He lifted up my head and wiped the tear away. “You know I’ll always be here for you, sweetheart.”
I nodded and smiled. Then he kissed me. I love it when we kiss. It’s magical, like no other. It’s always just him and me in the room when we kiss—no one else.
Then, of course, the camera click just had to ruin it.
“DO YOU GUYS ALWAYS HAVE TO RUIN OUR MOMENTS?!” Hayes screamed.
They all laughed. “Yeah, pretty much,” Bart said, holding his stomach.
“They’re fine—the pictures always turn out great,” I said, pulling Hayes into a hug and looking up at him, resting my chin on his chest.
I guess you could say we had a mini staring contest, but then, it had to get ruined again.
“I took one without the camera clicking!”
We looked over to Bailey, who was holding up her phone and starting to giggle. “Oops?”
“But can you guys not confront her about it, please?” I asked, looking hopefully at everyone.
“But that butt scum needs to pay!” Bart said. He then looked at Carter in apology.
“No, guys, it’s fine. She’s a coldhearted slut who toyed with my heart for fame. I’ll get over her and find someone better,” he said, smiling bravely.
I shuffled over to him in pain, because my back was killing me, and hugged him. “I’m sorry for ruining your relationship, C.”
“It’s all right, Auts, I should’ve seen the bad in her. I’m sorry for making you get hurt even more,” he said, kissing the top of my head.
I shuffled back over to Hayes, who was now sitting on a beanbag, and sat on his lap with my head on his chest. He intertwined our fingers and kissed the top of my head.
“Seriously, though, don’t confront her about it. If she hurts me more, she hurts me more, but don’t talk about it around her or anything. Got it?”
“When she’s out of our lives, she’s dead meat. I’ll need a shovel, duct tape, rope, and a bridge,” Bailey said seriously. We all laughed and started talking, really getting to know one another even better.
I found out that Abbie and Jordan are going back to California tomorrow, so Abbie can get back to cheerleading, and Jordan is going to try out for volleyball. Then Alyssa has to go back to New Orleans for extra school stuff.
Hayes and I were quiet, just enjoying each other’s company. Then I decided I wanted to look over the couples, so I did.
Bailey and Daniel were in the corner with Aly, and Daniel was singing songs for them to help pick which one he should do for a cover.
Shaelyn and Nash were having a funny-face contest, and Nash was winning. I’m not surprised.
Alyssa and Aaron were nowhere to be found. Probably on a walk or something.
Cameron and Ella were sitting on the couch watching TV. Cameron’s arm was wrapped around her shoulders.
Gabby, Tez, Jordan, and Alec were all talking and laughing with one another.
Carter had gone out to the porch swing, I’m guessing getting some fresh air after the news he just got. I mean, his girlfriend had tormented one of his best friends. That’s something to take in.
But Abby and Bart were a different story. They were out back screaming at each other. You see, there’s a huge window in the game room that looks out on the whole backyard, and sadly, we had the curtains open. You could tell Abby and Bart hadn’t been on each other’s good side lately, and I guess they just snapped. Then Abby slapped Bart in the face, kicked him in the stomach, and ran to her car. I flinched and hid my head into Hayes’s shoulder, wishing I hadn’t seen what had just happened.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Hayes asked in a worried tone, wrapping his arm, the one that wasn’t holding my hand, around me and pulling me closer.
“Abby just slapped and kicked Bart, and I saw the entire thing,” I said shakily.
I don’t know why I was so scared. I mean, probably because Bart’s one of my best friends and I hate to see him hurt.
“He’ll be all right, beautiful, I promise!”
I just nodded and kept my head in his shoulder. God, my emotions are all over the place today. I’m so overreacting about this. I slap Bart playfully all the time, and it doesn’t bother me, so why did it bother me when she did it? Even though it wasn’t playful when she did it, but still. I just need to get some sleep.
I relaxed and rested my head in the crook of Hayes’s neck and closed my eyes again. He started to rub my back softly, which felt very soothing. I started to drift off to sleep, and the last thing I heard was, “I’ll always be by your side.”
