JOSH'S POV:
I looked over at the alarm clock next on Hayley's bedside table. It read 5:32 AM. I sighed and rolled back to the other side, looking straight into Hayley's closed eyes. Even in her sleep the cuteness remained, she held with her an air of sweetness that simply could not be ignored. I stroked her bright hair softly, hoping not to wake her, but that plan did not work so well. Once I placed a hand on her, her eyes had started to open and a smile was creeping up across her lips. I smiled back. "Morning," I whispered softly. "I love you." She stroked my face with her hands and leaned in closer. "I love you, too," she said, while placing a soft kiss on my lips. Her smile came out again, shining bright. She let out a soft yawn before closing her eyes. "It's too early," she mumbled, cuddling up in my chest. I placed a hand on her back and held her near. "Go to sleep. It's Saturday." I played around with the mess of her hair before finally drifting back to sleep.
I felt Hayley's body shift back and fourth as she mumbled little words in her sleep. "Mmm..Josh," she whispered, her eyes still closed. Her brain must have been caught up in a dream. "Ugh...Blair," she mumbled. The sound of Blair's name alarmed me suddenly, realizing I was going out with her still. And I didn't ask to break up with her yet, meaning that right at this very moment I was cheating. Never had finally being with Hayley disgusted me as it did now. I shook Hayley softly, trying to wake her up. I needed her girl advice, and now, before this entire thing crashed and burned. She groaned and squirmed around before finally waking up.
"What?" she asked, irritated.
"I need to break up with Blair."
Her eyes fluttered wide open, shock and surprise illuminating her face. "You didn't break up with her yet?!" She cried. I shook my head in shame. "Josh!" she yelled, her fists slamming into my stomach. "Ouch!" I cried, rubbing it in response. She bit her lip. "Sorry. But Josh, you're basically cheating on her right now. I feel so dirty!"
"I know, I know," I answered, agreeing with the sentiment. "That's exactly what I need to do now." I rolled over to face the bedside table and grabbed my phone. "Okay. Shut up," I told her.
I dialed Blair's number hesitantly, my hands shaking. I felt Hayley's eyes watching me, every movement, which made concentration a bit hard to achieve at the moment. Blair's innocent voice rang on the other line. "Josh?" She asked. "Y...yeah. It's me," I started. Hayley looked nervous, too. "I'm kind of...well, I don't know how to say this." I heard Blair pause. She did not give me any reassurance or response on the other end of the line; all I could hear were her evenly spaced breaths. "I'll just come out and say it then," I continued. "Blair...I'm...well I'm..." I couldn't make the words come out and sound like something reasonable. Hayley took the phone out of my hands. "Blair," she began, as I gaped at her, wide eyed, "Josh wants to break up with you."
I gulped. I heard Blair's voice raise on the other line. Hayley almost smiled, and turned on the speaker just for my own amusement, I guessed. "I guess he found someone else," Hayley continued. Despite the pity I felt for the poor girl, who I did feel guilty for cheating on and forgetting about, mind you, I couldn't help but laugh along.
"Tell him to forget the shoes I was going to get him! And everything else he asked for! Tell him forget it!" Blair yelled. Hayley smirked and rolled her eyes.
"Blair, I know how you feel," Hayley said. "Josh is in bed with me right now, too."
My eyes widened, dilated almost to the point where they felt as if they'd pop out of my sockets. Who would have the guts to add that in? This was inappropriate as is, and Hayley, determined, proud Hayley, had to throw that in. "Blair, I guess there was no real love in your relationship anyways. There's a guy out there for you, okay?"
Blair continued screaming.
Hayley stuck out her tongue and covered her ears. She mouthed Blair's words as Blair yelled out into the phone, it was rather unpleasant, but Hayley's mocking was hilarious. I couldn't help myself, the supressed laughter was already creeping up my throat, and I finally burst.
"Bye Blair!" Hayley called, hanging up.
She began to laugh too, and held me in a hug. "There, Josh! She's gone!" She said against my chest, in between bursts of luaghter.
I kept laughing, feeling extremely alive. Once the laughter had died down, Hayley spoke.
"I guess that's one problem that's over with."
I nodded my head, still holding her. "There's still Jaelyn," I pointed out.
Hayley sighed loudly. "Jaelyn," she repeated. "Hate her!" We said in unison.
We looked at each other in surprise. "Jinx!" Hayley said, grinning. She grunted softly as she got out of bed. I followed her downstairs. "So what's the plans stored for this weekend?" I asked her. She placed a finger on her chin and her eyes stared up at the ceiling. Her eyes finally locked with mine and she shrugged. "I don't know," she answered. "I guess we're going to have to make it up as we go along." Hayley walked over to the kitchen cupboards, pulling out a pancake mix. "Ooh..pancakes!" I exclaimed, walking over to her side. "I'll help, if I can." She smiled as she opened up the box and took out a mixing bowl. "Here, follow the directions. I'll heat up the stove," she said, handing me the bowl. I read the directions and began to pour in the mix. "Do I put the milk in first or mix the flour?" I asked. "Mix the flour?" Hayley repeated, sounding surprised. "You don't mix the flour, Josh," she said, pouring in the milk, "You mix the milk in and add eggs and stuff. Like it says on the box."
