Haley sat on the motorcycle, silently cursing Jace. He had already disappeared inside and even with the thickness of the doors she had heard how happy people were to see him.
For a moment she debated just walking all the way home. But that idea was halted when the front doors opened and Rachel stepped out. A thought as to whether Rachel's smile was actually plastered onto her face and wasn't real at all crossed her mind.
"Hey, Haley, you coming in?" she asked. "We have hot pizza. I suggest moving quickly, I've seen athletes in action and there's not going to be a lot left in a few minutes."
"Ummm..."
Haley still felt like entering the house would be a complete disaster and a time in her life that she would look back on and regret. She was not like these people. They were put together, always smiling like they were in a constant ad and talked about things that felt like it would be a different language to her.
Her frantic thoughts were momentarily distracted by the sound of a car. A compact black Toyota pulled into the driveway, parked and Isaac stepped out. The door slammed shut and he sauntered down the driveway carrying two liters of soda.
"Hi, Isaac," Rachel said.
Haley pondered if a constant smile could break a muscle. If anyone was going to test this theory it was the girl standing in the doorway. As he reached them, Isaac looked at Haley and gave a wide smile. She wondered if he was actually happy to see her there or it was an instinctual thing to smile at anyone he knew.
"Here," Isaac said, lifting up the two jugs. "My mom said I would be grounded if I didn't bring these."
Rachel laughed. "Well, thank you. Bring them on in, I'll show you to the kitchen."
Before he followed her, he looked back at Haley as if silently asking if she would come in. Already knowing she would be mad at herself later for letting his blue eyes affect her, she climbed off the motorcycle. Grinning, he went inside and Haley took off the helmet and followed, not sure why she was.
Inside was a wide tiled foyer. A winding staircase cut in the middle of it. Branching off from it was a lavish sitting room that looked too pristine to even stare out, let alone step into. A door opposite led to a study that was made up of dark furniture and a sense of authority. Past these rooms were more doors and a hallway, from which voices were coming from.
Despite the glamour of it all, Haley felt as if she were stepping into a home and not a place made for show. The art on the walls were placed with care and along desks and tables were photos of Rachel and her family.
As Haley walked down the hall towards the noise, she glanced at herself in a mirror on one wall. Muttering, she quickly ran her fingers through her hair, trying to make it not look so smashed. Even as she did this she speculated over why she even cared. There was nothing she could do to compare to these girls, so why bother? But still, against her logic, she continued to fix her hair so it looked more presentable.
At the archway to the kitchen, she froze. Like the rest of the house, the kitchen was expansive with gleaming counter tops and shining appliances. Leading from the kitchen was a family room that looked more lived in than the rest of the house. Couches and chairs were occupied and plates with slices of pizza sat in hands and on the coffee table. Past the room were floor to ceiling windows that looked out on a pool and backyard.
Haley couldn't help feeling she was in an architectural design magazine and couldn't be more out of place. She was revisiting her plan of walking home when someone stopped before her. It was one of the student council girls that Haley always bunched with Rachel and fit with them. Pretty face, accented hazel eyes and blonde curls that fell in tight coils above her shoulders.
"Hey," she said, "did you come here with Jace?"
The question threw Haley.
"Why would you think that?" she asked.
The girl smiled as if the answer were obvious. To Haley, it wasn't since they had left after everyone and she hadn't walked in with him.
"You're carrying his extra helmet," the girl said.
Rising her hand, Haley became aware that she was indeed still holding the helmet. A part of her felt like throwing it at Jace at that moment since he was the reason she was even at this house.
"Yeah, he drove me here."
"I love riding Jace's bike," the girl said. "He's been sweet enough to driven me home a couple times."
"Ah."
Haley didn't know where the conversation would normally go at this point and just stood there. Luckily, she was saved by someone calling out to the girl. Giving Haley a small smile, the girl left. Relieved, Haley moved further into the kitchen. She set the helmet down on an empty counter and snagged a piece of pizza, figuring eating would give her some excuse for not talking.
She stationed herself in the kitchen's breakfast nook and tried to remain off the radar. Her plan worked well through the entire slice but ended there. As she was taking a sip of soda, Isaac came over and sat down opposite her. Despite her aversion to mingling, Haley felt it could be worse. There was something about Isaac that made her comfortable but she didn't know why.
"What's a doll like you doing in a place like this?" he asked, his voice dropping into a low, old fashion cadence.
"Doll?" she asked.
Isaac adjusted his glasses and made a face. "I have to admit it sounded better in my head."
