Day Seven
Yianna Yiannacou
© 2011 Yianna Yiannacou. All Rights Reserved
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Covert Art by Insomnolepsy titled Behind the Green Door. Edited by Yianna Yiannacou.
Preface
I will begin by saying that I am going to tell you a little story. I know what you are thinking,
'Obviously', right? I don't blame you. This story is about two people - a man and a woman. It won’t seem like it at first, but I assure you it will. Well, these two people have just met, yet it seems like they have known each other for eternity. There was an immediate spark after the first time they saw each other. There is always that one person in your life that you know and you feel like you can entrust them with the world. Some people call it their ‘soul mate.’ Your every move is mirrored by their behaviour for that day. If they're sad, you feel sympathy for them. If they're mad, you try to make them happy. You know you are in love and it is the best feeling in the world.
Then, on the other hand, there are other people who you know not to trust – the bad people. They have that look in their eyes that screams, ‘bad news!’ These people you never tell a word to. You stay away from them, fearing not only for your safety, but also for your well-being and the well-being of others. You are tempted to go and see them, to confront them, to prove a point, but that is the last thing you should be thinking about! Reasoning with these people does not work and should not be attempted.
We tend to lean towards the familiar for safety. It is always good to trust your first instincts. When someone tells you to stay away from that person, you should listen, before it is too late. People are known to fight back when they are trapped in a corner with nowhere to go. They make drastic decisions. Sometimes they aren’t the smartest, but at the moment they feel it is the right thing to do. Regret nothing.
Trust the ones you love. In the end, they will be saving not only your life, but your soul as well.
Day 1
Sunday March 15th 2010
Just like every other morning, Hailey sat on the edge of her bed, and tried to fully open her eyes from their dreamless sleep. Her shoulders slumped as she stared down at her bare feet, blinking away her blurry eyesight. She always hated her feet, especially her toes. They were painted the same colour as her hard wood floor which was a golden brown. Her entire house was hard wood. No one in her family liked carpet. She sat there barely awake, resisting the sweet temptation to roll back in her covers and laying there for the rest of eternity. Hailey’s body still felt heavy and exhausted.
She had her eight hours of rest - if that’s what you like to call it – just like every other day, but it never seemed like it was enough. She doesn’t get the pleasure of closing her eyes and seeing the wonderful scenes of gumdrops, unicorns and rainbows anymore. The beautiful dreams she used to have are no more. Instead of peaceful, happy dreams; she has nightmares - Nightmares so terrifying that she feels as if she could lose her life in the heat of the unconscious moment.
A sigh of relief came bursting out of her as she turned her head to the left to look beside her bed frame. Her calendar hung there neatly on the wall. Each day of the month that passed was crossed off with a big red X. The handy marker lay there as it always did, on her bed stand, waiting to be used again. Today was Sunday so she didn’t have to worry about getting ready and dressed for school. It was only her second year in high school and she already hated it. In elementary school, people knew not to walk up and talk to her. She was the loner kid and she actually liked it that way. People made fun of her behind her back, and even sometimes to her face. Truthfully, it didn’t bother her one bit. She’d gone through a weird, ugly faze all through elementary school. Her appearance was different from everyone else around in her area.
The town where she lived, everyone had blonde hair and blue eyes - not Hailey though. Even from being born in the town of Collingwood, Ontario, Hailey had long, black hair, and midnight dark eyes. It was because of her mother. Her mother, Carmella Glassman, was an out-of-towner who had visited when she was in her teens. She ended up meeting the love of her life, Hailey’s father, Roger Glassman. Roger fell in love with her the moment he saw her. It was story tale love at first sight. Carmella had literally swooped Roger right off his feet, they liked to say.
Hailey came out looking exactly like Carmella - a dark featured goddess - while her Dad, in fact, had blonde hair and blue eyes. Hailey’s skin was so pale and unable to tan. If she stayed out in the sun long enough, her skin would redden, but then go back to its soft off-white colour. Hailey never spent enough time outside though, unless she was gardening or just taking out the trash. And getting a tan really didn’t concern her, unlike the other girls in her class who went to the tanning beds two to three times a week just to get that unnatural orange glow.
Carmella Glassman had always told Hailey that she was an identical match to her mother when she was younger. As much as Hailey could see the resemblance in pictures, she never got the opportunity to meet her grandmother in person. In Hailey’s eyes, her mother was the most beautiful person she had ever set eyes upon. Carmella had long black hair when she and Roger first met, but cut it as she aged. She had beautiful dark eyes which Hailey inherited and she always wore a beautiful pearl necklace. The necklace Roger got her on their first anniversary and hadn’t ever taken it off - it even stayed on while she showered.
Hailey always went to Carmella for advice whenever she felt sad or in need of cheering up. When Hailey was much younger - when people’s comments did hurt at one point - Carmella would always be there for her daughter, no matter what. Carmella would tell Hailey that things in life would change once she was older and not to worry about what other people said about her. It didn’t really matter what she said or how Carmella gave advice to Hailey. If someone said the exact same words to Hailey, she wouldn’t believe them, but because they were coming out of her mother’s mouth, with her sincerity, Hailey hung onto every word. She adored her mother.
Carmella had always told Hailey that she would grow up to be beautiful and everyone would want to be her friend. Carmella even put the idea in Hailey’s head that she would grow up to look like the Snow White character. Hailey didn’t believe her then, but she does now. That was one of the reasons Hailey hated high school. She was beautiful on the outside but broken on the inside. Grade nine, for some odd reason, was much easier to be hidden in the crowd. Hailey did not talk to anyone and she made no friends. Everyone was nervous and insecure about everything in grade nine and Hailey loved it. As soon as grade ten came around, it was as if everyone had changed and turned into these massive social butterflies. The beginning of grade ten turned out just as she planned – she talked to no one and no one talked to her. As soon as everyone got back from March break, and the sun came out, everyone noticed Hailey, and she did not like it. Not one bit.