I nodded, leaning in to give her a quick peck on the cheek. She looked up at me, her face glazed over with surprise, but there was no sign that she was angry at me for it. She leaned up and stood on her toes to kiss me back on the lips. I leaned forward, so she didn't have to use her toes just to reach my height. Curving a hand around the small of her back, we walked, no loss of contact, against one of the walls. Hayley pressed her back against it and I pressed myself against her, her lips moving along with mine.
The door swung open and a man entered.
Hayley's head turned to the side and she froze in place as she stared at the figure that had entered through the door. "Dad?" she asked, the word choked up.
Her father stared back at us in disgust, walking three steps forward. "Who is this?" He scoffed, unimpressed, finger pointed towards me. I instinctively pulled away from her and stayed quiet.
"This is...m...my boyfriend. Josh."
I held out a hand, but he refused to take the attempt at civility. He just nodded and glared at me. And in that moment it felt as if the air in the room had gone out a window, the oxygen leaving both Hayley and I to suffocate.
Her mother appeared.
"What are you doing here?" She asked as she caught sight of Hayley' dad, illustrating the theme of unwelcome with every word and action. "Well this is still my house. Who said I couldn't check in on you all? I still have the damn key," her dad shot back.
Hayley's mother scoffed, shaking her head in disapproval. I could feel Hayley cringe beside me, struck with fear.
"You aren't welcome anymore, so please go," her mother said, to the point where her voice was building up to a scream. She placed her hands on his chest and began pushing him backward. "I just wanted to check in on Hayley!" He screamed at her, situated in his spot. "And now I see she's with this boy?!" His hands darted toward me.
"Go..now!" Her mother finally yelled, shaking the house's foundations. Hayley began to cry, burying her face into my chest and holding on to me like her life depended on it. I placed a hand around her, but her father screamed out at me. "Get your hands off of my daughter!"
"Sir," I began, trying my best to create the facade of calmness.
"No, Josh," Mrs. Williams replied in a gentle manner, looking at me.
Her eyes flew back toward Hayley's dad, who stood there with obvious rage, he looked as if he was just about ready to explode. "Get out of my house and don't cause trouble with my daughter!"
Her father swore at us both in a loud voice, one that caused Hayley to tremble against my chest, shaking.
He rushed toward the door, threw the keys at Hayley's mother, and slammed it shut, the ring of the door echoeing throughout the entire household.
And all was silent.
It was a bit hard to settle back into peace after witnessing the events that just transpired. The silence seemed strange, unwanted. But I wasn't going to complain.
Hayley sniffed, still pressed against me, and wiped her eyes.
Her mother whispered something to herself that I couldn't make out.
"Josh, it's okay. Take care of Hayley," Mrs. Williams told me. All I could do was nod, but I'm sure my placid facade failed to conceal the tumult of my mind.
Ms. Williams headed upstairs in silence.
Hayley finally spoke, her words sounding laboured, her voice barely loud enough to be considered a whisper. "Josh I'm so sorry." Right then she buried her face in her hands, wet tears staining her porclein skin. I took her hands, enclosed them around mine, and almost cried myself. "It's fine. Hayley. Shh."
---
"That's nice," Hayley said, gesturing toward the papers. We were in my living room with Zac, trying to write something, inspiration just ready to be grabbed any second. "But it needs a nicer riff," she added. I wrote some notes down, taking her advice, and Hayley studied them. "Okay, that's better," she said, nodding.
Zac began playing his rhythm on the set, sounding awesome, as always.
"Okay, let's take it from the top," Hayley announced, picking up the paper. "One, two, three, four!"
I began to strum as Zac played along, and soon enough Hayley chimed in with the lyrics her ingenious brain had come up with. "I've hoped for change, and it gets better everyday. I've hoped for change, but still I feel the same. There's something wrong, 'cause everybody knows that we can do this on our own! And we got everybody singing: WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! WOAH!"
By the end of the song, Zac and I had smiles on our faces, completely distraught by the amazing voice of the redhead lead singer in front of us, but Hayley did not look satisfied. "We need something else," she said, scratching the back of her head. "We need a bass player."
By the end of the day, Hayley and I had already hung up what seemed like a hundred posters for the auditions we would hold all throughout the week. After the final poster, I exhaled in exhaustion, placing my back against the tree we posted it up on.
"Oh come on. We're done putting the posters up!" Hayley exclaimed, her hands on my shoulders. She then, to my surprise, pushed me aside and began to climb up the tree.
Hayley swung her legs over a branch and sat upon the bough of the large tree, the thickness of it sufficient to hold her weight.
"Going to join me?" Hayley asked persuasively, eyebrows raised. I gave in and began to climb, sitting there with her. The view from above wasn't bad at all, the fields and tennis courts of the Tennessee park could be viewed from up here. "Aren't you scared to fall?" I asked her, looking down, the distress creeping in. "It depends. Will you catch me?" Hayley asked, applying the question to herself.
"Of course," I replied.
"Then no, I'm not afraid," Hayley answered decidedly.
We paused for quite a while, just taking in the entire scene and letting the breeze caress our skin. It was silent until I leaned in, kissing her softly, and she responded. I pulled away as I realized I was nearly losing my balance. Hayley laughed against my lips and shook her head. "C'mon, let's get down from here."
The following day would be the first day of auditions. Time to meet the lucky 32 who had signed up to audition for us at my house. It's going to be a long day.
