"Hey!" Beth yells at Hailey. Beth and Mirra walk up and face her. "We emailed you, but you didn't answer!" They notice that there are empty bags out that appear to have held sand outside of Nathan's house.
"So, since you're here now. We think we should have it at your house this time. All the others have been at ours," Beth concludes. Hailey's heart skips a beat, and she freezes.
"Sorry, but I can't have it there . . . M-my parents don't want it th-there," Hailey answers shakily.
"Again?" Mirra and Beth ask at the same time.
Nathan walks out of his house and grabs the bags. "It's the weekend why are you girls going to school?"
Beth, Mirra, and Hailey face him. "We're not. We just have our bags with us since we're having a sleepover, and we decided to meet here."
Nathan drags the bags over to a pit and begins to pour sand into the bags. Nathan looks like he hasn't slept for a whole month.
"Looks like you need to go have a sleepover, too. In your house. When have you last slept?" Hailey says to Nathan.
Nathan thinks then shrugs. "3 years maybe."
And I thought I was in bad shape, Hailey thinks to herself.
"Yeah considering you live under a bridge," Nathan says.
Hailey's breath hitches. Hailey's eyes widen, and she forces them to not light. She looks down. "I have no clue wh-what you're talking about." Nathan pulls out his phone and sends all three of them an image of Hailey sleeping under the bridge and in the alleyway. They stare at the phone, but Hailey tries to change the subject. "Why do you have a picture of me?!"
"Put simply I help those who need helping
"Hailey, is this true?" Beth asked. Hailey looks away.
"No, it's not, OK? You know what? I gotta go. Bye," Hailey says quickly then leaves. Nathan drags the bag back into his house. Hailey walks back to the alley and starts punching the brick wall till her knuckles are bloody. "Damn you, Nathan!"
Nathan punches the sandbags until his right hand's fingers dislocate. Nathan lays down. Hailey calms down a bit. "Well, it's time to go to my weekend job," Hailey mutters to herself. She wraps her knuckles in a strip of a discarded dress and heads to a house.
"Maxie! I'm here," Hailey calls out as she pulls out her English book. Maxie, a 14-year-old freshman skips down the steps and hugs Hailey.
"Hi, teacher," Maxie says. Hailey smiles and opens her textbook.
"Alright. You said you were having trouble with the more unused punctuation, right?" Hailey asks Maxie. Maxie nods and motions to her study room.
Nathan gets up, and he gets in his car, and he begins to drive to a hospital, but the car runs out of gas outside of Maxie's, and he steps out. "MOTHER FUCKER OF FUCKING COURSE IT RUNS OUT OF GAS WHEN MY FUCKING HANDS BROKEN!" Nathan kicks the car door shut. "AHG" Nathan falls to the ground in pain. Hailey jumps at the sound and looks out the window. She sighs.
"I'll be back. I gotta help a friend," she tells Maxie. Maxie nods and reads the book. Nathan gets up and supports his body with the car. Hailey walks out of the house with a gas can from their garage. "Need some help, buddy?" Hailey asks, holding up the can. Nathan falls to the ground and coughs up blood. "Yeah, you do." Hailey fills the car with gas and pulls Nathan into the passenger seat. She slips into the driver's side and drives to the hospital. She drags Nathan into the hospital and the send him to a room. For some reason, she had the instinct to stay and wait to see if he was going to be OK. Maxie will be fine. Her parents were home.
"Gah!" Nathan jolts up and looks at his hand. Hailey taps her fingers against her knee then looks up at the nurse exiting his room.
"Is he, OK?" Hailey asks. The nurse towards her and walks to her.
"Yes, he is. He dislocated all his fingers on his right hand," the nurse answers.
Nathan looks around confused.
"Can I see him?" Hailey inquires. The nurse gives her a knowing smile and tells Hailey to follow her. She leads Hailey to Nathan's room. "Thank you," Hailey tells the nurse. The nurse nods and leaves. "Hey, Nathan. How are you feeling?"
"Huh, who's there?"
"Hailey," Hailey answers.
"Thank you for helping."
Hailey smiles. "No problem."
"Honestly I don't know if I would still be alive if you weren't there, Hailey." Nathan says as a tear rolls down his cheek.
"I-it's nothing, really," Hailey tells him, rubbing her arm. "I also paid for the medical bill. While doing so, they said that you can leave today." She looks down and fiddles with the handle on her backpack. Nathan stands up and grabs a roll of fifty hundred dollar bills, and he hands it to Hailey.
"Nathan, no. I-I don't need it. Keep it," Hailey says, shoving it away.
"Hailey, I'm not willing to let such a kind deed to go unpaid, and plus, you may think that it's OK to live outside using trash to cover up and sleep on but it isn't plus my father figured out about you somehow probably the fact that he hacks into cameras for fun."
Hailey stares at Nathan, tears starting to form at the edges of her eyes. "Nathan . . . Please. Keep it. I can't afford it. I can't afford to owe people. Just keep it," Hailey pleads.
"This out of my pocket, and you don't need to pay me back I'm doing this as a friend," Nathan says as he holds it out in front of her.
"I can't take it. I suspect you can go home on your own. If you need me, you know where I'm at. Goodbye," Hailey says forcefully and leaves.
"Keep it I insist besides this is just a day's pay for me." Nathan says calmly
Hailey sprints out the door and out of the hospital to the alleyway. Hailey notices that Nathan had slid the role of money into her pocket. "Damit," Hailey mutters. "I-I can't a-afford this . . ." Hailey starts crying as she sits on her mattress.