The newly evolved students of high school all wanted to get to know her. They wanted to know her name, and what elementary school she went to. They asked why she transferred over to their school, even though she has been there the entire time in grade nine. ‘How do you get your hair so shinny? What face product do you use to get your skin so soft and glowing? Are you wearing contacts, or are your eyes normally that dark? Where do you live? How come I have never seen you out before? Do you live in the area?’
Those were only a few of the questions she got asked from r
eturning from March Break. Hailey physically and mentally couldn’t handle it. She wished with all her heart that her parents were still with her, so she could have someone to turn to. Hailey missed them so much and there was nothing she could do to ever see them again.
Hailey’s parents both died when she was just ten years old.
The painful memory still lingers in her mind. She will always remember that day it happened, just like it was yesterday. It was December 24th 2004 - Christmas Eve. The day couldn’t have gotten any better. It was a sunny day that reflected off the fresh, untouched snow that blanketed the ground. As soon as Hailey had woken up, she jumped off her bed and went straight to her window. Opening it created the mountain of snow that rested on her windowsill to scatter on the ground which quickly melted in the heat of her room, creating a little puddle. She took a deep breath of that cold winter breeze. It had smelled so invigorating and full of great promises to come. It was such a refreshment to be able to enjoy the simple pleasures like that. Hailey could see the front yard of her house from her room. She had looked down and noticed her dad shovelling the pathway to their house. He looked up and waved to her, telling her to come outside and help him.
Carmella had allowed Hailey go outside to play since it was her most favourite thing to do in the world. Hailey loved to build forts and all different kinds of things a ten year old would do in the snow. Sometimes she would even eat it when her parents weren’t looking. Carmella didn’t know about this, and if she did, she would never allow it. If Roger found out, he would have just laughed about it and said, ‘kids will be kids.’
After a long day of playing in the snow, Carmella, Roger and Hailey Glassman had decided to sit by the fireplace and sip some fresh, homemade hot chocolate together. They were one little, perfect, happy family. Hailey couldn’t ask for better parents than the ones she was gifted with. Carmella had even made a fresh batch of gingerbread cookies, just like she had done every other Christmas Eve. It was a family tradition that should never be broken. Hailey had asked for more after her fourth cooking but Carmella said no and that she would get a stomach ache from eating too many. When Carmella went into the kitchen, Roger told Hailey that she could have his. He winked at her as he handed it over. Roger spoiled her sometimes. Hailey could tell he loved her more than life itself. Roger always told her that she was his little gift to the world and he would do everything in his power to keep her safe and happy.
The hours had passed and it was getting late. It was time for Hailey to go to sleep. Her parents had told her that if she stayed awake, Santa wasn’t going to bring her any presents. Santa only came when everyone in the house was asleep. Hailey believed them, just like any other ten year old would have. So, of course, she went straight to bed and tried as hard as she could to fall asleep. There was no way an energetic ten year old, wired on sugar was going to end up sleeping though. She was just too excited. Half an hour had passed and she was still wide awake. That was normal behaviour for her. On Christmas Eve, she normally passed out only from exhaustion while lying in her bed, trying to fall asleep. Carmella and Roger were in the room next to hers. She heard them get into bed a couple minutes after her. She heard their hushed whispers, then all had gone quiet.
At that moment, while she was about to doze off, Hailey heard something strange. She thought she heard the front door to her house open. Hailey had always thought Santa came through the chimney. There was rustling downstairs and she heard two male voices. It was very unusual to hear any other voices in her house since neither Carmella nor Roger had any immediate family that had ever visited. Hailey had always left her bedroom door open a crack just as a precaution. She didn’t feel comfortable closing her door all the way. The light in the hallway turned on and she saw Roger run downstairs. Hailey automatically sat up in her bed.
“Hey!” Roger angrily called to the people downstairs. He was holding something in his hand. Hailey couldn’t make out what it was since he had passed the crack of her door too quickly for her to see.
“Honey, what’s going on?” Carmella had been right behind Roger. Hailey saw her go down the stairs after him.
Hailey’s heart raced as she had to go and see what was going on. She threw off her covers, jumped out of bed and walked to the top of the stairs. She knelt down and hid behind the two pillars. She watched the commotion downstairs from up there. She gripped the pillars with both her hands as she peered through. There were two men dressed in all black. One of them had a black mask on while the other didn’t cover his face at all. Hailey could see his dark brown hair all messy and his forehead covered in sweat. He looked so nervous. What were they doing in my house? Hailey thought.
Carmella screamed. Hailey looked towards her Mom and followed her gaze. The man with the mask on pulled out a gun and pointed it towards her parents. Hailey gasped in horror – her grip on the bars tightened. Carmella was crying as she fell to her knees. Roger stood with courage right beside her with his hands held up in the air as a surrender. The thing in one of his hands was a big wooden bat. Where did he get that from?
She had realized what was going on. Those two men were robbing their house. They didn’t have much to offer. Their house was old and was in need of a facelift. Carmella never let Roger fix up the house though. The floor boards in the living room were slowly separating from each other with age. Carmella had said the older the house got, the more character it had. Roger never argued with Carmella. They had more than enough money to do it, but they decided against it. Roger gave Carmella everything she wanted, only to see her happy.
