Invisible

Invisible Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Dark Shadow

(Olivia)

My door flies open as Hayden suddenly crowds in on me. “Olivia? Are you okay?”

“Hayden?”

Embarrassed, and more than a little confused, I start wiping away tears frantically. It’s no use, though, because they just keep falling. Hayden doesn’t say anything when I flop back against the seat and cover my face with my hands. I try to breathe, to get control of myself, but it seems impossible. Every passing second I expect to hear the door shut as Hayden walks away.

It would be the absolute cap on today if he bailed on the obviously crazy girl he had previously been nice to. He’s probably better off making a quick exit. I wait for the sound, but it never comes.

When my tears finally wear themselves out, Hayden’s hand slips over mine and gently uncovers my face. The concern written on his face seems so genuine, but I know he must be thinking that I’m a total nutcase at this point. I try to turn away from him, but he won’t let me.

“Olivia, what’s going on?”

Sniffing and wiping away tears, I say, “I’m just having a really horrible day.”

“That was pretty much a given.” Hayden smiles. “Do you want to talk about it?”

I shake my head violently. Not only can I not talk about it, I don’t want to. Not with Hayden. Not with anyone.

Hayden nods. “You wanna take your mind off whatever’s bothering you?”

Surprised that he moved on from me crying so quickly, I just stare at him for a moment. “What?”

He gestures past me to a basketball court. I look at the court in confusion. “Where am I?”

Laughing, Hayden looks at me curiously. “Really? You don’t know where you are?”

I rub my hand across my forehead wishing this day would just end. “Sorry, I just needed to get away from my house and started driving. I don’t even remember pulling over.”

“No worries,” Hayden says. He nudges me softly. “And here I thought you came to watch me play ball.”

“I didn’t even know you played basketball,” I admit sheepishly.

Hayden laughs out loud. “Wow. You really know how to keep a guy’s pride in check, don’t you? I’ve been on the basketball team at school for four years.”

“I’ve never been to a game.”

“Never?”

I shake my head. Hayden shakes his head right back. I’ve just admitted to him, that even though I’ve known him since junior high, I know almost nothing about him. Why he doesn’t say goodbye and look for a girl who hasn’t gone through her life completely oblivious to…well, apparently to just about everything, I have no idea.

Instead of running for the hills, he asks, “Have you ever played?”

“Basketball?”

“Yeah,” he laughs. “Unless there’s some other sport you’re actually interested in.”

I shake my head. The closest I’ve ever been to a sport is watching Dad and Mason play catch in the backyard. Instantly, my lips turn down and tears threaten. I try to shake thoughts of Mason away, but that has never been easy.

“Come on,” Hayden says softly.

He tries to take my hand and get me to leave the Jeep, but I pull away and cross my arms over my chest protectively. “I should probably just go home. Go to bed or something. You don’t want to hang out with me right now. Nobody does.”