I looked over at the alarm clock next on Hayley's bedside table. It read 5:32 AM. I sighed and rolled back to the other side, looking straight into Hayley's closed eyes. Even in her sleep the cuteness remained, she held with her an air of sweetness that simply could not be ignored. I stroked her bright hair softly, hoping not to wake her, but that plan did not work so well. Once I placed a hand on her, her eyes had started to open and a smile was creeping up across her lips. I smiled back. "Morning," I whispered softly. "I love you." She stroked my face with her hands and leaned in closer. "I love you, too," she said, while placing a soft kiss on my lips. Her smile came out again, shining bright. She let out a soft yawn before closing her eyes. "It's too early," she mumbled, cuddling up in my chest. I placed a hand on her back and held her near. "Go to sleep. It's Saturday." I played around with the mess of her hair before finally drifting back to sleep.
I felt Hayley's body shift back and fourth as she mumbled little words in her sleep. "Mmm..Josh," she whispered, her eyes still closed. Her brain must have been caught up in a dream. "Ugh...Blair," she mumbled. The sound of Blair's name alarmed me suddenly, realizing I was going out with her still. And I didn't ask to break up with her yet, meaning that right at this very moment I was cheating. Never had finally being with Hayley disgusted me as it did now. I shook Hayley softly, trying to wake her up. I needed her girl advice, and now, before this entire thing crashed and burned. She groaned and squirmed around before finally waking up.
"What?" she asked, irritated.
"I need to break up with Blair."
Her eyes fluttered wide open, shock and surprise illuminating her face. "You didn't break up with her yet?!" She cried. I shook my head in shame. "Josh!" she yelled, her fists slamming into my stomach. "Ouch!" I cried, rubbing it in response. She bit her lip. "Sorry. But Josh, you're basically cheating on her right now. I feel so dirty!"
"I know, I know," I answered, agreeing with the sentiment. "That's exactly what I need to do now." I rolled over to face the bedside table and grabbed my phone. "Okay. Shut up," I told her.
I dialed Blair's number hesitantly, my hands shaking. I felt Hayley's eyes watching me, every movement, which made concentration a bit hard to achieve at the moment. Blair's innocent voice rang on the other line. "Josh?" She asked. "Y...yeah. It's me," I started. Hayley looked nervous, too. "I'm kind of...well, I don't know how to say this." I heard Blair pause. She did not give me any reassurance or response on the other end of the line; all I could hear were her evenly spaced breaths. "I'll just come out and say it then," I continued. "Blair...I'm...well I'm..." I couldn't make the words come out and sound like something reasonable. Hayley took the phone out of my hands. "Blair," she began, as I gaped at her, wide eyed, "Josh wants to break up with you."
I gulped. I heard Blair's voice raise on the other line. Hayley almost smiled, and turned on the speaker just for my own amusement, I guessed. "I guess he found someone else," Hayley continued. Despite the pity I felt for the poor girl, who I did feel guilty for cheating on and forgetting about, mind you, I couldn't help but laugh along.
"Tell him to forget the shoes I was going to get him! And everything else he asked for! Tell him forget it!" Blair yelled. Hayley smirked and rolled her eyes.
"Blair, I know how you feel," Hayley said. "Josh is in bed with me right now, too."
My eyes widened, dilated almost to the point where they felt as if they'd pop out of my sockets. Who would have the guts to add that in? This was inappropriate as is, and Hayley, determined, proud Hayley, had to throw that in. "Blair, I guess there was no real love in your relationship anyways. There's a guy out there for you, okay?"
Blair continued screaming.
Hayley stuck out her tongue and covered her ears. She mouthed Blair's words as Blair yelled out into the phone, it was rather unpleasant, but Hayley's mocking was hilarious. I couldn't help myself, the supressed laughter was already creeping up my throat, and I finally burst.
"Bye Blair!" Hayley called, hanging up.
She began to laugh too, and held me in a hug. "There, Josh! She's gone!" She said against my chest, in between bursts of luaghter.
I kept laughing, feeling extremely alive. Once the laughter had died down, Hayley spoke.
"I guess that's one problem that's over with."
I nodded my head, still holding her. "There's still Jaelyn," I pointed out.
Hayley sighed loudly. "Jaelyn," she repeated. "Hate her!" We said in unison.
We looked at each other in surprise. "Jinx!" Hayley said, grinning. She grunted softly as she got out of bed. I followed her downstairs. "So what's the plans stored for this weekend?" I asked her. She placed a finger on her chin and her eyes stared up at the ceiling. Her eyes finally locked with mine and she shrugged. "I don't know," she answered. "I guess we're going to have to make it up as we go along." Hayley walked over to the kitchen cupboards, pulling out a pancake mix. "Ooh..pancakes!" I exclaimed, walking over to her side. "I'll help, if I can." She smiled as she opened up the box and took out a mixing bowl. "Here, follow the directions. I'll heat up the stove," she said, handing me the bowl. I read the directions and began to pour in the mix. "Do I put the milk in first or mix the flour?" I asked. "Mix the flour?" Hayley repeated, sounding surprised. "You don't mix the flour, Josh," she said, pouring in the milk, "You mix the milk in and add eggs and stuff. Like it says on the box."
