What I Wish You Knew | ꪜ

Chapter Fifteen

To Parker,

15. I wish you knew how much I thought about you that night.

Hayley's POV

Why did I suddenly forget for a split second–just a split second–that my brother was coming home soon? It's the only reason I left Jenna's house so soon: it's so that I could be here before him so that he wouldn't have to worry. But now I'm sitting ducks with a boy who I almost kissed across me!

I'm dead. No, we're dead.

"Hayles! Please tell me you're not sleeping because I spent my money buying this Nutella fried ice cream thingy at the new ice cream parlour that opened up and I thought you'd like it." Before me, Parker seemed to be the least bit bothered by my brother's presence as he continued to sip on his hot chocolate.

"I'm gonna die, aren't I?" He suddenly asked, still with that unbothered look on his face. I nodded, "y–yeah that's highly likely." I could hear Drayton's shoes falling against the hardwood floor in the foyer so I took this opportunity to approach him before he would enter the kitchen.

"YA! Didn't you hear me calling you? Ib-i buleojyeoss-eo!?" He shoved the cup of ice cream into my hand, "say thank you." The sight of chocolate swirled ice cream sitting in the palm of my hand momentarily distracted me from Parker's presence in the kitchen.

By the time I raised my head to acknowledge the elephant in the room, Drayton's eyes were already fixated on Parker who was now standing on his feet. His shoulders were weirdly straight, arms clasped to his side, head held high. The sight nearly made me choke on my spit.

"Boy, house," Drayton mumbled, "boy in house," he raised a finger in Parker's direction, his eyes twitching, "there's a boy in my house! WHY IS THERE A BOY IN MY HOUSE!?" He took a threatening step towards Parker's unwavering position but luckily, I got a hold on his hand before he could make any rash–possibly law breaking–decisions.

"Drayton! Wait, there's an explanation for all of this, just relax!"

"Good night, sir. My name is Parker Nguyen, I'm Hayley's friend. I was dropping Hayley off since it was raining outside and my car suddenly broke down. I tried to call the repair auto shop but they're closed and Hayley invited me inside b–but it's not her fault–"

Drayton rose his hand in a halting motion, "Parker Nguyen? As in the son of Fugui Nguyen, the Engineer?" Parker bowed his head, muttering the word yes under his breath. I know Drayton also knew him from my many stories of the ridiculous girls flaunting over Parker at school and also my encounter with him everywhere for the past few weeks.

But he saved me the embarrassment of letting Parker know I talk about him. "Well, why didn't you lead off with that!" However, that doesn't mean many other embarrassing things can't happen later. "Uhm, just excuse us for a moment, Parker. We'll be right back." I dragged Drayton out of the kitchen despite his shouts of protest and led him towards the living room.

"Parker? Parker as in the only other guy you've ever spoken about other than Landon!?" He squealed in falsetto when we were finally a good distance away from Parker's earshot. Before I could answer he gasped dramatically and leaned down, "is he the person who's keeping you from home all of a sudden? The party, the late nights out?"

"Yes! But don't say anything stupid to embarrass me. I know you! You have the weirdest things saying. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that malfunctioning brain of yours!" He placed a hand on his head and pouted, "you're so mean."