LA LA LA part 2

I work to open my eyes, and I find myself on the couch in the living room. I smell food from somewhere. I take a silent inventory of my wounds, and am surprised. There’s a slight ache when I try to move, but other than that there seems to be no wound at all. I pull my sleeve up to examine my shoulder and find a scar that looks like its years old rather than hours. “What the heck is going on here?!” I demand. There seems to be a hush that falls over the house at my words, and then all I can hear is the pounding of feet on the floor as they rush toward me. “Emily!” Hailey screams, jumping into my arms. “Hey honey. How are you?” I ask as the twins jump onto me. Sam wobbles into the room and I put Hailey on my stomach to pick him up. “Hey buddy.” Holly comes into the room carrying Holly the baby; that was going to be confusing. Holly set the baby on my stomach and sat on the floor by the couch. Mitch was the next one in the room spouting about how the medicine in the mailbox saved my life, along with him of course; and the fact that I have to keep taking the medicine every night for a few days. I’m so distracted by all the kids and people talking to me that I almost don’t notice Brian in the doorway. He stays there not coming any closer, his expression hard to read. “Hailey, you were so brave” “Emily, I can’t believe you didn’t pass out sooner.” “You were really something.” There are so many people talking to me at once I can’t hear them all. Holly is the first to notice this, and she also notices my distraction. She rolls her eyes and starts to clear people out of the room, “Give the girls some space. Let her breathe. Why don’t we go eat our lunch and she’ll come when she’s ready?” Thank you, I mouth as she herds my admirers out the door. She just rolls her eyes again and I laugh. I sit up slowly. I was right, there is going to be some soreness. “Hey.” I greet Brian as he moves to sit on the chair across the room. He doesn’t answer and we sit in silence for a long time. My brain searches for some explanation for his mood, I can think of none. “So…” I mutter, for the first time feeling awkward in his presence. I begin to become angry as I stare at the floor. What right does he have to be mad at me after I just almost died? None, he has no right to have that type of attitude. I jump up from the couch and start to stalk out the door before he catches me with an arm around my waist. “Where are you going?” he demands, spinning me around to face him. “To be near people who don’t ignore me. I’m not going to just sit here while you decide that you can be mad at me. After all I just went through I would think you would be happy that I’m alive. But if you’re just going to give me the silent treatment then I’m going to go eat lunch. Now please get your hands off of me before I…” He presses his lips to mine to stop the threat, and my arms slide around his neck. The kiss is long and deep. I pull away to catch my breath and he lifts me in his arms and carries me to the couch. “I am…baffled. I thought you were angry at me.” I confess. “I am! How dare you scare me like that?! Do you have any idea the kinds of things I thought when you blacked out?! And then you wake up and act like nothing happened!” he yells. “I’m sorry.” I murmur. “I don’t want you to apologize!” he demands frustrated. “Then what do you want?” I ask, thoroughly confused. “I don’t know…” he confesses. I give him a small smile and hold myself closer to him, “What if I promise I’ll never do it again and I tell you that I love you?” I offer. I can almost hear the smile as he agrees with me, “That sounds fine to me. I love you too.” We stand there for a moment until my stomach gets the best of me. “Can we go eat now?” I ask. He laughs and lifts me like a baby and carries me to the kitchen where he plops me in a chair. Mitch brings a plate full of eggs and bacon. I smile and thank him before I tear into the delicious meal. “Holly, you need to eat. And Hailey, slow down.” Brian commands. Three people look at him to ascertain who he’s talking to. He laughs, “That’s going to be a problem. I call a meeting in the living room. Attendance isn’t optional!” Everyone files back into the living room and I carry my plate with me. I look at the clock and see that it’s only nine a.m. The kids sit on the couch, with Holly holding Holly. Mitch sits next to her and Brian and I sit on the loveseat. Brian starts, “First, let’s take care of the double names situation. Any ideas?” Hailey raises her hand, “I could go by my middle name, Natalie. And Holly, the little one, could go by her middle name which is Chloe.” I am impressed; it would have taken me longer to think of that. “Good idea Natalie.” Brian flashes one of his heartbreaking smiles. She giggles and buries her head in the couch. It makes me remember how young she really is. She’s only eight years old and she’s on this crazy ride with us. I realize how truly non-whiny they have all been. “Before we move on to other topics I would like to thank the kids. You guys have been cooperative and that has made all the difference. None of you have complained or cried about something. So I would just like to thank you very, very much. We might not be here without the courage of Natalie coming to get me when things