Never Make A Promise

Never Make A Promise 6

GREETINGS ALL! Okay, now I want you all to know that there is this really good story that I have read on here and I really encourage you all to read it too. It's called Secrets, Lies, and hope (maybe). It's really good! Read it! Do it, do it, do it!

Wait? My father? That wasn't my father! I looked from him to Joyce. There was NO way that the man in front of me was my father. He looked nothing like him. The man in the door had blue eyes and brown hair, but it wasn't the same as mine or my dad's. And he was a little shorter than my dad. He might be the same age as my dad, maybe younger like Joyce's age, but it wasn't him. I looked at Joyce, confused. She sighed.

"Your father wasn't able to make it," she said. I released my breath.

"Okay," I said, pretending not to be affected by it. Hide your feelings Hayley, that'll work, I thought sarcastically.

"His flight was delayed about three hours, so we just figured that it would be easier for him to come another time," she said gently.

"So who's this?" I asked, looking at the man next to her.

"Oh, this is Chris," she said casually. I watched him, still in the doorway. Why wasn't he coming in? I looked at Joyce and subtly gestured to him with my eyes. She looked at him. "Oh gosh, Chris! You must be so confused. Come on in!" she invited. He came in and closed the door behind him.

"So, who exactly IS Chris?" I asked.

"Chris is an old friend of mine that I ran into at the airport. He and I used to be neighbors and he was just getting back from Florida," she said, watching me warily when she said the state. A little shudder went through me when she mentioned it. There were absolutely no good memories there. Maybe a few, but there was that single memory that covered all the good ones. I looked at Chris again and noticed that he was watching me intently. Joyce said something else about him, but I didn't pay any attention to what.

"Uh...really?" I asked, pretending to be interested in what Joyce just said.

"Excuse me for staring, but you look a LOT like someone I know. Are you by any chance.....no, you couldn't be," he said, tilting his head while examining me. I felt awkward under his watch and Joyce sensed this.

"So, Chris tell me what you majored in when you went to NYU," Joyce said. I looked at her gratefully when he turned his attention to her and started talking to her. I stayed in place while they went to the kitchen, still talking. I would feel awkward going in there and trying to start a conversation with him, especially after his staring fit, but I would feel rude for going upstairs. I looked at the stairs and at the kitchen door. Eh, some feelings are more manageable than others, I thought while going upstairs. I entered my room and plopped down on my bed. Partly relieved that I didn't have to see my dad today and partly sad that he didn't come. There was no more reason to panic....today at least. I mean, he was going to come EVENTUALLY. When eventually was, I didn't know.

"Hayley?" Joyce called. Eh, just as I got comfortable.

"Yeah?"

"Just wondering where you went!" she replied. I sighed and flipped over on my back and stared at the ceiling. On my fourteenth birthday, Joyce let me paint the ceiling myself. It was a lot of work, but I thought it was worth it. It was mainly black and I made the white swirls that crossed around in different designs, like flowers and such. Right now, it kinda looked like a maze to me. I really want to color the walls with magic markers right now. I had no idea why, I just did. My phone vibrated and I pulled it from my pocket to read the text I just got. It was from Jordan asking me how things were going with my dad. I told him what Joyce told me. He replied: dude.