella suggests, giving her friend an encouraging look. "I'm telling you, Hayden, everything will be fine. Just give him some space and try again tomorrow, okay?"
"You're right," the Marris girl agrees, shoving her hair back. "I'm just overthinking this right now, like always. Do you guys mind if I sit with Mike today? I think it'd be for the best if I'm giving him space."
"There's no reason to ask," Edward insists. "You need time with your other friends, too. Don't worry, I'm positive Bella can entertain us for the day."
"Good luck, Bells," Hayden giggles. "I hear it's a hard task to keep all of their attention when Emmett is around."
"Hey, Hayden!" Mike Newton calls from the front doors, pulling on his backpack strap.
"I guess that's my cue to go," the girl dismisses, waving in Mike's direction. "I'll see you guys later, okay? And do me a favor; talk to Emmett and see what the lay-down is. I'd really like to know what's going on in that complicated head of his."
But in reality, it wasn't Emmett's head that was confused‒ it was Hayden's. Because by now, the Cullen boy already knew that he was inevitably in love with Hayden Marris.
She just didn't know it yet.
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