I nodded, leaning in to give her a quick peck on the cheek. She looked up at me, her face glazed over with surprise, but there was no sign that she was angry at me for it. She leaned up and stood on her toes to kiss me back on the lips. I leaned forward, so she didn't have to use her toes just to reach my height. Curving a hand around the small of her back, we walked, no loss of contact, against one of the walls. Hayley pressed her back against it and I pressed myself against her, her lips moving along with mine.
The door swung open and a man entered.
Hayley's head turned to the side and she froze in place as she stared at the figure that had entered through the door. "Dad?" she asked, the word choked up.
Her father stared back at us in disgust, walking three steps forward. "Who is this?" He scoffed, unimpressed, finger pointed towards me. I instinctively pulled away from her and stayed quiet.
"This is...m...my boyfriend. Josh."
I held out a hand, but he refused to take the attempt at civility. He just nodded and glared at me. And in that moment it felt as if the air in the room had gone out a window, the oxygen leaving both Hayley and I to suffocate.
Her mother appeared.
"What are you doing here?" She asked as she caught sight of Hayley' dad, illustrating the theme of unwelcome with every word and action. "Well this is still my house. Who said I couldn't check in on you all? I still have the damn key," her dad shot back.
Hayley's mother scoffed, shaking her head in disapproval. I could feel Hayley cringe beside me, struck with fear.
"You aren't welcome anymore, so please go," her mother said, to the point where her voice was building up to a scream. She placed her hands on his chest and began pushing him backward. "I just wanted to check in on Hayley!" He screamed at her, situated in his spot. "And now I see she's with this boy?!" His hands darted toward me.
"Go..now!" Her mother finally yelled, shaking the house's foundations. Hayley began to cry, burying her face into my chest and holding on to me like her life depended on it. I placed a hand around her, but her father screamed out at me. "Get your hands off of my daughter!"
"Sir," I began, trying my best to create the facade of calmness.
"No, Josh," Mrs. Williams replied in a gentle manner, looking at me.
Her eyes flew back toward Hayley's dad, who stood there with obvious rage, he looked as if he was just about ready to explode. "Get out of my house and don't cause trouble with my daughter!"
Her father swore at us both in a loud voice, one that caused Hayley to tremble against my chest, shaking.
He rushed toward the door, threw the keys at Hayley's mother, and slammed it shut, the ring of the door echoeing throughout the entire household.
And all was silent.
It was a bit hard to settle back into peace after witnessing the events that just transpired. The silence seemed strange, unwanted. But I wasn't going to complain.
Hayley sniffed, still pressed against me, and wiped her eyes.
Her mother whispered something to herself that I couldn't make out.
"Josh, it's okay. Take care of Hayley," Mrs. Williams told me. All I could do was nod, but I'm sure my placid facade failed to conceal the tumult of my mind.
Ms. Williams headed upstairs in silence.
Hayley finally spoke, her words sounding laboured, her voice barely loud enough to be considered a whisper. "Josh I'm so sorry." Right then she buried her face in her hands, wet tears staining her porclein skin. I took her hands, enclosed them around mine, and almost cried myself. "It's fine. Hayley. Shh."
---
"That's nice," Hayley said, gesturing toward the papers. We were in my living room with Zac, trying to write something, inspiration just ready to be grabbed any second. "But it needs a nicer riff," she added. I wrote some notes down, taking her advice, and Hayley studied them. "Okay, that's better," she said, nodding.
Zac began playing his rhythm on the set, sounding awesome, as always.
"Okay, let's take it from the top," Hayley announced, picking up the paper. "One, two, three, four!"
I began to strum as Zac played along, and soon enough Hayley chimed in with the lyrics her ingenious brain had come up with. "I've hoped for change, and it gets better everyday. I've hoped for change, but still I feel the same. There's something wrong, 'cause everybody knows that we can do this on our own! And we got everybody singing: WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! WOAH!"
By the end of the song, Zac and I had smiles on our faces, completely distraught by the amazing voice of the redhead lead singer in front of us, but Hayley did not look satisfied. "We need something else," she said, scratching the back of her head. "We need a bass player."
By the end of the day, Hayley and I had already hung up what seemed like a hundred posters for the auditions we would hold all throughout the week. After the final poster, I exhaled in exhaustion, placing my back against the tree we posted it up on.
"Oh come on. We're done putting the posters up!" Hayley exclaimed, her hands on my shoulders. She then, to my surprise, pushed me aside and began to climb up the tree.
Hayley swung her legs over a branch and sat upon the bough of the large tree, the thickness of it sufficient to hold her weight.
"Going to join me?" Hayley asked persuasively, eyebrows raised. I gave in and began to climb, sitting there with her. The view from above wasn't bad at all, the fields and tennis courts of the Tennessee park could be viewed from up here. "Aren't you scared to fall?" I asked her, looking down, the distress creeping in. "It depends. Will you catch me?" Hayley asked, applying the question to herself.
"Of course," I replied.
"Then no, I'm not afraid," Hayley answered decidedly.
We paused for quite a while, just taking in the entire scene and letting the breeze caress our skin. It was silent until I leaned in, kissing her softly, and she responded. I pulled away as I realized I was nearly losing my balance. Hayley laughed against my lips and shook her head. "C'mon, let's get down from here."
The following day would be the first day of auditions. Time to meet the lucky 32 who had signed up to audition for us at my house. It's going to be a long day.
