The Abnormality Of The Normality

'I felt almost Invincible'

I sit in front of the tv and watch a film. It's about halfway through the movie when I hear a knock at the door. I grab my sunglasses to hide the large dark bruise forming around my left eye. And put my hood up to hide the gash on the top of my forehead. It's probably just Jack, he probably forgot his house key. I open the door and am dumbfounded. In the doorway stood Hayley with her back to me. She's holding a small bag and she turns as she hears the door open behind her. Smiling she begins to say "Oh, Hey Alex I...". She drops the bag on the porch floor and takes a step closer to me once she has seen me. Her face has dropped, and I can tell that the glasses weren't hiding my black eye well enough. I try to stop her but she just picks up the bag, walks past me and closes the door behind her. "Alex?" she pauses before softening her voice "Al, what happened?" As we walk into the lounge. I try not to express how happy I felt that she'd come up with a nickname just for me. I attempt to answer, "Oh, I erm, fell down the stairs last night." I can tell by Hayley's expression that she doesn't believe that, so I attempt to add to the white lie "I was distracted by my own thoughts and slipped on the top step." Hayley still doesn't look like she believes me but moves closer to me on the sofa. She reaches her hand up to my face causing me to flinch slightly, but she just rests her hand on my cheek. I close my eyes and sigh. "Can I?" she asks as she slowly takes my hood down and carefully removes my glasses. I turn my head in shame as she does this. Slowly she puts two fingers under my chin and lifts it up, so I am looking at her again. "Well, if it helps, I think you still look hella cute" She states whilst attempting to put a smile on my face, She sits even closer and envelopes me in a tight hug. I wrap my arms around her and cry into the crease of her neck whilst she gently rubbed my back.

We stay like this for about 30 minutes in a peaceful silence before I finally manage to stop the tears from falling down my face. It was crazy how safe she made me feel when I was around her. I felt almost invincible. Once I have managed to catch my breath again, I ask her, "Do you maybe want to stay for a while and watch this film with me?" I sound like a small teenage boy asking out their crush for the first time. "Yeah, sure. I'd love to" she replies leaning back into the other side of the sofa. I position myself next to her and lay my head on her shoulder as I click restart on the remote to begin the movie from the beginning. Neither of us really watches the film. We spend most of the time glancing at each other when the other turned away. God her lavender perfume was intoxicating for me. I soon find myself drifting off to sleep.

I'm woken about an hour later by the front door slamming shut, notifying me of Jack's return. Hayley was gone. There was no sign of her ever being there. The tv had been switched off. Had I just dreamt all of that. Was Hayley actually here? "What is this?" Jacks voice boomed from the hall. Confused, I go through to where he is holding a letter in one hand and the bag in another.

"Dear Al, These are the clothes from the other night. I have washed and dried them for you. I had a great time, can't wait to see you again soon. Love H x-x-x"

As he reads the letter aloud, he gets even angrier andat the end of reading it he tears it into pieces and stamps on the lifeless letterspitting on it as he did so. "Who the hell is H?" He demands whilst movingcloser to me. "H is the friend I met up with the other night." I defend. "Howmany times do I have to tell you.... DON'T LIE TO ME!" He booms, standingdirectly in front of me now. I'm a gazelle being cornered whilst my predator getsready for his kill. "I swear it's no one. She is just a friend." I try to defend,my voice cracking halfway though the sentence letting me down. Why did thathurt me so much to admit? He lifts his hand on ready to strike me. I close myeyes and wait for the connection I had grown used to, but none came. I hear somethingconnect with something but not with me. As I cautiously open my eyes, I see mysaviour standing there. Bat in hand. Jack laid on the ground in front of meunconscious.