Haley Braverman Forever Young

Chapter 4

As expected I was grounded for a really long time. After awhile my grounding was more of a routine. I didn't mind it. I spent a lot of time with my grandma Camille talking and painting. I must get my artistic talent from her. Since my grandparents is the only approved location i'm permitted to go without supervision, besides school, I go there a lot. Thankfully, my grounding ends right before mine and Haddie's birthday. My first day freedom is spent getting my learner's permit. Since I had nothing but time, I breeze through the driver's test. Haddie passes too. Our parents are not happy.

The next few days are
spent negotiating with my parents on who is going to teach who. At the end of it all it's my mom who wins the teaching the girls to drive lottery.  After the first few times together my mom decides it's probably best if we break it up and she only has one of us in the car.  What mom doesn't know is that on all the days I spent with grandpa during my grounding, he let me drive his truck around the neighborhood.  She'd kill him if she found out.  I promised grandpa Zeke that i'd take it to the grave.  So now I have to pretend to not really know what I'm doing.  It's actually kind of fun.  My mom seems calm when she's with me so when I notice that maybe I look too natural, I do something to freak her out. 

Now that we're 16, our parents are ok with leaving us home alone.  They haven't really be on a date since they found out about Max's diagnosis.  For whatever reason, they decide that now is the right time to go.  Obviously they tell us not to have anyone over and my mom leaves a laundry list of things we have to do. 

"Ok, Hails, you just recently got freedom back but you are still on probation.  Haddie, no visitors in this house, do not answer the door unless it's family, do not answer the phone unless it's someone you know, do not give Max chocolate..."
"Mom" I say calmly, "You guys are going to dinner not leaving the country.  I think we will be ok"
"Yeah, you guys are making this into a big deal" Haddie chimes in.
"Ok, right, ok." Kristina sighs "You have our numbers, call us with anything"
"K bye" I go back to watching tv.
"Bye" Haddie runs back upstairs
"Oh ok...bye" Kristina whimpers and looks at Adam.
"Call us or grandma and grandpa.  We will be home by 10" Adam says matter of factly.
When there is no response, they slowly back out of the house and leave. 

As soon as the door closes, Haddie and I are looking out the window and as soon as they drive off we give each other a knowing smile.
"I'm calling Alex" Haddie says as she runs off. 
"I'm calling Brayden" I say then Max appears
"Mom and Dad said no visitors, that means no one is allowed to come into the house" Max deadpans.
Haddie and I give each other a concerned looks and I nod.
"Max, no one will come into the house" I say.
"Ok because mom and dad said no visitors in this house, so no visitors in this house" Max continues.
"Yep Max you are right, mom and dad did say that but we are going to go outside and maybe Alex and Brayden will play basketball with you." Haddie tries to get Max on board.
"Ok, I like basketball" Max walks away.
We sigh and go back to reaching out to our respective boys. After a few minutes, Alex and Brayden are at the house and we are all sitting in the back of the house.  Max goes to bed promptly at 8pm, so we just have to wait another hour.  Alex and Brayden play basketball with Max until it's close to 8.  Haddie and I negotiate bedtime routine for Max.  The boys wait for us outside until we complete Max's nighttime routine. 
"Ok Max, if you wake up and you need us, we will be outside" I say.
"And Max, since Alex and Brayden did not come inside you don't have to tell mom and dad right?" Haddie asks.
"Right, Alex and Brayden were outside"
I'm realizing that we did not anticipate our parents asking Max what he did tonight and I'm not sure there is a way to get around this. 
"Hey Max" I pull out the smarties mom and dad left in case we had an emergency, "I will give you 1 of these smarties now and 1 in the morning if you don't tell mom and dad that Alex and Brayden came over"
"I can have the candy if I don't tell mom and dad Alex and Brayden came over" Max repeats
"And, if you don't tell them, we will take you for ice cream after dinner tomorrow" Haddie adds, "but no candy or ice cream if you tell them"
"I will not tell them Alex and Brayden came over" Max states.
I look at Haddie, "50/50" I shrug. "Good night Max"
"Yeah, we'll see" Haddie and I close Max's door and I go back downstairs. 
We go back outside.  Alex and Haddie leave and Brayden and I go inside.   Haddie promised to be back before 9 so I figured when Alex dropped of Haddie he could take Brayden home.  After about an hour of making out, we realize it's getting close to 9.  Since Haddie and Alex are not back yet, Brayden and I talk about the night and how a repeat is in the future. Just then we hear a loud crash and Max screaming.  I hurdle the couch and run upstairs to find Max on the floor holding his foot that is bleeding heavily.  Brayden follows me upstairs.  I realize that the stand we put in front of Max's door had a glass vase on it that Haddie didn't move and when Max opened the door, he knocked the vase over, which is ignored because he was half asleep trying to get to the bathroom and cut his foot on the glass. 
"Oh my god, Brayden this is bad" I gesture at the blood on the carpet. "Max, buddy, let me see"
Max screams when I try to touch him, he's clutching his foot. 
I start to cry, "What to we do?" I look at Brayden who is just as concerned.  He gets up and runs to the bathroom and gets a towel.
"Max, buddy, here..take this towel and hold it on your foot..ok?"
Max keeps screaming but takes the towel and listens to Brayden.
"Ok good job Bud, ok I'm going to pick you up"
"NO" Max screams
"Max, we have to go to the hospital to fix your foot" and without waiting for Max to respond he scoops him up and we run downstairs.
"Wait!" I say, "How are we getting there?" I ask.
"Van?" He asks
"I'm dead, so dead...ok" I grab the van keys and we run out side and Brayden puts Max in the back and props Max's foot up on him holding the towel tight to Max's foot.
"You ok Max?" Brayden asks.
Max stopped screaming at this point but he's still upset telling me the exact directions to the hospital as well as reminding me of California law on driving without a license and driving while talking on a cell phone.
"I have to call my parents" I say.
"I know" Brayden says quietly
"I'll probably never see you again, so tonight was fun...until now of course"
"Drive" He says calmly.
I back out of the driveway and head towards the hospital.  On the way I call my mom.
"Haley, what's wrong" Kristina answers.
"Mom" I say panicked "I need you to stay calm"
"What is it Hail?!"
"Ok, I'm taking Max to the emergency room, he has a bad cut on his foot"
"Oh my god!" Kristina says and then silence.
"Mom!"
"Haley, it's dad, your mother is on her way, I'm settling up the check and meeting you there"
"Ok"
"Haley are you driving?" He asks.
Silence..."Yeah" I say
Adam sighs, "see you in 15 minutes"