JOSH'S POV:
I looked over at the alarm clock next on Hayley's bedside table. It read 5:32 AM. I sighed and rolled back to the other side, looking straight into Hayley's closed eyes. Even in her sleep the cuteness remained, she held with her an air of sweetness that simply could not be ignored. I stroked her bright hair softly, hoping not to wake her, but that plan did not work so well. Once I placed a hand on her, her eyes had started to open and a smile was creeping up across her lips. I smiled back. "Morning," I whispered softly. "I love you." She stroked my face with her hands and leaned in closer. "I love you, too," she said, while placing a soft kiss on my lips. Her smile came out again, shining bright. She let out a soft yawn before closing her eyes. "It's too early," she mumbled, cuddling up in my chest. I placed a hand on her back and held her near. "Go to sleep. It's Saturday." I played around with the mess of her hair before finally drifting back to sleep.
I felt Hayley's body shift back and fourth as she mumbled little words in her sleep. "Mmm..Josh," she whispered, her eyes still closed. Her brain must have been caught up in a dream. "Ugh...Blair," she mumbled. The sound of Blair's name alarmed me suddenly, realizing I was going out with her still. And I didn't ask to break up with her yet, meaning that right at this very moment I was cheating. Never had finally being with Hayley disgusted me as it did now. I shook Hayley softly, trying to wake her up. I needed her girl advice, and now, before this entire thing crashed and burned. She groaned and squirmed around before finally waking up.
"What?" she asked, irritated.
"I need to break up with Blair."
Her eyes fluttered wide open, shock and surprise illuminating her face. "You didn't break up with her yet?!" She cried. I shook my head in shame. "Josh!" she yelled, her fists slamming into my stomach. "Ouch!" I cried, rubbing it in response. She bit her lip. "Sorry. But Josh, you're basically cheating on her right now. I feel so dirty!"
"I know, I know," I answered, agreeing with the sentiment. "That's exactly what I need to do now." I rolled over to face the bedside table and grabbed my phone. "Okay. Shut up," I told her.
I dialed Blair's number hesitantly, my hands shaking. I felt Hayley's eyes watching me, every movement, which made concentration a bit hard to achieve at the moment. Blair's innocent voice rang on the other line. "Josh?" She asked. "Y...yeah. It's me," I started. Hayley looked nervous, too. "I'm kind of...well, I don't know how to say this." I heard Blair pause. She did not give me any reassurance or response on the other end of the line; all I could hear were her evenly spaced breaths. "I'll just come out and say it then," I continued. "Blair...I'm...well I'm..." I couldn't make the words come out and sound like something reasonable. Hayley took the phone out of my hands. "Blair," she began, as I gaped at her, wide eyed, "Josh wants to break up with you."
I gulped. I heard Blair's voice raise on the other line. Hayley almost smiled, and turned on the speaker just for my own amusement, I guessed. "I guess he found someone else," Hayley continued. Despite the pity I felt for the poor girl, who I did feel guilty for cheating on and forgetting about, mind you, I couldn't help but laugh along.
"Tell him to forget the shoes I was going to get him! And everything else he asked for! Tell him forget it!" Blair yelled. Hayley smirked and rolled her eyes.
"Blair, I know how you feel," Hayley said. "Josh is in bed with me right now, too."
My eyes widened, dilated almost to the point where they felt as if they'd pop out of my sockets. Who would have the guts to add that in? This was inappropriate as is, and Hayley, determined, proud Hayley, had to throw that in. "Blair, I guess there was no real love in your relationship anyways. There's a guy out there for you, okay?"
Blair continued screaming.
Hayley stuck out her tongue and covered her ears. She mouthed Blair's words as Blair yelled out into the phone, it was rather unpleasant, but Hayley's mocking was hilarious. I couldn't help myself, the supressed laughter was already creeping up my throat, and I finally burst.
"Bye Blair!" Hayley called, hanging up.
She began to laugh too, and held me in a hug. "There, Josh! She's gone!" She said against my chest, in between bursts of luaghter.
I kept laughing, feeling extremely alive. Once the laughter had died down, Hayley spoke.
"I guess that's one problem that's over with."
I nodded my head, still holding her. "There's still Jaelyn," I pointed out.
Hayley sighed loudly. "Jaelyn," she repeated. "Hate her!" We said in unison.
We looked at each other in surprise. "Jinx!" Hayley said, grinning. She grunted softly as she got out of bed. I followed her downstairs. "So what's the plans stored for this weekend?" I asked her. She placed a finger on her chin and her eyes stared up at the ceiling. Her eyes finally locked with mine and she shrugged. "I don't know," she answered. "I guess we're going to have to make it up as we go along." Hayley walked over to the kitchen cupboards, pulling out a pancake mix. "Ooh..pancakes!" I exclaimed, walking over to her side. "I'll help, if I can." She smiled as she opened up the box and took out a mixing bowl. "Here, follow the directions. I'll heat up the stove," she said, handing me the bowl. I read the directions and began to pour in the mix. "Do I put the milk in first or mix the flour?" I asked. "Mix the flour?" Hayley repeated, sounding surprised. "You don't mix the flour, Josh," she said, pouring in the milk, "You mix the milk in and add eggs and stuff. Like it says on the box."