went south back in Havendale.” Brain starts to clap and then so do Holly and Mitch. The twins and Natalie start to bow dramatically, and Sam just claps with us. That makes me laugh and he wobbles his way off the couch and into my lap. “So what is our next move?” Mitch asks. Nobody seems to have an answer and then the earpiece person starts to talk again. “Your next move is to get to San Francisco. You will go by car and you need to stop and rest every night at exactly midnight. No sooner or later or they might find you. No promises you’ll be safe though. Holly and Mitch are married, and Brian and Hailey are married. The kids are all Hailey’s. Brian and Hailey your last name is Jackson. There is a car outside with the keys in the ignition. Move out!” “I call driving.” I laugh running to gather the bags. “I call shotgun!” Brian yells. There seems to be nothing like a good laugh to get everyone going. The kids pick up their things and Holly gathers anything we might be able to use. Mitch loads the kids into the car, there were car seats included. The car is a 2012 Suburban, and there are so many gadgets; I have no idea how to use half of them. Brian lets out a low whistle as he walks out the door. “Close your mouth Brian. I know I’m hot, but your wife is right there.” Holly laughs, giving him a fake kiss on the cheek. I start to laugh until Mitch does the same to me, only this isn’t fake. It’s real and on the lips. I try to pull away, but he leans forward. I’m about to hit him in the temple when Brian turns him around and gives him a good knock right in the nose. He doesn’t black out, but he does start bleeding. “What the heck are you thinking man?!” Holly yells pulling Mitch away from Brian and I. Brian winds his arm around my waist protectively. “Get in the freaking car and keep your hands to yourself.” No one speaks as I start the car, and the silence continues until I ask Brian to find my pack and grab the maps. He gets a sneaky smirk on his face, unbuckles his seatbelt, and jumps into the back; landing on the older kids, and Holly. They get into a huge tangle, and I’m laughing so hard by the time he gets back into his seat that I almost have to pull over. We make our way according to the directions and when we get to the interstate I turn on the radio. The kids clap and sing along with the lyrics and Brian, Holly, and I all laugh and talk loudly over the music. Mitchell stays quiet and stares out the window. Brian catches me looking back at him more than once, and I just shake my head in defeat. I feel bad for him, not knowing what was going on in his mind when he pulled that stunt. After a few hours of driving and numerous potty stops; the kids fall asleep. Natalie is the last to go, and she leans against Mitch. I peak at them in my rearview mirror and find that they almost do feel like my family. Brian catches my eye and offer one of my hands to him across the console. He smiles and takes it as I try to focus on the road. I look at the clock and groan silently, it’s still only three in the afternoon. I begin to wonder why we can’t stop until after midnight, and why I don’t know the person’s name that is controlling my life. And what type of medicine makes wounds heal in a matter of hours? Then I start to wonder about my father. If he’s hurt, if he’s been taken captive or if he went of his own accord, I don’t know. The earpiece person breaks into my thoughts, “There are four black vans following you. You need to lose them; you’ll need to keep driving though. No stopping. They will try to shoot through the glass in exactly ten seconds. Go!” I don’t hesitate, ripping my hand form Brian’s. “Get down!” I yell to the kids. They wake up quickly and follow directions without question. I push down the gas pedal and weave through the cars on the road. I hear the glass shatter as the vans follow us, guns firing. Brian reaches under his seat and pulls out a gun. He rolls down the window and sticks his head out to shoot back. A semi-truck honks loudly as I cut in front of him to escape the fire. Brian leans back into the car, his face angry. I glance in my mirror and find only two of the vans following us. “Where did the other ones…” I don’t even finish before they emerge from ahead of us, coming from an unseen exit. I see a head and a gun appear from the front window. “Brian! Get down!” I scream swerving as I try to dodge the bullets coming from both sides. One bullet hits the windshield and goes out the back window without hitting anything. “Ha!” I hear Holly laugh as she rolls down her window and takes a shot at the cars in front of us. “They shot their own guys. You’re down to three vans Hailey, hang in there.” She assures me. Where have I heard that before, I think sarcastically? Two more bullets come into the car from the back. I don’t hear any groans or screams of pain so I assume they missed everyone. Taking care of the people in this car is my first priority. Especially the kids since they had nothing to do with this. I try to focus on not getting into an accident, and dodging bullets. Brian ducks just in time to dodge two bullets that lodge in his seat. Mitchell stays in the position he’s had this whole time, bending over Sam and Chloe, until he hands Holly more ammo. Brian leans out the window to shoot