The man with the brown hair was grabbing the masked man, ordering him to leave. He pulled on his shirt but the masked man didn’t budge. The brown haired man grabbed and pulled with all his might for the other man to follow. The masked man, still holding the gun, turned around to push his friend away. It seemed that Roger thought that was an opening so he ran up to the masked man and wrapped his arms tightly around him, struggling to get the gun out of his hand. The masked man pulled free. Roger had his hands wrapped around the man’s jacket, which he ripped off him. Things fell out of his pocket. Both Roger and the masked man looked down to see what had dropped. The masked man raised the gun once again right in the middle of Roger’s forehead.
“Dad! No!” Hailey had screamed from the top of the stairs. She didn’t mean to. It came out without her knowing. She let go of the pillars and took one step down on the stairs. She stood there on the second top step, watching, struck.
“Hailey! Stop! Go back to your room! NOW!” Carmella screamed to her. She barely got the words out. Her eyes were glistening with tears. Carmella didn’t have the energy to stand. She stayed kneeling on the ground. Her shaking hands were pointed for Hailey to go back upstairs.
Both the men looked up at Hailey at the same time. As soon as the brown haired man looked at her, he yelled to his friend, “Aw man, naw, screw this, I am out of here!” and ran out the front door.
Roger swung the bat, aiming to hit the masked man, but the masked man was too quick. He had taken two shots at Roger before the swing even took effect. The first shot had missed, but the second hit his target. He had shot Roger right in the middle of his chest. The boom of the gunshot had deafened everyone for a few moments. No one expected the noise to be that loud, not even the masked man - the one who pulled the trigger. It echoed throughout the entire house. The remnants of the gunshot had left a ringing sound in the pit of their ears that didn’t ease up. Carmella and Hailey both screamed their loudest. They barely heard themselves. The noise of the shot kept replaying in their heads like it was on some horrible repeat tape. Carmella had quickly composed herself and got the energy to run up to Roger before he could fall over. But his weight had been too much for her. They both fell together towards the hard ground. Blood instantly started soaking through Rogers white t-shirt that he had worn to bed. She could see the hole that the bullet had made.
All Hailey could hear were the screams of horror coming out of he
r mother’s mouth. Hailey’s vision blurred from the onslaught of tears that had formed in her eyes. She ran down the steps to her father but came to a dead stop atop last step. She took one good look at her father’s chest and she became nauseous. She could see the blood staining, and pooling on the wooden floor underneath him.
“Roger! Roger! Please. Lord what has happened?!” Carmella had placed her trembling fingers on Roger’s chest to try and stop the bleeding to no avail. Rogers’s eyes fluttered as he groaned from the pain of the bullet in his chest. His head flopped backwards as he spoke his last word, “Hailey.”
“Daddy.” Hailey had stood on the last step as the masked man raised his gun once again to Carmella’s face. They were about five feet apart. Carmella’s face was filled with sorrow and anger. There was no fear. This man had shot her husband. She had to get him back for what he had done. Carmella gulped back her tears to speak to the man who still held the gun to her head.
Carmella had opened her mouth to speak, forgetting her daughter was listening and watching everything. “You mother fu-”
Bang!
The masked man had shot Carmella dead in the center of her forehead. Hailey stood there as all her muscles tensed up from what she had witnessed. Her eyes were so wide open that she couldn’t close them anymore. They hurt from being open so wide and for so long. She had watched as the bullet entered her mother’s forehead and exit the other side. Splotches of blood and other remnants covered the white wall behind her. There was blood everywhere. Hailey bent over and threw up everything she ate that night. The cookies and milk came up like it was nothing. It burned her throat as they exited her mouth. One of her hands clutched her stomach as the other grabbed her neck from the burning sensation. It felt as if she were throwing up poison. Poison that she wished, at that moment, would have kill her. She knew she would never be able to get this day out of her mind for as long as she lived – if she even did after this.
She heard the floorboard creek and footsteps coming towards her. With her body doubled over, she tilted her head up enough to see the masked man with the gun walking towards her. The inner part of Hailey’s thighs warmed up as she realized urine was running down them. She stood straight up as her eyes locked with this masked man’s. All she could see was bulging blue eyes from behind his black mask. Hailey didn’t even have time to take into consideration she had wet herself. That seemed to be the least of her concerns in that moment. She couldn’t look down to confirm that it was, in fact, urine. She stood there, on the last step, dumbstruck as to what had just happened. Both her parents were gone. Dead by this random individual who had chosen to rob their house, out of all the houses on the block, on this night, out of all nights of the year.
Hailey could feel the evil emanating off the masked man. It felt as if her skin were crawling with burning insects just from being in the presence of him. Hailey’s mind told her to run, scream, get out of there, but her body was in shock and wasn’t responding to a thing her brain was telling her to do.
The masked man slowly walked up to her without taking his gaze off her once. She could tell he still had the gun in his hands without even looking at it. She could smell the gun power emanating from it after the two bullets he shot which killed her parents. What once smelled like cookies, hot chocolate, love and delight, now smelled like gunpowder, blood, fear, and death.
His piercing blue eyes spoke to her since his mouth was covered by the mask. “I am sorry you had to see all this, but now you have seen and know too much.” And just like that, he raised the gun at her and pulled the trigger.
Hailey felt a sharp sting, deep in her neck. She grabbed her throat with both her hands as she watched this masked murderer grab his bag; fill it with gifts under the tree and even her mother’s necklace right off her neck. He then picked up his things off the floor, which fell out of his pocket earlier, and ran out of her house.