I nodded, leaning in to give her a quick peck on the cheek. She looked up at me, her face glazed over with surprise, but there was no sign that she was angry at me for it. She leaned up and stood on her toes to kiss me back on the lips. I leaned forward, so she didn't have to use her toes just to reach my height. Curving a hand around the small of her back, we walked, no loss of contact, against one of the walls. Hayley pressed her back against it and I pressed myself against her, her lips moving along with mine.
The door swung open and a man entered.
Hayley's head turned to the side and she froze in place as she stared at the figure that had entered through the door. "Dad?" she asked, the word choked up.
Her father stared back at us in disgust, walking three steps forward. "Who is this?" He scoffed, unimpressed, finger pointed towards me. I instinctively pulled away from her and stayed quiet.
"This is...m...my boyfriend. Josh."
I held out a hand, but he refused to take the attempt at civility. He just nodded and glared at me. And in that moment it felt as if the air in the room had gone out a window, the oxygen leaving both Hayley and I to suffocate.
Her mother appeared.
"What are you doing here?" She asked as she caught sight of Hayley' dad, illustrating the theme of unwelcome with every word and action. "Well this is still my house. Who said I couldn't check in on you all? I still have the damn key," her dad shot back.
Hayley's mother scoffed, shaking her head in disapproval. I could feel Hayley cringe beside me, struck with fear.
"You aren't welcome anymore, so please go," her mother said, to the point where her voice was building up to a scream. She placed her hands on his chest and began pushing him backward. "I just wanted to check in on Hayley!" He screamed at her, situated in his spot. "And now I see she's with this boy?!" His hands darted toward me.
"Go..now!" Her mother finally yelled, shaking the house's foundations. Hayley began to cry, burying her face into my chest and holding on to me like her life depended on it. I placed a hand around her, but her father screamed out at me. "Get your hands off of my daughter!"
"Sir," I began, trying my best to create the facade of calmness.
"No, Josh," Mrs. Williams replied in a gentle manner, looking at me.
Her eyes flew back toward Hayley's dad, who stood there with obvious rage, he looked as if he was just about ready to explode. "Get out of my house and don't cause trouble with my daughter!"
Her father swore at us both in a loud voice, one that caused Hayley to tremble against my chest, shaking.
He rushed toward the door, threw the keys at Hayley's mother, and slammed it shut, the ring of the door echoeing throughout the entire household.
And all was silent.
It was a bit hard to settle back into peace after witnessing the events that just transpired. The silence seemed strange, unwanted. But I wasn't going to complain.
Hayley sniffed, still pressed against me, and wiped her eyes.
Her mother whispered something to herself that I couldn't make out.
"Josh, it's okay. Take care of Hayley," Mrs. Williams told me. All I could do was nod, but I'm sure my placid facade failed to conceal the tumult of my mind.
Ms. Williams headed upstairs in silence.
Hayley finally spoke, her words sounding laboured, her voice barely loud enough to be considered a whisper. "Josh I'm so sorry." Right then she buried her face in her hands, wet tears staining her porclein skin. I took her hands, enclosed them around mine, and almost cried myself. "It's fine. Hayley. Shh."
---
"That's nice," Hayley said, gesturing toward the papers. We were in my living room with Zac, trying to write something, inspiration just ready to be grabbed any second. "But it needs a nicer riff," she added. I wrote some notes down, taking her advice, and Hayley studied them. "Okay, that's better," she said, nodding.
Zac began playing his rhythm on the set, sounding awesome, as always.
"Okay, let's take it from the top," Hayley announced, picking up the paper. "One, two, three, four!"
I began to strum as Zac played along, and soon enough Hayley chimed in with the lyrics her ingenious brain had come up with. "I've hoped for change, and it gets better everyday. I've hoped for change, but still I feel the same. There's something wrong, 'cause everybody knows that we can do this on our own! And we got everybody singing: WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! WOAH!"
By the end of the song, Zac and I had smiles on our faces, completely distraught by the amazing voice of the redhead lead singer in front of us, but Hayley did not look satisfied. "We need something else," she said, scratching the back of her head. "We need a bass player."
By the end of the day, Hayley and I had already hung up what seemed like a hundred posters for the auditions we would hold all throughout the week. After the final poster, I exhaled in exhaustion, placing my back against the tree we posted it up on.
"Oh come on. We're done putting the posters up!" Hayley exclaimed, her hands on my shoulders. She then, to my surprise, pushed me aside and began to climb up the tree.
Hayley swung her legs over a branch and sat upon the bough of the large tree, the thickness of it sufficient to hold her weight.
"Going to join me?" Hayley asked persuasively, eyebrows raised. I gave in and began to climb, sitting there with her. The view from above wasn't bad at all, the fields and tennis courts of the Tennessee park could be viewed from up here. "Aren't you scared to fall?" I asked her, looking down, the distress creeping in. "It depends. Will you catch me?" Hayley asked, applying the question to herself.
"Of course," I replied.
"Then no, I'm not afraid," Hayley answered decidedly.
We paused for quite a while, just taking in the entire scene and letting the breeze caress our skin. It was silent until I leaned in, kissing her softly, and she responded. I pulled away as I realized I was nearly losing my balance. Hayley laughed against my lips and shook her head. "C'mon, let's get down from here."
The following day would be the first day of auditions. Time to meet the lucky 32 who had signed up to audition for us at my house. It's going to be a long day.
