We drove back home to the sound of some chill music. It was sort of late for a weekday but my mind was nowhere near waking up early the next day because I was having the best time with Hailey. Onde we paid the bill we took off and grabber some chocolate before driving home. There was this amazing candy stand near the docks and we simply could not resist it. We'd decided we'd only taste it at home but curiosity spoke louder and we ended up eating half of the bar on the way home.
I explained her everything there was to know about Cali: How I'd seen him in Amanda's yearbook and found him cute; how he and his friends nearly hit me with a volleyball as an accident and my awkward first exchange with him on top of the school steps; the way he'd mysteriously missed out on the Screecher - again she wished she'd been there to party with me - and how he'd gotten all strange when I mentioned it to him earlier that week. In reality, I didn't know much about him other than what Amanda had already told me: He was handsome and every girl in Clareview thought he was dreamy. Amanda had said he's elusive and sort of aloof sometimes, but so far I hadn't seen any of that. It was an incredible shock to have seen him walking alongside some girl from Clareview at the pier and Hailey noticed how surprised I was.
"Hang on," she started. "So you think he's cute but you haven't had the opportunity to make a move yet, is that it?"
"Well, not really. I'm not sure I should make a move, Hales. Amanda keeps telling me he's not boyfriend material but all I've been getting from him are good vibes, you know? Also, isn't the guy supposed to take the lead in such a situation?"
"He is when he knows you're into him." She said as we pulled up in the driveway.
We climbed up the stairs silently so as not to rouse mom and dad and went into my room sneakily. We threw you pajamas on, tuned into Netflix and popped that chocolate open once again.
"I think I sent him signals." I said while I tasted the chocolate. "Amanda herself thought it was obvious. Plus, he was definitely flirting with me the other day in the hallway."
"Right before he got weird with the Screecher thing, right?" She asked.
"Pretty much." I felt confused. "I don't know if it was something I said or whether he just didn't feel like talking to me anymore."
Hailey sat up all of a sudden and muted the TV show. She looked me dead in the eye and I felt how serious she was.
"Olivia Hall, you are a sixteen-year-old girl who won't sit by moping around because some boy might or might not want to talk to you." I watched her closely, that warm feeling of support blooming slowly. Hailey always made me feel empowered and reminded me of thing I sometimes forgot. "He could be the most handsome jock in the world and you still shouldn't sit around waiting for his decision to do or say something. If you don't know what that conversation in the hallway meant or who he was with at the pier, you should walk up to him and ask it point blank. Nobody's stopping you, and if he's not into it, then his loss. There are plenty of guys in LA and I bet they're already lining up to you."
I opened up a big smile and hugged her. She always knew what to say to make me feel better. All that anxiousness I'd felt when I'd seen Cali and the girl on the pier had faded away and made room for joy.
"Just keep an eye out, okay?" She asked. "Amanda sounds like a very down to earth girl and she's known the dude for a long time. If she says he's not all that, then hear her out. Sure, he might be someone completely different once you get to know him, but our friends are always looking out for us, so no harm in keeping Amanda's advice in mind. If he's nice, great. If not, thank u, next."
"How come you always know what to say?" I asked. "Every boy problem I ever had I came running to you and every single time you fixed it."
Hailey turned sad all of a sudden. She looked down at the chocolate and fiddled with the remote control. There it was again, that sadness in her face that she'd had the day she arrived, and much earlier when she'd visited us in Seattle. I had to ask.
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YOU ARE READING
California
Storie d'amoreLiv was just now getting used to the whole moving away thing. Los Angeles was absolutely nothing like the gray, sunless Seattle. Something in the hot sea breeze made her shiver with excitement, despite feeling like an outsider among those busy stree...