The warm liquid, her blood, flowed over her fingers and down her shirt. She felt the blood pour quicker as she panicked. She couldn’t breathe and she was gurgling blood. She became dizzy and after that, everything went black.
That was six years ago, but Hailey remembered it like it was yesterday. They still haven’t found the murderer and the case remains open and is still under investigation.
The Glassman house was quiet and empty today - besides Hailey being in it. Hailey’s aunt – Stella White, taking her last name from her husband - used to go over every day to cook, clean, and make sure everything was neat and in order. It was the least she could do for her only niece. Stella was Carmella’s only sister. After that tragic day, Stella felt it was her duty to watch over Hailey. She lived two hours away, but made the trip every other day to visit. Hailey found it funny that she never used to visit her only sister when she was alive, but made a promise to visit Hailey now that her sister was dead.
Hailey told her enough times she could take care of herself, but Stella never believed her. It was until last year when Stella had a child of her own who needed her constant attention. Hailey thanked her for all the trouble she went through to take care of her, but it was now time for Stella to take care of her own family. Hailey was actually relieved to not have her around. She could finally stop faking the smile she had been putting on whenever Aunt Stella was around. She could cry in peace now, not having to worry if someone could hear her sorrow.
Hailey remembered that today was Sunday and she had to go grocery shopping, just like every other Sunday that passed. She quickly got up and out of bed, took a step towards her calendar, picked up her marker and crossed off yesterday’s date. It was then time to get ready. She put on a thin hoodie, zipped it up and put on a pair of Lulu Lemon pants. She looked at herself one more time in the mirror before heading down her stairs and out her front door. Damn, I do look like friggen Snow White. Crap! After putting on her hood, she walked outside into the cool March breeze. The snow was starting to melt and smelled like spring was just around the corner.
Once at the grocery store, Hailey slowly picked out the things she needed. It was a local grocery store and she always saw the same people there every Sunday. Mrs. Oletto always stood by the lettuce for half an hour, debating which one she wanted. Mr. Cooper always bought seven - not six - seven loaves of bread. He was a pretty big man, but Hailey always thought that nobody needed that much bread. She remembered one time when the grocery store only had six loaves of bread; Mr. Cooper lost his mind on the person working there. He didn’t leave until they made him one more loaf of bread. Hailey thought that was funny. The list of regulars went on and on.
Hailey walked over to buy her normal, carton of milk, fresh vegetables and lettuce for her salad, bread for her sandwiches, case of bottled water, some meat and fish to fry up for dinner, oatmeal and eggs for her breakfast, and she even decided to buy a chocolate bar to treat herself for no special reason.
She paid for everything with the money her parents left behind. They didn’t have any other children, so all the money went to Hailey. It was a hefty amount of money that any sixteen year old shouldn’t normally have. Hailey was more responsible for her age than the other children were. Hailey didn’t work since she had enough money to last her and her children a lifetime. She wondered how come her parents had so much money, yet they lived in such a normal neighbourhood. Hailey didn’t splurge the money on stupid things like thousand dollar purses or clothes. Hailey didn’t dress to impress, yet she always looked moderate in her eyes. She didn’t want to look extravagant to catch anyone’s attention.
She did her round of the grocery store, just like she did every time she was there. She passed one of the aisles and as soon as she passed it, she got a glimpse - a very short glimpse - of a man. He didn’t look like any of the other boys that lived there. He looked much older and very different. She stopped dead in her tracks. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes to picture what she just saw after she passed him. He was tall, with broad shoulders. He had black hair and green eyes, like a cat!
Hailey had never seen him here before; he was definitely not one of the regulars.
Hailey debated on going back to see him again, but she was too nervous. She looked around to see if anyone was staring at her. No one was. She turned around and went back to the aisle where she first saw this mysterious green eyed man. When she got back to the aisle, he was gone. Did I just make him up? Was he even really there?
She shook her head and went to the cash register. She looked down to her watch which was once her mothers and noticed it was time for lunch. She wasn’t hungry but she knew she had to go home and eat. She lost five pounds in the last month which didn’t look healthy on her. She was eating, but for some reason her body was starting to give away on her. Her body had put up with her depression for so many years and it seemed like it had finally caught up to her.
In the back of her mind she wondered intensely on who that man was. His green eyes pierced her memory and she knew she could never forget them. She knew if she saw them again she would remember them instantly. She was excited to come here next week to see him again. Hopefully he would return, just like everyone else did on a Sunday.
Day 2
Monday March 16th 2010
Hailey’s eyes shot open wide as she awoke to the loud, annoying sound of her buzzing alarm clock. She would never get used to the shock which that thing sets on her body so early in the morning. She lazily rolled over and turned it off - tempted to pick it up and throw it across her room. She knew it was time to get up and ready for school.
Slowly rising from her bed, sighing, she grabbed the infamous red marker off her night stand and X’ed off yesterday’s date; Sunday March 15th 2010. It was one less day of the year she had to worry about now. It was one less day she has to live with; stuck with the memories she kept trying so hard to forget. It hurt less when she realized how some days had passed by easier when the numbness took over. She groaned as she got ready for school. No one was there to hear her complaints. The house was empty and she was alone, just like every other day.
Getting ready for school was always the same. Get up, walk to washroom, stare at herself - trying not to cry, shake it off and brush teeth, wash face, dry face, tame/brush hair, put on shirt and pants - preferably something that matched, go downstairs, walk to kitchen, make breakfast - which is oatmeal most of the time, eat it, pack a sandwich for lunch, wash dishes, dry dishes, put dishes away, put on shoes, check time, always early, and finally, go to school.
