Temptation

Chapter 12 - Hailey

I went to school after a few days more at home and going back to school was quite surreal, because it felt like I hadn’t seen anyone for so long, or done any work for ages. I was so glad to be with all of my friends again and as I went through my day, it was so nice to have the opportunity to talk to everyone and be a part of things again.

When I was just sitting down to recess with Savannah, who had seemed a little bit down the whole day, I could sense a bit of an uncomfortable vibe in the group.

“How’s everyone been?” I asked, hoping to catch up on any gossip that I’d missed.

Unfortunately, this set off a new round of awkward glances and as I was wondering what had happened, Bri looked at me.

“Well. I’d say I’d been good, but then again, Pip’s always better, isn’t she?”

“Wait what?” I asked, not clueing in to what Bri was trying to say.

“Pip’s probably been sooo great..because her life is sooo great…and she’s just sooo great, isn’t she?” Bri said sarcastically.

 “Woah, woah, woah, princess, just because Jake doesn’t like you doesn’t mean you can take it out on me,” responded Pip, “At least I’m not a fucking desperate bitch like you”.

“I’m not desperate! And Jake would have liked me if you hadn’t stolen him you slut!” Brianna said in reply.

“Guys, chill, stop fighting over a stupid guy,” Nat tried to say in her tired voice, but neither of them payed any attention to her.

“Whatever frigid bitch and we both know that’s a lie!” replied Pip, who was now getting up and storming off.

“Oh go to hell!” shouted Bri, and Pip stuck up her middle finger over her shoulder as she walked away.

Brianna stormed away as well, and the rest of us were left looking after them quite awkwardly.

“Well shit”, I said, “How long has that been brewing for?”

Nat replied, “Since a few days ago, when Bri found out that Pip and Jake had been meeting up.”

“Should someone go after them…?” Charlotte ventured.

“Let’s let them sort this one out, it’s probably best if none of us get involved”, said Savannah.

After that, recess was very quiet and awkward, so Nat ended up going and sitting with other people, while Charlotte had a choir meeting and Savannah and I got a drink from the bubblers near the locker room.

We talked a lot about the fight that had happened, but when we realised how pointless it all was, particularly how ‘Jakey’ was definitely not worth the fuss, we decided to move on. After talking about schoolwork, about sport and about all the news from our year, Savannah told me about what a doll Fletcher had been, and then when I asked about Lachy, something seemed off. I didn’t want to pry or push the matter, so I let it go, but I’m quite worried about Savannah, she seems downcast and slightly sad.

I’d mentioned that Seb and I had become quite close again, but Savannah began to tell me how he still hadn’t forgiven her.

“Yeah, I think he was mostly angry at himself though. I’ll tell him to forgive you, I can’t have him being awful to my best friend,” I said.

The rest of the day was boring as ever, and honestly I wasn’t sad that I’d missed some school because while I love to learn, I can’t stand some of the people in my classes, and we were heading to exam season, so the teachers were piling up work.

As I walked to my locker, I saw Bri and Pip standing quite far apart, making a conscious effort to look like they were ignoring each other. I felt bad for both of them; because they are two close friends of mine, even though sometimes they can be annoying they both are loyal, supportive and have lots of great qualities about them.

As I was walking up to the bus stop, Charlotte came over to me.

“Hey, do you want a lift home,” she said, “Angus was saying he was happy to drop you home because he’s picking me up if you wanted.”

“I’d love one thanks so much!’ I responded, enthusiastic about spending more time with my favourite pair of siblings.

We got into the car, said hello to Angus and began the ride home. The conversation was fun and we all partied hard to music and laughed a lot. When Angus stopped outside my house, I got out and struggled to grab my school bag and all my books. I heard a car door slam and suddenly Angus was in front of me stacking all my books and placing them in one hand, and holding my bag in his other. As he was standing there I felt quite intimidated. He had such broad shoulders, and I only came up to his chest and I’m regarded as tall for a girl my age.  “I’ll take these for you Hailey.” He winked at me. I felt my cheeks flush red. “Are you sure you don’t need any other help? You’re home alone for a while and well, you can’t use your right hand.” as he gestured to my cast.

Charlotte poked her head out of the window “Angus you should cook dinner for Hailey. Hailey, he’s really good at cooking. ”

I was taken back for a moment. I remembered that this morning I was ranting to Charlotte about how I have resulted to take-away Chinese due to the cast on my wrist and my parents being away.

“I was just going to order take –away,” I said in response.

Angus grinned, “Oh, we can’t have that! Charlotte and I will stay and make dinner”. It was such a generous offer, and I was going to politely decline, when I realised that I really didn’t fancy having take –away tonight and I didn’t mind the fact Angus was offering to coming over.

“That’d be great actually, thanks so much!”

We went into the house. I was a bit worried about the mess in the kitchen I had left the previous night but without even making a fuss Angus washed my dishes and left everything spotless. Charlotte and I proceeded to do work, chat and have a laugh whilst we waited for Angus to cook dinner. Gosh, he was such a gentleman. I set the table for us three. I noticed a bit of sauce had dripped on his shirt. I found it adorable. He placed his lasagne on the table, “Voila!” he was chuffed with his meal. The smell made my mouth water.

“Wow, thank you so much Angus. This looks absolutely delicious!” as I eyed off the creamy and tomato Italian pasta dish. My mouth was watering.

“Yum, good one bro!” cheered Charlotte.

It was one of the best home cooked meals I had ever tasted.

“I can’t get over how well you can cook!” I said delightfully. Angus playfully elbowed me in the ribs.

“I’ll come over again and cook for you.” He smiled. Angus seemed like such a caring brother. I wish I had a brother like him. I wish I wasn’t an only child more importantly. I loved hanging with Charlotte and Angus, it was almost as though they were now family.

After dinner Angus and Charlotte helped clean up after I pleaded them to not bother and that I would do it later, I think they understood I wasn’t actually going to. Once I was home alone and getting ready for bed, Seb called. We had a nice chat, well, until Savannah’s name was mentioned.

“What she said was fucking uncalled for Hailey. She doesn’t deserve to be spoken to again.”

“Seb, she’s my friend!” I protested.

“Well, she’s not my friend anymore. She’s not worth my time. She’s a bitch. I don’t know how Lachy puts up with her.”

“Oh, Seb. Shut up! Take that back.” I snap

After the call ended I sat in bed and contemplated whether Seb had a point. Does Savannah really deserve to be treated like this? Well, she was trying to defend me. Plus, I wasn’t exactly nice to Seb at the hospital either.  I guess Seb deserved whatever both Savannah and I dished out to him. Poor Savannah…