“Can we talk?” he asks.
“No,” I say, shutting my locker. I start to walk to class when Hayden grips my elbow.
“Please, two minutes, Katy.”
I shrug him off, then gesture for him to go. “You have two minutes, go.”
He exhales. “I’m sorry about Friday. I…I don’t know why I done that. I just wanted to dance with you…I wanted you so bad. You looked so…good.” He glances up at me, his green eyes dark.
I remember why I liked him. Why I liked to look at him, he always has such a likeable expression on his face. Always smiling, the way his eyes sparkled. He smirks. “You don’t get to have me again, Hayden. You don’t. You wanted Holly and you have her. I am with Liam now,” I say, and for the first time it feels like the truth. I. Am. With. Liam.
Hayden’s lips turn down at the corners. “Holly broke up with me. I just thought…”
Oh. “You thought you could come back on your knees after she breaks up with you? How romantic,” I say, turning to walk away.
“No, she broke up with me because of the dance. She said I couldn’t stop staring at you. That I needed to get over you...,” he steps forward, “I can’t. You’re all I think about.”
I’ve dreamed about this moment. The moment Hayden realizes that he was an idiot and wants me back. I pictured him on a white horse, not in jeans in the hallway at school. I dreamed he would grab me, dunk me and kiss me. Like on those 80s movies. Hell, I even dreamed of him holding a boom box over his head. I pictured how perfect I would feel, how I would jump into his arms, let him carry me away into the sunset.
I don’t feel any of that. I glance up at Hayden’s green eyes and smile. “That’s nice, but I’m not interested. I’m with Liam now. I like him…a lot.”
“You can’t be serious?” he asks, grabbing a hold to my shoulders.
“I’m dead serious,” I say, snatching my shoulders out from underneath his hands. “He wouldn’t leave me for the first girl that comes his way. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go see about my boyfriend.”
I walk away from Hayden, a smile on my face.
I haven’t heard from Hayden since Friday and its Wednesday. I’ve gotten into my car several times to go see him, but always chicken out. I’m not sure what I should say. So, after I got out of school, I decide to go to his house. I’m a little nervous when I pull up into his driveway. His Jeep is parked in the driveway and I’m thankful no other vehicles are. Is he okay? Is he sick?
I sit in my car for several minutes. It feels weird to actually be in my car. I haven’t driven it since Liam and I started dating. Well, pretending to date, close enough. Maybe I should just go home? Maybe I should stop caring so much? Maybe I should stop being a pansy ass and get out of the car. Taking a deep breath, I get out and walk toward the door. I knock on the door and wait. I feel like I’ve been standing here for hours when finally the door opens.
Liam is standing on the other side. His black hair messy, no shirt, his eyes wide and only his toes are showing from underneath his long grey sweat pants, they make his eyes sparkle. “What…what are you doing here?”
I shift from one foot to the other. “Um, well, you didn’t show up to school, I got worried. I was just checking on you. I can leave,” I say, turning to leave.
Liam grabs my elbow. “Wait, I didn’t mean it like that. Sorry. Just…come in.” He pulls me toward the door and shuts it behind me.
“Are you sick?” I ask, kicking the hardwood floor with the tip of my shoe.
Liam scratches his stomach and it draws my eyes down to that one spot where he scratches. I look back up. Do not stare at him. “No,” he says. But, it’s really hard not to.
“Did someone die?” I ask.
“No.” He shakes his head. “Just follow me.” I follow him up the stairs to his room. He points for me to sit on his bed. I sit down. I watch while he digs around in his drawer. What the hell is going on? He pulls out a stack of opened envelopes and hands them to me. “They’re from my mom. My real Mom.”
I look up at him. He is frowning. “Where did you find them?” I ask, looking through them. She lives in Tampa, Florida.
“In the spare bedroom. I went to get a tennis racket out of there, cuz I broke the one from the other day and found them shoved in the bag. I know my step-mom hid them. Stupid bitch.”
I wince. There has to be over two hundred letters. I pick up the envelopes and hold them out to the side. “Have you asked her about them?”
He shakes his head. “No. I need to calm down first. I want to kill her.” It’s been five days. I don’t think it’s going to get any easier.