While descending the main stairs from the second floor to the first, Hailey no longer looked towards her right. To the right was where the living room was located. That room and area was off limits to her for many reasons. That was the room where her parents had lost their lives and she had almost lost hers as well. She didn’t have the strong enough stomach or heart to look there, for she knew the pictures from that night would flash in front of her without consent.
She never stood on the last step of the stairs either. Every time she walked down, she would get to the second last step, and then jump the rest of the way down. She would then turn to her left to go into the hallway towards the kitchen. She wouldn’t even glance the other way. It became routine to her, sometimes she didn’t even have to think about it. Her body did it all by itself.
Hailey walked to school, which was just around the corner from her house, and it seemed like everything was going according to plan. Don’t be seen, don’t get noticed, talk to no one.
Today Hailey was wearing her favourite loose white blouse that almost matched her skin colour. The sun shone directly on her with each step that she took. It felt as if the sun was concentrating on shinning its rays on no one but her. The sun was hinting to her to get some colour on her pale skin. It was no use; the sun could try all it wanted. Her skin did not, and would not tan. Hailey wore jeans on the bottom to make her outfit more casual. Her hair was left down and slightly unruly. Even though she brushed it today, it still had crazy mind of its own. She preferred it like that, a little messy. Prim and proper was never her thing. Her black boots that she wore today fit her like a glove. They were her most favourite pair of shoes she owned. Everyone else in school wore heels to class, but Hailey knew there was no need for heels and they would only attract attention. It was too cold anyway to wear heels. No one talked to her this morning or came up to pretend like they were friends. Hailey figured if she didn’t make eye contact, no one would even know she was there.
Wrong.
There was that one boy in school, Gregory Barnes, she hated him extensively. He followed her around, smiling at her, giving her flirtatious eyes. Every time she saw him she wanted to yack. He was a good looking guy, but he was too good looking. She knew if she got close to him, or even talked to him for five minutes, she would be the talk of the school and then that would just draw more attention to her.
Gregory’s father, Richard Barnes, was their local news reporter. Everyone wanted to be friends with Gregory so they could be on television. Hailey thought that was pathetic. Since Gregory normally could get any girl in school he desired, he wanted Hailey even more after realizing she put up a challenge. Normally the girls would chase him, but in Hailey’s case, he had to go after her. It pleased him to know he had to work for a girl. The chase was arousing to him.
Hailey’s first class of the day was English. She walked to her seat which was located at the far back, left corner of the classroom. She sat at the desk closest to the window. The classroom had double desks. Hailey always had an empty seat beside her, but she would always place her backpack on the chair to make sure no one tried to sit next to her.
Today in class they were reading Romeo and Juliet. So typical for a grade ten English class. Everyone dreaded reading anything from Shakespeare – no one really understood it. They were all so naive and immature. No one saw the true beauty behind his writings. No one knew this, but Hailey loved the story of Romeo and Juliet, it was her favourite. She loved all kinds of romantic love stories. She secretly had her share of Harlequin books at home that no one knew about. It’s what she does with her time. No boyfriend, no friends, no mom, no dad, no relatives to tend to her - one must think of something to do. That is what she does - Hailey reads love stories.
I bet you’re wondering if she had a boyfriend. Well indeed, Hailey did have a boyfriend - once. His name was Frank Argentino. They were never officially going out, but Hailey liked his company. Maybe they weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend at the time, but it sure seemed like it. He was a year older than Hailey was, making him seventeen and in grade eleven. They didn’t go to the same school. He lived out of town, but he frequently visited his grandparents who lived right next door to Hailey. He visited around three to four times a month.
Frank Argentino looked like every other guy around Hailey. He had the dirty blonde hair and medium built body. He didn’t stand out, which she liked. He kept mostly to himself so she didn’t have to worry about him talking about her to other people and spreading around rumours. He was pretty cute which helped a little bit.
One day while Hailey was gardening - well, trying to garden - Frank genuinely approached her, out of nowhere and asked if she needed help. He acted like he’d known her his entire life, but in realization that was the first time anyone has spoken to her in many years. It was as if they were long lost friends.
She pretended like he wasn’t there, hoping he would go away. She had hoped that if she closed her eyes tight enough she would disappear. That didn’t happen. Without another word he got down on his hands and knees, rolled up his sleeves and started picking out the weeds in her front lawn, just as she was doing. He even made her smile, which was rare at that point. They spent the entire morning together not saying one word, just gardening and fooling around. She would dig a hole and he would plant whatever flower she had sitting beside her. She didn’t even have to ask him to do it, he just… did it.
Hailey always wondered if he’d known her story, or history I should say. He probably did. Everyone in her n
eighbourhood had known about what happened to her parents. Her next door neighbours, his grandparents, the Argentinos, were actually the ones who called 9-1-1. They had heard the gunshots and called instantly. They ran to the house after a couple of minutes to find a tragic, bloody disaster. Unfortunately they were far too late. They found Hailey’s parents both dead on the floor, lying together. They did find Hailey, unconscious, but breathing. They told her they had wrapped her neck with a random dish towel until the paramedics came. They spared her the exact details of how it looked. She could barely understand them anyway. They were an old Italian couple, fresh from Italy - forty years ago. They had the hardest accent Hailey had ever heard in her life. Hailey was born and raised in Canada, so she knew no other accent.
