Chapter 1: Hailey

    A note flew into my lap and I jumped. I picked it up, opening it behind my binder so the teacher wouldn’t see. Hey you! What’s going on? Man this class sucks! Lol! W/b hot stuff – CJ. I laughed quietly to myself. Me and him flirted so much it wasn’t even funny. Our friends kept asking why we weren’t going out yet, and we didn’t even know ourselves. I’m glad it’s Thursday though, that’s something you’ve got to like. You sexy beast and don’t forget it! –hot stuff.

    I passed the note to the girl next to me. Her name was Brittany Holland. She happened to be the most popular girl in the school. She also had the biggest crush on CJ and everyone knew it. Brittany opened my note, reading it. She glared at me before passing it on. He wrote something on it just as the bell rang. Instead of chucking it at me again, he slipped it into my hand as we went out into the hall. He went to his science class and I to my English class.

    As I sat down, I opened the note: hell ya! You know hot stuff, you should go out with me just like all our friends say, wanna? – sexy beast w/b. My stomach dropped, in a good way though. It had never occurred to me that he would actually ask. I can’t tell if your being serious or if your joking around. If you are serious, sure I will. I got to go, Mr. C is glaring at me! Lol!! –hot stuff. As I listened to the teacher, my mind kept wondering if he was serious or not. A part of me was hoping that he was and the other part of me hoped he wasn’t. I didn’t really know what to expect. The hour flew by fast, and before I knew it, I was already walking to the lunchroom with CJ running after me.

    "Hey!" he said as he caught up to me.

    "Hi. Here’s your note." I handed him the folded paper.

    "So...what do you say?" He asked.

    "Just read the note, it’ll tell you." He quickly opened it. "I am being serious." He implied. I shrugged.

    "Ok, then my answer is sure." He wrapped his arms around me, then jogged off to see his friends. I wasn’t sure if he wanted to keep it a secret or not so I didn’t tell a soul.

    My friends and I ate lunch, with me trying to stay off the dating conversation. I hate to brag, but I did pretty well. Afterwards, we went outside to sit on the benches. CJ and his group walked up and were messing around as usual.

     "Hey!" All of them shouted and waved to me. "Look at what we’ve got here, some hopeless girl. You should go out with her, make her feel loved you know." They teased him. He sat down next to me putting his arm around my waist.

    "Oh yeah? What if I’m already going out with her?" He bragged.

    "You guys are finally going out?!" All of my friends and his friends exclaimed at once. The two of us nodded. My girl friends began to squeal as they jumped up and down, as the boys put hands over their open mouths surprised. They all began to ask questions at once. The most common one heard was from CJ’s friends Mason and Tanner, who were screaming, "so when are you to going to lose it?" Everyone stopped at the same time, and stared at us expecting an answer.

    "We just started dating today. We’re not about to go off and......do things like that quite yet." CJ and I started to go red. I put my head down as he explained to the others that we had only been going out since the beginning of lunch. After that everyone began to back off and they started a game of tag.

    CJ sighed and said, "it’s about time they left." I nodded looking around. I turned and caught him staring at me. We both turned red again and looked in opposite directions.

    "This is so awkward." I heard CJ mumble. I smiled and nodded. "So what are you doing tomorrow? Every Friday me and the guys go down to the Wolfe’s Jaw to hang until they kick us out. Do you want to come?"

    "I’ll have to ask my dad then I’ll text you when I get an answer."

    "There’s only one problem with that. I don’t know your number and you don’t know mine." I immediately pulled out my phone, my thumb ready to do they typing.

    "Ok, what’s yours?" I ask.

    "555-3568." I put it in and told him mine. He nodded. We both put our phones away as a teacher walked by glaring at us. We laughed at him and ourselves. The bell rang, but before me friends could drag me off to science, CJ gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

    Butterflies began to go up and down in my stomach and my throat. I couldn’t sit still for very long before I began to tap my finger or my feet. My lab partner glared at me, but I ignored her. Though it wasn’t an actual "kiss" it was my first one given to me by a guy with no family ties at all. My Aunt Betty gave a lot of kisses. She would pull on your cheeks, and then tell you how cute you are and give you a big wet one smack dab on the cheek. It was seriously would take you a half-an-hour just to get all the saliva off your face. My face scrunched at the thought.

    "Anything wrong Hailey?" My teacher asked.