I looked over at the alarm clock next on Hayley's bedside table. It read 5:32 AM. I sighed and rolled back to the other side, looking straight into Hayley's closed eyes. Even in her sleep the cuteness remained, she held with her an air of sweetness that simply could not be ignored. I stroked her bright hair softly, hoping not to wake her, but that plan did not work so well. Once I placed a hand on her, her eyes had started to open and a smile was creeping up across her lips. I smiled back. "Morning," I whispered softly. "I love you." She stroked my face with her hands and leaned in closer. "I love you, too," she said, while placing a soft kiss on my lips. Her smile came out again, shining bright. She let out a soft yawn before closing her eyes. "It's too early," she mumbled, cuddling up in my chest. I placed a hand on her back and held her near. "Go to sleep. It's Saturday." I played around with the mess of her hair before finally drifting back to sleep.
I felt Hayley's body shift back and fourth as she mumbled little words in her sleep. "Mmm..Josh," she whispered, her eyes still closed. Her brain must have been caught up in a dream. "Ugh...Blair," she mumbled. The sound of Blair's name alarmed me suddenly, realizing I was going out with her still. And I didn't ask to break up with her yet, meaning that right at this very moment I was cheating. Never had finally being with Hayley disgusted me as it did now. I shook Hayley softly, trying to wake her up. I needed her girl advice, and now, before this entire thing crashed and burned. She groaned and squirmed around before finally waking up.
"What?" she asked, irritated.
"I need to break up with Blair."
Her eyes fluttered wide open, shock and surprise illuminating her face. "You didn't break up with her yet?!" She cried. I shook my head in shame. "Josh!" she yelled, her fists slamming into my stomach. "Ouch!" I cried, rubbing it in response. She bit her lip. "Sorry. But Josh, you're basically cheating on her right now. I feel so dirty!"
"I know, I know," I answered, agreeing with the sentiment. "That's exactly what I need to do now." I rolled over to face the bedside table and grabbed my phone. "Okay. Shut up," I told her.
I dialed Blair's number hesitantly, my hands shaking. I felt Hayley's eyes watching me, every movement, which made concentration a bit hard to achieve at the moment. Blair's innocent voice rang on the other line. "Josh?" She asked. "Y...yeah. It's me," I started. Hayley looked nervous, too. "I'm kind of...well, I don't know how to say this." I heard Blair pause. She did not give me any reassurance or response on the other end of the line; all I could hear were her evenly spaced breaths. "I'll just come out and say it then," I continued. "Blair...I'm...well I'm..." I couldn't make the words come out and sound like something reasonable. Hayley took the phone out of my hands. "Blair," she began, as I gaped at her, wide eyed, "Josh wants to break up with you."
I gulped. I heard Blair's voice raise on the other line. Hayley almost smiled, and turned on the speaker just for my own amusement, I guessed. "I guess he found someone else," Hayley continued. Despite the pity I felt for the poor girl, who I did feel guilty for cheating on and forgetting about, mind you, I couldn't help but laugh along.
"Tell him to forget the shoes I was going to get him! And everything else he asked for! Tell him forget it!" Blair yelled. Hayley smirked and rolled her eyes.
"Blair, I know how you feel," Hayley said. "Josh is in bed with me right now, too."
My eyes widened, dilated almost to the point where they felt as if they'd pop out of my sockets. Who would have the guts to add that in? This was inappropriate as is, and Hayley, determined, proud Hayley, had to throw that in. "Blair, I guess there was no real love in your relationship anyways. There's a guy out there for you, okay?"
Blair continued screaming.
Hayley stuck out her tongue and covered her ears. She mouthed Blair's words as Blair yelled out into the phone, it was rather unpleasant, but Hayley's mocking was hilarious. I couldn't help myself, the supressed laughter was already creeping up my throat, and I finally burst.
"Bye Blair!" Hayley called, hanging up.
She began to laugh too, and held me in a hug. "There, Josh! She's gone!" She said against my chest, in between bursts of luaghter.
I kept laughing, feeling extremely alive. Once the laughter had died down, Hayley spoke.
"I guess that's one problem that's over with."
I nodded my head, still holding her. "There's still Jaelyn," I pointed out.
Hayley sighed loudly. "Jaelyn," she repeated. "Hate her!" We said in unison.
We looked at each other in surprise. "Jinx!" Hayley said, grinning. She grunted softly as she got out of bed. I followed her downstairs. "So what's the plans stored for this weekend?" I asked her. She placed a finger on her chin and her eyes stared up at the ceiling. Her eyes finally locked with mine and she shrugged. "I don't know," she answered. "I guess we're going to have to make it up as we go along." Hayley walked over to the kitchen cupboards, pulling out a pancake mix. "Ooh..pancakes!" I exclaimed, walking over to her side. "I'll help, if I can." She smiled as she opened up the box and took out a mixing bowl. "Here, follow the directions. I'll heat up the stove," she said, handing me the bowl. I read the directions and began to pour in the mix. "Do I put the milk in first or mix the flour?" I asked. "Mix the flour?" Hayley repeated, sounding surprised. "You don't mix the flour, Josh," she said, pouring in the milk, "You mix the milk in and add eggs and stuff. Like it says on the box."
