Hailey

Noah doesn't try to talk to me for the rest of the day.

I'm beyond relieved at this. And I think talking to someone right after they spilled food all over themselves is not the best way about trying to become their friend.

Friend? What- no I don't need friends...

I'm keep telling myself that friends will only tear me down and nothing good will come from them. But that's getting increasingly difficult. Especially with that girl... Esther, right? She so instantly saw right through me, and while that is extremely frustrating, it's also like a small weight lifted off of my chest.

Scary yet satisfying. It's a strange feeling. It's supposed to be one way or the other, not a mix of the two.

I walk home slowly, wallowing in my thoughts. Questioning both Noah and Esther in my mind. Noah seemed like he was trying to pry me out of my shell, like he was intentionally trying to annoy me until I burst. And he succeeded, damn it. I just had to give him the satisfaction he and his cocky self needed.

Esther however, seemed more sincere. Like she could feel how I felt or something. Maybe she's the type of person that likes to help people and felt obligated to help me. But I don't need help, I'm fine the way I am. I guess. 

The sound of loud hammering and drilling snaps me out of my daze. I look to where the noise is coming from only to see that it's coming from the shabby brown house. I approach the house, feeling curious. 

I peak through the closest window. There are about half a dozen men in the house, and they appear to be fixing up the inside.

Renovations? Who would renovate such a crusty house? 

"Hey you," a voice suddenly rings out.

I jump a little, and if even possible with my already pale skin, I pale even more. 

A man, who looks to be in his late forties, walks up to me.

"Can I help you, young lady?" he asks, his expression soft.

It throws me off, I would think he would be aggravated with someone poking around. 

"Oh um, I was just curious. This house has been abandoned for so long I wasn't expecting anyone to be renovating it," I say, my voice stronger than I thought it would be. 

The man smiles at me. Not a creepy kind of smile my dad would do, but a genuine smile.

He sighs. "It's quite a mess isn't it? It's gonna take a bit for it to get all done," he pauses "but it is similar to the type of house my wife would have wanted. Not too big, quaint. But at the same time, you have this lovely weather that makes it all better. Puts everything in place."

"Would have wanted?" I ask.

He nods. "Nina — that's my wife's name — died about three years ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I mumble.

"Don't be," he says, then he sighs. "It was difficult at first. Actually, it wasn't even difficult. It was like pure hell. The denial, the grieving, the accepting. It all feels almost surreal. Like you can't believe any of it is happening. You don't want to accept it, even if you should." 

I open my mouth to say something but get cut off by a voice behind us.

"Hey dad, how are the renovations go-," Noah stops talking at the sight of me.

"Hailey? What are you doing here?" Noah asks.

"Oh, you know my son?" the man's eyebrows raise, surprised.

I force a grin. "Yeah, Noah is in the majority of my classes at school."

"Well don't doddle, son. Introduce us," he pushes.

"Hailey, my dad. Dad, Hailey," Noah introduces us shortly.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Harrison," I say politely.

He grins, "Just call me Shawn."

I nod and smile for real this time, surprising myself, "Shawn." 

"Do you live around here, Hailey? I can drop you off to your house if you'd like," Shawn suggests. 

The smile on my face disappears as quickly as it came, my face instantly paling. I feel Noah's gaze on me, on my reactions. 

I avoid his eyes. "No, no it's fine I can walk."

"It's really no problem at all."

"I can walk," I insist. If my dad were to see them with that adding to me already being late getting home, I just know that he will beat me black and blue.

"Well if you insist," Noah's dad gives in. "Please feel free to drop by anytime."

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," I say as I walk away. 

I quickly walk the rest of the way home, hoping that my dad won't be too angry for getting there late.

I jam my house key into the keyhole and quickly hurry inside, slamming and locking the door behind me. I run to the living room where he usually sits to wait for me, but I find that he's not there.

After checking the entire house for my dad, he is nowhere to be found. And that's odd because he is never home late except on Fridays, and today is Tuesday. 

I should be relieved. Because for now, I'm not being sexual and physically violated like every other day. But for some reason, it just makes my unease even worse.

I walk to my room, putting my schoolbag down at the foot of my bed. 

My room is plain. Gray walls and a full size bed with white sheets and  gray comforter. There is a dresser a few feet in front of my bed with a small tv sitting on top. And right next to that is a small closet. 

I grab the tv remote from on top of the dresser, sit down on my bed and push the power button to turn the tv on. NBC news is on. They're talking about Donald Trump it looks like. Blah blah blah. I've never really understood politics. People always have something to complain about with politics.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a Trump fan. But at the same time I don't waste my breath talking about what a bad president he is. I simply don't care for him and that's all.

I flip through the channels until I get to the local news channel. I freeze.

Fuck.

Shit, fuck, son of a fucking bitch.

My dad's picture is on the news.

My dad got into an accident. 

***

And there you have it guyssss. 

I know, I know, everything is happening so fast! And yes, the chapters are so short 😪

Any predictions on what will happen with Hailey's dad? Should I kill him or let him live? 😏😏😏

Hmmmm decisions, decisions. 

Thank you all for reading! 

Love Lexi ❤️❤️❤️❤️