    "No sir, I just remembered...what my dad was going to make for dinner tonight. It’s going to be squid." I said the first thing that popped into my head. The class’s faces scrunched at the thought, some groaned about how they had just had lunch.

    "Think about that some other time. Not when your in class." Mr. C. calmed the students down before returning to his lecture. I spaced out again, just before the bell rang.

    My friend, Kendra, came up and asked, "does your dad really make squid?"

    "No," I replied laughing. "He doesn’t make squid. It was a cover up." Everyone around me sighed in relief, making me laugh harder inside of my head about how gullible people were in this school, but I made sure to keep my face straight.

    I headed to the library, it was the only class me and him had together with no one watching us. No cameras, no teachers, nothing. The librarian always went out to eat and came back late, sometimes she was yelled at but she was never fired. I took a deep shaky breath, before opening the door and walking in. As usual, CJ was there before me.  He stood at the desk, checking out a book to a ninth grader.

    "Hey," I said as I walked up and set my stuff down.

    "Hi. What’s up?"

    "Not much. You?" The tardy bell rang just as the ninth grader left the room.

    "Eh, same old same old." We hugged. I slightly pulled away thinking we were done, but he held me closer, with his hands on my waist. Automatically, my hands headed up around his neck. He smiled at me and I smiled back.

    As he began to lean forward the door opened and a voice said, "hey you two." It was Miya. She stepped up to the counter and put her hands under her chin, "you can continue. Just ignore me, act like I’m not here." We both smiled and pulled away. I took a few steps to the counter while CJ went to put books away.

    "Ah! Come on!" Miya complained. "I wanna see some actual action among you two." I smiled.

    "Not today Miya. What are you doing here anyways?" She never came into the library unless it was a major excuse.

    "Oh yeah. Mr. Brandcken, the hot new teacher, wanted a movie. One of the National Geographic ones. He said he had it on hold." Pulling it out, I handed it to her and said, "out." She gave me puppy eyes and sat on the floor. She wasn’t going to leave until she saw something.

    A pair of arms slid around my waist. I froze for a moment, but relaxed as CJ began to speak. "Hey Miya." Then he gave me a kiss on the cheek and began to go down onto the neck. Miya squealed as she jumped up.

    Before she went out the door she turned back to us, "don’t forget to put a little tongue too." She stuck out her tongue moving it around and making groaning noises. My jaw dropped, I picked up a book and chucked it at her as she ran out the door laughing. I was laughing a bit myself. CJ immediately let me go.

    "Sorry." he apologized.

    "For what?" I turned to face him.

    "I should’ve asked first." he continued.

    "No." I waved it off. "Don’t worry about it. At least she’s gone. So, good job." I picked up some books to put away.

    "Yeah, but now it’s going to be all over the school." CJ mumbled. When I finished with the books I headed back, tripping over a cord behind the counter. My head hit the cupboard and I wound up on my back clutching my head and groaning. CJ ran from his job to help me.

    "Hailey! Are you ok?" I nodded. He helped me sit up and lean against the cupboard.  Sitting down next to me he asked, "what happened?"

    I pointed to the cord and said, "I tripped and hit my head on this corner."

    "Want me to go get you an ice pack?" I shook my head.. "Ok." He laughed at me as I put my face into my hands, groaning.

    "I’m a giant klutz." I mumbled. CJ heard and laughed a bit harder. "Don’t make fun of me," I glared at him through my fingers. He continued to laugh as he put his arms around me, pulling me against his chest. I glanced at the clock. We’d only been in here for fifteen minutes and still had forty left. I could sort of get used to this. I thought to myself.

    His breathing was slow and deep. His heart was slow, but at a normal rate. I turned, so I sat between his legs and faced the same way he was. We stared around the room for a few minutes, before I began to play with his arms.

    "Do you work out?" I asked. It was a stupid question, one because he was on the football team and two because I already knew the answer. But at least it started a conversation.

    "Yeah. I come to school at six to work out for a hour and a half before school starts." I nodded.

    "At about that time I’m still in bed." He laughed. He kissed the top of my head, then rested his cheek on top of it. Sleepiness was catching up to me.

    I yawned and quickly said, "I’m not bored. Just tired."

