The Impeccable Infinity

Chapter 11

After seven red lights, eleven stop signs, and two detours, Mute and I barely made it back home, but we did it. Somehow. He pulled into the driveway after running over a curb, and put the car in park.

I grabbed my bag and phone and got out, slamming the door behind me. We only had about three minutes before everyone's expected to get home.

"Haley, just go in. I'll lock up the car."

I nodded and raced inside and up to my room, hiding the dress in the back of the closet so Riley won't be able to see it and ask me where I got it from.

I grabbed a magazine off of my dresser and ran back downstairs, jumping onto the couch and opening the magazine so I would look bored and unproductive when everyone gets home.

"Haley," Mute says, running into the living room out of breath, "please don't tell anyone about today. They can't know we talked or that I skipped school."

"I'll keep quiet if you do," I compromised.

Mute pinched his fingers together and ran them across his lips, as if zippering them shut. He gave me a thumbs up and began running up the stairs.

"Oh, and Haley?"

"Yea?"

"Thanks for coming today. I had a great time. We should do it again."

"Yea," I said, feeling my face begin to turn red. I bit my bottom lip and nodded. His face lit up as he nodded back, and then he trotted up the steps to his room, hiding away from the rest of the world.

Today went better than I expected it to go. I didn't get caught, Mute didn't get caught, and we're both closer than we have been before. And more importantly Mute spoke, and he chose to to speak to me of all people.

As I started to read the first column in the magazine about skin care, Riley walked in, Colby and the twins trudging behind her.

"Hey Haley," Riley said, placing her backpack down by the front door.

"Hey," I said, pretending to finish reading something important in the magazine.

"How was your day?" She asked, digging through one of the pockets in her backpack.

"Oh, it was okay. I didn't do much, I mostly read and watched television."

"That's still nice. At least you weren't at school."

I nodded and widened my eyes, making a face which made Riley burst out into laughter. I've always been good at school, but that doesn't mean I love it. Every good grade I get is definitely well-earned.

I threw the magazine on the table and got up to stretch, acting like I've been sitting on the couch for hours. Lying's much easier than I thought it would be.

"Hey, uh, I'm going to go upstairs and lay down for an hour. I have a bit of a headache," I lie, placing the back of my hand on my forehead in an attempt to appear more convincing.

"Oh, okay. Feel better."

I trudged up the stairs and walked into my room, only to find none other than a small envelope on my nightstand. I picked it up and felt the crisp paper of the envelope with my name written in fancy penmanship across the front in black ink.

I furrow my eyebrows and turn my head, examining the beautiful writing on the envelope. I flipped it over and gently undid the glue sealing and pulled out a thick piece of paper which was folded carefully.

I unraveled and pressed down on the creases of the paper to read the note inside more clearly.

Dear Haley,

I wanted to thank you for this amazing day. I really enjoyed it, and I hope you did too. The reason I'm writing you a letter is to invite you to an event. No, I'm not telling you what exactly what the event is, that's a surprise. But, I would like you to wear the dress to it. All I will tell you is to look nice and meet me in my room on Thursday at 8 p.m. I'll tell you where we're going then, but until then, stay as amazing as you are.

Love,
The boy next door

When I was finished reading the letter a I let out a small laugh. Although  Mute was being cliché, between signing as 'the boy next door' and writing a letter in the first place, I still loved it. How he wrote this letter so fast is beyond me, the handwriting is so beautiful and neat, almost like it was typed.

I folded up the letter and placed it back in the envelope carefully, making sure not to rip anything. I pulled the box out from under my bed and put the envelope inside, along with the two notes Mute wrote me just yesterday.

I laid back on my bed and stared at the ceiling, smiling to myself like an idiot when I thought about the day over again.

He's so old fashioned and courteous, but in a way that gives him a charm. He's nothing like the guys from my old life, Mute's much more kind and gentle.

I thought back to the letter and the way he wrote it, and then noticed that he never signed his name. Instead, he signed it 'the boy next door', but he never used his actual name.