some more and I hear him cry out. “Brian!” I scream when he starts to slide out the window. I lean over and grab him by his shirt, but I can’t pull him in, drive, and dodge bullets at the same time. And he continues to slide out. “Mitch! Help him!” I command swerving to avoid a red Cadillac. Mitchell hesitates and for a second I think he’s not going to do anything, but then he leans forward and grabs Brian by his belt loop. I can hear him grunt and groan as he tries to pull him in. Finally, he gets him back into the car and I see he’s been shot in the stomach. Because I know how much that hurts, I stop looking. “Take care of him Mitch. Holly, we need to lose these guys!” I yell. “If you can line them up in the same lane and put us in the opposite lane, I’ll take out their tires.” She yells back shooting forward at one of the men who are hanging out an open window. “You got it.” I accelerate and almost hit one of the front cars, making him swerve. The other car follows him into the next lane. Then I hit the brakes hard, making the back van swerve to avoid a collision, joining the others in the next lane. “Now!” I scream over the wind. I hear six shots and then I accelerate and maneuver through more cars. Holly rolls up her window and I roll up the passenger window. Mitch is working on Brian, sitting on the console. “How is he?” Holly asks, putting the kids back into their seats. “Not so good. I don’t have anything to work with and he’s unconscious. That’s when I remember what Brian said about how it felt when I was hurt. And I now know how he feels, it’s almost indescribable. “Where is the medicine that the people gave me?” I ask. “It’s in the console, but you need it or your wounds won’t heal. I don’t know how bad you’ll be. We’ll just have to take him to the hospital and hope they can help him.” Mitch tells me calmly. “No. You’re going to give him my medicine. There is not going to be an argument about this. Give it to him.” I command him, not taking my eyes off of the road. Mitch starts to argue, but Holly gives him a look. “Don’t mess with her when she’s like this.” She warns him. She’s right, I’m not in the mood for a fight but I will fight him for Brian’s life. He reluctantly shifts so that he can open the console. He pulls out a syringe full of a clear liquid and shoots it into Brian’s arm. “Now sit down and buckle up.” I tell him firmly. He complies and I turn on the radio to keep from thinking about the possible consequences of that decision. I can only hope the people send more medicine. I look at the clock quickly and am shocked to discover that the chase took two hours. It felt like it was only a few minutes. I look back at Holly and Mitch and tell them to get some sleep. Mitch agreed quickly, and after a little persuasion so did Holly. The kids followed their lead, and by six o’clock I am the only one awake in the car. I use the time to contemplate the situation I’m in. I make a mental to do list: Get the name of the earpiece person, ask about my father, and ask about my origins. That stops me. I have always thought that the people who went looking for their real parents when they find out their adopted were rude. But now that it was happening to me, I really wanted to see if my real parents were still alive and if they had other children. The idea of having brothers or sisters was weird and I pushed such thoughts out of my mind. I think about my mission. That’s when I realize I have no idea what my mission is other than to stop bad people from taking over. I added mission objective to the list of things I needed to ask. I tried to think of the last moment I felt normal. It wasn’t when Mitch had walked me home, or even at school. It was the last day I was in Atlanta with Holly and Brian. We were sitting on the dock of one of our childhood swim places. Brian had his arm around my waist and Holly was holding my hand. It was sunset and I was crying because I was going to have to leave tomorrow. After Holly left to go home, Brian held me and whispered in my ear, “I’ll come and find you. Don’t lose faith in me.” My answer had been simple, but the first time I had ever said this to him first, “I love you.” I hear Brian groan and shift in his seat, pulling me out of my memory. “Shh.” I console him, taking his hand. “You’re going to be okay.” I promised. His blue eyes open slowly and I smile at him widely. He smiles back and looks around him disoriented. “What happened?” he asks shaking his head. “You almost gave me a heart attack when you got shot in the stomach. But don’t worry you’re just fine now. And we only have… one more hour until we can stop.” I explain. He sits up quickly, pulling his hand from mine, and pulls up his shirt to examine the pink scar on his stomach. “Please tell me you didn’t. Hailey tell me didn’t give me some of your medicine.” He whispers desperately. I don’t answer and rub my shoulder where it’s started to hurt. His face goes blank. “I thought I told you not to do things like that… that I didn’t want to risk your life for me. Why did you do that?” he demands. “Because my options were that or let you die. And that wasn’t an option for me. You know that.” I remind him. We sit in silence for a while. “Why can’t you just thank me and be done with it?!” I ask angrily. He doesn’t