The sun was like an annoyed little brother overhead, irritating and persistent. The air smelled of hot cement and grass. The space behind the gym was slowly filling with students, all waiting to take up their half-finished booths or start new ones.
A distance away from them, Haley sat with her legs crossed on the grass, staring down at the thin green blades. Her chin rested on her hand as she stared at nothing. Against her resolve to put questions over Jace's altercation from her mind, it seemed to be the only thing she could think about.
Part of her tried to rationalize why her mind turned the situation over and over again. It was only because it was so shocking. Really in their small school, fights were rare and that's why she kept thinking about it. Everyone seemed to be talking about it so really there was no escaping it, that was really why she was curious to know what had happened.
As if picking up on her thoughts a group of juniors nearby changed subjects.
"You heard what happened with Jace, right?"
"I heard Cody called him a man whore."
"Well, that couldn't have pissed Jace off that much," a girl said. "It's Jace we're talking about. The guy laughs at jokes about himself."
"I even heard him insult himself once," another girl said, laughing at the memory.
Haley pulled at a tuft of grass, not wanting to be noticed that she was eaves dropping. They continued to theorize about what had sent Jace off. Haley frowned at nothing, hating that her head was caught up in this train of thought as well.
As she thought, she tried to focus on how it was better that Jace hadn't looked at her. It reminded her that she wasn't his friend. Just some neighbor that he had given rides to. Even as this thought popped up a small needle that it wasn't the truth poked at it. Scowling, Haley tried to find something else to think about.
To her relief as well annoyance that distraction came in the form of Isaac. Smiling, he settled down beside her, arms hanging over his knees.
"So," he said, his voice dropping, "we meet again."
Despite knowing she shouldn't let his cheery mood affect her, she felt a smile creeping onto her face. Fighting it, she said something to cut his boisterous mood.
"Are you like this with everyone?" she asked.
Her move worked, the smile drifted away and a frown entered the equation.
"What do you mean?" he asked, fidgeting with his glasses.
"I don't know...flirty?"
Isaac's head went back as he burst out laughing. "No, my flirting is way worse," he said, still smiling. "This is me being myself. I could stop it if you like but it's harder than you would think."
Haley's smile finally won out.
"To be honest," Isaac said, "I'm not completely sure how to flirt. Do you know?"
His blue eyes held her's, the ends of his laughter still brightening them. Shrugging, Haley forced herself to look at anything else.
"I don't know. I figure it has a lot to do with tossing your hair, saying 'oh my gosh, stop it' and giggling."
She shrugged again and then looked at Isaac, making a face. Isaac stared down at the ground, frowning in contemplation. For some reason, she found her smile renewed with sight, his forehead crinkling as his glasses shifted downward just a fraction.
"Alright," he said, banishing his expression and meeting her gaze. "Here it goes."
He shook his head, making his blonde hair flop about.
"Oh my gosh, stop it," he said, in a weird disjointed voice.
He then let out a laugh that was too airy to be a real and too deep to be a giggle. All Haley could do was stare at him, her laugh trapped in her stomach and bouncing around, trying to break free.
"What was that?" she said, parts of the laugh slipping out with her words.
"You said that's how people flirted."
Haley had to suppress another bout of laughter.
"For girls it is." She paused. "Wait, does that mean you were actually trying to flirt with me?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"I figured you don't know how to flirt and so you would be more easily deceived than someone more studied in the delicate art."
Still trying not to show Isaac the extent of her entertainment, she shook her head.
"It didn't work," she said.
"It was the giggle, wasn't it? I always knew I couldn't pull off a giggle."
Everything in Haley told her to stop smiling and to frown, give no indication that what they were talking about was making her smile to her toes. But she couldn't seem to listen.
"I would say it was the whole thing that didn't work. It's best to just stick with being yourself. It will probably work better."
Something in Isaac's blue eyes changed as he looked at her.
"I'll stick to being me from now on, but it made you smile so I say it worked."
Haley hated how much his words affected her. She shouldn't care that he was happy he made her smile. None of this should matter or affect her whatsoever. It didn't she told herself. None of it did.
