𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐁𝐀𝐆 ✷ rodrick heffley (✓)

03. a risky proposal

❛ ━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━ ❜
chapter three: a risky proposal

[a/n]: are you as excited as i am?? some of the juicy stuff is going to be starting from here on out...
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━━━ CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, A boy's psyche is an incredibly easy thing to understand, at least in Haley Buxbaum's opinion. Well, Noah Wolfe's mind is a rather simple thing, at least. Of course, as he hung onto some remaining threat of dominance as Haley had driven away from him immediately after the breakup, he shouted obscenities and told her that she'd be back sometime soon. But now, a couple weeks after, the realization that Haley is, in fact, long gone, has hit him, and this revelation is showing itself in the most irritating of ways.

First, the calls. The calls have been a constant, day and night, 24/7. Nearly thirty voicemails sit on Haley's cellphone, each one saying some variant of 'I miss you' but never 'I'm sorry.'

She listened to one of them on Friday, and couldn't decide between laughing because of how obviously pathetic it was, or crying because she couldn't help that it felt good to hear his voice.

It's not her fault. They dated for three years, one and a half of which he was a pretty decent boyfriend. He always walked her to class. He kissed her at the lunch table and graciously wiped food from the corner of her mouth without grimacing. He was always affectionate, and seemed excited to show her off. But then, after that one and a half year mark, he began fighting with her a lot. Afterward, he always gave her flowers. But it was as if the flowers spoke for themselves, and so it never came with any sort of apology.

Haley guessed she just assumed the flowers were his way of doing it.

Noah's second tactic has been bothering her in-person. Delightful, really. He's showing up at her locker every morning in an attempt to talk to her, but he's always been shut down by Lisbeth, whose glower can make the strongest man crumble.

But Haley knows that Lisbeth isn't enough to guard her from someone as persistent as Noah. She doesn't know what yet, but one thing is for sure: she has to do something to get him off her back. But this may be the first equation that has ever truly stumped her.

━━━ ONE CAN IMAGINE THAT HALEY is nothing short of thrilled when Saturday rolls around. Sure, she still has Noah's pesky phone calls to deal with, but those are easier to ignore.

However, another irksome disturbance presents itself on Saturday night. Haley is sitting at her desk, where a large desktop computer sits, clacking at the keyboard to finish her English essay. Focusing is becoming a more difficult task as she peeks her head out the window to see more people filing into the Heffleys' house.

From the boxes of beer that partygoers are bringing into the house, and the loud speaker music that Mr. and Mrs. Heffley would definitely not approve of, Haley can conclude that Rodrick has decided to be a bit reckless this weekend.

Feeling annoyed -- but also rather curious -- Haley grabs her coat and bounds downstairs, slipping out the door and away from the eyes of her parents, who are currently too busied with glasses of wine in their hands, chatting with some coworkers, to notice her.

She marches up to the Heffleys' house, expecting to have to knock on the door or something -- if you haven't noticed already, partying isn't a regular activity for Haley (nevertheless, she can socialize and be popular without it, so what's the point in surrounding herself with drunks and people who are hooking up on the stairs?).