Chapter 9

Rob came over again on Sunday to work on the new fort. Hayden wanted to finish it, even if it wasn’t necessary. Rob didn’t know that yet. Hayden wasn’t going to tell him until enough of the foundation was built that she could finish it. Her siblings seemed really excited about the idea and she would feel bad if it didn’t get finished now. She humored Rob, passing him different tools when he asked for them. She mostly moved between screws and screwdrivers. Her father owned a drill, but Rob preferred to use screwdrivers. Hayden didn’t question his methods, as long as the fort was built. Suddenly, he stopped fidgeting with the screwdriver. He sat quietly staring at the ground. Hayden put her hand on his shoulder and leaned closer.

“What are you thinking about?” She asked softly. He briefly looked over at her, then bit his lip.

“Kissing you.” He confessed, immediately looking away. She put her chin on his shoulder, letting her hand slide to his back. She gently tugged at his shirt. When he turned to look at her, she kissed him. He slowly turned his body towards her. One of his hands moved to the back of her hair. He wrapped his hand around a lock of her hair and held her in place. She let out an involuntary whimper. He smirked.

“I love that sound.” He whispered. She smiled against his lips. She had to quickly pull her body away from his as the stairs to the basement creaked. Hayden turned to see her sister, Hannah, stomping down the stairs. She was excitedly running towards them. Rob adjusted the way he was sitting and resumed the part he had been working on. Hannah came over and looked around.

“Neat!” She exclaimed.

“Hannah! Get up here. I told you not to bug your sister!” Their mother scolded. Hannah pout, clutching the gray rabbit she carried everywhere. She turned and headed back up the stairs. Her mother poked her head around the corner and nodded. Hayden figured it was approval of their progress. Well, Rob’s progress. Hayden wasn’t doing anything more than handing him whatever he needed.

“Is she okay with us being down here?” Rob asked when the coast was clear. Hayden nodded.

“My parents said that because of the tree house, we could hang out down here. If we want to.” She explained. Rob’s eyes went wide.

“Really?” He asked. Hayden shrugged.

“We’re allowed to hang out at your house unsupervised.” She observed. Rob nodded.

“My parents don’t care as much as yours.” He dismissed. Hayden shrugged again.

“I don’t want to question it. I don’t want to find a new place to hang out that she can just destroy again.” She huffed, crossing her arms. Rob grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it.

“We won’t let her ruin this.”

Hayden dreaded Monday morning. She knew that Jessica was angry and she didn’t want to have to face her at school. She figured Jessica would continue to pester her. She was correct. As soon as the lunch bell rang, Jessica was hanging over Hayden’s shoulder.

“So, how goes the rebuilding?” She pried. Hayden shook her head.

“We know you’re just going to destroy it again.” She dismissed. Jessica put one hand on her chest.

“How could you accuse me of such treachery?” She gasped dramatically. Hayden sighed.

“I saw you with the lighter.” Hayden noted. Jessica shrugged.

“I think your brain is messed up. Maybe you’re too boy-crazy. You’re remembering things wrong.” She tried convincing Hayden. Hayden stopped walking. Jessica stopped too.

“You’re not going to get under my skin this time.” Hayden declared.

“What are you going to do without your make-out castle?” Jessica questioned. Hayden smirked.

“Oh, we have a new one.” She corrected. Jessica raised her eyebrow.

“Wherever it is, I’ll find it.” She insisted. She turned her back to Hayden and stomped away. A few seconds after, Rob appeared from around the corner and grabbed her hand.

“Hey.” He greeted sweetly. Hayden smiled. Despite Jessica’s determination to ruin the relationship, Hayden was really happy with the physical affections from Rob. She had never considered herself to be the affectionate type. She liked her space. Usually that came with distance. Somehow, when Rob was in her space it didn’t feel invasive. There was enough room for him, and only him.

After school, Rob came over. They were given Of Mice and Men to read in English class. Hayden and Rob always made reading assignments fun. They created the characters for themselves with voices and gestures. They both sped-red the first pages to determine the main characters.

“Do you want to be Lenny?” Hayden asked. Rob was quiet for a second.

“Yeah, I’ll be Lenny. You can be George.” He assured. Hayden nodded.

“Okay Lenny. I’m George.” She agreed. They started reading out loud, each taking a turn with the passages until the characters spoke. When the characters spoke, Hayden did her best job.

“You’re not quite getting the accent.” Rob noted. Hayden shook her head.

“I don’t understand his dialect!” She defended. Rob nodded.

“I know. Do you want me to be George?” He asked. Hayden shook her head.

“I don’t want to be the big dumb one! Let me try again.” She argued. She tried to mimic the way the writing was with her voice. Rob laughed again, shaking his head.

“You don’t have to read it like that.” He assured. Hayden scrunched her nose at him and huffed.

“Fine, I’ll just read George like a Southerner.” She conceded. Rob nodded. When Hayden mimicked the Southern accent, Rob didn’t laugh. She continued reading George like a Southerner. It was one of the only accents she was able to pull off. It wasn’t passable. It was just practiced the most. The more Hayden read, the less she understood what George’s accent was supposed to be. Was it just a lisp? Was it supposed to be read as backwards as he was written? Hayden found herself messing up a few of the works because she couldn’t rewrite the story as fast as it was being read.

“Do you want to take a break?” Rob offered. Hayden looked up from the book.

“What for?” She questioned. Rob smiled.