Before Haley could find some way to unravel the whole conversation, Rachel appeared, smile and clipboard at the ready.
"Hey, guys," she said, accepting a chair to stand on that Nick brought over.
Conversations melted into the grass as heads turned to her.
"I'm thrilled to see so many of you are still here. We will pick up where we left off Friday. For anyone who finished and doesn't have a booth to work on, just come see me." She waved her hands. "Go to work!"
Groups rose and moved to half done projects, their conversation picked up again. Isaac stood and looked down at Haley.
"Shall we go, partner?"
Nodding, but not letting herself speak, she stood and they made their way to Rachel. She was talking with Nick, her face serious for once.
"Of course," he said. "I'll handle it."
Relief filled her expression. "Thanks, babe."
He gave her a quick kiss and walked off. When Rachel faced Haley and Isaac, her smile had returned.
"Hey," she said, focusing on Haley, "You're still here."
"Counselor would probably be mad if I ditched."
"Hasn't stopped other people, so I appreciate it. Now," she studied the page before her. "You two worked really well together so I'll keep it that way."
Rachel assigned them another booth and moved to the next group. Isaac looked at Haley and waved his hands toward the equipment room.
"After you," he said, grinning.
***************
By the time the group wrapped up all projects for the day, Haley was tired. It wasn't until she was collecting her stuff that she realized what it meant that Jace hadn't been there to work on the booths. She didn't have a ride home.
Groaning, she racked her brain for a solution. She knew calling her parents would be futile. Matt was at work and her number of friends were...well, she didn't want to think about that pitiful fact. Not for the first time did she inwardly curse the fact that her town was too small to even have a single Uber.
As she was running through every conceivable option other than walking home in the heat, Isaac waved to her.
"See you later, Haley," he said.
Before she could let herself think about the stupidity of her words, she called out to him.
"Can you give me a ride home?"
His answer was immediate and careless. "Sure. We have to walk to my house first."
"Okay...thanks."
As she grabbed her stuff, Isaac waited, tossing out farewells to some other students. They joined the dispersing crowd and made it all the way across the parking lot in silence. When they crossed the road into the quaint neighborhood, Haley felt the urge to say something.
"Thanks again. Usually, Jace gives me a ride home but he wasn't here."
"Yeah, of course." The words were easy but there was something in Isaac's manner that made Haley wondered if he was as uncertain about the situation as she was.
They spent the rest of the walk glancing at each other and running through conversation topics silently in their heads. Eventually, they stopped before a yellow - trimmed in white - two story house with a front porch holding a swing. A well-mowed lawn encased it and was boarded by a white picket fence. Somehow Haley felt satisfied knowing her initial thoughts of Isaac's life were true. He was a typical American kid with a life that seemed almost too sweet.
The second Isaac opened the front gate latch, they heard the high bark of Cal. In a window beside the door, Haley saw the dog with his paws up on the glasses, jumping up and down on his hind legs. Isaac stole a look at Haley, trying to see how she reacted to the manic puppy.
"I'm not sure I've seen a dog who loves a person more," she said.
"Yeah...are you okay if he comes with? I don't want him to be lonely."
"It's fine."
Isaac jogged up to the front door and unlocked it, letting the puppy free. It was as if Cal hadn't seen Isaac in days, he raced in circles around his legs and when that wasn't enough, he tried to climb up his leg. Isaac took mercy on him and scratched his head and ears.
"Come on Cal, we're going driving."
Even after seeing his display of obedience a few hours before, it surprised Haley how Cal bounded to the garage door.
"Do you take him driving a lot?" she asked, joining Isaac.
"Yeah, he's best when he's not alone so he kind of comes everywhere."
He raised the garage door, revealing his compact car. Covering the shelves of the garage were tools and rolls of paper Haley figured to be maps, but of where she didn't know or ask. They climbed into the car and Isaac nudged Cal into the backseat.