    "Sure." He said sarcastically. I stood, sticking my tongue out at him. As I walked around him, he grabbed my arm yanking me down. I landed on top of him and he began to tickle me. We rolled around, before I was finally able to get him to stop. I was lying on top of him from the side with his hands pinned to his chest. We were both breathing heavily.

    "Stay. Stay." I repeated as I stood and backed up. He sat up on his elbows, looking up at me playfully. A smile was playing at the corner of his mouth. By the look in his eye, I could tell I was done, over with, probably never to be seen again. I turned and ran. Weaving in and out of shelves. I lost him. I came to a dead end and sat in a dark corner.

    "Hailey." CJ called. "When I find you your..."  Silence. I felt as though my heart was pounding in my chest yelling, "I’m over here!" My heart slowed down, thinking I was safe. "MINE!" CJ jumped out at me from behind the bookshelf. I screamed, jumping up with my hands up.

    "I give up! I give up!" He kept advancing more and more. He stopped about less than a foot away. I shoved him and ran. I was able to get to the second story before he finally tackled me. The joys of having a boyfriend on the football and track team. He had me on my back with my hands pinned above my head in seconds.

    "Give up?" He asked in a deep voice and a straight face. It was creepy.

    "H mm." I thought out loud. He leaned down more to my face. I tried to sit up but he was on top of me. Knees on both sides. I gave him a quick kiss on his cheek and laid back down. "Never." I replied smiling. I didn’t know how he did it, but he kept a straight face.

    "Are you sure?" I nodded, trying to stay serious like he was. Nearly impossible I tell you. He paused for a moment, letting me rethink my answer. I just smiled up at him. He leaned forward to my ear. "Your gonna regret your answer." He whispered. My heart skipped a beat. I couldn’t tell if what he said was a good or a bad threat. He looked me in the eyes again. The bell rang and he was off of me in a second.

    As we walked out he said, "until tomorrow my love." He grabbed my hand and squeezed. I squeezed back a bit harder. It went back and forth until I crumpled slightly from the pain.

    "Sorry." He said as we entered the classroom. A loud roar came from the class as we walked in still holding hands.

    "You started to make-out in the library, man! Way to go!" A guy yelled. We both turned red.

    "Who told you that?" CJ asked the guy. We sat down at a table. We didn’t have assigned seats, so it really didn’t matter.

    "My friend overheard it from a girl who went into the library and got front row seats to your show." He shrugged his shoulders and continued, "the whole school knows by now."

I rolled my eyes. Why hadn’t I thought of it before. Miya couldn’t keep her giant mouth shut if her life depended on it. She was great for getting dirt or information on other people or even items. So, she had her good sides too.

    After the teacher took role and left to continue her other business, I realized I was shivering. The teacher, Ms. Snow, always kept her room cold. No one knew why. Everybody brought sweatshirts to the class, I obviously forgot mine. I turned to the girl next to me and we began to talk.

    "I can’t believe I forgot my sweatshirt." I complained to her.

    She laughed, "ha ha, sucks to be you." After a few minutes she looked at my skin. "Holy shit girl. Your turning purple or blue." I shrugged. Everyone around us looked at me. "CJ take care of your girlfriend!" She yelled at him.

    CJ who was talking to his buddies, glanced at me. Slipping off his sweatshirt, he slipped it onto me. The whole class was watching now, whispering excitedly. When I got it on, he hugged, whispering in my ear, "I can’t have you getting cold on me yet."" out of my eye, I noticed Brittany was glaring at me again. I was laughing at her hysterically in my head. She usually got what she wanted. But not this time. She wanted CJ and I got him. Life was good. Class went by fast, though my excuse to hug him every once in a while was to keep him warm. When class ended, I got ready to take the sweatshirt off, but he stopped me. "Just keep it for the rest of the day, I’ll get it back from you tomorrow or something."

    "Thanks CJ." I gave him a kiss on the cheek. We walked into the theater classroom. Mrs. Cream sat at her desk. I sat down at my desk with CJ on the opposite side of the room. I talked with Jai before the bell rang. Mrs. Cream stood.

    "Good afternoon my theater class. It is the last hour of the day, you should all be excited. Today we are going to read where we left off in Romeo and Juliet. Open your books to page 13. We’re going to start at the top of the page so follow along. If you don’t have a book, CJ, Jason, and Tyler, then find someone who does." While I was busy looking for gum in my binder, CJ came and sat behind me. He poked me in the side and I let out a squeal.

