Unfamiliar

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

 

  Hailey

 

  Thanks to my dad getting his act together and returning most of the money he took from me last summer, I didn’t have to worry about finding a second job any more. My work-study position at the daycare would be enough to get me by, which was a huge relief. Now I could really focus on school without that added stress.

  I had gone to my advisor and changed my major to ‘undeclared’. It was one of the scariest things I’d ever done— not having a plan. Instead, I was going to just concentrate on taking the general education core classes and try to figure out what I really wanted to do in life. Right now I was leaning toward Music Education. The possibilities were endless and I kind of liked that. I had asked someone in each of my classes if I could make copies of the notes I’d missed while I’d been gone so that's how I intended to spend my weekend—catching up on everything so I didn't fall too far behind.

  But that's not what I really wanted to do. What I really wanted to do was call Chase and tell him that he was right all along. I didn't know what I’d wanted before because I had been too preoccupied with 'my plan' to see what was plainly in front of my face, but I knew now—or at least I knew the kind of person I wanted to be.

  I wanted to be the kind of person who wasn't afraid to experience new things, the kind of person who wasn't afraid of falling down and scraping her knees now and then. The kind of person who got up on stage and poured her heart out in front of complete strangers. Chase was able to do that. He was comfortable enough with himself to be that vulnerable—I wanted to be that comfortable in my own skin too.

  He’d said that he hoped I found the one I wanted to be with, and I told him the truth, I had found him. But it wasn’t the person who’d placed the ring tenderly on my finger—it was the one who’d walked away. The one who was avoiding me now.

  I had tried calling him when I got back to Oakdale but he didn’t answer or return any of my calls or text messages. I didn’t want to seem pathetic so I took the hint and left him alone. But it was killing me being unable to explain everything to him.

  “You’re missing it!” Tessa exclaimed. She was watching a Teen Wolf marathon and stuffing her face with her snack of choice—double-stuffed Oreos and Mountain Dew—while I copied my notes. Other than the occasional outburst of laughter or a frightened gasp, she was being relatively silent, which was shocking. I didn’t think it was possible for her to be quiet for as long as she had been, but throw some shirtless guys in front of her and miracles happened.

  I humored her and glanced up from my notes to see what I was missing for the tenth time this episode. It was just as I expected: another half-naked werewolf. I had to admit, he was pretty hot and from the little bits and pieces I watched, the show seemed interesting enough, but I had no idea what was going on right now.

  “I think I’m going to have to watch this show from the beginning,” I told her. “I’m kinda confused.”

  My phone started ringing and I felt my heart leap—maybe he was finally returning my calls. But it wasn't Chase, it was Braxton.

  I held my phone, uncertain whether I should answer it or not. Finally, I knew that I needed to—I owed him that much.

  “Hello?” I answered the phone nervously. I wasn't really sure what to expect.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey, Braxton.”

  “I—uh.” He cleared his throat nervously. “How are you?”

  “I've been better. You?”

  “I'm doing okay.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” he said, clearing his throat again. “I've just been thinking about everything and I don't know, I guess I realized that's not how I wanted things to end between us, you know?”

  “I know. I'm so sorry.”

  “It's just...I thought we were forever, Hailey, you know?”

  “I know.”

  “The thing is, I knew. I knew you were pulling away from me. I knew I was losing you and I guess I just thought that if I proposed it would bring you back to me. That you would realize you belonged with me. I meant what I said before, I really did plan my entire life around you. I guess after everything I've been through lately, I've finally realized forever doesn't exist. I don't know what to do now."

  “You'll figure it out. We both will.”

  “I really do love you, you know. I had this whole future planned out for the two of us.” “I know. Me too.”

  “So you fell in love with the Piano Man, after all,” he said in disbelief. How ironic that he had been the one to call it all those months ago. I cracked a smile.

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  He paused thoughtfully. “It sucks. It really does but a part of me feels— I don’t know— somehow, I feel okay.” “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” He laughed. “I mean, I love you, of course, but it's like the pressure is off. You’re right, we’ve held on the familiarity of each other for too long— almost like an old habit that’s hard to break. You’d been trying to break it off for a while, I knew you were, and I guess it scared me. Like, I didn’t know how to handle all the changes. But that’s life, isn’t it?” “I never meant to hurt you.”

  “I know that. I never meant to hurt you either. And I know that I should be sad now, and a part of me is, but mostly, I just feel free. Like somehow a weight has been lifted from my shoulders that I didn’t even know I was carrying. Does that make any sense at all?” “Definitely.” I knew exactly how that felt.

  “You’re my best friend, Hailey. You’ll always be my best friend. But I think you’re right, it’s time for us both to go live our own lives. A tree needs space to grow, right?”

  “Did you just compare us to trees?”

  “Hey,” he said jokingly. “You know I was never the poetic one.”

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For forgiving me. I know that I don't deserve it, but thank you anyway.” “Of course. See you around?” “Yeah, see you around.”

  I hung up the phone, feeling more at peace than I had in a while.

  “I'm guessing that went well?” Tessa asked, her mouth full of cookies.

  “Yeah.” I could hardly believe it. “Everything is good.” Well, almost everything.

  “So are you coming to watch the band tonight?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t think Chase wants to see me,” I answered.

  “I think he could probably use all the support from his friends that he can get.” “We’re not really friends.”

  “The guy is pretty broken right now.”

  That caught my attention. “Because of Deuce and Heather?”

