the outsider

'meet my ex'

eighteen : hayden
Gracie falls quiet and I'm met with the boy Lauren came in with. They looked strikingly similar, with the same strong eyebrows and small rounded nose, they had to be siblings. There was a possibility they were twins, yet he looked slightly older, maybe by a year or so. My best bet was he was my age, making him only a year older than Lauren and Annie.
"Can I have a lemonade, please" he says, running a hand through his short blonde hair, causing it to spike back up. His eyes shift from shooting me a glare to Annie, and I realise, she knows him.
In a small town like this, I'm not surprised she knows him, but usually when Annie recognised people she simply ignores them, remaining unfazed. However, her eyes were almost wide with panic, a look I knew all too well.
"Can I have a lemonade?" He repeats.
I move my glance off of Annie and nod, beginning to make the lemonade.
"So Annie, still working here?"
I try to mind my own business, but it's hard to do when we're both working in the same space.
Annie nods, her eyes shooting back a sharp glare. I can feel his eyes then moving to me. I can't help but feel uncomfortable.
I feel my cheeks begin to flush red and my palms grow sweaty. Why was he looking at me? What did I have to do with this? Oh god. Now everyone's looking at me, not just him.
My breathing begins to to quicken and i hear annie mumble something to him, pulling me into the back room. She sits me down, and slowly slips her hand into mine as she slides into the space beside me.
She wasn't a gentle person, you didn't need to know her to figure that one out, but she tried to be with me.
"Taylor" i hear her call. I shift my focus onto her.
"You're okay, you're safe with me" her lips curve into a smile, something you didn't see much on her. It was beautiful.
I swallow.
She slowly leads my head to rest on her shoulder, telling me I was fine, until I felt fine.
She pulls her phone out of her back pocket before sighing.
"It's been two minutes, I should probably get out there and see what he wants. Take all the time you need"
And she was gone.

annie.
I make my way back out front, silently praying that Johnny had fucked off back to his seat. I try not to duck my teeth as my gaze is met with a smug smile on his face.
"What's wrong with little puppy dog there?" He teases and i already feel my jaw clench.
Johnny and i dated a while back, leading into my rocky history with Lauren. Him and caleb were best friends, but it worked well for a while.
However, i let my guard down a little too low with him. After a rough night with my dad, I had no way to explain why my legs had suddenly turned black and blue, leaving me with no choice other than to explain the truth to Johnny. He promised he wouldn't say anything. He lied.
The next day the police and social services paid us a visit. My dad might be a useless abusive drunk, but after managing to lie through his teeth to the authorities, he gave me one of the worst beatings of my life. That was the night i had tried to overdose, hence Lauren's cruel nickname for me.
Another thing Johnny had promised to keep to himself.
To top the story off, Johnny left to live with his mum two weeks later, leaving both caleb and i behind.
"Still on silent treatment?" He pushes further.
"What do you want Johnny?" I sigh, slumping down onto the counter. His bushy brows scrunch together, almost confused.
"Why do you always assume I want something?"
"Because last time I saw you, you told me you wanted me back and I thought it was pretty clear that was far from something I wanted"
He straightens his posture, slightly taken back by my straight forward response.
"I just want to be good with you, annie. You know that you still hold a piece in my heart and I just want to know if there's even a slight chance you feel the same"
Now I'm the one fighting my emotions. Despite everything that happened, a part of me had spent several nights begging for him to come back, for him to love me again, but now that it's happening, i'm not jumping at the chance. In fact, I almost feel sick.
My mouth hangs slightly open, unsure of what to respond with when the door behind me pops open.
"Everything okay?" Hayden's calming voice asks just in time.
"I'm talking to her, can you not see that?" Johnny hisses almost as soon as hayden had finished.
I glance over at Hayden. For the first time ever, i see his facial expressions shift into one i haven't seen before. His eyes narrow as his jaw stiffens and his eyebrows tug downwards. He seemed...annoyed?.
"Well, can you leave us to it?" Johnny continues.
Hayden's mouth falls into a flat line. He wasn't impressed.
"Actually i think you're the one that has to leave" He snaps back, to my surprise. Johnny straightens himself, also surprised at Hayden's snarky response.
"Look, i'm not being funny but she's my ex girlfriend and we just have to sort some stuff out, now fuck off"
I feel Hayden shoot me a terrible glare from the corner of my eye. I hadn't seen him like this before, so honestly, i had no idea what was about to take place.
"She clearly doesn't want to talk to you. Now leave, before we have to make you leave" Hayden spits out, his jaw still tightened.
"Maybe instead of putting words in her mouth, you can let her speak for herself"
I roll my eyes to the back of my head. Johnny of all people should know i have no problem standing up for myself. I would've jumped in earlier in all honesty, but i was interested in this side of Hayden.
Hayden laughs at his comment, slyly taking a step towards me.
"You really think Annie of all people has an issue with standing up for herself?"
Johnny's left with nothing to say in response. He turns around and begins walking back to his table before returning and placing a piece of paper down on the counter, sliding it towards me.
"If you ever wanna talk without your bodyguard, just text me" he says, his eyes filled with a inch of hope. I decide to shatter that.
I accept the paper, ripping it into tiny pieces in front of him and collecting them, binning it instantly in front of him.
"Don't ever assume i can't stand up for myself again, i make my own decisions, got it?" i bark.
He gulps, turning away for good this time.
"You are something else" Hayden chuckles, his arms looping around my waist, something i was unfamiliar with him. He pulled me close, my head placed against his chest, and i realise, he's hugging me. and i liked it.