Hailey was glad she couldn’t understand them. She didn’t want them telling her exactly what had happened. Hailey knew the scene very well, a little bit too well. Every time she closed her eyes, all she saw was her parents, dead, bloodied, on top of each other on the ground; her Mom cradling her Dad’s body before the gunman pulled the deadly trigger and shot her in the head.
Hailey thanks them privately, in her head, every day for finding her and saving her life, but at the same time she also scorns them for saving her life. She wished sometimes that they would have just left her to die. No one would miss her. She would be able to be with her family. She always thought death would be scary and painful. Until that day she realized she was wrong. It was scary, yeah, but painful, no. The gunshot shocked her, but she barely felt anything except the warm liquid racing down her skin. She blacked out, thinking it was that easy. After blacking out, you don’t remember anything. She could have died then, and she wouldn’t have even known.
So, ever since the day Frank helped her garden, she had felt a bond to him. At least whenever he was around, her numbness subsided and she was able to feel pleasure from him being near.
He and Hailey had become pretty close and intimate. Once their relationship grew from gardening outside, to being invited inside, Hailey began to trust him and let him into her world. He would always sneak over at night and end up in Hailey’s bed. She left the back door open on purpose just for him. Whenever she would notice he was over visiting his grandparents, she would automatically go to the back door to unlock it, and wait for him until whenever he decided to visit her. She could tell exactly when he visited since his grandparents would talk so loud whenever he was there. Hailey never understood why they did that. He was right there, yet it seemed like they needed to yell whenever he entered the room.
Hailey trusted Frank Argentino. She trusted him enough to lose her virginity to him. When she was younger, she believed in saving yourself until marriage. She felt like the one you lost your virginity to, had to be someone you loved dearly and decided to marry. After marriage was the one and only time you could lose your virginity. She pictured a beautiful candle lit room with rose petals fluttered everywhere, covering the bed, the floor and even the scent of the room was floral. She pictured a large bed with a white down cover, as white as her wedding dress, waiting for her, calling for her to lie down with her husband. In this room there was the hint of soft sensual music playing in the background. She pictured that to be the most wonderful way to end a day filled with matrimony. That was until her parents died and her view on things changed; her view on a lot of things changed.
Losing her virginity to Frank had happened so quickly, she hadn’t even realized it. Four months ago, during the dark and quiet hours of the night, he had snuck into her house and into her bed. That was all normal and welcomed, until they started touching, then kissing, then caressing, then rubbing. Before Hailey knew it, all her clothes were off and he was on top of her, inside her. She doesn’t even remember it hurting. It happened all too quickly, it was over before it even began. Hailey used to be afraid from all the stories she heard on how it hurts the first time you do it, but for her, it was a piece of cake.
She used him only for sex. Well, not so much used, but it was all she needed from him. She never confined in him with her problems, even though he knew them already. They didn’t talk about it. She didn’t even remember having a conversation that lasted longer than five minutes with him. It was strictly business of pleasure for her, and that’s how she liked and wanted it. He knew that’s all he was needed for, and he did not argue, not even once. They had that sort of relationship. They were both happy that way. Hailey did not need loving or anything else like that from him.
The sound of glass shattering had woken Hailey up from her trance. Those many memories take over her mind and she doesn’t even realize it. She completely forgot she was still at school. She was in the lunchroom. Sometimes she wondered how she passed school with average grades if she doesn’t even pay attention most of the time.
She looked to her right to see what had caused the glass to break. She saw a male student standing there by a table, head down, staring at his broken bottle of apple juice on the floor. He must have accidentally dropped it before he sat down. His friends all laughed at him. He looked absolutely heart broken. What does he know about having his heart broken? It’s just juice for crying out loud! Hailey thought to herself.
Hailey turned her body to face forward once again. Spilled apple juice didn’t amuse her anymore. She noticed Gregory Barnes walking towards her. She felt nervous all of a sudden, like she was caught cheating on a math test or something. Her breathing became more laboured as she thought he would sit right at her table, in front of her. His broad shoulders and shiny blonde hair was a little bit too much for Hailey. She tried keeping her head down but couldn’t help her wandering eyes, staring into Gregory’s as he passed by. The entire time he walked by, she held her breath, hoping he wouldn’t realize that she was secretly freaked out.
As he passed, Hailey let out her breath and chuckled to herself. She shook her head at the foolish thought. Did she really think Gregory would actually come up and talk to her, with everyone watching? She hoped not, and he didn’t. She rested her head in her right hand which was elbowed up on the table. She had her notebook open as she doodled random pictures that came to her mind. Hailey was odd that way. When writing notes, she would use her right hand, but when drawing or doodling, she used her left hand. She never knew why, but she kind of liked it.
“Hey there,” called a voice to her right.
Hailey jumped in her seat, drawing a big long line across her drawing page before dropping it to the ground. She looked to her right and realized that Gregory Barnes had taken the seat right next to hers.
“H-hi?” Hailey said quietly as she looked around to the other people in the cafeteria. No one seemed to notice Gregory Barnes sitting right beside her - yet! She didn’t have the courage to look him in the eye. She bent down to pick up her notebook. When she was sitting straight again, she noticed he was still sitting there, staring at her. “What are you doing?”
“You know, I noticed you many times and every time I come up to talk to you, you give me this look like ‘Back Off,’ and it was really intimidating. Now though, I have built up my courage to tell you that you are very, very beautiful. Remember that. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.”
And just as quickly as he sat down, he pushed himself up, got up and walked away.
What was that all about? Why did he come out of his way, to talk to me for point three five seconds? Right… Hailey didn’t know what to do in that sort of situation. She had to think of something else since she could feel her face heating up, turning red. He thinks I am beautiful. No one has ever told me I was beautiful, besides my mother. Hailey felt a lump rising in her throat whenever she thought of her parents. She had to push the thought away before she started tearing in the middle of the lunch room.