speak for a long time. The only sound in the car is breathing and the fabric rustling as I rub my shoulder. He takes my hand away from my shoulder and kisses it. His tone is soft when he speaks this time, “Thank you. Thank you for saving my life again.” “What do you mean again?” I ask confused. “The first day I knew how you felt for me, you saved me. And I just realized I have never thanked you for that.” I smile gently and squeeze his hand. “Then we’re even.” I tell him. “I don’t understand that Mitchell kid. One minute he’s making out with my wife,” he winks “and the next minute he’s saving my life. Don’t tell me to thank him. I won’t do it.” He warns. “Fine then I’ll just thank him for you. I don’t know how he’ll say you’re welcome though….” I say smiling devilishly. “You don’t play fair.” He accused squeezing my hand. “Never said I did. But all things considered I would much rather not have a repeat offence from him. It made me feel unclean. Not that he’s a bad kisser or anything, but with you standing right there it felt wrong.” I stutter. I think for a minute he’s going to be mad, but he turns it into a fake contest. “So who kisses better?” he asks playfully, pressing my hand to his lips. “Hmm. I don’t know. I was too busy thinking about punching him while he was kissing me to be able to rate it fairly. But I think I’d put my money on you.” I assure him. He rolls his eyes. There is a long time that I just drive, while he stares out the window. I glance at the clock and find that we need to be off the road in thirty minutes. I pull into the next exit and check us into a Holiday Inn. They only have one room left, but at least this one has two beds. We split up the bags and kids so everyone has the same amount of weight to carry. When we get into the room, it’s all we can do to put the kids on one bed and change them. I take a shower, and dress quickly. “How are we doing the bed?” I ask. “The person contacted us while you were in the shower. We’re to stay here for three days. I already called the front desk and extended our stay. So I guess the girls could take the bed the first night and then the guys and then the girls and so on.” Holly suggested. The boys nodded, and I threw two of the pillows off the bed for them to use. Under the beds we found extra blankets which we spread out on the floor for a make shift bed. Holly climbs into bed and closes her eyes. Mitch lies on the floor, and they’re both almost immediately asleep. I give Brian a quick kiss, “Goodnight.” “Goodnight Hailey.” He whispers. I am asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

I wake up in a cold sweat. I sit up in bed, breathing heavily. I haven’t had such a horrible nightmare since I was six and my mom left. I close my eyes in the dark and take deep breaths to calm myself. There is a sound from across the room, and I am on my feet in a second. “It’s just me. Are you alright?” Brian asks, coming and sitting by me on the bed. I walk quickly to the window, leaning my head against the cool glass. I can hear thunder from the storm that is heading this way. “No.” I answer. I hate winter months, the storms usually bring snow. Brian comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me. “What’s wrong?” he whispers in my ear. I don’t answer for a minute, waiting for his presence to calm me. Which it does; after a few minutes my heart is beating normally again. My stomach aches horribly though, and I place my hand on it to sooth the pain. “It’s nothing. I just had a bad dream. You can go back to sleep.” I assure him. I continue to rub my stomach and stare unseeingly out the window. I really am trying to be brave and not let anyone see how upsetting this mission is to me. I have to be strong, there’s no other option. “Hailey…” he asks suspiciously. He has noticed my preoccupation with my stomach. He shakes his head slowly, and closes his eyes. “I told you, giving me that medicine was not a good idea. Let me see.” I turn and lift my shirt slightly to reveal a large black and blue gash that looks as if I have just had it stitched up. “It doesn’t hurt that bad.” I lie, letting my shirt fall back into place. I didn’t dare look at my shoulder or thigh, both of which hurt. I turn back to the window and squeeze my eyes closed. The images from my dreams are there, just as vivid as if they were actually happening. I whip my head back and forth; desperately trying to dislodge the thoughts from my brain. “Please, Hailey. Tell me.” he begs quietly. I try to tell him that I’ll be fine, that I’m not upset. But I can’t lie to him, so I start to cry. He doesn’t ask what’s wrong anymore. I turn back to him and just cry. I think he already knows, so he just holds me. I don’t know how long he holds me like that, but eventually I cry myself out. “It’s not fair.” I sniff, wiping my eyes. “You’re right, it’s not.” He soothes me. “Not only have I been abandoned by one mother…but now two mothers and a father. Why?” I whisper into his chest. He doesn’t answer for a long while, “I don’t know. Maybe they couldn’t take care of us. Maybe they were just too young. Or maybe everything happens for a reason, and that’s why we’re sitting here together.” He suggests. His words jerk me out of my pity party and I look up at him. He was an orphan once too. We