“I just thought you might need one.” He assured. Hayden folded the page of the book.

“It’s just a dumb story.” She argued. Rob nodded.

“I know.” He agreed. They were both quiet.

“Jessica threatened to find the new tree house and burn it down too.” She sighed. Rob started laughing.

“She’s going to have trouble with that.” He noted. Hayden shook her head.

“She’s never going to stop, Rob.” She clarified. Rob nodded.

“She’ll stop once she gets an infatuation with someone else. It shouldn’t be long.” He corrected.

“I’m just worried.” She sighed. Rob moved from his place on the floor to sit on the couch beside her.

“How about this, we’ll tell her that she wins. We’ll take this really, really slow. I don’t need to be with you to enjoy being around you.” He offered. Hayden smiled and looked away. She knew she was blushing and she felt embarrassed. Rob grabbed her hand.

“It’s okay. I promise.” He assured. She nodded as she looked down at their hands.

“Or we can be together in private, not public.” She corrected. Rob nodded.

“Yeah that’s a better idea.”

Hayden didn’t wait for Jessica to ask. She walked up to Jessica before her first period with her best fake cry and screamed that it was all her fault. Jessica didn’t know what to say, being on the receiving end of a freak-out that was more suited to herself. Hayden didn’t wait for an answer either. She learned with Jessica, you have to be quick or she will insist on getting the last word. Hayden didn’t want to have a discussion. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep a poker face if Jessica pried too much. She wanted to let Jessica debate with herself what Hayden was even talking about. That was Hayden’s intention. Whether Jessica would give it a second thought or not wasn’t in her control. She went to her own first period, joining Rob. She filled him in, so that he would be prepared for whatever reaction she was going to have. He didn’t care. He smiled throughout the entire class, the same way he had been smiling for days. Hayden tried not to notice, but she knew she was still mirroring it. She wasn’t sure if Jessica was going to believe they decided not to be together. All she could do was cross her fingers.

“It’s. So. Boring.” Hayden groaned, dropping her book onto the basement floor. Rob scooped it up and flipped back to the page they were reading. He tried to hand the book towards her.

“It’s required.” He reminded her. She shook her head.

“I’ll fail. That’s fine.” She assured. Rob laughed.

“Aren’t you already failing one of your classes?” He asked. Hayden shrugged.

“It’s only physical education.” She dismissed. Rob nodded.

“Another requirement to graduate.” He continued. She rolled her eyes.

“Don’t remind me.” She groaned. Rob put the book face-open on the couch.

“What’s really bothering you?” He asked, adjusting to face her. She shook her head.

“I feel like people are treating me different.” She confessed. Rob nodded.

“A lot of people stay friendly with Jessica for her parties. You can’t take it personally.” He reasoned.

“Even Brent?” She asked. Rob sighed.

“I think Brent has his own reason.” He mumbled. Hayden raised her eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” She questioned. Rob smiled and shook his head.

“I think he had a crush.” He clarified. Hayden’s eyes went wide.

“What? Why? Since when?” She squeaked. It made Rob laugh again.

“You’re adorable.” He exhaled. She shook her head.

“Did you know?” She asked. Rob shook his head.

“Not until the other night, at the hockey game. I saw the way he kept looking at us. It’s the way I’ve looked at anyone who ever looked at you.” He explained. Hayden smiled and briefly looked away.

“So this isn’t just to torture your brother and ex-girlfriend, is it?” She sighed.

“Fuck no.” He answered. Hayden giggled. Rob never swore, so she wasn’t expecting it.

“I have to ask. You know I wouldn’t know if I were being used.” Hayden defended. Rob nodded.

“I also know you’re clueless that I’ve been in love with you forever.” He added. She nodded.

“I wish I could read people better. Like you.” She commented. He raised his eyebrow.

“You want to read my mind?” He rephrased. She laughed as she looked over.

“No. I think I know what’s on your mind though.” Her eyes wandered to his lips. They curled into a smile before pressing against hers. She brushed a strand of his hair back behind his head. His hair was almost getting longer than hers. He was overdue for a haircut and it was getting in the way. He must have read her mind because he ran one of his hands through his hair to brush it all back. When he kissed her again, a strand fell down between them. She let out a sigh.

“You need a haircut.” She noted. Rob nodded.

“I’ll get right on that.” He answered sarcastically. She shrugged.

“Or a headband.” She offered. Rob shrugged.

“That could work.” He agreed. She got up and headed into her bedroom. She partially closed the door behind her. He pushed it open and walked in with her. She spun around.

“What are you doing?” She squeaked. He looked around.

“I thought you said I was allowed.” He defended. She shook her head and motioned for him to leave. He took a few steps back, so he wasn’t in the room anymore.

“My parents said that. My room is my sanctuary.” She barked. Rob put his hands in the air and walked back to the couch. Hayden dug around for a brown fabric headband. It was the same color as his wild mane. She walked back into the living room and tossed it towards him.

“There. Now maybe you won’t miss so many words.” She teased, dropping down beside him. He laughed as he slid the headband on.

“Yeah, says the girl who can’t get her lines right.” He retaliated. Hayden shook her head.

“It’s not my fault this is the most boring book ever written.” She argued. Rob kept laughing.

“It gets better. You just have to push through.” He assured. She shook her head.

“I don’t believe you.” She argued. Rob shrugged.

“You’re going to find out because we have to read it.” He repeated. Hayden took a deep breath.

“Fine.” She groaned, scooping up her book.