Blocked

Eight

     I woke up to a loud banging at my door. I sat up quickly and looked at the clock on my beside table. It was 10:23am.

     "Open the door, Hailey," I heard dad on the other side of the door. He didn't sound so happy. I stood up and ran my fingers through my hair. It was damp from my sweaty forehead. I must've had a bad dream last night, and didn't remember it.

     "Yeah?" I asked, opening the door, and leaning against it. I felt exhausted. Like I was about to keel over any second.

     "What the hell happened last night?" he asked, his hand on one hip. He must've just got home. And Ben must've told him everything that happened last night.

     "What do you mean?" I asked, yawning. I felt like I was sleeping for days, and was about to pass out right there.

     "You and Ben. He said you hit him last night when you two got in a fight," he said, looking at me. I knew I wasn't fully in the wrong here. Ben was the one who pissed me off enough that I hit him.

     "It was just a slap to the face," I said, shifting my weight onto my other foot.

     Dad let out a sigh and looked at me.

     "Hailey, you know damn well you shouldn't lay a hand on anyone, especially your brother," he said, and I could tell he was starting to get really mad.

     "Dad, if you heard the things he said, you would've slapped him, too." My voice was starting to raise. I needed to control myself before I lost it on my dad, too.

     "No, I wouldn't have. I obviously have more self-control than you, Hailey," he said, giving me a mean look.

     "He said that he wished I wasn't his sister. When I told him mom wouldn't be happy to hear him say that, he said it didn't matter because mom's dead. Anyone who talks about my mother like that, I don't care who they are, deserves to get slapped," I said, slamming the door and locking it. I could feel my blood start to boil, and I needed something to calm me down.

     "Hailey, open the door," I heard dad say, messing with the doorknob. I didn't even bother responding to him. If he didn't care about my side of the story, that's too damn bad.

     I went over to my TV and turned it on. I turned the volume up enough to drown out the sound of my dad, still at the door. He could try to get me to open the door all he wanted. He's going to be waiting a very long time.

     "Be grateful you even have a lock on your door for now, Hailey Mae," he said, then I heard him walk away. If he was going to remove the lock on my door, he was going to have to try hard. I have the key to my room, I could just lock the door every time I go out. And even if he did take off the lock, I can just go out and buy a new one.

     I was going to be eighteen in three months. He can't keep treating me like a child.

     I plopped down on my bed and started channel surfing. Sunday mornings on TV were usually pretty lifeless. I wasn't surprised to find out nothing was on.

     My phone suddenly started vibrating me, and it frightened me. Enough to make me jump a bit.

     I grabbed it and looked at the caller ID. It said 'Cameron'. That was really strange, because I honestly don't remember ever giving him my phone number.

     He put his number into my phone, and that was it.

     "Hello?" I answered, holding the phone up to my ear. It was a few seconds before I got any reply, and I was about to say hello, again.

     "This is Hailey?" I heard Cameron's voice ask on the other line.

     "Uh, yes. This is her. I'm guessing, from the caller ID, that this is Cameron," I said, smug.

     "Oh, cool. What's up, Hailey?" he asked, a giddy tone to his voice. I could tell he was happy to be talking to me.

     "Nothing, in my room. Hey, how did you get my number?" I asked, and I felt my brows furrow.

     "You gave it to me at the store, remember? We traded numbers," he said.

     "No, you gave me your number," I replied, sitting up in my bed. "I never, ever gave you my number, Cameron."

     "Oh wait, that's right," he said. "I asked around and got your number. I guess you're pretty popular for someone who doesn't even go to school," he said, a quiet laugh ending his sentence. I shook my head slowly, and rubbed at my forehead.

     Sure, I did know a lot of people my age in this town. But they would know better than to give my number out to someone they weren't even sure was my friend.

     In this case, Cameron definitely wasn't a friend.

     "Cameron, I gotta' go. Call me later, bye," I said, and hung up, just  in time to hear him start to say, "wait".

     I breathed out slowly and placed my phone down on my bed.

     "There's a fine line between serendipity, and stalking," I mumbled, then got off my bed. I went over to my window and pushed the curtains aside, peeking out. It looked like a typical Leighton day outside. Gloomy, streets still wet with recent rain, a big grey cloud in the sky, just threatening to cause a downpour.

     A car, or two, passing every other minute.

     My street wasn't exactly the most thriving, but I enjoyed the quiet.

     I headed over to my computer, and moved the mouse, causing the screen to light up. My e-mail page was still up, so I refreshed it to see if I had gotten any new mail.

     "Wow, only one?" I said, sitting down in front of the computer and clicking on the button that read, "Mail (1)". It was from an e-mail address named 'Pryce91@yahoo.com'. I wasn't familiar with the address.

     I clicked on it, then leaned forward to read what it said. The e-mail read:

"Hey, Hailey.

It's me, Cameron. I bet you're surprised to be hearing from me, lol. But anyways. I was thinking the other night that maybe me and you should chill sometime. Ya' know, just me and you. Maybe a movie date, or something? It'd be cool to get to know you more. 

 But yeah, if you think it's a good idea, just call me and let me know. You have my number, I'll be waiting for your call. And don't worry, if you're too shy to call me, I'll just call you sometime Sunday night so we can talk about it. Can't wait to hear from you :)

Love,

Cameron".

     I sat back in my chair as my mouth dropped open.

     "Oh, my god," I mumbled to myself. "He's fucking obsessed with me," I said, and rubbed at my eyes, then looked back at the e-mail to see if it really was Cameron who had sent it.

     I made a disgusted grunt, then deleted the e-mail. Just as I was deleting the e-mail, though, my phone vibrated. It was a new text message. I opened it, and saw 'Cameron' at the top. Too scared to even look at the message, I read it, anyways. It said:

                                      "Hey. I'm sorry if I scared you with     

                          my phone call earlier. Just wanted to say good

                          morning, and I hope you slept well. I'll call you

                                                    a little later. Ttyl."      

     I felt my eyes start to sting, and I was starting to breathe heavily. He really  wasn't going to give up. I scratched my head, then replied:

                          "Delete my number. Leave me alone."

     If that wasn't clear enough, I really don't know what was gonna' be clear enough for him.