    "Anything wrong Ms. Thorne?" The teacher turned to look at me.

    "No...I just saw a spider." Within seconds, boys were crowded all around me and the girls stood in the back of the room. "I killed it though." The boys groaned and returned to their seats. The girls though, were cautious about their things.

    "Okay, settle down everyone." Mrs. Cream said. "Now open your books." I turned around to share with CJ. "I’m going to kill you." I mouthed to him. He just stifled a laugh. As we listened to the tape, everyone occasionally looked up to see Mrs. Cream mouth along. We all began to whisper to each other. Since she was really into the book she wouldn’t notice a thing.

    "Don’t squeal Hailey." CJ whispered to me. I stuck my tongue out at him. "Keep sticking your tongue out at me and I’ll bite it."

    "ooh. I’m scared." I replied smiling. I stuck my tongue out at him again. Before I knew what was going on his hands were pulling my face into a kiss and he was slipping his tongue in. I was too shocked to do anything for a few moments before we both pulled away. The class cheered, ignoring Mrs. Cream, who was trying to figure out what was going on.

    Class finally ended but not before she found out what had happened. We were to stay after class, but as everyone left, they congratulated us on moving to the next level.  Whatever that meant.

    After the students left, Mrs. Cream began, "Now I know you two are dating, but that doesn’t mean you get to make-out in class. So, rather than reporting the two of you, I’ve thought of a better solution. You are to be Romeo and Juliet in the school play. We’ve got practice every Thursday in this classroom until told otherwise. We start immediately after school and end at about five p.m. I canceled today’s practice because I have other things going on, so I’ll see you next week. Before we could argue she said, "your dismissed."

    We split and went to our own lockers, meeting outside in front of the school. As we walked home, I playfully shoved him.

    "What the hell was that for?" He asked.

    "For French kissing me in class and getting me stuck in the school play. I stuck my tongue out, to let him know I was joking.

    "What did I tell you about that tongue of yours? I even told you in class, but you didn’t listen to me, so don’t complain." He pushed me into an alley that was a shortcut to my house. He stopped me.

    "What?" I asked.

    "I’m extremely sorry..." He began but I didn’t let me finish.

    "Don’t..." Now he cut me off.

    "Stop. Let me finish. I shouldn’t have done that. If I ever make you fell uncomfortable just tell me to stop and I will."

    "You don’t think that I don’t know this? Don’t worry I will." I smiled at him. I leaned against the wall. "So." I said.

    "So what?"

    "I don’t know you tell me." I stepped forward again.

    "You tell me," he replied.

    I hit his shoulder and ran. I yelled back to him, "You’re it!" I cleared the fence easily. I turned my head to look behind me. No one was there. "Looks like he can’t..." I turned my head back to the front.

    "Boo!" Somehow he had ended up in front of me.

    "Ahhhhhh!" I screamed as I landed on top of him.

    "So. How’s the ground?" I asked. "It’s doing pretty good.."

    "Oh that’s nice." I began to stand, but he kept me down on top of him. As I looked at him questioningly in the eye, something began to take over my body. We began to French kiss again. His hands began to go up my shirt, but I ignored it. His hands had gotten up to my bra, before my phone went off. I put my head do down on his chest in shame, then rolled off. He silently laughed to himself.

    Pulling my shirt down and my phone out I answered, "Hello?"

    "Hailey where the hell are you? You were supposed to be home by now. It’s 3:30." My dad practically screamed.

    "Shit. Sorry dad. I-I stopped at the gas station and lost track of time. I’m on my home right now." I started standing up as I talked.

    "You better hurry it up." He warned and hung up. I blinked in surprise to his response.

    "Your dad?" CJ asked. I nodded.

    "Yeah, I got to get home. So, I guess I’ll talk to you later. Don’t worry, I’ll ask him about tomorrow." Giving him a quick hug, with him still on the ground, I ran home.

    "It’s about time. I’m going out with some friends. I’ll be back around ten-thirty or eleven. Don’t wait up." I stood by the door looking dazed. Dad never went out with friends, not before or after mom died. What was so special about now?

I shrugged it off.

    Throwing my stuff onto the kitchen table, I picked up the mail. There was very rarely any for me, but it was fun to go through and see what was going on. There was a letter from dad’s work. There were two things wrong with it: A- it didn’t look like a pay check, and it couldn’t be because we got it last week. B- it was already opened. By dad obviously. I pulled out the letter and unfolded it.