Then I slipped into darkness.
Autumn
I woke up in Hayes’s room, where it was really dark. I looked at the clock on the table, and it was eight p.m. I decided to get up and try walking downstairs, and it didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would.
While I was going downstairs, I redid my hair in a messy braid and heard the TV blaring “Let It Go.” I giggled, thinking that Sky made them watch Frozen, but when I got to the bottom step, there was no Skylynn in sight, just the boys. I started laughing like a dying whale at the bottom of the stairs and they all looked over at me. Hayes shot out of his seat, picked me up, and set me on the couch. I was still laughing.
“Babe, you’re not supposed to be walking!” he said in concern.
“I’m fine, it doesn’t hurt as much! Why are you guys watching Frozen by yourself?” I asked, giggling like a little schoolgirl.
“Uh, ’cause we wanted to?” Nash said, while scratching the back of his neck. I continued laughing uncontrollably.
“It’s not funny! Can’t guys watch Frozen, too?” Daniel asked, crossing his arms as if he were five.
“It’s kind of odd . . .” I replied, trailing off.
“But we are odd people!” Cameron said in a funny accent.
“Yes, you are.” I giggled. “Where are the girls?”
“They went out to spy on Ashley at her work,” Daniel replied. He’s so talkative today, and it’s nice—he needs to talk more.
“Why?”
“To see what she does at work, duhh,” Nash said, in his usual sassy tone.
“Where does she work?” I am just full of questions tonight.
“She told me she was a waitress at Applebee’s, but the girls didn’t see her there. So they went over to the Hooters next to it, and that’s where they found her,” Carter said, looking down at the floor.
“I’m sorry, C,” I said, reaching out and squeezing his hand.
“It’s fine, Autumn, really. I don’t even know what I saw in her.” He smiled weakly at me. I felt so bad for him.
“Oh, and Daniel?” I said, looking at him.
“Yeah?” he said, looking up from his guitar.
“You should talk more. I like it like when you do.” I smiled. He smiled back then looked down at his guitar again.
I can see how they say opposites attract. Daniel is so laid-back and quiet, while Bailey is loud and always talking to someone. But it’s as if they were meant to be or something. They’re perfect for each other.
Hayes put his arm around me, and we watched the rest of the movie. I laughed at the parts with Olaf—he was so adorable! I want a talking snowman.
Then Carter’s phone started to ring. He answered it.
“Okay. Yeah. Why? Fine, we’ll be right there. Yes, Autumn’s awake. I’ll tell her you said hi, Bailey! All right, bye.” He hung up.
“Well, the girls want us to go over to Hooters, and Autumn, Bailey says hi with a smiley face.”
I laughed, and we all got up to go out to the car when Hayes just had to speak up.
“AUTUMN NEEDS HER WHEELCHAIR!” he yelled so the whole world could hear.
“No, I don’t want my wheelchair, just get my crutches!” I said in a quiet voice.
“I got ’em,”
Daniel yelled back.
“Thanks, and can y’all shut up? You’re going to bust my eardrums!” I said.
“Sorry,” they whispered. I laughed, and hopped out to the car.
We drove to Hooters, with Hayes on my right and Nash on my left. I held Hayes’s hand and leaned my head on Nash’s shoulder.
When we got there, we jumped out and walked, or crutched, across the parking lot. We went inside, and immediately the girls waved us to the back. We joined them, and they pointed out which section Ashley was working.
“Okay, she’s working in the section over by the bar, but Carter, you’re not gonna like what you see,” Jordan said, patting Carter’s shoulder.
“What do you mean?” He looked over, and you could see in his eyes that he was disappointed.
We all looked over and saw the skank all over another guy, her caked face kissing him and her slutty butt sitting on his lap, and he was, like, fifty years old. Wasn’t she supposed to be working?
“I’m going over there and beating her with my crutch!” I said angrily.
“No! We can’t blow our cover!” Abbie said, holding me back.
