Falling For Hadley

Chapter 6

DYLAN'S POV

"Dude, why so down? You have access to beaches whenever you want!" Darren shouts into the phone and I laugh. 

"It's nothing. Just that I got rejected for the first time," I blurt out and Darren literally gasps.

"Dude! No way!" he shouts even louder and I cringe from the volume. I pace on the carpet as I talk with Darren. My Mom walks by and smacks my arm to make me take off my shoes. 

"Yeah. Some girl at an Ocean Wildlife Center here in town. She shot down a makeout session with me," I give him more details and he chuckles.

"Of course it's some ocean nerd. She obviously doesn't appreciate you like the girls back here in New York did," he says slyly and I smile slightly.

"She wasn't quite a nerd. But man, she can win an argument," I reply an image of her face playing across my mind. 

"Dude, reality check. It sounds like you actually like her," Darren's cold voice brings me back to reality and I shake my head.

"Yeah, never," I say, trying to sound reassuring. I could hear someone talking to Darren on the other line and he grumbles.

"Sorry man, I gotta bolt. Talk to ya later," he hangs up the phone before I can say goodbye and I'm left by myself pacing in the living room. I sit down on the couch and Mom smacks my legs as I set them up on the coffee table, I instantly take them off. The housekeeper dashes around cleaning every spec of the house that she could.

"Son, come look at these business projections," Dad says as he walks towards our massive kitchen and drops them on the coffee table. I watch as he grabs some coffee and almost bumps into one of the moving men. Everything was everywhere. The house was madness. 

"Not right now Father. I need air," I say as I step out onto the deck and take gulps of air. I look out over the beach view and see a familiar face running on the beach with three other guys. It was Hadley. I smile slightly to myself and stop myself from feeling anything else. She turned me down. End of story. But somehow, I had a feeling that her turning me down wasn't the end of this. Something was telling me that there would be more.

"Who is she?" a voice suddenly reaches my ears and I spin around. My Mom stared at me curiously.

"A girl who turned me down," I say surprised and leaning against the railing of the deck.

"Is she rich?" My Mother walks over to my side adn watchs Hadley as she's chased by the three guys that were each taller than her.

"No," I answer softly.

"Then why do you look like you have been hurt?" Mom asks me. 

"I don't have an answer to that question," I reply, my voice sharp and cold.

"That's fine. Just always remember to keep up your appearance, you are the new face of the company after all," My Mother smiles and kisses my forehead. Then she heads back inside and I'm left by myself all over again. I watch as Hadley gets tackled down by the tallest of the boys and a sense of protection spikes up in the back of my mind. I instantly tame the feeling and cage it. I couldn't afford such feelings for a non-elitist. And it was probably better if she wasn't exposed to my world.

"Hey!" I hear her shout at two of the boys and her laughter fills the air. She looked like she was enjoying herself. I also began to notice a similarity in each of the boys and Hadley. They were her siblings, I suddenly realized. She has three brothers? No wonder they aren't the richest. 

She suddenly stops and looks up in my direction. I wave to her and she smiles slightly. Almost pitifully. I began to wonder why she would pity me. I had so much more than her. I should be pitying her. And for some reason, I wasn't. I should be pitying her, I order myself. But it didn't come. She walks closer to me and waves back. A smile pulls at my lips and I couldn't stop myself from speaking.

"Hey there stranger," I shout charmingly. It didn't seem to work because she just laughed and waved goodbye, heading back to her brohters. Why did she turn me down every time? Questions were all that were in my head at that moment. And I wanted them to stop. Hadley and her brothers huddle up for a second and then they grab Hadley by the arms and legs. She struggles against them, laughing the whole time. And they throw her in the ocean. I lean forwards like I was going to jump but then I lean back. 

It must be nice to have a family like that, I think to myself as I head back inside.