were in this together. I give him a horrible attempt at a smile. I twist in his arms and stare out the window. “What are we going to do? We’re deluding ourselves. Two of us have been inches from death and the kids are bound to slow us down more. We have no idea what our objective is, we don’t know where our parents are, and we’re trying to get to San Francisco for who knows why. Don’t you think the odds are against us in all departments? And to top it all off, we don’t even know who is talking to us on the earpieces. Don’t you think it’s a little suspicious that we don’t know their names?” There is a moment of silence. “Come on Hail. You have to have a little more faith in us. We can do this. But only if everyone is all in.” Holly speaks from the bed. I don’t even turn around. “Baby, she’s right. We can do this. But we need you.” Brian whispers. “Yeah, we need you Hailey.” Natalie says, coming up to me from behind. Brian drops his arms and I turn to pick her up and put her back on the bed. “Okay.” I tell her quietly as she drifts back to sleep. Apparently that’s enough for Holly, because she goes back to sleep too. Brian tries to hold my gaze, but it returns to the city below us. A billboard tells me that we are somewhere in New York. From the looks of the lights below us it wasn’t a big town, maybe not worth of being called such. I search my thoughts for some big idea that the hero of the story always comes up with at this point. I can find no such idea and after a long time I stalk back to the window. “They have no idea how fast their worlds could turn upside down. What do we get out of this? Battle scars and friendship? When do we get our happy ending in this story?” I ask quietly. “We already have.” He whispers in my ear. I close my eyes as he holds me. “Promise me that you won’t leave me alone. I can’t do this without you.” Brian laughs softly. “What would you not be able to do without me? You’ve always been stronger than anyone I know, even me. What could you possibly have trouble doing without me?” I turn to him and speak into his chest. “Living.” I answer simply. This seems to catch him off guard for a moment. “I promise.” He says. There is silence for a moment. “What is your relationship with Mitchell? Because he seems to think that you and he are an item.” That takes me by surprise, and I don’t answer for a moment. “We’re friends that are on a mission together. I saved him from the school bully, and he saved my life from bullet wounds.” I almost laugh, but Brian stays serious. “Why do you ask?” I wonder aloud. He stays quiet for a while and then answers reluctantly, “He talks in his sleep like you do sometimes. And the main thing he says is your name. Only he still calls you Emily.” I take a minute to think about this. I am almost flattered, but I can’t seem to get past feeling uncomfortable. This is weird, because that day in school I felt like he was someone I could say anything to. I guess that when Brian came to find me It kind of destroyed that feeling because Mitch also had feelings for me. I felt like I was in some sick movie that made everyone sit on the edge of their seats with all the twists and turns. A second ago I was worried about my happy ending, and now I was worrying about everyone else’s. Like I didn’t have enough to worry about already, now I have one more thing on my list. “I don’t know how or if I’m supposed to answer that.” I admit quietly, walking over to the coffee maker. Even though it’s two in the morning, I don’t want to go back to sleep to be alone with my thoughts. “I wasn’t a question. It was a statement of fact. And I’m not really worried about it though I am a little…. Ok a lot jealous.” He laughs. I smile at the change in his mood, but part of me is still worried about endings. “Are you trying to tell me that you didn’t talk to any other girls while I was gone?” I ask playfully. I wait for his laugh, but it never comes. “What’s wrong?” I ask. “It’s nothing. Just. I don’t know how to tell you what I’m about to tell you.” He admits, looking at the gray carpeting. “What?” I ask warily. I am suddenly sure I don’t want to know what he’s about to tell me. Well, it’s more that I don’t want it to be as bad as I’m sure it is. I wait anxiously, debating with myself, until he answers with a small groan. “When you left I was devastated. Absolutely heart broken. I didn’t do anything or eat anything for days. And you know my parents they think that everything can be fixed by being replaced.” He stops for a moment. I focus on taking deep breaths. There is a small beep as the coffee maker announces its completion with its task. I find a cup in the cabinet underneath the coffee maker and I slowly pour myself a cup. Brian continues his story. “So about two weeks after you left, they made me go out and… ‘Pick a new girl’ as they put it. They threatened to send me to a military base, and I wouldn’t be able to leave one day and find you. They knew it was the ultimate threat. So I did as they told me. Her name was Taylor and she and I got to know each other for about three months. I told myself that I wouldn’t get involved emotionally, but I did. And all of our friends said we were meant to be. And I would almost forget how it felt for you and me. And I am ashamed to say that I