The Story Of Hayden And Kaiden

-Chapter One-

I could feel their stares on my back as I walked down the passage. My dad kept glancing over his shoulder to make sure I was following him, and, when he was satisfied that I was, he turned forward, kept his chin up and marched forward, like he was parading for the army. I don’t know how he managed to stand this place. It was cold, dark and gloomy and you could never escape from those ever-present stares from the prisoners.

‘Hayden’, my dad asked, not bothering to turn around.

‘Yes’, I answered, not looking up. This place scared the absolute crap out of me.

‘You can do your homework in this room. I’ll come to get you when I’ve finished my shift. I’ll be another few hours.’

Another few hours! Few! Hours! Stuck in a prison. Thanks dad. Thanks a lot. I turned around in the room, taking in my surroundings. Ugh, this place was bleak. They could have at least gone for colourful curtains or a colourful carpet. This place was completely white. In the very middle of the room was a black desk, with papers arranged neatly in piles. Opposite the desk was a single white chair. I stared at it for a few moments before realizing that this was interrogating chair. People who were arrested sat here. Murderers could have sat here. Pedophiles could have sat here. And I was in the same room. Calm down Hayden. It’s nothing to worry about. Yes it was. It was a lot to worry about.

‘Is everything alright Hayden?’, my dad asked from the doorway. He must have seen me panicking.

‘Um, yes dad’, I lied. No nothing was all right I was stuck in this prison for the next few hours, to do my homework. And I was in the same room that murderers, thieves and pedophiles had been in. Actually, come to think about it, I am in the same building as burglars, thieves and pedophiles. How could my dad just leave me in here? I turned around to argue that there was no way in hell I was staying in here by myself, when I heard the click of the door locking. I jumped backwards in shock, expecting to see some sort of murderer, ready to kill me. But I was all by myself. There was no one else here. And then it occurred to me that my dad must have locked the door as he left. I wasn’t sure whether to feel safe, as it meant that no one could get in here or unsafe, as my dad, of all people, thought that there was a chance that someone could get in here to hurt me, or worse. Oh, here we go Hayden. A few more hours filled with your constant worry and you’ll be fit to bust. Great. I wasn’t looking forward to it.

I’d finished my geography and history homework and I was just starting on my maths when I noticed a flash outside my window. I glanced up quickly, expecting the worst, but all I noticed was that the large floodlights outside of the prison had turned on. It was almost pitch black. I looked up at the clock on the wall above the door. 10 o’clock. It had been almost seven hours since dad had said that he’d (and I quote directly) ‘only be a few hours’. What the hell. He’d just texted me to tell me that he had been called out on an emergency as there had been a fight at the local pub. The usual underage drinking and drugs had caused an outburst of anger. I almost laughed out loud at that text. The irony of it was almost unbearable. I, the goody-goody two-shoes, teacher’s pet, was currently stuck in a room in prison while my dad was out looking for the stereotypical teenagers that are currently doing what I should be doing if I had any form of social life. Which I didn’t. I was nothing like the rest of the people in my school. While they were all out partying, having sex and dealing drugs, I was at home, by myself, trying to come to grips with the fact that my family was not at all what it looked like for anyone on the outside. My mum cheated on my dad and then left. She never said goodbye.

The sound of sirens, approaching from afar, brought me out of my daydream. I crept up to the window to see what was going on and I was met by the screeching of car tires as three police cars drove into the courtyard one after another. My heart was racing by the time a police officer jumped out of the passenger seat and pulled a guy that was about my age out of the car. He had handcuffs, securing his hands behind his back. He looked lethal, with a black leather jacket, ripped black jeans and black, scuffed combat boots. I could only see the back of him but I knew. I just knew. That he was extremely attractive, or, as the other girls in my class would put it, smoking hot. He looked to be about my age, maybe even a bit over. I suppose I could see where they were coming from though. Even from a hundred metres away, he took my breath away. And I could only see his back. He must have sensed me looking at him as he turned his head awkwardly to look straight into my eyes. Wow. He had lovely eyes. And don’t even get me started on his face. He was stunning. His black hair was messy, but it worked for him. He had piercing green eyes, framed delicately by his jet-black hair. He was totally crush-worthy. And almost as soon as he looked at me, he glanced away, as he was pushed into the security room on the other side of the prison.

I shook my head, trying to get his piercing green eyes out of my head. He would have all the girls at my school. And I bet that he was a player. He’d sleep with every single one of them and then throw them away like they were garbage. And he was a delinquent.

Stop it Hayden.

He’s a delinquent and you know it.

Don’t swoon all over him.

He probably has it all the time.

There’s no point. It’s not like you’re pretty or anything.

And, I think you mentioned it earlier, he’s a delinquent, why would you want to be seen with him?

Oh many reasons. My inner voice answered me.

I was still standing at the window, looking at over the courtyard, trying to shake the eyes from my memory when I heard my dad unlocking the door behind me.

‘Hayden. Are you ready to go?’

I continued to stare out of the window, at the door that the guy had disappeared through. Was this the guy that was found at the pub? The underage drinker? The one my dad got called out to get?

‘Dad?’

‘I’m sorry I was so late Hayden, I got called out to get that underage drinker that got into a fight and I had to intervene seeing as I’m the only senior officer on duty tonight.’

‘How old was he dad?’

’17 and a bit, he’s going through a rough time at the moment. His dad committed suicide a few years ago and his mom’s moving on.’

‘Dad how…’, I was about to ask him how he knew so much when my dad interrupted again.

‘It was lucky we got there when we did otherwise the other guy would be in a much more serious condition.’

‘Oh, was it that serious?’

‘Yes Hayden. The guys in hospital with serious cuts to his face from where a bottle hit him in the face. He’s lucky it missed his eye. He could have been blinded. It’s these kind of calls that make me really glad that you have nothing to do with this sort of behavior. I don’t think I could stand another minute of this childish, irresponsible behavior.’

‘Can we go dad?’, I tried to put a stop to his rant.

‘Sure. Did you finish your homework?’

‘Yes dad I’m just tired, that’s all’. But I still couldn’t shake the thought of his piercing green eyes out of my head.