Quandary

An Outing With A Boy And Girl

I pushed through the front door of my house and stared at the abnormal exchange taking place. My eyes blinked at the sight.

"There you are Don, do you know this girl from school?"

I was at a loss for words. I was staring at the two of them in a bizarre manner. I couldn't help but notice a shy smile creeping onto Hailey's face.

"I- I've seen her around," I uttered.

The fake Hailey gawked at me in an unruly manner.

"Seriously? You get all nervous around her but then say you hate me without hesitation?"

I ignored her words and listened to my mother.

"Hailey here moved in down the street and was getting to know her neighbors. I thought I recognized her from your school."

My hands went limp at my sides. Hailey would be living down the street from my house? Holy crap, this could be an opportunity! Wait, no... Who am I kidding? I won't be able to do anything with her. I'll screw up everything... Especially with this boring cycle of life that kept dragging on. I put out my hand for her to shake. She shook it back gleefully.

"Good to see you." I squeezed out.

"You too, I hope I'll see you guys again sometime soon!" Spoke Hailey as she exited out our front door.

"Where are you off to?" Asked my mother instantly.

I hated it when my mom would pry into other people's business like that. She would do it constantly without even realizing it. Hailey was probably going back to her house. But the tiny chance that she was doing something else, would pry into my mother's head.

"I'm just going to look around and get used to the neighborhood."

My head looked up from its sunken position.

"Oh! Why don't you take Don with you, he can show you around."

What? What the hell mom?! Who does she think I am? She's acting like I'm Brad Pitt for crying out loud! I'm not Brad Pitt! I'm the opposite of him, I'm like... I'm like Steve Urkel! That example didn't make much sense, but that's beside the point. The feigned Hailey laughed at the sight of my fear. My feet began to wobble. What would I show her? What would we talk about? I didn't know the first thing about normally conversing with someone. The only things Barry and I talked about were games and anime. How would I ever be able to talk to Hailey? I had played a few dating sims, but my common sense told me that wouldn't help.

"Sounds good." Replied Hailey from our doorway.

She looked back at me with her soft eyes of innocent green. I watched as she then turned to advance out into the blinding sunlight. I felt my heels tipping back, my body collapsed down to the ground. I got up and instantly followed after her. Luckily she didn't notice my clumsiness. Before my mom could make any remark, I shut the door and began walking alongside Hailey. The fake one slowly trotted along behind us. I could feel her watching my every movement. I could sense the sun beating down on us with warm liking. We turned down another street corner and began advancing onward. I noticed how she shyly followed my movements, yet kept her cheerful nature. Was she trying to appear joyful?

"So... What made you move down here? If- if you don't mind me asking..."

She brushed her blonde hair back and answered as we continued to walk on.

"My parents, they got divorced recently."

My eyes dilated in shock. A divorce would certainly be a hard thing to go through. Trigonometry equations then began to fill my head. I shook them away as I thought about what to say. I couldn't imagine Hailey going through something like a divorce... She always looked like her perfect, exuberant self. Think, think... What do I say? I thought back to one of the dating simulators I had played on my computer. This was when the guy would say something reassuring.