“But she needs to learn a lesson! She’s all over a guy from the freaking dinosaur age and she has a boyfriend!” I said.
“Still, we can confront her about it when she gets out of work and comes back to the house,” Bart said.
“Whatever,” I said. I sat down and shook my head, annoyed.
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart; they’ll work everything out,” Hayes said, putting his arm around my shoulder.
“There’s nothing to work out! She’s straight-up trash with no feelings!” I said, putting my head down onto my arms on the table.
“We all know that, but hitting her with a crutch isn’t the way to fix it,” Cameron said.
“Okay,” I sighed.
We all walked out and went home. When we got to the house, I went upstairs with the girls to change into my pajamas. We all decided to have a onesie night, so I put on my plain, light blue onesie and kept my hair in its braid.
When we all went downstairs and I saw I was matching with Hayes! He had on a plain, dark blue onesie.
“OK, we have to take a picture!” I said, going over to Hayes and pulling him up off the couch.
I handed my phone over to Gabby, who was closest to us, and posed. He wrapped both arms around my waist and I wrapped mine around his and kissed his cheek while he smiled.
“Aww, that’s so cute!” Abbie yelled, looking over Gabby’s shoulder.
I blushed and took the phone out of her hand. The picture was perfect. Hayes was perfect.
“I love it. Send it to me,” Hayes said, looking over my shoulder.
“I got that one!” Nash said, holding up his phone.
“Do y’all have, like, a whole gallery in your phones of photos of us? I mean, y’all take a thousand pictures a day!” I groan.
“Yash,” Nash said, doing the puma face. I laughed at him and started to post the picture on Instagram.
My caption was “twinning with my favorite.” After I posted it, it immediately got over a thousand likes. It got so annoying sometimes being famous. I mean, there’s no privacy, and girls hated me for knowing Cameron. They’ll probably hate me more for dating Hayes. Oh well, I loved him with all my heart.
We were all seated on the couch watching Stick It when the front door opened. We all looked toward the door and saw Ashley walking through the door in a tank top so small you could see her entire bra and pajama shorts that would fit a four-year-old.
“I didn’t get the memo to wear a onesie,” she said in her usual snobby tone.
“Well, you probably wouldn’t have worn one anyway, since all your clothes are so revealing,” Alyssa spat back.
“Excuse me, brat. I don’t need your attitude,” Ashley said, getting all up in Alyssa’s face.
“Yeah, you can excuse yourself right out the front door,” I retorted.
“Shut up. I had a long day at work. I don’t need your stupid remarks.”
“You didn’t have a long day at work, you had a long day sucking a fifty-year-old’s face off!” Carter yelled, standing up.
“What do you mean, babe? I wouldn’t do such a thing,” she said in fake shock.
“Oh, shut the heck up. I don’t need your crap! I saw you, and you lied to me. Get out of here, and get out of my life! We’re done!” Carter screamed.
“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!” she yelled, walking over to me and punching me in the face.
“GET OUT! YOU DON’T PUNCH MY LITTLE SISTER IN THE FACE, YOU TRAMP!” Ella yelled, practically pulling Ashley’s extensions out of her head as she grabbed her by the hair and rushed her out the front door.
“AND DON’T COME BACK AGAIN, YOU WITCH!” Bailey called, throwing a spoon at her.
“Autumn, are you okay?” Hayes asked, examining my face while settling me on the couch with a pillow under my head.
“I don’t know. Does my eye look okay? Tell the truth,” I said drowsily.
“It’s getting a bit swollen. Abbie, go get an ice pack, please,” Gabby instructed, switching into nurse mode.
She issues orders to everyone to get things, while she and Hayes sat with me, Hayes holding my hand and Abbie trying to nurse me back to health.
Everything started to go fuzzy, and I was really getting drowsy.
“NO, AUTUMN, STAY WITH ME! YOU GOTTA STAY AWAKE! PLEASE, SWEETHEART, KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!” Hayes started to yell. I blinked; everything was moving in slow motion.