Hailey was thankful for the fact that the day was almost over and she only had one more class left. The most dreaded class of all - Math. As much as she detested going to this class most of all, she was too flustered with what happened with Gregory Barne
s to even think about skipping it. Skipping was not allowed in high school. If you got caught skipping you would be penalized appropriately and then they would call your parents. Technically, at Hailey’s age of sixteen, she still needed a guardian - someone to watch over her since her parents were both deceased. The school still thought that Hailey’s aunt, Stella, lived and was taking care of her. Every time they call asking for Stella, Hailey pretended to be her. She doesn’t even change her voice. Hailey talked normally and they couldn’t even tell the difference. When you change your voice to try to sound like someone else is when they think something is up.
Before Hailey knew it, the bell rang and class was over. She was free of the dreadful place after a long unexpected day at school. Sometimes Hailey hated going home, but in days like today, going home is all she wanted.
Hailey walked out of the school, ready to get away from that awful, children filled building and back at home in her - what she liked to call - safe zone. She took a couple steps outside the door, had to squint her eyes from the effect the sun had on them from being inside all day and that was when she saw him. She never stopped walking as she stared at the man from the grocery store. He wasn’t a figment of her imagination after all. He was real, and he was standing in her school parking lot. He leaned on his parked car as if he were waiting for someone. I guess I don’t have to wait until Sunday to see him again, Hailey thought to herself.
He scanned the area slowly for whoever he was looking for. Was he there for her? His eyes, those cat-like eyes were searching for something. Hailey couldn’t believe how green they were. She thought that they must be contacts to be almost glowing like that. His long black hair was almost covering his eyes. He moved it back with his hand in one swift movement. The perfection of his fingers, the way they moved so swiftly caught Hailey off guard.
Without even realizing where she was going, Hailey’s feet kept the pace up in the same direction she was heading. Hailey couldn’t get her mind around to get her feet to stop moving. Her feet were walking in his direction, even though he was far off in the distance. Something pulled her towards him; something dragged her very essence to be near him. She couldn’t fight it and she didn’t want to. It was like mentally trying to make your heart stop beating, it just wasn’t possible.
The mysterious, handsome boy looked her way and was caught off guard. They both locked eyes and stared at each other as if they were trying to find something in one another’s soul. They were at least thirty feet away at that point. The lock of their gaze was mind shattering. Neither one of them could look away. It was as if time stood still and Hailey forgot how to breathe.
At that moment, his gaze snapped free. Someone ran up to him, it was some random female, distracting him and pulling him out of his trance. Hailey didn’t recognize her. She must have just transferred and was new to the school. They both got into the car and drove away. The mysterious man never took his eyes off Hailey until he disappeared into his car. Hailey never stopped walking. Before she knew it, she was at the spot where the car was once parked. After aggressively stepping off the curb, not even noticing it there, Hailey snapped out of it. She walked the entire distance in a daze.
That was weird. Hailey walked home alone.
As much as she tried, she couldn’t get that man’s face out of her mind. That had never happened to her before. She had seen her share of good looking guys, but none of them looked like him. Yeah, he was handsome and all, but there was something about him that held onto her gaze like a fish on a hook. He reeled her in without even realizing it.
After arriving home safe and sound, Hailey made dinner for herself while she sat at her table all alone. To a normal person you would think that Hailey looked sad and lonely, but by now she had learned to block out those emotions and not feel them anymore. She hid herself from everyone else so she didn’t expect company. That was how she chose to live.
After washing her dish and doing some homework at the table in her room, she lay down on her bed. She was just going to lie down for a bit before she took a shower, but her body didn’t want to move. It was around 9:00 p.m. and Hailey was so tired. She didn’t know why, but she could barely keep her eyes open. They were slowly weighing themselves down.
Hailey drifted into her dream world. All of a sudden, her eyes shot open. There was a pounding noise coming from downstairs. Hailey looked over to her clock beside her bed and realized it was 11:00 p.m. She had fallen asleep for two hours! She felt like she just closed and opened her eyes in less than three seconds.
She didn’t even remember if she had any dreams or not. She was thankful for that. Most of the time, she didn’t like remembering her dreams.
Her heart pounded along with the pounding from downstairs. She didn’t want to go downstairs. What if it was the men from all those years ago? She thought back and realized that if it was them, they wouldn’t have been knocking. They would have just broken in as easily as they did last time. Hailey wasn’t expecting any visitors this late.
The knocking continued. Then her doorbell rang. She figured she might as well answer it. Maybe it was the Argentinos looking out for her.
Hailey jumped up from her bed and walked downstairs. She jumped down at the last step and went straight for the door. She stopped dead still before her hand could grab the handle. She took a deep breath and figured she’d go for it. She turned the handle and opened the door towards her, shielding her body with the door. She opened it and there he was, standing there on her porch; the man with the green eyes.
“May I come in?” the man said as he walked past Hailey and walked right into her house without an answer.
Hailey stood there with her mouth open in shock. He had the nerve to just walk into her house like that. She didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t even stop him from entering. Her mind wasn’t quick enough. It was as if her mind decided to freeze on her for this exact moment.
“Lovely house you have here,” he said as he looked around with his back to her.
Hailey closed the door and stood there with her back against it, still holding on to the doorknob. She couldn’t believe this random man was standing in her house, acting as if he knew her and they were acquaintances. Her hands were wet with sweat against the doorknob. Her heart pounded in her chest and she was still flustered.
