Chapter 7

Hayden had never watched a hockey practice or even a game. She wasn’t a sports fan. No one in her family was athletic. She didn’t have much exposure. Watching Brent slide around on the ice was actually impressive. For the first time, Hayden saw a use for the trio’s energy. Danny was moving so fast her eyes couldn’t follow him. She was originally trying to follow the puck with her eyes, but that was confusing. It seemed to move too fast. Hayden wasn’t able to follow it for long. Instead, she started following Brent. She couldn’t tell which one was him, except for the number on his back. Chris was the goalie for the team, so he wasn’t moving around. But he had to focus on where the puck was at all times. Hayden knew that took a lot of energy because it was exhausting her to try. Rob looked over and laughed at the look of concentration on her face.

“You don’t have to be so into it.” He teased. She shook her head.

“Don’t mess me up.” She dismissed. She was still holding his hand, but her other hand was in the air pointing and following one of the players.

“Doug?” Rob asked. Hayden nodded.

“He’s good.” She observed. Rob nodded, looking back at the ice. The practice was almost over. Usually, the pair would have stayed back and taken advantage of being alone together. They would have sat in silence to decompress or unloaded about the week. Now, everything meant something different. They were hesitant. Rob let go of Hayden’s hand as his parents stood up in the stands. They would be making their way to the car so it was ready to go when Brent loaded his bags. Hayden stood up first and walked ahead of Rob. He put his hand on her lower back as they shuffled along with everyone else. When they got to the car, Rob got into the backseat with her. On the ride home, Brent would have to sit with his own bags. Hayden tried to hide her smile. Rob’s was noticeable.

“I was going to drop her off on the way home.” Anne clarified. He shrugged.

“I’ll walk her home.” He insisted. She raised her eyebrow.

“Are you sure? It’s pretty late.” She noted. Rob nodded as he looked over at Hayden. She faked a smile. She felt like Anne was looking at her and could see right through her. Anne shrugged and started the car. Brent was along after a few minutes and he loaded himself into the middle. He briefly looked over at Hayden and Rob, but he didn’t say anything. Hayden was grateful he let it slide this time. He was still buzzing with energy from practice. He was talking so fast he was slurring his words together. Hayden thought it was cute how excited he got about hockey. She didn’t understand it, but she could appreciate the passion that was behind his excitement. She wasn’t confident in most areas of her life, except her writing and her academics. She’d beam with pride when she got a good grade or wrote a new piece. Maybe it was her excitement that other people interpreted as boasting. She didn’t mean to brag, she was just proud of the things she worked hard for. Rob never seemed to mind. He would listen as she rambled for hours at a time about a good grade. He would listen to all of her ideas and tell her which ones he thought were the best. She didn’t really know what she would do without him in her life. A sense of panic washed over her thinking about it. She realized taking this chance meant she was taking a chance that she’d lose her best friend. She wasn’t sure if that was worthwhile. She waited until Rob walked her home to say something.

“I think we should talk.” She started. He nodded, following her to the tree house. Once they were settled, Hayden shared her concerns with him. He was quiet.

“If this is going to happen, I don’t want you to feel like you were rushed.” He motioned between them.

“It’s not that.” She sighed. She didn’t really know how to phrase what she was thinking.

“I’m just scared.” She decided. Rob nodded.

“Everything worthwhile is a little bit scary. Let’s just, take this slow.” He offered. Hayden smiled.

“Okay.” She agreed. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. She was too close to resist, crashing her lips into his. He fell over from the force and she went down with him. She rolled over onto her side, pulling him with her. She ran her hands up his arms, wrapping them around his neck. He pulled back slightly, staring down at her with a sparkle in his eye.

“I’m willing to go as slow as you need. I just want to be with you.” He assured. She kissed him again. After a few long minutes, he pulled his lips away from hers.

“I should get home.” He panted. She nodded, giving him a soft kiss. They said goodnight and Hayden went inside to her room. She couldn’t help but think about all the things her and Rob could do together. She knew she didn’t know enough yet. She was going to have to figure out another way to learn before anything happened. She was going to go to the school library on Monday and check out a few books. She thought about what he said. She didn’t want to lose him as a friend, but she knew he was something worthwhile.

Hayden spent Sunday in bed, recovering from the previous night’s outing. She wasn’t used to going public places with lots of people. She was only able to do it because Rob was with her. Otherwise, she would have had a panic attack being somewhere so crowded and noisy. She spent most of the day in bed, reading. She briefly stirred to go up and join her family for dinner. Afterwards, she resumed reading until it was time to go to bed. Elizabeth stopped by at some point in the evening, but Hayden was socially exhausted. She was mentally preparing for school. She felt she had started slacking already and she didn’t want to get into that habit so early in the year. It would set her up for failure later down the road. She wanted to wake up with a clear mind.

Her dreams that night were a montage of her most memorable moments with Rob. It was like her brain wanted to show her all the reasons it was worth the risk.