“Aut, come on, stay with me,” Hayes said shakily. I was drifting off.
I looked at him again. “I love you,” he whispered.
And that’s when I slipped into darkness.
Autumn
I woke up in Hayes’s room with him next to me in his desk chair, holding my hand. His head was resting on his arms, which were stretched across the bed. I think he was sleeping. How did I get here?
“Hayes, what happened?” I asked groggily, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.
“Autumn? You’re okay!” he said, jumping up and hugging me.
“What do you mean ‘I’m okay’? What happened to me?” I asked, confused.
“Well, Carter and Ashley got into this huge fight and broke up, and she blamed you. She punched you in the face, and you blacked out,” he said nervously, while scratching the back of his neck.
“Why the heck did she blame me?” I said.
“You kinda mouthed off at her before they got into a fight, so I guess she went straight to target you, which was stupid and not right,” he said angrily.
I love him—he’s so caring! “Yeah, that sounds like something I would do,” I said, putting my hand on my chin and nodding. He laughed and turned serious again.
“Is your eye okay? What about your lip? And does your back hurt, sweetheart?” he questioned.
“Well, my back hurts a little bit, but not as much as it’s been hurting. Wait, what do you mean, my eye and my lip?” I asked him, panicking. Oh lord, what did she do?
“Um, see for yourself,” he said, handing me his phone, which was open to the front-facing camera.
When I looked at the phone screen, all I could do was scream. She had given me a black eye and a busted lip! I looked awful! Holy crap.
“How could she do this to me with one punch?!” I yelled, shocked.
“Don’t ask me,” Hayes said, putting his hands up.
“I look worse than the witch,” I screeched in horror.
“Sweetheart, you look beautiful, as always. You’ll always be perfect to me, no matter what!” Hayes said, coming over to me and pecking my forehead.
“Thanks, Pooh Bear,” I said, kissing his nose.
“I swear, you’re the only one I would let call me that,” he mumbled.
&n
bsp; I giggled and a question popped up in my head. “Where is everyone else? We’re being so loud, no one has come in to check on us.”
“They’re asleep.”
I looked at him, confused, and glanced at the clock.
It was four in the morning! “Oh gosh, Hayes, I’m so sorry for waking you up! Come on, let’s go back to sleep!” I said, pulling him off the chair and onto the bed.
“It’s fine, sweetheart. I’d do anything for you. Good night, I love you,” he said, kissing the top of my head.
“Good night. I love you, too.” I yawned and kissed his jaw. Then I snuggled up against his chest and fell back asleep.
In the Dreadful Morning
I woke up to the sun shining on my face. That was unpleasant. I shoved my face deeper into Hayes’s shoulder and tried to go back to sleep, but thirty minutes later I gave up.
I got up and looked at the clock, it was eight thirty in the morning! I never get up at eight thirty; the earliest I get up in the summer is nine thirty, on a regular day. This is so weird . . .
I groaned and flopped back onto the bed, shoving my head into the pillow. I wouldn’t be surprised if I woke up Hayes.
“Autumn, go back to sleep! It’s too early to function!” Hayes groaned, and pulled me into his chest. I couldn’t help but giggle.
“But I can’t go back to sleep!” I whined.
“I can!” he whined back, pressing his face into my hair. “Your hair smells really good,” he mumbled into it.
“That’s really weird.” I laughed.
“Whatever. Okay, I’m tired. I’m going back to sleep!” he said.
“Fine. I’m going downstairs to make breakfast!” I said, getting up.
“Don’t forget your crutches, and don’t burn down the house!” he said sternly.
“I won’t, Mother,” I said, kissing his forehead.
I had turned to the door when he grabbed my hand, spun me around, and kissed my cheek. “I love you.”
I giggled and kissed his nose. “I love you, too, Hayes.”
I went downstairs and heard TV sounds. I wondered who was up. I got to the bottom of the stairs and saw Skylynn sitting on the couch in front of the TV.
Love Heals All Page 7
