Moving quickly through the crowd to get outside, I take a deep breath in and put my head down so no-one will see me. I knew there was a chance I would see them, just not this soon. I thought I might get a week to settle in before they see me.
“Wait.” Abigail catches up with me by the door. “You just got here, the night is young.” She looks over my shoulder at the group we were standing with. “Stay for a little bit, then I'll come with you.”
“No, you stay. I wasn’t well this morning either, I think it’s just hit me more now.” I try to walk around her, but she steps in front of me.
“Fine, but message me when you get home. And tomorrow I'll tell you what happens tonight. But at the next party I’m not letting you leave,” she jokes. I tell her I’ll be there, but I’m praying Mr. Cain has a shift for me that day.
I can’t risk bumping into them, any of them.
Looking over my shoulder, I get away before anyone walks out and sees me. This is going to be a long five months, running away every time I see any one of them. Just great.
Eight
Hayden
16 yearsold
I hope she’s awake, it’s early but I couldn’t come last night because we had a family thing happening at the clinic. But I have to see her before I go to the hockey tournament, and I’ll be gone for three days. So, I have to see her this morning.
“You know she’s always told you not to come to her house.” My dad has been saying this since this morning, but I don’t care. Not answering him, he pulls into the trailer park. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I’ve never cared about where she lives. Why would I? Dad gives me a nod and continues to drive through the park.
“It’s the black one.” Dad points to the trailer, and I grab the bag and get out. She lives in a trailer park, why did she not tell me?
Knocking on the door, I take a step back to let the door open outwards. “Hayden?”
“Hello, Mr. Banks, is Olivia awake?” I ask, and he looks over his shoulder, and calls for her. I smile glad, I haven’t had to wake her up.
“Hayden?” She closes the door behind her. “What are you doing here?” She looks around, as she fidgets with her hands.
“It’s your birthday, and I'm going away for three days. So, I had to give you your gift.” I lift the bag, and she can’t even look at me. “Olivia, what’s wrong?” I ask her, taking a step closer to her, my hand under her chin to lift it so she looks at me.
“I didn’t want you to see where I live,” she whispers.
“Why? I don’t care where you live. You're my best friend, not because of where you live, but because you listen to me talk about shit I know you don’t care about. You make me laugh, and no matter what happens in my day I’m happy knowing I’m going to see you. So, you can live in a big fancy house, or here, you’re stuck with me.” I pull her in for a hug, I think she’s stopped growing now because I’m already towering over her, but I like it, I make fun of her all the time for being short.
“Promise?” she questions and I laugh.
“Promise.” Pulling away from her, I put the bag out for her to take it from me.
“One second.” She walks back into the trailer, and I look around, there's a part of me that wonders if this place is safe for her, anyone could hurt her if they wanted to. The door reopens, and I smile at Olivia. “You want to come in?”
“Sure, but I can’t stay long. Dad wants to be on the road early to avoid traffic.” I walk into the trailer, looking over at Mr. Banks watching me. “Hello, Mrs. Banks, so nice to meet you. I can see why Olivia is so pretty now.” I turn to her dad and joke. “Sorry, but she looks like her mom.”
“Nice to meet you, Hayden. Olivia has told me so much about you, it’s almost as if I know you myself.” Her mom smiles at Olivia as she sits down next to her and looks through the bag.
“The box of chocolates is for your mom, not you,” I tell her and she passes them over and her mom says thank you to me. Olivia takes out the box of unicorn cupcakes, and smiles at me.“A cupcake for my cupcake,” I joke with her and she laughs, shaking her head. Next she takes out the daisies I had in there for her. Finally, she takes out the smaller box, and stares at it for a moment. “Hayden?—”
“I don’t want to hear anything; it’s your sixteenth birthday. I wanted it to be special.” I got her a necklace from a designer shop, she knows the price of things there, she might not be able to afford it, but I plan on giving her anything she wants. “Open it then.”
I see her wipe the tear away, and it’d better be a happy one. She pulls out the necklace and looks at the little charms I've added onto it, and she starts laughing. She leans in closer to her mom to show her.
“It’s a book, a cupcake, and a daisy.” She looks at me with a smile. “Hayden.” She gets up and gives me a hug, and I wrap my arms around her. “I love it, can you put it on, please.” She hands it to me and turns around lifting her hair out the way. Once I’ve put it on she turns around, her fingers moving over the charms. “Thank you.” The two words come out in a small whisper.
“Save me some cake for when I get back.” I lean down a little and kiss her cheek. “Happy Birthday, Cupcake,” I whisper to her.
“I will.” She walks me to the door, I get back into the car, and dad drives away.