    It read:

    Dear Mr. Thorne,

            We are sorry to tell you, that we must let you go. You have worked with us for 24 years now and have done an excellent job. After a recent accident, which we are very sorry about, your work has been understated. We thank you for your co-operation.

Sincerely,

Head Executor,

John Myer.

    My dad had lost his job. That’s why he was going out with his friends. Why didn’t he tell me? I thought. "I’ll have to talk about it to him when he gets home." I told myself.

I sighed and flopped down onto the couch. Turning on the T.V. I flipped through the channels, even though I knew there was nothing on. I stopped at the Bugs Bunny reruns. I paid no attention to it. My mind was busy running through the events that had happened. It all seemed like a dream. About an hour later I fell asleep.

    A car door slammed and heavy footsteps were heard climbing up onto the porch. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, glancing at the clock. 10:59. I yawned as the front door opened. My dad stepped into the living room. A beer bottle was in his hand and he was swaying a bit.

    "Why didn’t you tell me you lost your job?" I asked.

    "Cause it’s none of your business." He slurred.

    "It is too. I help take care of you and this house. I live here too!" I practically screamed at him.

    "You don’t know a damn thing! Whose the one who works day and night for money, Missy?" He took a few large strides and stood in front of me. The smell of alcohol was strong in his breath.

    "You do." I replied. "But I..." he slapped me before I could finish. My hand went up to my cheek and my jaw dropped. My parents hand never hit me before, especially my dad.

    "Don’t you dare back talk to me again. Or you’ll get worse than that." He began to walk off.

    Before I could stop my mouth, I said, "you wouldn’t dare touch me again you bastard." He stopped and turned. I was in for it now.

    "What did you say?" He asked. He threw the bottle at my head. I didn’t duck in time and it hit me on the side of my face. I fell to the floor with my head getting close to hitting the table.

    He walked up to me as I tried to scoot away. He kicked me and I felt one of my ribs crack. I curled up, protecting my now bleeding face and cracked rib. "I told you about back talking me." He was swaying more heavily this time. He collapsed onto the couch, passing out.

    Slowly, I stood clutching my side. I had to get out of the house. I went to my room, shoving clothes into a my backpack. This was one place I didn’t want to be when he got up and began the hang over. I closed the front door behind me. Now I needed a place to stay.

    Too many questions would be asked at all of my friends’s houses. I thought. CJ would go nuts if he found out. One last place came to mind. A hotel. I had some extra cash in my pocket for at least one or two nights, and I could use the puppy dog face if I needed to. It wasn’t much, even with it put together, but it would have to work.

    I walked to the cheapest hotel, which happened to be a few blocks away from my house. I walked into the office. Another teenager sat at the desk with headphones on and his head in a magazine. Though I knew it wouldn’t be much help, I pulled my hair over the right side of my face, where the bottle had hit. I rang the bell and the guy looked up at me surprised. He pulled off his headphones and asked,

    "Can I...um...help you?" He had obviously seen the blood. I nodded.

    "I would like a room."

    "Uh...yeah. Here you go. Room three." He handed over a pair of keys and I handed over some cash.

    "Thanks." I smiled at him. I don’t know if this is legal in the dating world, but I admit that he’s pretty cute. "Oh." I remembered. "Could I get some...uh...medical supplies?"

    "Yeah. I’ll bring them to your...uh...apartment, I mean room."

    "Ok." I replied going outside. I found the room, unlocking the door, I went in. It was like a miniature home. Only without a kitchen and so forth. It was a large room with a bathroom and a closet attached. The door opened and the guy walked in with a first aid kit in his hands.

    "Here you go." He handed them to me. After I set them on the dresser, I stuck out my hand.

    "I’m Hailey."

    "Alan. Obviously I work here." We shook hands.

    "I’ve got another favor for you. I moved my hair behind my ear. "Will you...um...help me?" His breath caught as he saw the side of my face.

    "Um...sure..." I looked at myself in the mirror for the first time that night. There were a lot of cuts that looked as though they either wouldn’t heal for a while or the would become scars. Sticky blood covered about three-quarters of my face and bits of broken glass in my cheek.

    "Wow. What...happened?" Alan asked as I sat down and he pulled out some alcohol.