liked her… a lot. I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but it’s the truth. After a while though, someone came up to me and asked if I was already over you. They said I was shallow, that I had told everyone that I loved you and now I was with someone else. That person was Holly. I knew she was right, so I dumped Taylor and left to find you all in one night. I changed my look and found you and here we are. And as much as I want to say that I didn’t even care about Taylor. As much as I want to say that breaking up with her didn’t hurt me… I can’t, because it did hurt me. It hurt me because I felt for her, and the look on her face reminded me of the look on your face after our big fight. And I almost turned around. But I didn’t, I came for you. I’m so sorry Hailey. I love you and I didn’t want to hurt you. But I did, and I can’t fix it… but I can admit to it. I’m so sorry.” I look away from his tortured expression and instead of answering… I remember. I remember our only big fight, the only thing that had separated us for any period of time. But in the end, the one thing that brought us the closest. I recall it as if it were yesterday… I was sitting on my couch, it was a Tuesday and I was watching TV. I was waiting for Brian to come over, and I jumped up as soon as I heard his car in the yard. He always honked his horn when he came in, but this time he didn’t. I thought it was odd but I didn’t worry about it as I jumped into his open arms. I hadn’t seen him in days and I wanted only to be near him. He swung me around, but I could tell it was half-hearted. “What’s wrong?” I asked him when he put me down. “Nothing.” I didn’t buy it, “Please, you can tell me anything.” I assured him. “Someone came up to me today. Damien Goff. And he asked me why you would go out with an atheist. He said that in a report on yourself for Phycology you said you would never date someone who didn’t believe in God. Is that true?” I looked down and he looked at the top of my head. “Yes. But…” he cut me off. “No but. There’s nothing else you have to say. I didn’t know you felt that strongly about it. I don’t know why you wouldn’t tell me though.” He yelled. He had never yelled at me before. I took a deep breath and marched into the house. “Hailey! I’m not done!” he shouted. “Well I am!” I tried to close the door on his fury, but he pushed into the house. “Hailey, do you even have feelings for me, because in your paper you sounded pretty convicted!” he yelled. I turned to him the living room and yell back, “You have no idea what you’re talking about! Just leave it alone! Of course I have feelings for you!” His face got darker as he got angrier. “Leave it alone?! So you won’t answer the question of why you wrote that essay I guess!” He shouted back. “No I won’t! Please! I’m begging you! Just leave it be! It has nothing to do with you anymore!” I screamed. He reels from my words. “Anymore? So it did have to do with me. I knew it.” He sounded like he was speaking to himself. “Yes.” “I knew it. You little liar. I can’t believe you wouldn’t just break up with me if you didn’t like me. Do you just get your kicks out of hurting men? I thought you were better than that, but I was wrong!” He yelled in my face. I was so tired of fighting. It just slipped out, “My mom was an atheist and she left me when I was six. I had my doubts about us because my dad says the reason she left was because she didn’t like him because he prayed to God. I thought this relationship might turn out like theirs and I was going to end it, but I decided not to. I trusted you not to hurt me. But I was the one who was wrong. Not only have you hurt me, you didn’t even let me explain before you started yelling.” I whispered. Then, I started to cry. It wasn’t one of those soft cries. It was quiet sobbing. “Hailey…” he sounded remorseful, but I was still hurt. “Just go away. Please. Just go away.” I sobbed. He started to reach out to me one more time, but stopped and left quietly. All that day I was crying, but when my dad got home and was worried… I said nothing. He just held me and told me it was going to be okay. The next day there were flowers on my doorstep with a note, I’m so sorry. I crumpled the note and threw away the flowers. When I got to school I found another bouquet and another note on my locker, please forgive me. I almost didn’t, but finally I threw them out too. Yet another note and flowers were on my windshield after school. Hailey, I’m begging you. I need you. This set of flowers I kept. I don’t know why, but there is nothing harder than staying angry at someone who’s angry at themselves. He was waiting on my front step by the time I got home. “Hailey. I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I can’t believe that I was so horrible to you. I love you.” It was the first time he had ever said it. I looked down, not knowing what to say. When I looked up he looked at me sadly, waiting for me send him away. But I couldn’t. “I love you too. And I forgive you.” I said. He smiled to widely and so quickly it almost distracted me from the hugging and the swinging that followed…. and the kissing. Things changed between us, and Brian started going to church with me. Then one day in church, he found God. I had never been happier in all my life…