This time next year

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

How'd we end up here?

I woke Gabriela, Tessa, Laura, Chris, Daniel and Hermione up so that their parents didn't kill them for not coming home but I asked them about the boy before they left. "Hey kids, what's his name?" I say trying not to sound overprotective. "Oh his name's Cree, I'm not sure what his last name is though" Gabriela was the closest to Hailey since she's the eldest of the girls. "Yeah, i don't like him though '' Daniel was always protective of Hailey for some reason, maybe they had a connection of some sort, i have no clue. "You should ask her Aunty D" Tessa said. As she was the youngest she had always called me aunty D for some reason but i thought it was cute. As they said their goodbye's I noticed that Cree had moved, I'm not sure where he went but I'd have to find him before Michael and Hailey woke up. I found the boy sitting outside on the grass, i had no idea what he was doing until i saw him with Calum "Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me" I said allowed and opened the back door and closed it behind me. "Cal? What are you doing out here? Who's this?" I pretended to be clueless on who the boy was when my friends' kids told me the important stuff. "Coats, this is Jackson, He's Haileys' boyfriend" The name shocked me for a second, "They didn't know his name?" i thought to myself but i was snapped out of my thoughts when i heard the back door open and i was worried. "Cal, who's your friend?" Michael asked, crossing his arms over his chest knowing it was a bot Haileys' age. "This is Jackson, he's a friend of Gabbies" Cal looked so innocent but the kid who was supposedly named Jackson was nervous. "Well if he's a 'friend' of Gabriela's' then he wouldn't mind waking Hailey up and saying goodbye without physical contact, would he?" Michael was a very sassy and sarcastic person but this was beyond what I thought he was capable of. "Sure, sounds cool to me" Jackson seemed pretty comfortable about the whole situation so he did, he went inside and woke Hailey up without touching her and Michael calmed down a small bit. Hailey and Jackson said their goodbyes at the door but i bet they didn't think that anyone would be looking but i caught them having no so friendly hug, it didn't matter to me but i know that if Mike saw them he'd lose his shit. Once Jackson left Hailey went up to her room and I just let her know that she'd be upset. I took Hailey out to the salon the next day so she could relax and not stress over the fact Michael was a bit too over protective of her. "How're you feeling now? Any better?" I was a bit concerned that she hadn't spoken to me about having a boyfriend and that upset me as a parent. You kids are supposed to trust you and tell you about shit that was happening in their lives. But having Michael as a dad I understood why she didn't want to talk about her personal life but why wouldn't she talk to me? Was it because I was too caught up with school at her age to worry about boys until I met Mike? I decided to ask her about it. "Hey Hailey, I wanted to ask you about Jackson. Are you two together or what's happening?" She shrunk in her chair and became shy. "Well, um i uh" Hailey stuttered through her words "Alright, Jackson and i have been going out for a few weeks now and he hasn't told anyone. I feel like he's embarrassed to be my boyfriend." I knew exactly what she was talking about because it happened to my sister. "I can't say that i personally know what you're going through but it happened to a person i was very close to" I sighed at the thought that my best friend wasn't here to help me with the topic. "Who mum ? Who went through the same shit as me? I feel so sorry for them" Hailey started tearing up when she heard that someone i cared so much had gone through the same shit. "She was fine up until that point then she was miserable and sad all the time" The thought of what i had witnessed that night she came home with him and they went up to her room so i left her alone and i walked into her room the next morning and i can never unsee what i saw that morning. I explained to Hailey what had happened to my sister and why she should confront him about it and if he doesn't want anyone to know there's a reason for it and it's normally not good. When Hailey and I left the salon Hailey sat in the passenger's seat and I drove us home because she was too tired to drive. I went around the corner near our house and i didn't even notice that a truck was driving on the wrong side of the road and within a flash of light it went dark and fell silent, i couldn't hear anything. It was peaceful, I never wanted to leave this peaceful state. Death is peaceful. I feel bad for leaving everyone I love.