"I'm not sure that's comforting since it meant you actually thought this through."
Isaac laughed. It was a sound Haley was becoming accustomed to. Easy with a hint of self-mockery as if he knew himself to be the butt of every joke. For some reason, Haley found it endearing. An emotion that she quickly shut down when it popped up.
"It was that or 'want to bust out of this joint'," Isaac said.
"Prison jokes, always a classic."
"Probably should have gone with that then."
Haley shrugged. "Hi would have worked as well."
Isaac found something in his fingers interesting and stared intently at them.
"Yeah, but you were sitting here alone and you kinda had this look that if I tried any normal approach you might just stare at me until I walked away."
He looked up at her as if to see whether he had thought correctly.
Haley was surprised how truthful that was. She had learned a long time ago not reacting was actually the quickest end to any interaction. This fact must have shown on her face because Isaac gave a soft chuckle.
"Why did you come over?" she asked.
"I don't know, you were alone. I figured it was party and people normally talk at parties. Also, we never talked much this week I thought...I don't know we could...chat or something..." He winced as if he were regretting his words.
"Oh...yeah..." Haley didn't know what to say. Not talking had been her plan the whole time but admitting that was not going to happen.
A loud chorus of agreement rose from the congregation in the family room. The noise drowned out, for a second, the awkward tension between Haley and Isaac as they used it as an excuse to look over. As part of the group took off towards a doorway, Jace glanced around, searching. When he spotted Haley he trotted over.
"You made it inside," he said, smiling. He then nodded his head towards the doorway which everyone was disappearing into. "Come on, I need a partner for Extreme Twister and you're it."
Haley was already shaking her head. "No, you already dragged me here, I'm not being dragged into something else."
Jace pointed at her.
"I didn't drag you into this house, you chose to enter on your own. I think that means you want to be a part of this party."
Isaac looked at her. "You didn't want to come, even though you were already here? Why?"
"I don't do people," Haley said, automatically.
Isaac let out a sharp laugh. "That's like saying you don't do breathing. Everyone needs people."
Before Haley could argue, Jace was clapping.
"Well said. Now come on. Isaac, you're coming right?"
Jace took Haley's hand and hoisted her from her spot. For an instant, Haley thought of digging in her heels and fighting Jace but she had the strongest feeling if that happened he would simply throw her over his shoulder and carry her. Wanting to avoid that embarrassing scene she went without fighting, knowing her fight would come later.
As they walked, she yanked her hand free of his. Jace let go without comment but glanced back to make sure she was following. The doorway they walked through led to a massive game room. On one side stood a pool table, air hockey, and foosball table. Shelves inlaid into the wall held every board game imaginable.
In the center of the room, guys were pushing aside couches as girls connected large foam squares and set them on the open space. On the squares were rows of red, blue, yellow and green dots. But the board was twice the size of a normal Twister setup. Someone called out for people to get a partner and Haley took the moment to turn on Jace.
"Why are you so determined to have me join?" she asked.
He met her glare with a challenging gaze.
"Why are you so determined not to join?"
A million reasons flooded Haley's mind, all of them connected with an emotion that she didn't want to deal with. Knowing he wouldn't understand the reason of 'it's not worth it', she said nothing. He seemed to take her silence as a win.
"Just one game, Haley Day and I'll take you home, deal?" he asked.
Again Haley thought if it was worth it just walking home. But six miles in the hot sun compared to just one stupid game didn't seem worth it.
"Fine, one game and then you take me home."
Jace threw his arm around her shoulders. "Perfect."
She wiggled free from of his hold.
"Why is it called Extreme Twister anyways?" she asked.
"Because the board is double the size of a normal one. Also, you can get one Safety, that means if you can't make a move yourself but your partner can then it still counts. Make sense?"
"Yes, but playing Twister in a room full of teenagers just sounds overtly cliché to me."
"True, but some clichés are clichés for a reason, they're fun."
Haley felt like arguing that clichés were stupid, but Rachel called the room to attention.
"Okay! Everyone step onto a circle if you're playing."
Jace joined everyone and did as Rachel instructed. When Haley hesitated, he reached back and pulled her forward. She took the red dot beside his.
"Look at that," he said, "you're part of the team. And it's a good thing too we're going up against Marissa and she's the most flexible person I know."
"I don't even want to know why you know that."
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Haley Day, she's on the cheer squad and does the majority of the stunts."
Haley's face reddened and she looked away.
"Okay," Rachel said, spinning the arrow. "Left foot green."