  “That's a small part of it.” She nodded, a look of sympathy on her face. “Jonathan was there when it happened. He said Chase told her he was relieved he never proposed and-”

  “Wait— what? Chase was going to propose to her?” He hadn't told me that part. It surprised me how much the thought of him being with someone else bothered me. If he felt even slightly the same way when he saw the ring on my finger—it was no wonder he didn’t want to talk to me. If he would’ve just let me explain that I was going to tell Braxton everything—I just couldn't bear to tell him so soon after his mom’s funeral. I didn't want to make him hurt any more. But while I was trying to protect Braxton’s feelings, I ended up hurting Chase’s. I couldn’t win either way and now it was probably too late.

  “It was a while ago,” she said waving her hand dismissively. A while ago or not, I couldn’t believe that anyone would choose Deuce over Chase. This Heather chick was obviously an idiot. “And—get this—Deuce's real name is Donald Worthington the fourth! What kind of a name is that!”

  “Yeah, I mean, I figured Deuce wasn't his real name but I definitely didn't see that one coming.”

  “Plus the band broke up, so obviously Chase is stressed about that-”

&nbsp
; “What?” I interrupted her. “Why would the whole band break up over Deuce? I mean, it's not like he was consistent anyway.”

  “It's not just him. Zach left too.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah. He's marrying some British author.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yep. So, anyway, that’s why the band broke up.”

  “Is Chase okay?” I knew how serious Chase was about his music. He must be devastated to have his band split up right before a potential break into the industry.

  “Yeah, I mean he is now. He replaced Zach and Deuce the Douchebag. But that promoter guy is supposed to come watch the show tonight and I think he’s really nervous. I know that today was awful for you, but if you could find the strength to come out tonight, I think he’d really like to see you.”

  “Do you think so? I kinda think I blew it. I took too long-”

  “You didn't blow it. Jonathan said that Chase has been focusing all his energy on getting the band ready for tonight but he knows that he’s still hung up on you.”

  “Really?”

  “I believe Jonathan actually used the word 'mopey'.”

  I couldn't really picture that.

  “I don't know.”

  “Trust me, Hailey. He's crazy about you. Everything just sorta got messed up.”

  I bit my lip and looked away from her. Was she right? That's when I saw my planner laying unopened on my desk and a flicker of an idea started forming in the back of my mind.

  “Okay, I'll go.”

  Tessa smiled. “Good, now let's start getting ready.”

  The closer we got to Duke’s the more nervous I felt.

  This was a really stupid idea. This must be why in the movies the guy always makes the grand gesture because this hardly qualified as one. However, it was the only thing I could think of and I just hoped that he would realize what I was trying to say. I wrapped the “gift” up and took one last long look in Tessa’s visor mirror.

  “You can do this,” I told myself as we got out of the car and headed into the bar. I had decided that I should wear the red dress again—the one that I was wearing the first time I noticed him checking out my ass. I figured I needed all the help I could get to make up for my lackluster attempt at a grand gesture.

  “I'll go get us a table.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  “Good luck!” Tessa gave me a quick hug.

  Duke's was just as crowded as ever tonight—I took that as a good sign. Hopefully the promoter would be impressed when he saw how much the crowd loved Set the Flames.

  And, just like always, it was like he could sense the moment I walked through the door.

  Chase’s eyes found mine. I smiled, expecting the usual head nod, but he gave me nothing. He just held my stare for a moment and then looked away as he and the other guys walked backstage.

  I wasn't going to give up that easily. I needed to talk to him. I had something to tell him.

  I weaved my way through the crowd and made my way backstage. He was talking to one of the new guys, giving him a pep talk. I tapped his shoulder. He turned around and seemed surprised to see me.

  “Hey.”

  “What are you doing back here?” he asked in a harsher tone than I was expecting. “I—uh—” My confidence wavered. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

  “Hailey, whatever it is, just spit it out. I've got a show starting soon.”

  “Yeah, of course you do, sorry.” This was much harder than I was anticipating. “I just wanted to tell you,” I took a deep breath, “that I ended things with Braxton.”

  “So?”

  Well, that wasn’t exactly the reaction I was hoping for. “So? That's it? That's all you have to say?” “What do you want me to say, Hailey?

  “I don't know. Something. I guess after what you said the other day— I thought you'd be happy, but I guess I was wrong.” “I guess you were,” he responded coldly.

  I hadn’t known what to expect when I came here tonight, but I definitely wasn’t expecting to have my heart crushed at the fingertips of the tattoo-covered guy who changed my life in the most unexpected ways.

  “Okay, well, um, I guess you probably don't want this but I, uh— ” I pulled the gift out of my bag. “I— uh—I sorta got you something,” I stammered, feeling even more stupid than I thought possible.

  His expression softened ever so slightly.

  “You got me something?”

  “It's nothing fancy. You'll probably think it's stupid, but could you do me a favor?” “Sure.”

  “Make sure you open it. Okay? Can you at least do that?”

  If he thought it was a weird request he didn't say anything, he just nodded his head.

  “Okay then.” I tried to smile. “Good luck tonight. I know you won't need it, but still.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Bye.”

  I blew out a gush of air as I turned and walked away. That didn't go exactly as planned. I

  was feeling disappointed, thinking I had already missed my chance with him— until I looked back over my shoulder and caught him staring at my ass.

  Okay, so maybe there was hope after all.