The interior was spotless. Not a piece of trash or stray item was in sight. Even the floor of the car was neat, except for some dog hairs left behind. It even smelled fresh, like something citrusy. Haley then realized this was from the scented tree hanging from the review mirror.
"Your car is really clean," she said, still shocked by it.
Isaac was an average teenage guy. This meant junk food, video games and a car that looked like a bomb went off in it. There was no evidence of this. Isaac merely shrugged and buckled in.
"My mom said if I wanted a dog I needed to prove I could keep the rest of my life in order." He twisted around as he reversed the car. "So I am now one of the world's biggest neat freaks. It sort of became a habit."
The gates to the drive opened automatically and they pulled onto the quiet street.
"Well, I'm impressed. I never suspected a guy's car could look decent."
"Is this a prejudice you give to all males?"
"It was more based on the fact I have a brother and live across from another guy. They didn't prove the theory wrong, though Matt keeps his room in a somewhat tolerable state."
Isaac simply nodded and asked where they were headed. Haley told him and the car became enwrapped in a hesitant silence. Cal didn't seem to sense the emotions that were keeping each occupant self-contained. Instead, he was sitting with his face resting on the center console as if he couldn't stand to be too far from Isaac. Whenever the car was stopped Isaac reached back and petted the dog. Halfway into the drive, he clicked on the radio.
"Any suggestions?" he said, glancing over.
"I don't care."
Isaac flipped to a popular station and a familiar song came on.
"I actually like this song," Haley said.
"You listen to Seven Ships?"
"Yeah, but I did before most people knew about them and they were on the radio."
"Me too. I think this whole craze over them is stupid considering most people haven't really heard their earlier albums."
Haley twisted in her seat. "Really? Because I think the same thing. I hate how people are excited about them now just because it's popular to like them. Did you know they created their first album without being signed to a label?"
"I did. What is your favorite song?"
At the same time, they both said, 'In Silence'. Smiling at the common ground they had found, they spent the rest of the time talking about the band comprised of only two guys.
When they pulled up in front of Haley's house, they fell silent. Even after all they had been talking about neither seemed to know how to end the time together.
"Ummm...so thanks, again. This was...fun."
"Yeah."
As Haley bent down to get her backpack, Isaac started and scrambled to get out of the car. Completely baffled, Haley just stared as he rounded the car. It wasn't until he had opened her door that she knew his reasoning. She climbed out, giving him a skeptical look.
"You understand no one does that anymore, right?"
"Yeah, but it doesn't mean they shouldn't. Besides, it's another habit my mother has instilled in me. She makes me do it whenever I'm with her, so it's kind second nature, I guess."
At this, Isaac looked embarrassed and found something on the ground worth looking at.
"Well, thanks again."
As she headed to her house, she turned back at his reply.
"Anytime."
**********************************************************************
Bonjour, Tom and Jerry!
(French )
I feel like our relationship is Tom and Jerry, we love each other but I'm constantly tormenting you, but it's all good fun! 😁
Anyways, please leave all thoughts here! 👉🕳👈
Now! I have the best Wattpad story to tell you! I was talking to one of my OG readers the other day and she told me this. One day she was chatting with a fellow drama student and they got around to books, which led to Wattpad which eventually lead to my books in which her friend said she had read them.
Get this, my reader then asked if her friend was part of the Crazy Comment Squad (a group formed on Three Weeks and comprised of six OG readers.)
Can you guess what her answer was?
Yup! IT WAS YES!!! 😱🤯💀
How freaking mind blowing is that! Not only were these two girls on the same continent, in the same country, state, town, school but in the same freaking drama program! I mean the odds of this are insane! Yet it's true! amethystfairy and AnonymousSunshine were literally members of the same squad without even knowing it until then!
MY MIND IS BLOWN!! AHHHHH!!! Seriously, one of the craziest and coolest things ever!!
Anyways, it was so awesome I had to share it with you!
You got any epic stories like that for me? I'm all ears! 👂🏼👂🏼
Vote, comment, follow, or dance around your room and know that somewhere an odd author is doing the same.
A true scholar and a gentleman