Broken

Chapter Thirteen

I walked out of school. I had gotten ready for the parade in the drama department's backstage. It was a little crazy back there with all the girls getting ready for the parade. I had just changed into a  blue sundress and decided it was good enough. I would have curled my hair, but all the hairspray was already making me nauseous. I felt a little sorry for Nora. Her mom had come and was helping her get ready. She did not look too excited, but her Mom seemed nice.

There were vehicles and floats lined up all around the high school parking lot. I looked around and saw Justin standing near the senior float. I made my way over to him. We had not talked much since waking up in the garage. He had drove me home from school yesterday, but we had not really talked. I was still thinking about the college thing.

"Hey," said Justin as he looked over at me. I noticed his eyes look up and down my figure. "You look good."

"Thanks," I said. He and the other guys had been allowed to get away with wearing jeans and their football jerseys. I wanted to tell him he looked good, but decided against it. I became extremely glad of my decision when Cody and Martin walked over to join us.

"Hey, Justin," said Martin. Then he looked over at me. "Sup, Hayley." I smiled at him and let Justin talk.

"You ready for the game tonight?" asked Justin.

Martin nodded, "We're going to kick some Red Hawk butt."

"Now, that's what I want to hear," said Justin.

"Hayley," said Cody suddenly capturing both my attention and the boys. "What time did you want me to pick you up tomorrow?"

"Oh, um..." I started. I knew I was going over to Nora's house, but I was not sure what time to tell him. "I guess just a little before the dance. I'm going to be at Nora's house if you want to just pick me up there."

"You're going to be at Nora's house?" asked Justin.

I nodded, "Yeah, we're getting ready together."

"I didn't realize you two were such good friends," said Martin in disbelief. I wasn't sure why everyone thought that was such a weird thing. I just shrugged in response.

"Sounds good anyway," said Cody. I looked back over at him and nodded. He was about to speak again, but Justin beat him to it.

"Hayley, what do you think of the float?" asked Justin. "Turned out how you planned?" I turned and looked at it. It was just like the sketch I had drawn up.

"It looks perfect," I said. I looked down at the green in front of the castle door where Justin and I had fallen asleep. I felt bad about that, but we really hadn't done anything wrong. The wrong was my dream, but I couldn't control dreams.

"Where are the other two?" asked Mr. Hanks as he walked towards us. He was holding a clipboard in one hand and a walkie talkie in the other. A pair of dark sunglasses covered his eyes. 

"They're just finishing getting ready," I spoke up when the guys did not.

"This is a parade, not a fashion show," said Mr. Hanks. He shook his head and looked back down at his clipboard. "Mr. Lathrop and Miss Allen come with me. I can at least get you two where you're supposed to me." He looked up from the clipboard at Martin and Cody. "You two do not move."

"Yes, sir," said Martin with a nod although I could tell he was trying to hold back a grin. Mr. Hanks paid no attention to him and took off across the parking lot. Justin and I followed quickly behind him. We passed lots of other floats, but I was sure ours looked the best.

"You'll be riding in this convertible," said Mr. Hanks as we approached the silver vehicle. He opened the back door for us. I figured he would introduce us to the driver, but he was already heading back to Martin and Cody. The driver was a young man who was talking to someone on his phone.