I nodded, leaning in to give her a quick peck on the cheek. She looked up at me, her face glazed over with surprise, but there was no sign that she was angry at me for it. She leaned up and stood on her toes to kiss me back on the lips. I leaned forward, so she didn't have to use her toes just to reach my height. Curving a hand around the small of her back, we walked, no loss of contact, against one of the walls. Hayley pressed her back against it and I pressed myself against her, her lips moving along with mine.
The door swung open and a man entered.
Hayley's head turned to the side and she froze in place as she stared at the figure that had entered through the door. "Dad?" she asked, the word choked up.
Her father stared back at us in disgust, walking three steps forward. "Who is this?" He scoffed, unimpressed, finger pointed towards me. I instinctively pulled away from her and stayed quiet.
"This is...m...my boyfriend. Josh."
I held out a hand, but he refused to take the attempt at civility. He just nodded and glared at me. And in that moment it felt as if the air in the room had gone out a window, the oxygen leaving both Hayley and I to suffocate.
Her mother appeared.
"What are you doing here?" She asked as she caught sight of Hayley' dad, illustrating the theme of unwelcome with every word and action. "Well this is still my house. Who said I couldn't check in on you all? I still have the damn key," her dad shot back.
Hayley's mother scoffed, shaking her head in disapproval. I could feel Hayley cringe beside me, struck with fear.
"You aren't welcome anymore, so please go," her mother said, to the point where her voice was building up to a scream. She placed her hands on his chest and began pushing him backward. "I just wanted to check in on Hayley!" He screamed at her, situated in his spot. "And now I see she's with this boy?!" His hands darted toward me.
"Go..now!" Her mother finally yelled, shaking the house's foundations. Hayley began to cry, burying her face into my chest and holding on to me like her life depended on it. I placed a hand around her, but her father screamed out at me. "Get your hands off of my daughter!"
"Sir," I began, trying my best to create the facade of calmness.
"No, Josh," Mrs. Williams replied in a gentle manner, looking at me.
Her eyes flew back toward Hayley's dad, who stood there with obvious rage, he looked as if he was just about ready to explode. "Get out of my house and don't cause trouble with my daughter!"
Her father swore at us both in a loud voice, one that caused Hayley to tremble against my chest, shaking.
He rushed toward the door, threw the keys at Hayley's mother, and slammed it shut, the ring of the door echoeing throughout the entire household.
And all was silent.
It was a bit hard to settle back into peace after witnessing the events that just transpired. The silence seemed strange, unwanted. But I wasn't going to complain.
Hayley sniffed, still pressed against me, and wiped her eyes.
Her mother whispered something to herself that I couldn't make out.
"Josh, it's okay. Take care of Hayley," Mrs. Williams told me. All I could do was nod, but I'm sure my placid facade failed to conceal the tumult of my mind.
Ms. Williams headed upstairs in silence.
Hayley finally spoke, her words sounding laboured, her voice barely loud enough to be considered a whisper. "Josh I'm so sorry." Right then she buried her face in her hands, wet tears staining her porclein skin. I took her hands, enclosed them around mine, and almost cried myself. "It's fine. Hayley. Shh."
---
"That's nice," Hayley said, gesturing toward the papers. We were in my living room with Zac, trying to write something, inspiration just ready to be grabbed any second. "But it needs a nicer riff," she added. I wrote some notes down, taking her advice, and Hayley studied them. "Okay, that's better," she said, nodding.
Zac began playing his rhythm on the set, sounding awesome, as always.
"Okay, let's take it from the top," Hayley announced, picking up the paper. "One, two, three, four!"
I began to strum as Zac played along, and soon enough Hayley chimed in with the lyrics her ingenious brain had come up with. "I've hoped for change, and it gets better everyday. I've hoped for change, but still I feel the same. There's something wrong, 'cause everybody knows that we can do this on our own! And we got everybody singing: WOAH! WOAH! WOAH! WOAH!"
By the end of the song, Zac and I had smiles on our faces, completely distraught by the amazing voice of the redhead lead singer in front of us, but Hayley did not look satisfied. "We need something else," she said, scratching the back of her head. "We need a bass player."
By the end of the day, Hayley and I had already hung up what seemed like a hundred posters for the auditions we would hold all throughout the week. After the final poster, I exhaled in exhaustion, placing my back against the tree we posted it up on.
"Oh come on. We're done putting the posters up!" Hayley exclaimed, her hands on my shoulders. She then, to my surprise, pushed me aside and began to climb up the tree.
Hayley swung her legs over a branch and sat upon the bough of the large tree, the thickness of it sufficient to hold her weight.
"Going to join me?" Hayley asked persuasively, eyebrows raised. I gave in and began to climb, sitting there with her. The view from above wasn't bad at all, the fields and tennis courts of the Tennessee park could be viewed from up here. "Aren't you scared to fall?" I asked her, looking down, the distress creeping in. "It depends. Will you catch me?" Hayley asked, applying the question to herself.
"Of course," I replied.
"Then no, I'm not afraid," Hayley answered decidedly.
We paused for quite a while, just taking in the entire scene and letting the breeze caress our skin. It was silent until I leaned in, kissing her softly, and she responded. I pulled away as I realized I was nearly losing my balance. Hayley laughed against my lips and shook her head. "C'mon, let's get down from here."
The following day would be the first day of auditions. Time to meet the lucky 32 who had signed up to audition for us at my house. It's going to be a long day.