When she woke up in the morning, she did feel better. She felt like she had been given the answer she was looking for. She wasn’t someone who believed completely in dream interpretation. She did believe in the subconscious though. She knew the mind was likely to suggest evidence based on an underlying thought or opinion. Rob had been a constant for most of her life. Even if they dated and everything went terrible, their friendship was strong enough to survive. They were more likely to just get bored of each other. In that case, there would be no hard feelings. They’d just move on and continue being friends. That was the most likely scenario, but that didn’t stop Hayden’s mind from racing.

She was hardly able to pay attention in first period. Everything the teacher was saying was going in one ear and out the other. She was trying to focus. She was watching his mouth to try and catch his words with her eyes too. She was grateful he didn’t call on her, like he usually would have. Maybe he could sense she was having a rough day. Her second period wasn’t as peaceful. She was approached by Jessica, aggressively tapping her foot on the tiling in the classroom. She had stomped over to Hayden’s desk and now stood with her arms crossed over her chest. Hayden looked up.

“Yes?” She asked softly. Jessica moved one of her hands to her hip.

“Are you dating Rob now?” She threw her other hand in the air. Hayden didn’t know what to say.

“No?” She knew it wasn’t the right answer by the look on Jessica’s face.

“Chris saw you two holding hands on Saturday.” She corrected. Hayden looked down at her desk.

“So it’s true?” Jessica asked sharply. Hayden nodded, refusing to look up. Jessica laughed. It was a chuckle at first, but it became maniacal. She dramatically threw herself down in her desk and put one of her hands on her chest, like she had just been shot. Hayden rolled her eyes. She only tolerated Jessica because Rob had been dating her. They weren’t friends before that. They knew each other. They were civil. They just weren’t friends. If Rob wasn’t her boyfriend, Hayden didn’t see a reason to be friendly.

“I can’t believe you’d do that to a friend.” She gasped. Hayden looked over.

“He was my friend before you were.” She observed. Jessica shook her head.

“It doesn’t matter. You’re supposed to take my side.” She screeched. Hayden raised her eyebrow.

“Why?” She questioned. Jessica looked stunned.

“Because that’s what you’re supposed to do!” She repeated louder. Hayden shrugged.

“I’m sorry.” She offered pointlessly. Jessica scoffed.

“Whatever.” She groaned. Throughout class, Jessica was fidgeting with her pain and glaring in Hayden’s direction. Hayden could feel her eyes. She knew that there was a reaction brewing inside of Jessica. She just didn’t know what she was going to do. Jessica was unpredictable. Everyone knew that. It was one of the reasons people let her get away with whatever she wanted. Hayden kept an eye on her, in case she came flying across the classroom with her pencil.

Hayden warned Rob at lunch that Jessica knew. He agreed that she was likely going to have a bigger reaction than that. Both of them knew Jessica well enough. They decided not to sit together at lunch. Rob sat with Brent and his friends. Hayden sat with Sandra and her friends. They occasionally glanced at each other, but that was all. They were going to try and make sure as few people knew as possible. Though if Jessica knew, it was only a matter of time before everyone would. It would have been nice to take it slow, but gossip spread quickly. Hayden couldn’t believe that it was Chris who told Jessica. Or maybe he told someone else who told Jessica. Either way, Chris was talking about it, which was totally uncool and uncharacteristic. He wasn’t usually a gossip, just an idiot.

Hayden and Rob took their time walking to the tree house after school. They were sharing a comfortable silence. Rob held her hand until they got within eye sight of her house. He let her hand drop, immediately pointing ahead. There was a cloud of smoke coming from behind Hayden’s house. The two ran towards the smoke, but came to a dead stop. Jessica was holding a lighter, watching the tree house burn. James came running over.

“What happened?” He asked sharply. Hayden motioned towards Jessica. She looked away.

“I just got here.” She lied. James nodded, looking at the other two. They were both out of breath. James looked back at Jessica. He motioned for her to go.

“I’ll deal with this.” He assured. Jessica started to walk away. She turned back around and smirked. James motioned for them to back up. He grabbed a neighbors hose and managed to put the fire out. Hayden looked over at Rob.

“Well this complicates things.” She sighed. Rob nodded.

“We’ll just have to start over.” He insisted. Hayden let out a deep sigh.

“Rob, it took us 3 years to build that.” She groaned. Rob put his hand on her shoulder.

“We’ve got time.” He assured. There was something about the smile he gave her. Hayden smiled back.

“You’re right.” She agreed.

“I can’t believe she would do that.” Hayden sighed. James shook his head.

“It was probably a coincidence.” He defended. Hayden faked a smile.

“Whatever it was, it sucks. What if I had stuff in there?” She whined. Rob put his hand on her lower back and started guiding her away from the remains of the tree house.

“It’s okay. We can fix it.” He repeated. Hayden took a deep breath.

“I need to go for a walk.” Rob shook his head.

“Let’s go to the movies.” He suggested. She raised her eyebrow.

“On a Monday afternoon?” She questioned. He nodded with excitement.

“Yeah. It’ll be empty. Maybe it can take your mind off things.” He noted. Hayden nodded.

“Okay. Let’s do it.”