The man turned around and took two steps too close to Hailey but she could not back away from him. She didn’t know why, but she was so keen on paying attention to his every movement, as if she could predict them before he even moved. That calmed her down a bit. Hailey was already up against a dead end. He was inches from her face. She could see her reflection in his glowing green eyes. They were beautiful. They were more breathtaking up close than they were from afar. Hailey’s voice was still caught in her throat. Her brain still couldn’t process any intelligible words yet.
He tilted his head. “What is your name?” he asked in the sweetest voice she has ever heard. Her knees almost melted from the effect his voice had on her. Hailey couldn’t get past the aroma that was coming off him. He smelled so… fresh. She couldn’t put a word to what she smelled, but when she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath; she could see a river flowing rapidly. She felt like she was there when he was that close to her.
Hailey opened her mouth to say her name, but nothing came out. Finally, “H-Hailey,” managed to slip out as a whisper that sounded as it were forced out of her stomach.
“Beautiful. Hailey,” he whispered as if he tasted her name on his tongue. “My name is Robert.”
Robert held up a finger, about to say something, but turned around instead. He paced in front of her. He walked into the forbidden living room. Hailey’s eyes were on him the entire time until he walked in there. She closed her eyes and repeated in her mind, Do not go in there. Come back. Come back. Come back.
“I’m sorry,” Robert said as he walked back up to her with a concerned look on his face.
Hailey opened her eyes and asked hers
elf, Did I say that out loud? She wondered if he heard her say come back as soon as he walked into the room. There was something different about this Robert. Hailey pushed herself off from the door and this time she took a step towards Robert and he had to take a step back. Hailey squinted her eyes, staring at him. It felt as if she had known him forever. It sounded weird, but to Hailey it felt like they were deep lovers in a different lifetime.
They were about a foot apart, but something was pulling Hailey to go closer to him. It was something invisible pulling her internally towards his very essence. Her body wanted to become one with his. She was on her tippy toes, trying to fight against the force. It was like gravity was pushing them together. She had to take a step back to break the force. Hailey wondered if he felt the same way. She could see his chest rising and falling quickly. She knew he was just as breathless as she was.
He raised a hand to touch her face. She knew he was going to do it. She could just feel it in her bones. His hand was inches from her face. The hairs on her arms stood up. She closed her eyes, waiting for his fingertips to touch her cheek. And then… nothing.
“I have to go.” Robert's hand lingered there, unable to touch her face. He dropped his hand. Robert walked past Hailey, opened her door and ran out.
Hailey turned around to see him running down the pathway in front of her house and make a sharp left and out of sight. She dropped to the floor, staring at her open door, taking in the clean fresh air of the cold night to snap her back to reality. She felt like her body was shaking. On her knees, Hailey had to rub her hands together to get the tingling sensation to fade. Hailey thought to herself, Whoever that man was, I have to see him again. I have to know exactly who he is. How did he make me… feel those things?
Shaken, Hailey walked up her stairs and got ready for bed. Tomorrow she will get her answers.
Day 3
Tuesday March 17th 2010
Hailey was wide awake before her alarm even had the chance to go off. She looked to her clock and realized there was still one minute to go until the most annoying sound in the world came on. She was restless all night and couldn’t sleep. She stared at her clock, watching it, waiting for that one minute to pass. She wanted to enjoy every second she had in bed, yet she couldn’t wait to get up. The next minute ticked by and even though she was expecting the alarm to come on, she still jumped from the noise. She got up and turned it off. Her alarm got under her skin, but she knew if she changed it to the sound of the morning show to wake her up, she would never get out of bed. The morning show hosts had such nice soothing voices that lulled her back to sleep. At least with her buzzer she had a mini heart attack to wake her up.
Of course, just like every other day, Hailey grabbed her big red marker off her bed side stand and crossed off yesterday’s date; Monday March 16th 2010.
Hailey got ready for school, with her day planned out already in her head; she was determined to find out who Robert was and where he came from. She didn’t know where he lived. She only knew his house was somewhere in the direction to the left of her house - which was the direction he went after running out her front door. Hailey knew who to go to first. She would go to the girl who ran up to him yesterday. She would find her out in the school and find some much needed answers. In the back of Hailey’s mind, she hoped that the girl wasn’t his girlfriend. Something told her she wasn’t though.
Before Hailey knew it, she was out her door and walking towards the school. She didn’t even watch where she was walking. She kept her eyes on the road, staring at the cars that drove by. She was looking for one car in particular. She stared at every blue car that passed. The car that Robert stood by yesterday in the parking lot was a blue BMW M3 Sedan. She could distinguish the car out of them all since she owned an older version of his car. Of course his was much nicer. The car Hailey owned belonged to her parents. Hailey had just gotten her licence and she was ready to start driving. The day she got her licence, she stepped into her parents’ car, ready to burn some rubber. After ten seconds of sitting in the car, she opened the door and walked right out. Hailey knew she would never drive after that. The car reminded her too much of when her Dad would take her and her mother out. The memory too much hurt and she decided that she never went far enough where she needed to drive anyway. Walking was fine with her. She decided to keep the car, in case of dire emergencies. It now sits in the garage under a cover, untouched.
Hailey arrived to school ahead of schedule. She didn’t even have the chance to walk into the building because that was when she saw them. There they were, standing in the parking lot in front of her, beside their blue car. The girl handed over the keys to Robert as she walked into the school. Robert’s back straightened. That was when he abruptly turned and locked eyes with Hailey. Hailey’s heart skipped a beat.