I woke up early the next morning, six am to be exact. I was already excited for my Dad to come home, it felt like I hadn’t seen him in six months, although this tour had barely lasted more than two months.
It wasn’t just him that I was excited about seeing, I couldn’t wait to see the rest of the guys too. Seeing as none of them had children yet themselves, they have always treated me like their own. I knew that if I wanted to talk, any one of them would be happy to help me out.
Although it was great that they all got to do what they loved and none of us would ever begrudge them that it was always hard when they had to leave. They had an obligation to their fans though, and in the end all that really mattered to me was that when they were home, I always felt safer than ever. I know that I wasn’t in any danger when they weren’t home but they always have been and always will be the missing piece of my puzzle. When they’re gone, my puzzle is lacking and it’s annoying, like a little fly that you can hear but you can’t see. When they were home it was like I’d found the missing piece and I could finish the puzzle.
I looked in the mirror sighing quietly as I took in the girl that stared back at me before I took a quick shower and then went to wake up Mom like I always did on the days Dad came home from tour. I knew that none of them were going to be back for at least another couple of hours so I decided that the time would be best spent walking the dogs around Huntington.
“Hey Momma, I’m going to get dressed then take the dogs out for a walk.”
“Okay sweetheart, be careful and make sure…”
“That I take the back way, wear sunglasses and a hat yeah, yeah, yeah. I know the drill. Love you Mom.”
I rushed into my room and pulled on some shorts, a tank top, and some skate shoes and tied my hair up into plaits before I rushed downstairs and grabbed the dog leads from the hall. I snatched my Vans snapback and a spare pair of aviator sunglasses from the kitchen and then got the dogs put onto leads.
“Come on dogs. Is Momma going to take you for a walk? Yes she is. Yes she is.” I cooed to them and soon we were off.
For as long as I can remember, whenever I leave the house wither with my parents or on my own, if we’re walking, I have left through the back door so that no one could spot me. So, today being no different to the usual, I took the back route along the beach and once I was a safe distance from the house I went back to the main roads.
I could tell that it was going to be a good day. It was only around seven o’clock by the time I had left the house but the sun was already shining and there were lots of people going about their daily lives.
Sometimes I envied them. They could do anything they wanted to. They could shout their name to the world and no one would give them a second glance. They could go anywhere they wanted, taking whichever route they wanted. I could go on for days about things that I wished I could do that normal people can but then I would remember that I was probably better off than most of the people that I came across during the morning walks. I mean, sure, I had to keep my name a secret from everyone, keep my family a secret and sometimes it was difficult but it was worth it. I’d rather be just another loser to everyone at school rather than the daughter of a rock star who has connections.
I was so lost in my own thoughts that hadn’t noticed that I’d already arrived at the dog beaches. I’d just stood up from letting the dogs off their leashes so you couldn’t really blame me for not noticing the Frisbee that was flying towards my head at a million miles an hour, or the person running towards me to try and catch it.
Before either of us could react both the Frisbee and the boy had collided with me.
“Argh!”
I fell to the sand with a thud. You’d think that sand would be soft to fall onto but no, I might as well have just fallen face first into concrete.
“Oh God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see…”
As I’d fallen my aviators had slipped off of my nose and were now resting over my mouth. I quickly pushed them back up and shoved the young boy off of me.
“Watch where you’re going! Fucking idiot!” I snapped in anger
“Max! Dude! Watch where you’re going next time!”
I looked up to see another young boy rushing over towards us. I smiled at this guy and held up a finger, telling him to wait a second.
“Icky! Majesty!” I stuck my fingers in my mouth and whistled for them. “Get back here!” I whistled again and both dogs came lolloping towards me.
As soon as they reached me I hooked them back onto their leashes.
“Sorry about that. Max is blind as a bat. I’m Chase.”
“Haley.”
He held out his hand and I shook it. He was kind of cute, sandy blond hair in a sort of messy style. He had amazing grey eyes and was around six feet tall. His friend on the other hand, Max, was on the shorter side, still taller than me though, and he had LONG black hair in comparison, his eyes were so dark that they were almost black. Not to say that he wasn’t attractive either, just in a different way.
“Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine, I should’ve been looking as well.”
“No, that was our fault. I like your hair.”
“Thanks.”
There was an awkward silence for a moment before Chase spoke again.
“So, Icky and Majesty huh? Weird dog names.”
He held his hand out for Majesty to sniff but she growled.
“Woah, nice doggy.”
“She just doesn’t like people insulting her name. Anyway, you’re saying that things like Rover and Fido… those are NORMAL names for a dog?”
“Fair enough.”
I smiled at him and Max.
“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you round here before. You new to town?”
“Nope, lived here my whole life, I just don’t usually walk these two on the beach.”
“Ah, I see. You go to Huntington High?”
I nodded cautiously. I was suspicious of where this conversation was going.
“You?”
They both nodded and I smiled nervously at them. For a second I thought that my phone going off had saved me. The familiar ringtone of Seize the Day cutting through the silence like a steak knife through butter. I reached into my pocket but found my phone to be on silent. That’s when I looked up to see Chase reaching into his pocket.
“Sorry.”
“Ah crap. I’m sorry, I need to go.”
If I didn’t leave now then this could possibly get ugly quickly so before either of them could protest I had turned around and was on my way back home.
“Hey wait!”
I picked up my pace but Max soon caught up with me.
“We didn’t switch numbers.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen. Sorry but I really need to go.”
Conveniently enough, I was actually telling the truth. As I’d pulled my phone out of my pocket I realized I’d wasted an hour and a half already. The girls would be at ours by now and the guys would be home soon.
“But…”
“No means no. Sorry. See you at school sometime I guess.” Not.
I started to run with the dogs and soon lost him and Chase.
“Well that was a close one guys, huh.”