Eight sets of feet moved to the appropriate dot. The game dissolved into shrieks of laughter and comments about where other people's butts were located. Haley did her best to find spots that would keep her out of entanglements with other players. Jace, on the other hand, seemed to put himself in the middle of it all. He was reaching for red dot when he nearly collided with Josie. The girl's instant reaction was to grin at him.
"Hey, good looking," she said, "fancy running into you here."
She smiled at him and he paused, captured by the look as his whole smile widened.
"JoJo, where have you been hiding?" he asked, mimicking her teasing tone.
"Over in the green dot district."
Jace laughed and it seemed as if they had gone through this same flirty interaction before.
Half through the game, Jace was pinned in and Haley took the direction for the both of them. It put her face to face with Isaac. She was so close she could see that behind his glasses his eyes looked like cracked ice.
"Who was the snitch that got you tossed into this joint?" he asked.
The smile Haley would have fought back broke through.
"Some druggie down in Philly," she said.
The answer was so shocking to Isaac that he started laughing and lost his balancing falling to the ground and taking another player with it.
"Well played, Haley Day," Jace called out to her.
Isaac stood and helped the other player up. Still smiling, he left the board and joined the rest of the watching crowd.
The end of the game came when Jace reached beneath a girl to hit a dot and caused her to fall over. He jumped up and held his hands up calling victory. Shaking her head, Haley stood. Jace took her hand and raised it as the room applauded. The girl Jace had beaten walked over to them and Haley realized it was the girl she had first talked to.
"You fight dirty," she said.
"It's not called Extreme Twister for nothing, Marissa."
Quirking her lips to the side, she moved on, not all that bothered by losing.
"Now will you drive me home?" Haley asked.
"You don't want to stay for a celebratory drink of soda?"
"No, I want to go home."
"Alright, but first you have to admit that despite your begrudging annoyance with me for bringing you here, you had fun."
He stared her down, his eyebrows raised tauntingly.
"I will admit that my urge to hit you over the head with your motorcycle helmet has lessened slightly."
Jace shrugged. "I'll take what I can get. Come on."
As they walked back through the house Jace called out 'laters' and waved to Rachel.
"I'm glad you both came," she said, the smile never disappearing.
Again Haley revisited the thought whether the smile actually came off at any point or other.
Outside the day was moving into late evening. The air was chilly as it rushed past Haley's bare arms on the ride home. Lights were burning in Jace's house windows when they stopped at the curb. It was a cheery sight and was a harsh contrast to the dark windows of Haley's.
She was halfway to her house when she turned back to Jace, something she couldn't hold in streaming out.
"Why are you doing this, Jace?" she asked.
He tossed his helmet up and caught it. "Who doesn't want more friends?"
"Some people don't want friends," she replied.
Jace focused on her. "Yes, but those people don't willingly walk into a house full of people."
She was silent, knowing there was no argument to his words.
"What would you have done if I didn't come in?" she asked.
"Come out in five minutes to take you home."
She cocked her head. "Really?"
In answer, he shrugged. "Maybe. I'm glad we didn't have to find out." He turned to his house and lept onto the porch. "You're good at Twister, Haley Day. I didn't expect that. I'm happy to be surprised."
With the words floating through the air he went inside. Something about what he said made Haley smile. She was surprised herself, she didn't regret going inside.
That smile didn't last long because no matter what the day had held it made no difference, she still stepped back into an empty and silent house.
**********************************************************************
Cheerio Ferb!
Share your thoughts oh Great One!
👉🕳👈
Tell me, did the chapter turn out like you expected? What did you think it would be?
Okay, can we please talk about the elephant in the room? 🐘 Where did it come from? Did it escape from the zoo? Is someone going to take care of it? I already have a dog so my limits on pets is maxed.
Well, now that that's out of the way, can we please talk about the metaphorical elephant in the room? I know you don't want. Really it probably shouldn't. I know that some of you have even signed a blood pack to say nothing, but seriously I have to address. Here goes....
Niall Horan (former member of One Direction) is clearly a Elf escaped from some magical land! There I said it! 🙈
Come on the evidence is all there.
Magical voice? ✔️
Magical smile? ✔️
Enchanting eyes? ✔️
Pointed ears? Well, those could have been surgically altered, but still! Just look! It's true!
Wait, does this mean I have to sign the blood pack too saying I won't say anything about it? Well, I think it's clear the only way to buy my silence is...
No! Not death, ice cream! I meant ice cream, jeepers you turn violent quickly!
You can also buy my silence by voting, comment or following!
See! Elf! ☝️🧝🏼♂️