The Good Hair Family Sitcom

S4 E10.3: Mountain Mom

Brayden's POV

I've ended up at the back of our group. Thankfully, Hazel stops to wait for me to catch up to her, although no one else does.

"How you doing there, bud?" she asks as she starts walking again, keeping with my pace.

"I wasn't built for hiking," I respond between breaths.

She chuckles at that. "But look through the trees. It feels incredible to see everything from this high up."

I shake my head. "Nope. Not gonna look. Otherwise, I won't be able to stand."

"Are you afraid of heights?"

"It's a fairly reasonable fear, seeing as if I tripped over the edge, I would go tumbling downhill, being slaughtered by tree trunks until my battered body hits the lake below."

"Great, now I have that visual in my head," she mutters.

We continue forward, twigs crunching under our feet as we follow our family.

Remembering the events of this morning, I ask, "So when did you start making that book?"

"Oh, um, about five years ago."

"Do you have everyone you know in there?"

"If I know them by name, I have them in there."

I nod. She must have a lot on all of our friends then. I wonder how much she's noticed that I haven't. It must be fascinating to see the world through her constant analysis.

"I presume you have stuff on all our friends."

She smiles and answers, "Yup. Yours are particularly interesting." She laughs a little to herself. "You all come to the same conclusions in situations, like you share a brain."

"Like when?" I question curiously.

"Like Saturday when you all got upset about that line of motorcycles that passed us while we were walking."

"Because they were blowing exhaust that looked like storm clouds, and they were incredibly loud," I justify.

Hazel keeps smiling, even when I finish my statement and drift into my own thoughts. I'm now very curious about her opinions on one person in particular, but how do I ask about this without giving away too much?

"Do you have anything on Linny?"

Hazel takes an extra second of quiet as she looks between me, the trees, and the soil, before finally saying, her smiling lifting her lips higher, "Of course. She's the most interesting person I know."

"Yes," I mutter, "that's a common perception of her."

Immediately, Hazel shakes her head and clears up the miscommunication. "Not in a science project kind of way," she states. "In the way that, like, looking at a kaleidoscope is interesting, and, like...I guess mesmerizing...but that's still not the right word."

"So what are some things you know about her that I wouldn't know?" I ask.

"I mean, you probably know her better than me, 'cause you're her best friend."

"Yeah, but I'm a bit curious what you know," I reply, cautiously monitoring my choice of words. 

She takes a moment to ponder then says, "Um, well... She hates flavoured water and anything carbonated. She doesn't like feeling like a burden or a hassle, but she definitely feels like she is when she's with people who aren't her close friends. She loves flowing princess dresses, but doesn't like wearing anything with sequins or too much beading. Her favorite star is Altair—"