    "...my dad." I winced as it burned my face. "He went out and got drunk. I said something to piss him off and so he chucked the bottle at my face. I didn’t duck in time."  He just nodded and continued to clean my face. When he finished, he started a different conversation.

    "Where do you go to school?"

    "Asker High. I’m a sophomore there. What about you?"

    "Same place. Only I’m a senior. My parents live in the next state. I’m just here to finish school. Then I’m off to college somewhere else." He put ointment over some of the scabs and put bandages over the major ones. He finally finished and sat down next to me.

    "Cool." It was really all I could think of too say. He nodded.

    "So...you have a...boyfriend?" I smiled at the way he asked the questions.

    "Yeah. His name is CJ. He asked me out today." I glanced at the clock. It read 1:19 AM. "Actually I should say he asked yesterday." Alan looked at the clock and sort of laughed.

    "Well, I’ll let you get some sleep." He stood and opened the door.

    "Wait!" I sort of yelled at him. He looked at me startled. "Thanks." I looked at him shyly.

    He grinned, replying, "don’t worry about it. I’ll come get you in the morning for school." I felt myself going red as I smiled back in reply.

    "Thanks a lot, again." He nodded and left. I sighed. As I stood a pain shot through my side and I dropped onto the floor. I’d forgotten about the cracked rib. I groaned. Slowly I pulled myself up onto the bed. I found some gauze in the kit and pulled it out. I took off my shirt and began to wrap it around my rib cage a few times. I finally taped it down. I grabbed my backpack and pulled out an undershirt tank-top. I slipped it on. I pushed everything off the bed and slid under the covers. There happened to be a switch by the bed so I didn’t need to get up again. I flipped off the light and fell asleep on my good side.

    It seemed like a few minutes later when Alan came and knocked on my door. I groaned and mumbled, "come in." Slowly, he opened the door, stepping in.

    "Morning sunshine. I brought you donuts and chocolate milk." That got me up fast. More pain came to my side and I bent over groaning slightly again. "What’s wrong?

    "Nothing. I just slept on one side all night and now it’s sore." I lied. He looked at me suspiciously. "A likely story. Let me see." He folded his arms. I put my head down.

    "I...after my dad threw the bottle at me, he kicked me. He blacked out before he could do anymore damage." I lifted up my shirt a bit to show him my bandaging. He nodded and I put my shirt back down.

    "Anything else I should know. For example, some sort of wound on your back or legs?" He raised a brow.

    "No. All I can tell you right now, is that I’m hungry." I shoved a donut into my mouth.

    "Okay. You’ve got an hour to get ready for school. Eat, shower, whatever girls do." He sat down on the bed.

    "I’m gonna eat first." I shoved down seven or eight more donuts and drunk half a gallon of chocolate milk. I grabbed some clothes and got into the shower. The warm water felt good for this early in the morning. When I was dressed and ready for school, we had about a half and hour left.

    "Let’s go." I said. I had a low-cut, red shirt on, with a white tank-top underneath it, and dark jeans that were bleached on the thighs. Alan whistled.

    "Wow. You look good." I twirled once like a model on a runway. Pointing my finger at him I said, "Your turn. Take it away." He had a semi-tight black t-shirt on with baggy jeans and skater shoes. I don’t know, once again, if this is legal in the dating world, but Alan had bigger muscles than CJ and it looked good for him. They weren’t huge, but it was easy to tell when he was flexing or not. I clapped and followed him outside to the car, locking the room behind me.

    Alan owned a Jeep. It happened to be a few years old, but it looked brand-new. We arrived at school and I noticed CJ’s car in the parking lot.

    "I’ve got to get to the tech lab, will you be alright?" He asked as we walked into the school.

    I nodded, "I’ll find something to do or someone to bug." He laughed and headed to the tech wing of the school. I wandered around a bit, before I finally decided to go to the weight room. I pulled my hair over my scabbed face, before walking in. There were only five boys in the whole room counting CJ. The other four were his buddies Matt, Ean, Luke, and Zac. The four began to whistle at me as I walked past. A fan blew straight into my face. My hair flew up and my side face was visible to the guys.

    "Holy shit." Luke swore as their weights crashed down. "What the hell happened to you?" CJ had seen me walk in but continued his workout until his buddies began to swarm around me.

