“Is your mom being sick the reason you won’t let me come to your house?” I ask, I’ve asked her a few times where she lives, so sometimes I can go to hers, but she never tells me.
“Part of it, but I don’t want to talk about it, please.” She wipes another tear away, so I drop the subject, not wanting to upset her if I don’t have to.
“Dad’s just messaged, your dad is here.” She looks at her watch and nods. “Call me from your dad’s phone when you get home.”
“Promise.”
Present Day
“Give her the job,” I tell Cain.
Seven
Olivia
15 yearsold
I’ve been here for over an hour, and Hayden still isn’t home. His mom said he wasn’t back from his hockey tournament but was on the way. She did ask if I wanted to wait inside, and I told her I had my book and it’s a nice day to be outside.
Sitting on the edge of the treehouse with my legs out, I read my book, waiting for Hayden to get back. I’ve been reading for so long now, I find it weird if I don’t read every day. My mom always jokes that one day they will lose me to the book world, which made me laugh.
The Harry Potter books are still my favorite,, but I’ve been enjoying some of the romance books I’m reading. I found some romance books which I wasn’t sure if I should be reading just yet, mostly because the reviews told me there's a lot of sex in them, and even though I know what sex is, I wanted to start myself off slowly. There are a few different books on my list I would like to read, from stalker romance to the sex club ones.
“Got your head in a book again.” Hayden scares me as he takes the book from me and starts reading the page I’m on.
“You stink.” I push him away from me as he sits down, leaving no space between us.
“I wanted to see you before I had a shower.” He hands me the book back, and he laughs. “Not into wizards anymore,” he jokes.
“Yes, I got a new book. It’s a fantasy one, can’t wait to start it. But I want to read other things too.” I grab my bag from behind me and look through it as Hayden talks to me about his tournament. “You won, that’s amazing. I hope the next one is close so I can come.” I give him a hug to congratulate him, he has been working so hard with his hockey, he’s been doing extra training.
“Thank you, it was harder than I thought it would be.” He laughs as he looks at all the stuff I pull out of my backpack. “Hello there Mary Poppins, do you have a TV in there too?”
“Shut up, I’ve found it.” I turn around and give him his gift. “Happy Birthday for tomorrow, I know you’re going away for the weekend, and I didn’t want to wait until you got back.” I hand him the box, and he looks at it. “What?”
“I told you not to spend money on me. I want you to save your money and help with your mom. That’s the reason you got a job,” he snaps at me. I know he said it a few times to me, and every cent I’ve made from the ice cream shop I’ve given my dad to help with my mom’s treatment.
“There was no way I was not going to give my best friend a present for his sixteenth birthday. It’s nothing big, so please don’t get too excited.” I push the box toward him, and he finally takes it from me.
“Not happy you spent money on me.” Opening the box, I can’t stop the smile. I know it’s nothing big, there was no way I could afford anything expensive for him, and I know Hayden would never want me to spend a lot of money on him.
Hayden looks into the box, and starts laughing, as he pulls out the set of small keyrings I’ve made him. there's a cookie, a treehouse, and a popcorn box.
“Look at what is written on the popcorn box.” I point to it, and he laughs even more.
“H is salty and O is sweet. I love it.” He looks at me, and pulls me in for a hug, and I can’t stop smiling at how happy he is with my gift.
“Really, you're not just saying it?”
“No, seriously I love it. It'll be on my keys the moment dad gives me my car keys.” He puts it back into the box, and places it to the side. “What time is your dad picking you up?”
“He'll be here in about an hour. So, you have time to tell me all about the games.” I love when he tells me about his day, and how much he loves hockey. He would love to go pro, he said it a few times, even told me he'll take me to his games, too.
“Dad took pictures, and videos.” He takes his phone out, and I move in closer to him so I can see better and get ready for an hour of listening about this tournament.
Present Day
I sent a message to Abigail letting her know I was meeting Mr. Cain about the bar job I applied for and would meet her at the party soon. I’ve never liked working at any bar, or nightclub, the men always think they can touch you whenever they want. But the pay is normally decent, and the tips are even better.