    "What are you guys..." CJ came and pushed his way to me. His voice stopped once he saw my face. "Hailey. What happened?" His hands slid around my neck and up to my cheeks. I explained last night to them, leaving out Alan for later, and they listened intently.

    "You guys can’t tell a soul!" I made them swear an oath. "My story is I tripped and fell on some glass. Okay?" I was so glad Miya wasn’t there or the whole school would know in a heartbeat, the truth of what had happened.

    "Yes ma’am." They all put their hands to their heads, except for CJ who sat down at a machine trying to figure out what I had just told him.

    "You guys..." I said. "Could you give us some...alone time." They all sucked in a breath and began to purposely whisper loud enough for us to hear.

    "Alone time. Did you hear that? They’re gonna make-out."

    "Too bad we can’t watch." "I know. We give them the pleasure of watching us. Why can’t we..." A pair fo shoes were chucked at them as they ran all the way down the stairs laughing.

    "CJ. You must realize that I couldn’t have come over to your house. Your parents would have asked too many questions and my dad would be arrested. It was the same for everyone’s house. The only place left to try was the hotel. That’s where I met Alan." I explained how he had helped me. All CJ did was nod. His hands were on his head.

He looked up and asked, "you are alright now?"

    I nodded, replying. "Yeah. I’m fine. I would come stay at your house, but your parents...I just can’t have that." I sat down next to him. I don’t know why, but I began to cry. CJ looked a bit startled at me, then wrapped his arms around me.

    "I don’t know w-why, but I-I feel so...h-helpless." I curled up against his chest.

    "Your not helpless Hailey. You know how to take care of yourself. That’s definantly not helpless." I laughed a bit through my tears. He kissed me on the forehead. We stayed there for a few more minutes before we heard everyone else arriving. We left and went to our usual morning bench. While we sat and waited for our friends, people stopped by to congratulate us on finally hooking up. They made it seem as though we had just gotten engaged. Our posse finally arrived. Everyone, except the four that had been in the weight room, was asking what had happened to my face. I told the glass story. I smiled a bit, hoping it would help them believe the lie.

    "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" Camai asked.

    "No Camai. She’s dying as we speak. Oh and we’re holding her funeral tomorrow after school." Gary replied for me hitting her on the forehead. "If she weren’t okay, then she wouldn’t be here right now." Everyone laughed.

    "Yeah. I’m fine." I said. We talked for another fifteen minutes before the bell finally rang and we headed to our first hour class, math. CJ sat down in front of me and a girl, who I didn’t really know, other than her name, sat down next to me.

    "Hi." I told her. Tuning red she greeted me and asked how my day was going. "Good. How about yours?"

    "I’m doing good. Thanks." The girl practically whispered. She was extremely shy of everyone and anyone. I smiled and her and she sort of smiled back.

After class, as CJ and I walked to my locker, he asked, "so...why do you talk to the girl next to you in class. I mean, it’s not a bad thing, but I’m just curious." He added quickly.

    "Because, she’s cool and I’m just really nice." I slammed my locker and led CJ to the next class.

    "That works. I guess." He said as we walked into the classroom. I shrugged and sat down in my seat. Now it was my turn to be in front of him, in the very front with a sprinkler as our teacher. Only, rather than spewing out water, he spewed out spit. Lucky for me and the other front row people, Mr. Lindbergh wasn’t here. The substitute gave us an assignment in the book. When everyone finished, she allowed us to just talk and hang out. I turned around to face CJ.

    "So. How’s life going?" I asked.

    "Good. Yours?"

    "Tired." I yawned.

    "Wanna arm wrestle?" He asked.

    "Sure." We put up our arms and began. ‘Wow," he said, "your pretty strong, but not strong enough." He was getting stronger and beginning to win. I finally gave in.

    "You suck." I joked with him.

    "Sure. Whatever you say," he said sarcastically. "Let’s play a different game." he offered.

    "Okay. What game?"

    "H mm. How about truth or dare?" I nodded.

    "Ok. I’ll go first," he said.

    "Truth or Dare?" I asked.

    "Truth."

    "Do you like the color pink?"

    "Oh come on it has to be an actual question."

    "It is an actual question. Answer it."

    "Fine. No I don’t. Your turn."

    "Dare." I loved to do dare’s at anytime. I hated the truth questions because most of the questions were none of that persons business.

    "Ok. Tonight, since your coming..." I cut him off.

    "When did I say I was coming?" I was joking with him again but he seemed to think I was being serious.

    "Ok. If you come tonight. You must do what I say." I nodded.

    "Ok. Not to hard. I just won’t come."

    "Hey! Fine I’ll change it then. If you come tonight you have to do what I do or what I say. But if you don’t come tonight then you have to come to a party in a strapless tank-top and a mini skirt." I smiled.

    "Fine. Deal." We shook hands on it just as the bell rang.

    Alan had caught up to me during lunch, telling me to meet him at the front doors for a ride back to the motel, then he had quickly left to catch up to his friends, who had continued without him.

    CJ said, after Alan had left us, "that guy looks really familiar, but I don’t know where I’ve seen him before."

I shrugged. "I don’t know. Don’t ask me. I just met him yesterday." I started walking off.  CJ was frozen staring at Alan, before he turned and jogged to my side.

    "Come here." He whispered in my ear and his left hand around my waist pulling me with him.

    I was pulled by the waist a ways, till his hand slid down into mine, still pulling.

    CJ led me outside around to the back of the building out of everyone’s sight.

    He was now holding both of my hands and looking down at me. I could only look him in the eye for a few moments, before I looked down to the ground. My face was heating up from his looks.

    His hand came up to the side of my head, with his fingers moving hair out of the way, so the cuts could be seen more clearly. My head automatically turned to the side, giving him a front row viewing. I felt his fingers go over the softly. My eyes were starting to water, so I closed the lids to hide the tears.

    After a few minutes, his hand went down under my chin. Opening my eyes my head went up to look him in the eyes once again.

    One hand held my chin; the other crept up onto my neck and behind my head.

    Mine remained dangling at my side.

    Both of our eyes were closing now, faces slowly going towards each other like a magnet, both slightly tilted to opposite sides. Our lips met.

    The first was soft.

    We pulled apart, but only to go back for another.

    The second was also soft.

    Along with the third.

    The fourth one though, I felt his lips open up slightly and his tongue lightly played on my lips for a second.

    I pulled away shocked a little. CJ let go immediately and opened his mouth to apologize.

    "Don’t." I told him. "You just surprised me." This time I pulled him close, wrapping his arms around my waist.

    But when his hands grabbed my ribs, my arms shot down and I doubled over from the pain.

    "Hailey!?" CJ almost screamed. "What’s wrong? Are you okay? Should I go get help?"

    I shook my head. "No...." I groaned. "I’m fine.....it’s....nothing." I stood up trying to smile at him. His face was pale and scared. His arms were in a circle around me like a giant bubble.

    I rubbed my rib softly and cautiously with one hand as I gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

    "I’m okay. I’ll live." I repeated.

    He smiled very weakly. His eyes still in doubt of my words.

    Grabbing my hand again, he led me from behind the building and out onto a bench. We sat close; our legs touching and our hands were clenched together on top of them.

    "So," he said, "do you want to come with us tomorrow?"

    I thought for a moment. Nodding, I said, "sure."

    "Sweet." A grin appeared on his worried face. "We can meet you there or we can come pick you up."

    "I can meet you there."

    We finished making plans as the bell rang.  After our hug, the two of us were dragged off again to our separate classes.

    The day eventually ended and I said my goodbyes to everyone before going off to meet Alan in the parking lot as planned.  We talked all the way back to the motel and just before we split Alan said, "I'll come by in a few hours with dinner for you and to check up."

    "OK."  I said.  I got into the room, flinging my stuff onto the bed.

    Alan came a few hours later just as he had said.  I had taken a shower and gotten ready for the night and was now on my bed cross-legged doing my homework.

    "Wow.  You look like you're going somewhere."  He commented as he walked in carrying two boxes of chinese food.

    "I am in fact. I'm meeting CJ at the club tonight."  He sat down next to me and I grabbed one of the boxes in them.  "It's sweet and sour chicken.  Hope you like it."  I nodded as I opened it and an aroma hit my nose.
    "Well, to tell you the truth, Hailey.  You look great.  CJ is one lucky guy."  He noted.

    I blushed a little bit and smiled.  It was a bit late for me when I realized I had, had a mouthful of food and it all had fallen out.  Luckily, I had the box right below my mouth.

    Alan burst out laughing as I wiped off some of the food that had missed the box.  We finished off the food, and I was given a ride to the club, where a lot more than expected happened.